Become Master of the Monster Lair on your DS

Update: Rising Star has got in touch to say that this is in fact the US version of Dungeon Maker. So it is already coming to Europe. Apologies for the confusion.

It seems like dungeon making is the new brain training for DS this month. A couple of weeks back we heard about Dungeon Maker DS due out in September and now Atlus US has announced its own dungeon-designing, monster-hunting game, Master of the Monster Lair.

How does it work? Well, the land of South Arc is overrun by freeloading monsters – presumably the types who nick all your cigarettes on a night out or ask to stay on your sofa for a few days and are still living on it rent-free several months later. Your job, then, is to create a labyrinth designed to catch the blighters, utilising different types of rooms (there are 20 in total) to attract certain types of monsters while using various bait, traps and weapons.

Apparently all of this begins with a talking shovel, an item you discover at the start of the game and which means, as its new owner, you get the job of dungeon-digging.

As you capture new monsters, you earn more weapons and items, which allow for more unique dungeon designs, and the promise of bigger, better baddies to be caught.

The game can be played alone or there's a multiplayer option, too. In the latter you're able to challenge friends to reach the end of your custom built monster lair while seeing what monsters and items await in theirs. Trading your designs over local wireless is also possible.

Master of the Monster Lair has a confirmed US release of September 2nd.