Pixel Dungeons

This is the full walkthrough for Pixel Dungeons' free, browser-based RPG builder — everything from creating an account to publishing a finished RPG that anyone can play. No coding, no installs. If you'd rather play than build, head back to the Pixel Dungeons homepage and browse the marketplace instead.

On this page

• 1. Create your account
• 2. Create your world
• 3. Build your first map
• 4. Set your starting point
• 5. Place NPCs, monsters, and objects
• 6. Create your world's content
• 7. Write dialogue and hook in quests
• 8. Design a quest
• 9. Random vs. fixed encounters
• 10. Tag and publish your world
• FAQ

1. Create your account

One login works everywhere — the same account signs you into both the player app (where you browse and play worlds) and the admin world builder (where you build them). Register from the homepage, then open My Worlds from the nav bar to reach the builder.

2. Create your world

In the admin builder's home page, fill in a World name and an optional Description, then click Create world. Your world starts as a private draft — only you can see or edit it until you publish it.

3. Build your first map

Maps live directly on your world's own page (not a separate nav tab) — scroll to the Maps section, enter a map name plus a width and height, and click Create map. Open it to reach the map editor.

The map editor's left sidebar has five layer tabs:

• Terrain — pick a tile category (grass, water, dirt, stone, wall, plains, marshland, desert, snow, cave, wood interior, stone interior) and click grid cells to paint them. The cave and interior categories are what you'll use for dungeons and building interiors.
• Overlays — decorations like trees and roads, painted the same click-to-paint way. Roads auto-connect to their neighbors as you paint, so you don't have to pick corner/edge pieces by hand.
• Zones — paint regions where random encounters can trigger as a player walks through (more on this in step 9).
• Objects — covered in the next step.
• Start — covered in step 4.

4. Set your starting map and spawn point

Switch to the Start layer and click any tile on the map you want new characters to begin on. One click sets both the world's starting map and the exact spawn tile — the chosen tile is marked with a gold star. You can move this at any time by opening a different map and clicking a new tile.

5. Place NPCs, monsters, and objects

Switch to the Objects layer. Unlike terrain, objects are placed by dragging from the palette on the right onto the grid — placement saves immediately, there's no separate save step. The palette is grouped into: Map (checkpoints, exits), NPCs, Items, Searchable items (hidden until a player searches the tile), Shops, Fixed encounters, Structures, and Furniture.

• Exits are two-step: drag one onto a tile, then a panel asks which map and tile it leads to. Exits and structure entrances are automatically two-way — walking back onto the landing tile returns you where you came from, no extra setup.
• Structures and furniture can span multiple tiles (a building footprint, for example) and can be dragged to reposition after placement, not just removed and replaced.
• Click any placed object (other than a structure) to remove it instantly — no confirmation prompt, so double-check before you click.

6. Create your world's content

Before you can place an NPC, monster, quest, or shop on the map, it has to exist. Your world's own page has a nav bar for exactly this: NPCs, Items, Quests, Enemies, Spells, Encounters, Encounter zones, and Shops. Each has its own "+ New" button (e.g. + New NPC, + New enemy) and a list view for editing what you've already made.

A practical build order: create the enemies and items you want first, then an encounter (a named group of enemies), then NPCs and shops — that way, when you get to the Objects layer, everything you need is already available to pick from.

7. Write dialogue and hook in quests

From the NPCs list, click Edit dialogue → on any NPC to open its dialogue editor. A conversation is a tree of two node types:

• Line node — a speaker, a line of text, and a list of player-facing choices. Each choice points at whatever node comes next (or ends the conversation).
• Quest hook node — always an end point. Pick which quest it's tied to, and the game handles showing the right text automatically depending on whether the player hasn't seen the quest yet, has it in progress, or just completed it.

Branching conversations are built by chaining line nodes' choices together; you offer a quest by adding a choice whose destination is a quest hook node. The same quest can be hooked in from multiple NPCs, and one NPC can offer several different quests through different conversation branches.

8. Design a quest

From the Quests page, a quest has:

• Objectives — one or more of Deliver item to NPC, Collect item, or Defeat enemy, each with a quantity.
• Quest hook text — three required messages: what's shown when the quest is first offered, what's shown if a player revisits the hook while it's still in progress, and what's shown when it completes.
• Rewards — XP, gold, and any number of item rewards.

9. Random vs. fixed encounters

Pixel Dungeons supports two different ways to trigger a battle:

• Encounter zones — a painted region (the Zones layer) with a per-step chance to trigger a battle, pulled from a weighted table of possible encounters. Good for "this whole forest is dangerous" areas.
• Fixed encounters — a specific, visible tile placed from the Objects palette that always triggers the same encounter. Good for a boss guarding a doorway.

10. Tag and publish your world

On your world's own page, add up to ten tags (like fantasy or short) so players can find your world by topic in the marketplace — unlike the name/description, tags can be added or removed anytime.

When you're ready, click Publish next to your world's name. If you haven't set a starting map and spawn point yet (step 4), you'll see "Add at least one map before publishing" — go finish step 4 and try again. Publishing just changes your world's visibility, not a one-way door: you can keep editing it, and unpublish it again at any time with the same toggle.

FAQ

Can I create my own character classes?

Not yet — classes (Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Cleric) are currently a fixed roster shared by every world, not something a builder creates or customizes.

Do players need an account to play my world?

Yes — playing requires the same free account used for building, so progress can be saved per player.

Is there a size limit on maps?

Maps can be up to 100×100 tiles.

Can I edit my world after publishing it?

Yes. Publishing only controls whether your world shows up in the marketplace — you can keep building on it, and unpublish/republish whenever you want.

What's the difference between an Item and a Searchable item?

A regular item on the map is visible and picked up by walking over it. A searchable item is invisible on the map and is only found if a player explicitly searches that tile.