Master of the Monster Lair

Master of the Monster Lair is a role-playing game where players act as Owen, a young boy in South Arc, who receives a magical talking shovel from the mayor to dig multi-floor dungeons in the mountains. The core gameplay involves designing lair layouts, recruiting and training monster teams from various species, and entering generated dungeons to battle endless waves of creatures for loot, items, and power-ups that improve Owen's stats through cooking. Story revolves around stopping a rampaging monster prince's plot by building successful lairs that lure the Eldritch Dragon. Key characters include Owen as the protagonist and the quirky mayor. It stands out for its dungeon-construction tycoon elements combined with RPG combat and exploration on the Nintendo DS, with local Wi-Fi trading of dungeon designs.