DN1: Tips and Strategies

This page is here to help to provide more tips to players (tips that aren't given by the game in any way), as well as some recommended strategies to play safer and to use the game's mechanics to your advantage. They are given in a form of "Q&A". Different strategies work best in the original and the remastered version of the first Dungeon Nightmares game, so, if you know how to play the original, your strategies will need to be altered to survive the remastered version, as well as Dungeon Nightmares II: The Memory.

- "The Ghost Girl disrupts me all the time with her jumpscares, is there something I can do about her?"
Light candles to suppress the Ghost Girl's jumpscares.

- "How to avoid skeletons the best?"
When you encounter a skeleton, the best thing to do is to first get close to it. If the skeleton doesn't fall down, keep looking at it while going far away from it. If it is impossible not to turn your back to the skeleton (for example, you need to open a chest, or a door), turn back at it as soon as you finish what you are doing.

- "I hear a scratching sound as I'm walking, like there's something wooden scratching the floor, what is it?"
It's a skeleton following you. If you hear this, find a good place to turn around and reveal the skeleton.

- "Why did it suddenly get very quiet?"
The ambient sounds comprising the BGM stop when Mary is nearby.

- "What should I do with all these doors? Should I be leaving them open, or closing them?"
Good question. There is a short and a long answer to this.

Short answer : If you are new to the game, open all doors and leave them open. If you are more experienced and intend to try to avoid threats to save time, or to stay focused to do a 100% playthrough, open them, but close them again and keep them closed.

Long answer : In the original Dungeon Nightmares game, where the maps are only 3 and revealed from the beginning, it is best to open all doors you encounter and leave them open. If you bump onto Mary, you will have lots of doors ready to close as you run away from her. This means that if you need to cross a significant percentage of the map to go to a chamber you forgot to check, it is best to use a way you've already before, to be ready to close doors if needed. Now, if you aim to completely avoid bumping into Mary, then it is best to close all doors you open, as this will give you different advantage. If you hear a door opening in the distance, you will know that Mary is there, so, you can go through aanother way and avoid her. However, not all chambers have doors separating them from hallways, or other chambers, so, there is no guarantee that a door opening will give Mary's location out. Both strategies have their pros and cons, with the open doors strategy securing many escape paths and the closed doors strategy helping you avoid Mary if you know the game's mechanics well. If you are using the closed doors strategy, make sure you at least open each door you find before you close it, as every door you've opened won't require unlocking first and it will open immediately if you need to run from Mary.

- "How do I increase my chances to survive Night 7?"
It's simple. Don't run, unless you are in a chase. You may bump into Mary at any moment, so conserve your stamina and listen carefully to BGM. However, Mary's spawning is instantaneous and the silencing of BGM takes about 2 seconds. This means that it is possible for her to spawn this close to you that when you hear her screams, BGM still won't be gone. You are actually safer when in the end of a chase, than not in a chase, because when you have escaped Mary, but her theme is still playing, you still know where she is coming from. When the chase ends, she will disappear and you never know when and where you will encounter her again.

- "Is it me, or do I move slower if I use the left stick to move, rather than the directional buttons?"
If you have noticed this, you are correct, when it comes to diagonal movement. You walk faster if you press Up + Right, rather than tilt the stick towards up + right. So, it is recommended to use the directional buttons.

- "I think the camera doesn't turn very fast"
Set the camera stick sensitivity to maximum. This way, you will be able to make faster turns. To be able to control it better for precise movements, especially when in docked mode, it is recommended to use the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, if you have one.

- "The Ghost Girl disrupts me all the time with her jumpscares, is there something I can do about her?"
Light candles to suppress the Ghost Girl's jumpscares.

- "How to avoid skeletons the best?"
When you encounter a skeleton, the best thing to do is to first examine it. If the skeleton doesn't fall down upon examining it, keep looking at it while going far away from it. If it is impossible not to turn your back to the skeleton, because you need to open a chest, or a door, finish what you are doing, go to a place with open space and make sure that there's no blood on the edges of the screen because of a recent hit. If the above criteria meet, then turn around to reveal the skeleton. In an open space, you will still have room to move and if you didin't receive damage just before this, you will survive the skeleton's hit. Keep in mind that with the right stick controlling the camera, it is not as easy to avoid skeletons as it is with a mouse, so, it is recommended to set camera sensitivity to the maximum. Last, but not least, never spark, or light candles when in a chamber,  because maps are randomly generated and you don't know if there are skeletons in the chamber you just entered. It is best to light candles when in a hallway, because there is not as likely to be skeletons is a hallway.

- "What should I do with all these doors? Should I be leaving them open, or closing them?"
On the contrary to the original version, in the remastered one, you don't have the advantage of knowing the entire map, because it is revealed to you as you explore the dungeons. Therefore, it is impossible to predict potential escape routes if you bump into Mary. Thus, the best strategy is to open every door you encounter and then close it immediately. This way, you will take advantage of a certain mechanic of doors regarding Mary. If Mary needs to open a door that has not been tampered with, she will open it normally, in the same way as you open doors. If she finds a door that has been closed by you, she will need to hit it multiple times to force it to open. This happens regardless of you being in a chase, or not. When Mary starts hitting a door, she will be heard in a very long distance and the ground will also shake with her. This way, you will be able to pinpoint where she is coming from and if possible, avoid her. If you don't manage to avoid her, at least, use a way you used before to escape and at least the doors you've already closed won't need to be unlocked again, so, you won't get the cooldown.