A Guide to Blobber RPG Games

If you’ve never played blobber games before or you’re interested to learn more about blobbers, you’re in the right place. Blobbers are essentially first-person party-based dungeon crawlers in which the player’s party moves as a single unit.

The reason why they’re called blobbers is because the party is one invisible unit or “blob.” Blobbers are most commonly associated with PC games in the 80s and 90s.

Recommended Blobber Games for Beginners

Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos (1993)

Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos is the best game to start with if you’re completely new to blobbers. It has a very simple character system and low difficulty, which means that even someone like you can beat it. Its lovely hand-drawn graphics, a simple but catchy soundtrack, and fun dungeon design makes it a joy to play.

Might and Magic IV & V: World of Xeen (1992 & 1993)

This entry is actually two games — Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen and Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen. When both games are installed at the same time, they merge into a single world. The world is quite large (for the time, anyway), and includes varied environments and colorful graphics. The character system is simple for its time, though does take a little planning so read the manual. The difficulty curve is rather gentle, making it another game that could safely be your first blobber.

Legend of Grimrock (2012)

Legend of Grimrock is somewhat of a rarity because it’s a modern blobber. The game is a little more difficult than the previous games mentioned, but it’s still nothing that anyone with a brain and a little bit of patience can’t handle. The character system is robust and you can screw yourself over by making thoughtless choices. It has a great ambience and modern UI that could make it easier for zoomers to get into.

StarCrawlers (2017)

StarCrawlers is another indie blobber with modern graphics, but this one is set in a standard sci-fi setting instead of a standard fantasy setting, which is enough to make it stand out. Dungeons and items are randomly generated, and the turn-based combat has interesting strategic decisions without being too difficult. It’s not a perfect game, but it’s an interesting and unique one.

Anvil of Dawn (1995)

Someone might complain that Anvil of Dawn isn’t technically a blobber because you only control one character instead of a party. But if it looks like a blobber and plays like a blobber, it’s a blobber. The game looks pretty good and there’s not a whole lot to say about its character system. It’s generally considered a merely okay game.

Frayed Knights (2011)

Frayed Knights, a game that imitates Wizardy 8 more than the classic blobber games, is colorful and creative. Characters are pre-made but full of personality — Order of the Stick fans will love this. Nonetheless, this game expects you to take it seriously, with stats-heavy combat that throws a few difficulty spikes at you and a system that punishes you for loading a saved game. That said, its difficulty is nowhere near close to overwhelming and you don’t need to be too good at dungeon crawlers to beat this. Excelling in both writing and design, this is a real indie gem.

Recommended Blobber Games for Veterans

Eye of the Beholder II (1991)

While Eye of the Beholder II is still not too difficult, it is an AD&D game, so you need to start learning some conventions of the time. Oh, and by the way, the games on this guide from this point forward won’t have automaps, which means you’ll need to make your own. Get some graph paper or download Grid Cartographer.

Wizardry VI (1990)

Now we’re getting started. This is a difficult RPG (while not the hardest RPG ever made), but after all the easy stuff you’re used to, this is going to feel like a gut punch. Wizardry VI has a deep character system, high difficulty, and involved combat that will test whether you’ve really learning anything. It’s one of the absolute best.

Dungeon Master (1987)

Dungeon Master is one of the most influential games of all time, inspiring every future blobber game with real time combat. Featuring an interesting dungeon and an impressively interactive environment for the time, Dungeon Master is still a worthy adventure.

Realms of Arkania: Star Trail (1994)

AD&D wasn’t the only hot tabletop RPG at the time. Based on The Dark Eye, Realms of Arkania has a wide variety of skills and a more involved health system than other blobbers, so your characters will get various diseases from exposure to the elements or infected wounds. Along with its isometrics combat and complex dungeons, RoA’s depth is almost unrivaled among blobbers.