Indie · January 19, 2016

Darkest Dungeon® (2016)

trophy120 achievementsextension6 DLClocal_offer-85% current discountgroup1M–10M ownerstrending_up3.8k peak concurrentrecommend134.8k recommendations
Darkest Dungeon is a challenging gothic roguelike turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring. Reclaim Your Ancestor's Estate Recruit, train, and lead a team of flawed heroes through twisted forests, forgotten warrens, ruined crypts, and beyond. You'll battle not only unimaginable foes, but stress, famine, disease, and the ever-encroaching dark. Uncover strange mysteries, and pit the heroes against an array of fearsome monsters with an innovative strategic turn-based combat system. Core Features The Affliction System – battle not only monsters, but stress! Contend with paranoia, masochism, fear, irrationality, and a host of gameplay-meaningful quirks! Striking hand-drawn gothic crowquill art style Innovative turn-based combat pits you against a host of diabolical monsters Narration system to celebrate your successes...and failures 16 (and counting!) playable hero classes, including Plague Doctor, Hellion, and even the Leper! Camp to heal wounds or deliver inspiring speeches. Rest your weary, shell-shocked characters in town at the Tavern or the Abbey to keep their stress in check. Classic CRPG and roguelike features, including character permadeath, procedural dungeons, and incredible replay Can you stem the tide of eldritch horrors erupting across your family’s ancestral estate? Descend at your peril! Awards and Honors PG Gamer: Best RPG of 2016 Game Informer - Best RPGs of 2016: 3 Awards IGN - Best of 2016: 2 Nominations IGF 2016 - 3 Nominations Rock Paper Shotgun - 50 Best RPGs of All Time PAX 10 - 2015 Game Debate Best Indie Game 2016 SXSW Gamer's Choice Nominee 2015 MMORPG - Best Indie RPG (Pax East 2014), Best RPG Nomination PAX Prime 2014 Indie Megabooth Selection - PAX East 2014, PAX Prime 2015

Indie releases from 2016

29 Indie titles launched in 2016 — top 6 by review volume.

Position in Indie

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume149.5k Steam reviewsTop 2% in Indie
Positive rating92% positiveGenre average: 87% — this title sits in top 41%
Metacritic84/100Genre average 77 — top 22% of Indie titles
Concurrent peak3.8k playersTop 4% in Indie by live player count
Engagement hours38 h averageTop 13% for session depth among Indie

Peer Indie titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Turn-Based Combat · 2.6k
  • Dark Fantasy · 2.2k
  • Dungeon Crawler · 2.2k
  • Rogue-like · 2.0k
  • RPG · 1.9k
  • Lovecraftian · 1.8k
  • Difficult · 1.6k
  • Turn-Based · 1.2k
  • Singleplayer · 1.1k
  • Perma Death · 1.0k
  • Strategy · 995
  • Atmospheric · 924
  • Dark · 893
  • Indie · 778
  • 2D · 757

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (12)

  • English volume_up
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish - Spain
  • Czech
  • Polish
  • Portuguese - Brazil
  • Russian
  • Italian
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Korean
  • Japanese volume_up

Full audio (2)

  • English
  • Japanese

Reception Metrics

Steam community

92%Very Positive · 149.5k reviews

137.5k positive · 12.0k negative

Metacritic

84/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Metacritic user score

8.0/10

Curator recommendations

134.8k

Peak concurrent players

3.8k

Press Quotes

“Darkest Dungeon is an incredible take on the classic dungeon crawl.” 9.25 – Game Informer “I can't say enough nice things about Darkest Dungeon.” 90 – US Gamer “Darkest Dungeon is an awesome game of tactics, management, and pushing your luck” 91 – IGN

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

38h

moderate (15–40 hours)

Median

12h

Typical completion time

2-week avg

5h

Current engagement

Achievements

120

Steam unlocks available

Features & Capabilities

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards
  • Steam Cloud
  • Remote Play on Tablet

Input & Comfort

  • Partial Controller Support

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing

Release & Availability

Release dateJan 19, 2016
DeveloperRed Hook Studios
Base price$3.74 -85%
DLC / Add-ons6 released
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners1M–10M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support · [email protected]

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Darkest Dungeon®