Darkest Dungeon wastes no time plunging players into a mood of doom and gloom. But that’s one of the reasons to love it. You control a party of adventurers who trudge into the depths of a dungeon, taking on enemies in turn-based battles as you go. Randomness plays a large role in the game, so you can never settle into a comfortable rhythm. The class system is nicely varied, making it rewarding to try different party combinations. Each character has a unique set of moves, some of which need to be unlocked and all of which can be upgraded. What moves they can use depend on where they’re positioned in the party line. For a game that might look simple on the outside, these overlapping systems add a great deal of complexity. And with the difficulty level so high, winning always feels rewarding.
- Darkest Dungeon was originally planned as a top-down tile-based game.
- It earned over $313,000 on Kickstarter and sold over one million copies.