Dungeon Hunter 5

What the game is

Gameloft's loot-heavy action RPG, set in a collapsed kingdom where bounty hunting is a career. The campaign runs ninety-four missions across places like the ruins of Valenthia and the frozen Valen Outpost, and combat is quick, with elemental spells and gear chosen to counter each mission's enemies.

Around the campaign sits a lot of structure. Four-player co-op, friends hired as Allies for solo runs, more than nine hundred armour and weapon pieces, hundreds of skills, and a stronghold you fill with trap rooms and minions before raiding other players' and guarding your own. Recurring events and seasonal rewards keep the calendar full.

How a session plays

Pick a mission, check its enemy types, equip the element that counters them, and go. Fights are fast and loot drops constantly, so the post-mission ritual of comparing gear and deciding what to keep is as much of the game as the hacking and slashing. Co-op runs are the same missions with more chaos.

The stronghold is a separate rhythm: lay out traps, place minions, then spend some time raiding other players' layouts for rewards. Daily and weekly events pull you back on a schedule, and the Trial of Elements gives the gear system a focused challenge.

Why people look for it

Action RPG fans want loot, and this one has over nine hundred items to find, which is the number that gets quoted. Co-op is the second reason; four-player dungeon runs on a phone are rarer than they should be. The stronghold mode gives it a tower-defence flavour that pulls in a different crowd, and Gameloft's name still means something to long-time mobile players.

Look and feel

Dark fantasy with bright spell effects, which is the genre standard and what the five screenshots will show: a top-down or isometric view, a character surrounded by enemies and particle effects, and an inventory grid dense with icons. Expect a busy HUD with skill buttons, health and an elemental indicator. The stronghold screens will look more like a base-builder, with a grid of rooms to arrange.

Updates and upkeep

Gameloft is one of the oldest names in mobile games, and a 4.7 rating from over ten thousand reviews shows the game still has an audience. It needs an internet connection for everything, so its life is tied to Gameloft's servers; the seasonal events and stronghold raids indicate those are still active. Our page has an App Store link and no other. Specific update history isn't listed.

Good for

• Loot hunters

  Over nine hundred pieces of gear means the inventory screen is where you'll live.

• Four-player dungeons

  Co-op for a full party is the headline mode and the reason to bring friends.

• Trap layouts

  The stronghold adds a defend-and-raid layer for people who like building as well as fighting.

Before you install

The store rating is 12+. It's free with in-app purchases, and the description notes that some of those are paid random items, which is the store's way of flagging loot boxes; parents and anyone wary of gambling mechanics should take note. An internet connection is required at all times, so there's no offline campaign. Account details, ads and storage size aren't given, though a 94-mission ARPG won't be small.