This article is part of Run, Die, Repeat, Polygon's week-long series exploring roguelikes.

I can't help but feel surprised that Final Fantasy XIV is 15 years old. As an MMORPG, the game faces an uphill challenge of entertaining a variety of players, and while the regular cadence of patches might be enough for many, it’s the Deep Dungeons roguelite mode that keeps solo players around.

In Final Fantasy XIV, Deep Dungeons enriches the solo experience. Introduced during Heavensward, the game's second expansion released in 2015, Deep Dungeon is a roguelite mode that you can play by yourself or with a group of players. Currently, there are three iterations in the game: The Palace of the Dead, Heaven-on-High, and Eureka Orthos. The equipment and level of your character doesn't matter in this mode. Every character starts at level 1, with a type of equipment only used inside Deep Dungeons, and needs to climb the floors to level up and improve their gear.

Despite each version having its distinctive traits, all Deep Dungeons follow the same structure. They offer a sequence of floors to be climbed —- Palace of the Dead being the only one with 200 floors, while the others have 100 —- and doing so involves facing enemies, searching for treasures, and........

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