Home › Beginner’s guide
PDMN beginner’s guide
New to PDMN, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon fangame you play in your browser? Here are the essentials to get off to a good start, from the Hollow to the bottom of the first dungeons. Every key is listed on the controls screen, reachable from the title screen, where you can also change them.
1. Form your duo
It all starts with your hero and your partner, chosen from 31 starter Pokémon from across the whole series. The Explorers of Sky personality quiz can choose for you. Don’t worry about types: every duo can finish the story.
2. The Hollow, your camp
Between explorations, you stroll around the Hollow. There you’ll find:
- Duskull’s bank, where whatever you deposit is never lost;
- Delibird’s shop, to buy and sell items;
- Chatot’s notices, requests to fulfill in the dungeons, which pay well;
- the gallery: its mouth is where the team sets off to explore, on the departure sheet where you choose the place.
3. In the dungeon: every step is a turn
Dungeons are turn-based: whenever you take a step, attack or use an item, the wild Pokémon act too. Every floor is randomly generated; find the stairs to go down, all the way to the bottom. Keep an eye on the team’s HP and your hero’s Belly, which empties as you walk: an Apple fills it up.
- Moves have PP: when they run out, the regular attack, weaker, is always available.
- Traps are hidden; once spotted, you step over them.
- Weather affects moves: in the rain, fire loses steam.
- Golden stairs lead to a game room: minesweeper, memory tiles or an ice rink, with a chest as the prize.
- A Monster House is a whole room crashing down on you: better be ready.
4. Items and held items
Your bag fills up with berries, seeds, orbs and rocks to throw. Each Pokémon can also hold an item, just one: it often makes all the difference. Gholdengo, the merchant, wanders right into the dungeons: he sells high, but he buys back too.
5. Recruiting and leading the team
A defeated wild Pokémon may ask to join your team. Each member follows a tactic you set yourself: Balanced, Aggressive, Cautious, Peaceful (never attacks, ideal to leave the final blow to the hero) or Stay Put. You can also set aside the moves they shouldn’t use.
6. Growing: levels and the Molt
Battles raise levels, and with them come new moves. Later on, your Pokémon can go through their Molt, this world’s evolution, even in the middle of a dungeon. Eevee changes depending on where it happens.
7. Saving and playing together
Your game saves itself in your browser. With an account (email or Discord), it’s also kept online and follows you across all your devices, phones included. And with an account, “Play Together” gives you a code to share so you can explore the same dungeon with a friend.
Beginner questions
How do I start a game?
On the title screen, choose Play. Take the personality quiz or pick your hero directly, then your partner, and the story begins in the Hollow.
What do you lose when the team is knocked out?
The bag and the coins you were carrying stay at the bottom of the dungeon. Whatever you left at the Hollow’s bank is always waiting for you.
How do I recruit a Pokémon?
By defeating a wild Pokémon: sometimes it asks to join the team. Save the final blow for your hero; teammates set to the Peaceful tactic help you with that.