If you’re not watching Delicious in Dungeon on Netflix, then you’re missing out. The hit manga series, produced by Studio Trigger (the animation team behind award-winning works like Kill la Kill and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners), is a refreshing take on dungeon crawling, surprising uses of fanservice, and how far people are willing to go for the ones they love.
In the Delicious in Dungeon universe, death is not necessarily the end. Adventurers who have been felled in battle can be revived — under specific circumstances — but must still be careful with their one lifespan, as the dungeon has its own particular set of rules. Fans have theorized which games might have inspired the creator’s worldbuilding, and we’ve finally received answers to those questions.
Delicious in Dungeon Creator Reveals Video Game Inspirations
Ryoko Kui, creator of Delicious in Dungeon, detailed her love of video games in an interview with Famitsu in February 2024. She cited Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge, an RPG she watched her father play when she was a child, as the biggest inspiration for Delicious in Dungeon; the Wizardry series also marked the beginning of her journey with video games.
Before becoming a serious gamer, Kui enjoyed reading fantasy novels like Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Ende’s The NeverEnding Story. It was only after Delicious in Dungeon became serialized that Kui decided to start exploring video games as a research medium, beginning with turn-based RPGs and eventually branching out into other genres. Since D&D continuously came up in her searches, Kui familiarized herself with its rules and rich lore. Legend of Grimrock was another foundational start to her game studies, as its hard-to-find predecessor, Dungeon Master, featured the unique mechanic of cooking monster meals.
She went on to express her deep admiration for games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War for their incredible narratives, Disco Elysium (which she describes as a perfect game for her), The Witcher 3, and Cyberpunk 2077, which she lists as one of her all-time favorite games.
Kui has also drawn fan art of various game characters on multiple occasions, such as when she created Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 character profiles in her style. She has also celebrated her favorite elves from different franchises, such as Dragon Age, Divinity, The Elder Scrolls, and more.
As for the 2024 games she’s excited for, Kui stated she’s most looking forward to Cloudpunk, Nivalis, and Avowed.
Below is a complete list of the games Kui mentioned in her Famitsu feature, recalling those she watched her father play, titles that inspired her work, and the games she herself played and enjoyed. Here are all of Kui’s video game recommendations:
- Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
- Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
- Ultima
- Dragon Warrior
- Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge
- Legend of Grimrock
- Dungeon Master
- Disco Elysium
- Unpacking
- House Flipper
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- God of War
- Starfield
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Baldur’s Gate
- Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Divinity: Original Sin
- Divinity: Original Sin 2
- Dragon Age: Origins
- Dragon Age 2: Legacy
- Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Pathfinder: Kingmaker
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
- Pillars of Eternity
- Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
- The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
- The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
- Papers, Please
- Immortality
- Her Story
- Chrono Cross
- Final Fantasy 7
- Cloudpunk
- Nivalis
- Avowed
- 2064: Read Only Memories
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm
- Of Mice and Sand: Revised
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance
- Gorogoa
- Detroit: Become Human
- Crossing Souls
- My Time at Portia
- Tyranny
- Sorcery! Parts 1 & 2
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Vampyr
- Dragon Quest Builders 2
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- The Outer Worlds
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
- The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
- Space Haven
- Planescape: Torment – Enhanced Edition
- Songs of Syx
- Encased
- Inscryption
- Triangle Strategy
- Two Point Campus
- Superliminal
- Expeditions: Rome
- Stacklands
- Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
- Coffee Talk: Episode 2 – Hibiscus & Butterfly
- The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
- Scene Investigators
- Chicken Police
Looking for your next big adventure? Check out our Top 10 list of open world games releasing in 2024.
