Don't forget to introduce yourself, I think it is obligatory here

Maybe you can find a programmer who can port it I wonder if there is a AGS like application for tablet devices already...

When I saw this "Enter the Story" trailer somewhere a while ago I was totally catched (sadly for you I am not that into adventure games ). This might sell well on tablet devices. Reaching out to forums like this is a good step to find other devs and enthusiasts who can point you to related games.

like a t-rex ^^

Wow this looks astonishing & wonderful.

"Show new replies to your posts." -> wow an update on "Pike & Shot"!!! Let's see... no update 

I sort of like the idea that you're always only against the dungeon and not other players.

Yeah I think you are right.

As a conclusion, if I would create such a game I would probably do it like this:
Only one hero per dungeon;
there is a small world map with "symbolic" dungeon locations;
each location has special requirements for keepers to get their dungeon into the location's dungeon list (e.g. place at least 5 ice props in your dungeon to get listed at the level 1-5 ice cave location);
each keeper can build as much dungeons as he wants, but he needs resources for space/props/monsters etc.;
storage quests are bound to locations;
a hero accepts a quest and then has to enter a location for accomplishing it -> quests bring heros and dungeons together;
when a hero enters a location he enters randomly a matching dungeon with the right location/quest combination;
heros can choose to enter the last dungeon they vistied before dying (until they finish the quest) unless it is currently challenged by someone else;
dungeon building is made in a way that making impossible dungeons is impossible;
i would drop the dungeon heart idea;
exploring dungeons is rogue like/round based (with a max. round time+count);
while a hero explores the dungeon editing is impossible;
traps need to be rearmed via click;
skeletons remain in the dungeon unless clicked;
after dying a hero has to rest for a certain amount of time;
the keeper buys monsters in a "monster shop" (sometimes the monsters need special props or items);
heros can only accept quests that are in their level range (e.g. there is a lvl 20-30 quest "rescue the princess" or a lvl 1-5 quest "find the mayor's lost boot");
keepers and heros can accept multiple quests;
heros can only take a limited amount of items per dungeon run;
heros may take gold or special props instead of quest items;
heros can't take quest items of quests they didn't accept;
fallback npc dungeon's/heros to level up w/o real players (quests with npcs give far less rewards);
when a storage quest expires unattempted an appropriate npc horde challenges the keeper;
quests can not be canceled (only due to level advancement);
possibly hero team quests as keepers' endgame;

How about time slots for entering a dungeon. A limited count of players can enter a dungeon per time slot. This could lead to a gameplay like Dungeon Party.

Be careful to make the game not too complex, because this might dilute the core gameplay.

Thank you for the great illustrated feedback I will definitely try these tips!

trying to improve my painting skills. weird proportions and incorrect lighting -.-...

A nice article about luck in games on Gamasutra: A Matter of Luck

Warhammer has plenty of luck in it. I like luck in multiplayer games or games w/o saving. In singleplayer with saving it often leads to reload until the right result gameplay.

Impressive, the lighting is very plastic.

resurrecting them with a necromancer and using them as undead hordes would be an option too
this can autobalance things a bit (especially when the undead last only for a limited amount of time).

superb, i guess the texture is baked from a high poly version?

npc caves = why?

Imagine that you have an initial constant playerbase that enjoys the game for a while. Now the game goes viral and there are no dungeons for new low level players who only want to raid dungeons for whatever reasons. Or there are too few dungeons/heros at the beginning of the game etc. Alternatively if dungeon building is more like "build and forget" a lack of dungeons probably will never happen. For gameplay scalability purposes there should be NPC heroes attackers (e.g. upset villagers) too...

ic
some thoughts for gameplay scaling:

heros and dungeons are randomly distributed over a world map -> traveling to a specific dungeon needs (real) time.

there is a maximum visiting rate for dungeons (the village next to the dungeon can host only a certain amount of heros).

to offer enough action for the heros there are npc caves/dragon lairs (w/o dungeon hearts).

when dungeon keepers aren't in a storage quest and only store the dungeon heart in the dungeon, they can close the dungeon for some time.

random thoughts on scalability: should scale like farmville & co. zynga would probably use smartfox for dungeon instances, maybe php+memcached+mysql for general server stuff and flash for client. see Rightscale "Social Gaming in the Cloud - a technical whitepaper" (for serverstuff).

Droquen

 

At least a less common mistake than Drogen.

yeah i always read Drogen which means drugs (cannabis etc.) in Germany.

well you don't have to clean your dungeon, but then heros may get some hints from the skeletons. I think such grindy mechanics make fun too. harvesting, cleaning and collecting via simple mouse clicks can be very relaxing and satisfying.

when collecting the skeleton a ghost replay could start or a link to such a replay could be logged into an attack log.

Skeletons could be a good incentive for visiting the game on a daily basis. The dungeon keeper just has to click on them to remove them... When he does this, he gets a very small reward too. Friends of the dungeon keeper may be able to do this too (help friends mechanic)- only works well when the dungeon map is always revealed.