Tans Quest

Tans Quest is the plainest version of the descent, and the best place to learn how it works.

You get a sword, a shield, and a dungeon that goes down further than you can see. Movement is WASD or the arrow keys. Combat is contact - walk into an enemy and you trade damage until one of you is finished. Rooms open when you push toward the edges of the screen, and the minimap in the corner keeps track of everything you have already seen.

The Shade countdown runs on every floor. It is generous enough here to let you make mistakes and still recover, which makes this the run to start with if the others have been ending badly.

Enemies wear their level above their health bar, so you always know what you are walking into. Yours rises by banking XP, lifting your maximum HP and improving ATK and DEF. Food dropped by the dead is how you heal. That is the entire system, and it is enough.