Getting Started in Blood Dungeon

Welcome to Blood Dungeon. This guide is the first-run plan: which bunkmate to take, which arena to enter, and what to buy with Bones. The deeper systems walkthrough — Blood bars, auto-fire, Dogmancer loop — lives on How to Play (that page keeps the hands-on video). Movement specifics live on Movement. Trophies live on Achievements.

The game launched 25 August 2026. Single-player only. Single-player only. There is no extra session type waiting after launch. Steam ships 45 achievements and six named arenas; treat that spine as the map of the campaign, not as a preview of unreleased content.

Before your first run

Blood Dungeon is a bullet-heaven platformer. Weapons fire automatically. Your job is movement and positioning. A run ends when you die or you clear the arena’s bosses. Bones you collected are kept. There is no difficulty slider; density and damage scale with waves.

Choosing your first character

Start with Gun Man or Barbarian. Both sit in the bunkhouse.

• Gun Man — Machine gun. PC Gamer and IGN treat this as the learning character. Steady bullets while you learn walls and ceilings.
• Barbarian — Dual circling swords, Streamer Mode. Melee orbit teacher. Same bunkhouse, not a late unlock.

After those two feel readable, unlock Baby (magnum, extra gold). Do not hunt a bunkmate named Leech. Leech is a Steam achievement (defeat Wyrm in under 30 seconds), not a character. Details: Unlock Characters and Achievements.

Nine bunkmates exist. Seven names are public. Two names are unpublished — ignore fan nicknames on your first night.

Picking your first arena

Your first named arena is the Catacombs. Stay there until you can bank Bones for a Dogmancer slot and a couple of hearts. The six named arenas, in the Steam achievement spine, are Catacombs, Pit, Corridor, Boiler, Tombs, and Flood. Daily Dungeon is extra (Play the Daily / Vampire Ring), not a seventh named stage.

Flood is half water. Boiler is the industrial heat map and the Hypnomancer unlock (second boss). You do not need those on night one.

Surviving your first waves

Early waves are the tutorial. Use them to learn enemy paths and chest routes. After the density spike, standing still is the usual death.

Habits:

• Keep moving. Wall and ceiling travel is not optional flavour — read Movement.
• Collect Blood. Blood is XP. Full bar = three upgrade cards.
• Prioritise a second weapon slot at the Dogmancer when you can afford it.
• Check the quest log after sessions. Hypnomancer is the second Boiler boss; do not invent other prices.

What to spend Bones on first

1. Extra weapon slot — two guns from wave one beats a tiny stat.
2. Extra hearts — room to learn Catacombs.
3. Movement speed — kiting after the density spike.

A short death still banks Bones. Do not force a full clear if you are feeding the floor. Skip invented “buy Leech for 250” tables.

Level-up choices

When you level, pick from three cards. Early priority:

1. A second weapon if you only have one
2. Upgrades to your primary (machine gun or swords)
3. Hearts / shields
4. Magnet (larger Blood radius)

The run pauses at each level. Read all three.

After your first run

Bones go to the Dogmancer. Buy, then enter Catacombs again. Each run should feel slightly less unfair as slots and hearts stack. When Catacombs is readable, look at Baby, then the arena spine, then Boiler’s second boss. Use How to Play for the loop, Unlock Characters for what is actually confirmed, and Bones & Dogmancer for shop categories without fake character prices.