In 2004, the Japanese porn AVG Suzukuri Dragon was released. Despite mediocre sales and a lack of popularity, the game’s unique yet in-depth management simulation gameplay has earned it a good reputation among its players. In 2019, Koihime Musō, a bishoujo series based on the Three Kingdoms period of China, collaborated with SofthouseChara, the developer of Suzukuri Dragon, to create the unique joint work Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain.

Under the blessing of traditional Japanese Isekai Fantasy, with demon lord and hero tropes, the player in this game plays the role of the dungeon operator, repelling explorers by placing units and facilities. This design, similar to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord?, and featuring more modern graphics and system design compared to Suzukuri Dragon, makes Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain an excellent work. However, the game has made significant cuts to its core mechanics, emphasizing multi-round play to overcome difficulties rather than strategy. The limited number of levels also makes it impossible for this work to be regarded as a serious management simulation game; it is just a porn AVG with a certain degree of playability and fun.


Dungeon management is the core of this game. During the preparation stage, players spend coins and materials to construct facilities or upgrade characters. By dispatch, players could engage with the enemy and advance the game plot, and deepen their relationships with each female character. Except for some skills, all combat aspects of this game are automatic, and the operations that players can perform are essentially limited. Since character raising progress could be inherited after completing the game, Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain can only be said to be challenging at the beginning, and it will become easier as the game progresses. The punishment and negative feedback for player failure in this game are quite light, making the overall gaming experience very relaxing.

Though it is a derivative work of the Koihime Musō worldview, just like the series itself, in addition to making a rough reference to the character setting and the relationships between them to provide the audience with a first impression, even if you have no knowledge of this series or even the Three Kingdoms period, there will be no problem in the plot experience. The plot is in a standard, humorous, and moege narrative style, filled with a large number of daily events. The female characters have distinct personalities and outstanding designs, and the voice actors have an excellent level of control over the characters’ catchphrases, personalities, and emotions.


The visual experience that Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain brings to players is very poor. The text rendering effect of this game is incredibly poor. It is not only blurry but also flickers frequently; there are occasional crash bugs during the game as well. There are so many daily events in this game, and the amount of text is relatively large. Some plots are filler and of mediocre quality, and the erotic content is quite late. It is definitely not a good thing for players who don’t like reading too much and want to get straight to the point. In terms of plot quality, Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain can only be said to be a qualified game, but not an excellent one; the emotional line of this work is described in a simple and rough manner, lacking foreshadowing, and some of the endings are extremely jumpy. The game’s hints about the condition that triggers the character’s dialogue are often misleading, too.

The idea of freely creating and running a dungeon is indeed a good one, but it’s a pity that Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain is essentially an adult game that does not focus on gameplay. These game designs can only become gimmicks to add color to the erotic content, rather than the core. The dungeon limit of this game is quite small, and players have no way to set up enough traps and give full play to their creativity; the number of levels and enemy types is also extremely limited. After experiencing the events of all characters, there is no more room left for play. The multiple playthrough numerical inheritance design is beneficial to casual players, but it has caused serious damage to the game’s strategy. The core of this game’s dungeon layout is nothing more than dispersing and slowing down the enemies, and the frame rate of the battle scenes is also very low. Some of the excellent and interesting core mechanisms in Suzukuri Dragon, terrain changes, and differentiated character raising are completely abandoned here.


In the porn AVG industry, where gameplay is generally not given much attention, although Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain cannot be compared with industry giants such as Alicesoft and Eushully, which are independent and have done an excellent job in extending gameplay, it still manages to stand out. It is sure that this game cannot be played as a serious dungeon management simulation; however, the humorous and relaxed plot, rich events, and casual gaming experience can still bring you a relaxing time, making this an NSFW game with a unique positioning. Also, if you are interested in the gameplay of this game and want to experience more, then be sure not to miss the original Suzukuri Dragon.

Tips:
1. Maou Karinchan RPG: Koihime Kenkoku Honsouki, which shares the same world as this game, has been released in DMM GAMES on April 22, 2025. If you like the game’s world-view setting and characters, you could give it a try.
2. Moege and Nukige are both Japanese words used to describe the genre of visual novels. Moege can be understood as games with cute girls doing cute things, while Nukige focuses on erotic content and scenes. Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain can be said to be both Moege and Nukige.
3. The current version is the original version released in 2019. The DLC that adds new characters and plots - 巣作りカリンちゃん -星詠みの神託- is not currently available on Steam.