Dungeons of Fortune

Dungeons of Fortune is a web3 idle dungeon crawler where hero death isn’t just a risk, it’s part of the system. Players mint NFT heroes, send them into dungeons by spending $COINS (a real cryptocurrency), and hope they survive. Heroes that live bring back loot and gain EXP. Heroes that die are permanently burned, but continue earning passive $COINS through the Graveyard.

The game runs on a cycle of minting, dungeon runs, and rotating value between active and dead heroes. Survivors level up and unlock skills that boost their future rewards. Fallen heroes still generate value by earning a share of global $COINS spending, which is distributed through the Graveyard. All $COINS spent in-game are burned, and rewards are reminted only when claimed from the Graveyard or Bank.

Gameplay and Features

The main loop is simple but loaded with decisions. Players pay $COINS to send their heroes into various difficulty dungeons. These heroes automatically fight through dungeon encounters, with no real-time control. Each run ends with either survival or death:

• If the hero survives, they earn EXP, level up, and unlock new skills that increase their earning capacity.
• If the hero dies, they are permanently burned and moved to the Graveyard, where they earn a percentage of all $COINS spent in the game.
• Regardless of survival, players receive the full loot from the dungeon.

Hero Progression and Classes

Heroes are minted through an in-game gacha system using USDC. Each hero comes with a randomly assigned class, skill path, and unique characteristics. As they survive dungeon runs, they gain EXP and level up. Higher levels unlock new skills and increase their potential rewards in future runs. Stronger heroes are better equipped to handle higher-tier dungeons, which offer better loot but carry more risk. Hero supply is capped at 20,000 at any given time. However, this cap replenishes—whenever a hero dies in a dungeon, it is burned, and a new mint slot becomes available.

There are three hero classes, each with distinct playstyles and risk profiles:

• Warrior: Tanky and reliable, Warriors have a lower chance of dying and are more likely to encounter Raid Bosses. However, they receive lower bonus rewards when doing so.
• Hunter: Fast levelers with a high-risk, high-reward profile. Hunters gain EXP and Souls of Valor quicker but are more prone to dying early.
• Mage: Utility-focused and loot-efficient, Mages have the highest item find rate and skills that speed up recovery, but also suffer from the highest death chance.

Valor and Souls

Each hero has a Valor value tied to their dungeon activity. When a hero dies, that Valor is converted into Souls, which are stored in the Tavern. When you mint a new hero, all your stored Souls are applied to them automatically. If that hero enters a dungeon with Souls and survives, you get bonus $COINS added to your dungeon rewards. If they die, you still get a one-time bonus payout, but the remaining Souls are lost. This system encourages hero cycling, the more heroes you run and lose, the more power you funnel into the next generation.

Dungeons, Cooldowns, and Smelting

Dungeon runs are the core activity in Dungeons of Fortune. Each time you send a hero into a dungeon, you pay an entry fee using $COINS. There are three dungeon tiers, each offering different levels of risk, reward, and cooldown management:

• Tier 1 Dungeon: 200 $COINS to enter
• Tier 2 Dungeon: 1,000 $COINS to enter
• Tier 3 Dungeon: 5,000 $COINS to enter

While higher-tier dungeons offer greater potential rewards, they also carry a higher risk of death and come with longer downtime due to loot smelting and hero cooldowns.

After a run, all heroes, whether they survive or die, trigger a cooldown period, which is based on the rarity of the loot obtained from the dungeon, not the tier itself. Heroes that loot higher rarity items will have to wait longer before they can enter another dungeon.

Loot rewards are not paid out instantly. Instead, they go through a smelting process, where the loot is gradually converted into $COINS over time. The rarer the loot, the longer the smelting duration.

This combination of cooldowns and delayed rewards creates a paced gameplay loop, slowing down value extraction and encouraging players to think strategically about which heroes to send, when, and where.

Buffs and Items

Before dungeon runs, players can purchase and apply Buffs using $COINS. Buffs are consumables that increase a hero’s chance of surviving, recovering Souls, or earning better loot. Once used, a Buff is consumed whether the hero survives or not.

Buffs are a key part of dungeon strategy, especially for higher-tier runs or heroes carrying valuable Souls. Equipment and permanent items are not yet live, but are mentioned as part of future plans in the docs.

Graveyard and Bank

In Dungeons of Fortune, death isn’t the end—it’s another income stream. When a hero dies in a dungeon, the NFT is permanently burned and added to your Graveyard, where it begins generating passive rewards tied to global game activity.

Specifically, 2% of all $COINS spent across the entire game are allocated to the Graveyard reward pool. Your share of that pool is determined by how many dead heroes you own relative to the total number of dead heroes in the system. For example, if you control 5% of all dead heroes, you’ll receive 5% of the Graveyard pool every time rewards are distributed. This system rewards early sacrifice. Players who accumulate Graveyard heroes early, when competition is low, lock in a larger percentage of future passive income. The more dungeon activity across the ecosystem, the more $COINS your dead heroes earn over time.

Alongside the Graveyard is the Bank, a second passive rewards system. Instead of sacrificing heroes, players can deposit unused $COINS into the Bank and earn a share of global dungeon spending. The system works similarly: rewards are distributed proportionally based on your share of total Bank deposits. While the Bank generally offers lower returns than the Graveyard, it’s also lower risk—you don’t need to burn NFTs to participate. It’s ideal for players who want to earn passively without committing to the full mint-play-die loop.

NFTs and Blockchain

Dungeons of Fortune operates on Base, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain. Heroes are minted as NFTs using USDC through the in-game Gacha system found in the Tavern. Each hero comes with randomized traits including class and skill paths. Once a hero dies during a dungeon run, the NFT is permanently burned, removing it from circulation and freeing up space for new heroes to be minted. While alive, hero NFTs can be traded on secondary marketplaces like OpenSea, allowing players to buy and sell heroes directly without needing to mint from the Tavern.

The in-game economy revolves around $COINS, a real cryptocurrency used for:

• Dungeon entries
• Buff purchases
• Depositing into the Bank

All $COINS spent are burned, not recycled. The only time new $COINS are reminted is when players claim rewards from the Graveyard or Bank, creating deflationary pressure on token supply. To prevent rapid extraction, the game uses cooldowns and smelting timers to gate how quickly players can earn and withdraw rewards. Loot from dungeons must undergo smelting before becoming claimable $COINS, and heroes cannot be re-used until their cooldown expires. This system slows down reward cycles and extends the overall life of the economy, making $COINS flow more sustainable even for a while. 

How to Get Started

• Choose your entry point. You can either mint a hero using USDC at the in-game Tavern or buy one directly from OpenSea. Minted heroes are randomized, while heroes on OpenSea may already be leveled up or battle-tested.

• Send your hero into a dungeon. Pay $COINS to enter a dungeon. You can apply Buffs before the run to boost your hero’s survival or improve loot quality. Once the run starts, your hero will either survive and return with loot—or die and be burned permanently.

• Receive loot and EXP. Regardless of whether the hero survives, you get the full dungeon loot. Surviving heroes gain EXP and level up, unlocking new skills. If they die, their Valor is converted into Souls.

• Smelt your rewards and wait. Loot doesn’t turn into $COINS instantly. It must go through smelting—a time-based process where rewards unlock gradually. The rarer the loot, the longer the smelting takes. Surviving heroes also enter cooldown, and can’t re-enter a dungeon until the timer expires.

• Manage Souls and re-enter the loop. Souls from fallen heroes are stored in your Tavern. When you mint a new hero, those Souls are applied to them. If that hero survives, you get bonus $COINS. You can also skip minting and buy another hero from OpenSea to keep going.

• Stack the Graveyard or use the Bank. Dead heroes are added to your Graveyard and earn passive $COINS based on all $COINS spent in the game. You can also deposit your unused $COINS into the Bank to earn a share of global spending without risking NFTs. The earlier you build your position, the better your long-term rewards.