The Escapist have made a documentary about Darkest Dungeon, which is available on Youtube. Heavily featured are the game's co-founders Tyler Sigman and Chris Bourassa.

Thanks lianliu!

Indian Noob is going through their backlog of games and this time it is Darkest Dungeon that is getting attention, with the following conclusion:

I learned a few things playing Darkest Dungeon. The first thing is that RNJesus really despises my existence. The silver lining is a lie. If you’re a guy who cries over the loss of a soldier in X-Com, then you better pour some hot metal over that squishy heart of yours. Because in Darkest Dungeon, everyone is expendable. If you love challenging games that constantly pushes your sanity and willpower, then this is the game for you. If you aren’t getting it for the addictive and challenging gameplay, get it for the excellent gothic atmosphere, gritty art style and the narrator who has some of the most badass lines since Caleb from Blood. Despite getting my ass handed over to me by RNG goddess time after time, I always return for more. Remember, the darkness can be fought, they can be beaten… but there is always more.

Ars Technica takes another look at Darkest Dungeon and its new DLC and finds it a different game from two years ago.

Like the story on which it’s based, “The Color of Madness” starts with a comet crash landing into a farmstead. The impact spreads strange, slimy crystals across the surrounding land and its inhabitants, morphing them into a new enemy faction called Husks. Husks aren’t particularly tough but make up for their weakness with numbers. “The Color of Madness” mostly plays out as an endless, wave-based horde mode, granting better rewards the longer a single team survives the thronging masses. And if your team dies? It’ll just be temporarily lost in time and space, keeping its items and progress without that pesky perma-death.

This “Endless Harvest” requires very different tactics than the main game and its other major DLC, “The Crimson Court,” where attrition is as much about exploring dungeons as battling monsters. But developer Red Hook Studios has never been afraid to dramatically change the flow of its game. Sometimes that leads to controversy and outright hostility among players. Still, the fact remains that Darkest Dungeon is a fundamentally different game now than it was at launch. Specifically, it’s now a game I’m happy to “suffer through” all over again.

[...]

The Color of Madness DLC has been released for Darkest Dungeon.

Eurogamer reports that Darkest Dungeon DLC The Color of Madness will be released June 19th.

Developer Red Hook Studios has announced that The Color of Madness, the third paid DLC expansion for its superb Lovecraft-inspired strategy RPG Darkest Dungeon, will arrive on PC on June 19th.

The Color of Madness follows on from other paid expansions The Crimson Court and the smaller-scale Shieldbreaker, and gives the Darkest Dungeon an agricultural twist. Much of the new action is focussed around The Farmstead, the gloomy sweep of countryside surrounding The Hamlet's secluded windmill, and the nearby crash site of a mysterious comet.

[...]

@Megagames The next DLC for Darkest Dungeon will bring Alien Zombies to the Hamlet which is due for release Spring 2018.

If you thought Darkest Dungeon was already punishing enough with its blend of eldritch horror, vampiric aristocrats and sanity draining monsters of the deep, then the next DLC might not be for you. If you want even more of a challenge in the deeply difficult roguelike dungeon crawler though, The Colour of Madness brings even more Lovecraftian influences to bear.

As the story goes...

"Some hateful shard of alien origin has streaked through the night sky, crashing into the old Miller's farm on the outskirts of the Hamlet! Those unfortunate enough to witness the Comet's arrival have been blinded by what they can only describe as a shifting, ephemeral hue of damnably abrasive intensity. There has been no word from the farm in a fortnight, save for the unearthly groaning that echoes from the ruin of the mill..."

[...]

Darkest Dungeon has some new DLC called Shield Breaker and includes a new combat mechanic of stealth.

Darkest Dungeon - Shieldbreaker Releease BUILD #21049

27 October - redhookjohn
The DLC is currently only available in English but we are working on the translations! The rest of our supported languages (Simplified Chinese, German, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Polish, and Brazilian PR) will be available in a few days. We currently estimate Tuesday Oct 31 but will keep you updated! We apologize for the inconvenience and are working as fast as we can on this!

The Shieldbreaker DLC - Now Available!
Hailing from the distant windswept dunes of the east, the Shieldbreaker arrives in the Hamlet! Deadly as a viper, her iron will has been forged in the heat of the blazing desert sun. Though outwardly demure, her emancipation from the barren wastes came at a price so terrible, it haunts her dreams even now...

The Shieldbreaker is a powerful ally in the fight to reclaim the Estate and banish the evil that squats in the Darkest Dungeon. A highly-tactical hero with solid damage dealing capability, she truly excels when countering monsters with high protection and those who guard their allies. Her movement, speed, and targeted abilities make her a valuable ally for dismantling intractable monster groups. Though relatively low health, the Shieldbreaker is yet highly survivable in short bursts thanks to her Aegis shield.

Darkest Dungeon

New Feature: Curio Tracker

• As you interact with curios in the game, you will see icons on the items in your inventory that will help you remember which ones yielded positive or negative results! This feature will allow you to build up your own knowledge base of curio hints through experience!
• You can turn this function off in the Gameplay Options. (Default is set to ON)

New Combat Mechanic: Stealth. Stealthed monsters cannot be targeted by direct attacks unless that attack has the Bypass Stealth quality. Stealth generally lasts for the first 2 rounds of combat. Stealthed monsters can be hit with indirect attacks such as AOE.

• These Monsters have been given Stealth beginning at Veteran level:
  
  • Brigand Fusilier
  • Brigand Hunter
  • Crone
  • Pelagic Shaman
  • Bone Soldier
  • Swine Slasher

• These Skills have been given Bypass Stealth and De-Stealth. In other words, the attacks can hit stealthed monsters AND pull those monsters out of stealth.
  
  • SHIELDBREAKER (see DLC)
  • Highwayman: Tracking Shot
  • Arbalest/Musketeer: Rallying Flare
  • This skill now targets one enemy to remove stealth, while still granting its original party buffs.
  • Antiquarian: Flash Powder
  • Occultist: Vulnerability Hex
  • Leper: Intimidate

@PCGamer Darkest Dungeon is 60% off on Steam until Friday.

Red Hook Studios' Darkest Dungeon is one of the hardest yet most enjoyable games I've ever played—an experience that's been bolstered over time by its range of neat player-made mods. The base game is subject to a 60 percent discount on Steam till Friday, and there are a number of cool new class mods which make it worth checking out.

[...]

The Daily Emerald has reviewed Darkest Dungeon: Crimson Court expansion:

Review: ‘Darkest Dungeon: Crimson Court’ adds a whole extra layer to the challenging RPG

If guiding a party of disease-ridden neurotic adventurers on a hopeless quest isn’t enough, imagine managing their vampiric addictions, keeping them from flogging themselves to death and dodging zealous hammer-wielding madmen along the way. Red Hook Studios found a way to make its turn-based dungeon crawling RPG “Darkest Dungeon” even more strenuous with its first major DLC expansion the “Crimson Court.”

[...]

While a challenging and immersive experience on its own, “Darkest Dungeon” is thoroughly improved by the addition of “Crimson Court.” The expansion not only adds extra depth to the already deep gameplay and narrative, but it creates a certain sense of urgency and purpose in the main campaign.

Here are some reviews of Darkest Dungeon: Crimson Court.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I’m conflicted. Conceptually, The Crimson Court is very much my cup of blood, but the execution, particularly when it comes to the first mission and the curse, sometimes feels off. That said, Red Hook has clearly been taking feedback seriously, and changes have already been made to make things a little less punishing.

Twinfinite, 3.5/5

The Crimson Court’s new mechanics are fantastic additions to Darkest Dungeon, and they’ve definitely helped to keep things fresh with all these new twists and developments. While I do love how seamlessly the new content has been integrated into the game, it might need a bit of balancing before it becomes truly fun and engaging to play. As it stands, The Crimson Court feels too much like an unfair beginner’s trap which continues to punish players with devastating consequences that you can’t plan for. You’ll look on in helpless despair as your heroes fall to the Curse one by one, and you’ll eventually have to make the difficult choice of giving your last Blood vial to one favorite hero and leaving the other to die. You’ll also probably have to reset your game multiple times before you get lucky with your RNG attacks and resource gathering. But then again, I suppose that’s the name of the game.

IGN, 7.7/10

The Crimson Court pumps Darkest Dungeon full of disturbing blood-sucking enemies, a challenging new class, and a marathon-style new area that forces you to think differently about how to sustain your team over a long run. While there’s definitely enough new content in The Crimson Court to come back to Darkest Dungeon for, it’s more the kind of DLC that mixes things up for a new replay than an essential upgrade you should install from the beginning.

@PCGamer Crimson Court has been released for Darkest Dungeon on Steam. The base game has also received a hefty update as well.

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The Darkest Dungeon expansion The Crimson Court is out today, bringing with it the villainous vampire-hunting Fanatic, a new hero named the Flagellant, and also an update to the base game that makes a pile of changes and bug fixes laid out in some not-terribly-detailed patch notes. As befits a moment of this magnitude, there is also a trailer.
[...]

@RockPaperShotgun Darkest Dungeon now has Steam Workshop support. Red Hook recommend backing up saves before trying any mods.

The splendid Darkest Dungeon [official site] has launched a Steam Workshop, making it a snap to find and install mods. With a while still to wait for Darkest Dungeon’s expansion, Crimson Curse, why not have a crack at some mods? Mods already on the Workshop cover everything from to a wintry makeover and UI tweaks to new classes and ways to make DD even more challenging.

Let’s have a quick look at some of the more popular mods. This one adds more colour options for characters, nice and simple. Folks have made new classes like the Pit Fighter and a rework of the previously-cosmetic-only Musketeer. This one has some handy little UI tweaks. This makes everywhere snowy and pretty. And Pitch Black Dungeon is a huge overhaul with hundreds of new enemy variants, more quests, loads of potions, a big rebalancing, and loads of things to generally add more risk, thought, opportunity, and difficulty – good luck.
[...]

@RockPaperShotgun Darkest Dungeons expansion has been pushed back to April and a new free update adds new enemies.

New enemies are coming to Darkest Dungeon [official site] as part of the upcoming free update adding a shorter (but not easier) ‘Radiant' mode. That's the word from developers Red Hook Studios, who say they're planning to launch the update by early February with other a number of "quality of life" tweaks too. The bad news is that all this extra work will push the dungeon crawler's expansion, the vampiric Crimson Court, back into April. I'll happily wait for that, especially if other fanciness is coming first. Like that ↑ new cheerleading Bone Bearer.

Four new enemies are coming to Champion (level 5) dungeons with the Radiant update, Red Hook say. They've only revealed the banner-waving Bone Bearer, who I'm told "are even said to tap into the hoarish energies that animate the long-decayed corpses" and will be skulking around Ruins dungeons. Some of that git Vvulf's mega-tough bandit pals will roam beyond that special encounter and into regular Champion-grade bandit lineups too.

GameSpew has reviewed Darkest Dungeon:

Darkest Dungeon Review

Darkest Dungeon is one of the games of the year. A densely gripping tour de force that provides endless hours of gameplay despite the seemingly limited scope presented in its immediacy. Simultaneously adhering strictly to the rules associated with in its genre while providing a completely individualistic experience, this turn-based RPG might be one for the ages.

Red Hook Studios, made up of a mismatch of veteran game creators, set out to create a game that, if nothing, completely lives up to its name. Darkest Dungeon is not just a catchy title that is designed to capture one’s eye as they browse the PSN or Steam store. No, it is safe to say that this is about as honest of a title as they came. If the phrase “Darkest Dungeon” does not fill you with intrigue and a desire to see what it’s all about, then I suggest looking elsewhere.

[...]

Overall, Darkest Dungeon offers a robust and efficient experience that is not afraid to let the player truly go through the trials and errors that would come with such a mission. Just don’t get too attached to any of your awesome warriors.

Good:

• Easy to pick up but hard to master
• Visuals, soundtrack and story all perfectly compliment each other
• Character design

Bad:

• RNG system can be a bit frustrating

Score: 9/10

 

The fiendishly cruel Darkest Dungeon will have its first DLC soon, probably around the beginning of the year. Called The Crimson Court, it will add a new class, and...maybe vampires?

The announcement contains very little information, but what's there—including the creepy-as-hell image below and "The Blood! I must have the Blood!"—would seem to point at the coming of vampires. The DLC will include a new playable class, "but we're keeping the rest of the details close to the chest for now," Red Hook said in an email.

Forgottenlor played Darkest Dungeon and had some fun, but also had some less than positive things to note about the game.

Other than combat you can run across obstacles, traps, secret doors and various containers in the dungeons. Various equipment which you can buy in town can help you deal with these, though you can just ignore them if you wish. Once you've played through each of the starting 4 dungeons once or twice, you realize which containers or places you should leave alone, and which ones are worth opening or visiting. This is an interesting characteristic of Darkest Dungeon. There is a right way and a wrong way to do most things. If you do things the wrong way, you will be punished, if you do them the right way, you will be rewarded. Unlike in a lot of games, there aren't multiple solutions, with different, but equally rewarding outcomes. Part of the fun of Darkest Dungeon is figuring this stuff out, but the probem with it is that once you have done so, such things lose their interest, because you almost automatically click on things you should open, and ignore things you shouldn't. There really isn't a good risk/reward mechanic.

Nathan Grayson (Kotaku) tells the story of the not so easy journey of the Darkest Dungeon through Steam Early Access:

Darkest Dungeon's Harrowing Journey Through Steam Early Access

When Darkest Dungeon first launched on Steam Early Access in February 2015, it was almost universally beloved. A unique, polished, fleshed-out experience on Early Access? It was practically unheard of. So it was all happily ever after from there, right? Hardly.

For a few months, things went according to plan. The punishingly difficult dungeon-crawler RPG/trauma simulator soared on wings of praise from critics and masochistic fans alike. As our own Kirk Hamilton said at the time: “Darkest Dungeon feels remarkably far along. It’s got a lot of levels to play through, a bunch of characters, a ton of different gameplay elements all woven together and apparently fully functional. It’s deep, chewy, and complex. You can’t currently play it to completion, but that doesn’t make it feel any less complete.”

Eventually, though, honeymoon periods end, and some end nasty. For Darkest Dungeon, the wake-up call came when developer Red Hook Studios added two controversial mechanics in July 2015: corpses and heart attacks. Darkest Dungeon’s combat is all about positioning, and corpses added an extra layer of sometimes frustrating complexity to that. Meanwhile, heart attacks could cause characters to permanently die when they reached a certain level of stress, causing some players to complain that the game relied too much on randomness rather than authentic difficulty.

[...]

Polygon checked out Darkest Dungeon and award it with an 8/10.

In its best moments, Darkest Dungeon makes me feel crazy and hopeless. There's something I can't say for most games: The times when I most felt that I had irrevocably fucked up were also the times when the game was at its strongest. Though some of Darkest Dungeon's more annoying design concessions detract from the overall experience, I'd be foolish not to recommend such a singular experience. There's always a strand of hope, however slender, to pull yourself out of the darkness, and it's worth fighting through it.

Thanks Eye.

Couch has found this article at PopOptiq about the uncompromising design choices of Darkest Dungeon, related to user feedback that is given to developers.

Several times over the course of early access, changes were made based directly on player feedback. I’m all for a bit of developer transparency, and I wish good luck upon any designer who wades into the murky depths of a public forum to talk directly to players. A lot of good suggestions were made on various platforms – Steam forums, official forums, even Reddit – that actually ended up implemented into the game one way or another. As someone who grew up in an era when game designers were held in such mystique that “my dad works at Nintendo” really meant something, it’s pretty exciting to be able to speak directly to developers and actually have them listen.

t should be an ideal “everyone wins” scenario, but the problem is players are divided on how the game should actually play. For every reasonable discussion of balance, there were people taking sides, forming camps around two fundamental ideas: “this game should be harder” and “this game should be easier”. Bile and insults were thrown, the developers got called incompetent or other nasty things an innumerable amount of times, and yet they still continued to listen and respond to the community, braving the horrors within much like the dungeon-crawling heroes of the game itself. The arguments became more personal, with one side claiming that “casuals are ruining it for the real players” and the others saying “the elitists are ruining it for everyone else”. Only with more vulgarities bouncing back and forth.

Unlike other games, this isn’t just something that can be done away with by adding a difficulty selection and calling it a day. Sold as a game that’s supposed to be harsh and unpleasant at times, taking the sting off of its nastier moments runs the risk of eliminating all the tension the game’s aesthetics deliberately evoke. After all, a game about the stresses of dungeon crawling wouldn’t have much impact if the average player rarely had to worry about death or madness. The game’s difficulty moved back and forth around a personal sweet spot for me as development went on, eventually falling into a nice middle-ground by the time of release. I’m satisfied, but as made abundantly clear by a vocal minority, not everyone is happy, with both sides of the previous argument sometimes stating that listening to the other faction caused the developers to ruin the experience.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun have checked out the dungeon crawler Darkest Dungeon.

As my heroes got stressed, I got stressed with them. As they succumbed to madness, I felt a little flutter of panic. And as they died I was angry and then, knowing what that truly meant for my save file, despondent. In a way Darkest Dungeon accomplishes something great, because I began by caring about the heroes. Now I look at new faces and know there’s no point. I have become, like the game’s narrator, embittered by my own failings – angry at fate itself, and placing no value on the lives of others.

Few games deliver on their worlds so completely, intentional or no. For some this kind of consequence-heavy design is exactly what they want, and fair enough. For others, maybe not. And me? I’ve given up, past the stage of caring, content to let my hamlet sink to ruin – and laugh at the thought.

Gamespot reviewed Darkest Dungeon - Verdict: Superb

A werewolf, a paladin, a bandit, and a cleric walk into the abyss. The werewolf's transformations startle and stress the psyche of the party. The paladin's heart gives out. Our thief begins behaving irrationally. He compulsively opens suspicious chests and rifles through dead bodies. He falls gravely ill. Our cleric, pushed to the brink, finds resolve in faith. She fights back wave after wave of evil abominations far longer than she should. In time, she finds herself overwhelmed. Knowing that his friends broke down and died because of his monstrosity, the werewolf heads back into town, distraught, to self-flagellate and exchange his grief for blood.

That's the kind of moribund humor Darkest Dungeon works with. Everything here is a little weird, and it'd be easy to pass it off as yet another game inspired by Lovecraftian horror, but Darkest Dungeon's gameplay makes it so much more.

[]

The Good

• Deep, evolving play that encourages broad strategies
• Foreboding atmosphere sets a gripping tone of hopelessness
• Spectacular art direction sells this grim world
• Excellent city and party management
• Gratifying play that rewards cleverness

The Bad

• Interface can be overwhelming

Gamesided reviewed Darkest Dungeon and they say that it's an early GotY contender:

Darkest Dungeon Review - Madness, Our Old Friend

The fickle nature of Steam’s Early Access program overshadows the excellence of some of the titles to grace the service. Games development takes its time to get right, even if parts of a finished product are ready for public consumption. Darkest Dungeon is the best example of the process producing excellence, mixing the goal of a completed project with the responsive evolution, in part, by the way of public criticism. It has helped independent developer Red Hook Studios mold an amazing amalgamation of gothic sensibilities with the deconstruction and demonstration of what it truly means to be a warring “hero.”

[...]

Verdict

Score: 9/10

There’s something that the Darkest Dungeon taps into that isn’t quite replicated. It has a simple art and animation style that projects like a comic infused with gothic sensibilities. It plays like a D&D dungeon-crawling campaign with added house rules to expand upon the base game. It sells itself as a ghost story, hanging onto a narrative drip as you become immersed in a low fantasy horrific world. You feel like a kid who’s stumbled upon the most terrifying choose-your-own-adventure pop-up book but can’t pry away.

Released fewer than three weeks into the new year, Darkest Dungeon has already solidified itself as an early Game of the Year contender.

Gamasutra talked with Darkest Dungeon's producer and design director Tyler Sigman and creative director Chris Bourassa about their development process.

How much time have you spent working on the game so far?

Sigman: Chris and I did a lot of prepro via concept meetings and brainstorming sessions, so by the time we kicked off development, we at least had a pretty good idea of what we were trying to do. But we formally began development in April 2013. We Kickstarted in February 2014, Early Access’d in February 2015, and hit full release on January 19, 2016. We originally were aiming for about 18 months of development, but this being videogames, things have a way of stretching out!

Bourassa:  We spent a good year or so meeting up outside of our day jobs and talking through the design and structure of the game.  I still have those old sketchbooks - they’re packed full of screen layouts, fresh ideas, false starts, and breakthrough ‘eureka’ moments!

 

What was the toughest part about developing an Early Access game?

Sigman: It’s like a white knuckle rollercoaster ride. We’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of success, but we’ve had some tough moments, too. Developing in Early Access is like working while naked in a transparent cube suspended above Times Square. Your lows and highs are there for everyone to see. But that’s kind of the point, and DD is a stronger game for having gone through it. I remain extremely bullish on both Kickstarter and Early Access. But my advice is to make sure to swallow your Dramamine before taking the plunge.  Community management and live game support are things that take extra skillsets and resources beyond what is already hard enough: making a good game.

Cliqist takes a look back to the Kickstarter and Early Access phase of Darkest Dungeon:

How Darkest Dungeon Stayed True to Its Kickstarter Promises

It entered the crowdfunding realm on March 14, 2014. It covered its $75,000 goal in less than 24 hours. A year later, it was seen regularly on Twitch.tv’s top 10 streamed games despite only being in the infancy of its Early Access life cycle. No, this is totally not a cheesy intro to an article, but merely a list of facts applying to Darkest Dungeon – an astoundingly evil and mind-bogglingly fun dungeon crawler that will surely make you rip your hair in frustration.

I get the shivers just by saying the name actually, thinking about the swine monsters, the drums (the stressful type, imagine that), the necromancy, the heart attacks, the corpses and all those awful diseases I’ve never heard of before… And yet, Darkest Dungeon manages to lure me into playing more and more each day, as if I’m some sort of sadist addicted on torture and despair. I guess it also helps that I’m a sucker for highly stylized visuals, especially ones depicting dank dark dungeons narrated by the most perfidious narrator you’ll ever have the pleasure to listen to.

However, if you’ve come for a review I’m afraid this is the wrong place. Instead, wouldn’t it be better if we took a returning glimpse at the original Kickstarter campaign, how it all lead into Early Access and what the current (final) state of the game is in relation to the original pitch?

Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Let’s get cracking.

[...]

Thanks Couch!

Another very postive review for Darkest Dungeon at Trusted Reviews:

A lot of dungeon crawlers can play out as power trips. While your hero (or party of heroes) won’t necessarily boast godlike invulnerability, it’s taken as standard that you will be able to cut through vast swathes of beasties with impunity – as long as you haven’t selected the hardest difficulty. See: Diablo 3. See also: Pillars Of Eternity.

Darkest Dungeon doesn’t offer this power trip. In fact, there’s something gleefully old school about Red Hook Studio’s nightmarish trip underground. Here is a game that demands you invest in a troop of characters, manage everything from their equipment to their stress levels and bear in mind that all of them could meet an untimely demise if they turn the wrong corner and run into the wrong monster. It’s a little refreshing, for a change, to be controlling a posse of ‘heroes’ that appear woefully out of their depth from the get-go.

[...]

Verdict

If you’re prepared to take that possibility on board, Darkest Dungeon offers a challenging chasm to lose yourself in. It won’t appeal to every type of player, but for those willing to face the prospect of crippling loss, insanity and nail-biting tension, Darkest Dungeon is certainly worth the time you’ll sink into it.

Score: 9/10

Giant Bomb takes a quick look at Darkest Dungeon.

Two new positive reviews for Darkest Dungeon at PC Gamer and IGN:

PC Gamer:

[...]

One of the reasons I love Darkest Dungeon is that measuring the mental toll of adventuring feels so overdue. Game violence has been consequence-free for a long time, but that’s changing. The new Tomb Raider games show Lara Croft dealing with profound mental trauma, for example, and games like Viscera Cleanup Detail poke at shooters’ carefree bodycount.

[...]

Score: 88/100

IGN:

[...]

Teetering on The Brink

That’s not even all of what’s going on, but you get the idea: it’s an incredible amount. A lesser game might collapse under the weight of so many detailed moving parts, but Darkest Dungeon ties it all together surprisingly well. Even so, in the later missions I found I spent at least as long planning a run as playing it, which is a little lopsided. It feels as though developer Red Hook might’ve had trouble saying no to cool-sounding feature ideas, and even though it pulls off an incredible feat by making it gel into an excellent game, I have to wonder if it might’ve benefitted from a little pruning for the sake of easing the burden of management in the late game.

[...]

The Verdict

Darkest Dungeon is a grim and merciless tactical strategy game whose great tension comes from its many layers of complexity, unpredictable randomization, and willingness to put our fragile characters in mortal danger if we dare to venture into its depths in search of treasure and glory. Brilliant narration and stiff yet surprisingly expressive animation make it easy to be drawn into its vague but tantalizing world, though the end feels artificially out of reach.

Score: 9.1/10

Thanks henriquejr!

Rock, Paper, Shotgun takes a look at the cruel dungeon crawler, Darkest Dungeon.

Darkest Dungeon [official site] begins with a foreboding admonition. It’s a game about making the most of a bad situation, you’re told from the outset. Your actions are permanent, therefore the quests you embark upon will often end in failure. “Heroes will die,” it says. “And when they die they stay dead.”

These preeminent words of wisdom project an honest sentiment that’s not only a tone-setter for Darkest Dungeon, but also serves to define its makeup: through each stage of development – from its beginnings, its crowdfunding success, a year-long stint in Early Access, and now onto full release – developer Red Hook Studios envisioned a brutally difficult game that would offer little in the way of concession. But does the game make death and despair engaging? Here’s wot I think.

Darkest Dungeon is the realisation of its theme and cruel twist on dungeon-crawling. Its prudent candor is what stands it apart from the hordes of commensurate permadeath-operating, procedurally-generating roguelikes available elsewhere. It’s a game that can be stubborn, incredibly frustrating, at times baffling, and often wonderful. It’s as much about micromanagement, resource gathering and squad building as it is about luck, perseverance and determination, where the line between hope and despair is often as hard to determine as guessing which mindset your haphazard crew will grudgingly drag onto the battlefield.

Unlike its genre siblings, though, it’s far from a whimsical fairy tale depicting valiant warriors and fervent champions, but the complete opposite. Worse still, it wastes no time reminding you of this at every turn.

More information.

Shacknews recommends Darkest Dungeon:

We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes

Before you start seeing manifestations too horrible to describe, though, you inherit a huge manor perched above a decrepit town. From these humble beginnings you learn that your ancestor unearthed hellish beings that cursed this land and its inhabitants. It is up to you and the heroes you acquire to rid this land of the horrors. 

Darkest Dungeon has the core elements of your typical roguelike: procedurally generated levels, permadeath, and punishing difficulty. However, it stands out from the crowd with its stress mechanic and the quirk/affliction system. Darkest Dungeon drives home the point that your adventurers are not overpowered deathbringers that can barrel through these dungeons while high fiving each other and chuckling throughout it. They are flawed humans that face horrors that they can barely conceive, and will leave them physically and mentally scarred.

Dungeon crawling leaves a toll on your party, causing permanent (well, permanent-ish) changes to them. Sometimes these changes can be beneficial. They may be able to navigate the Ruins better, or are faster at the start of a fight. However, most of the time they are afflicted with negative quirks like being more stressed in low torch light, or a drinking problem. The quirk and affliction systems create a personality for your adventurers, allowing you to grow attached to them, so it will hurt more when they die a brutal death. That's when, not if.

[...]

Darkly Rewarding

Darkest Dungeon takes the staples of roguelikes and adds the atmosphere and themes of Lovecraftian Horror and does so with incredible success. The game captures the feeling of battling an unending wave of nightmarish abominations with little to no chance of hope. But when you do succeed you feel like a million bucks. The difficulty may deter many people from trying this game out, but if you are brave enough you will be rewarded with a rich experience.

Score: 9/10 - Great

PC Invasion takes a look at Darkest Dungeon's endgame content.

Review code for Darkest Dungeon turned up yesterday. As I am not some sort of gaming savant, however, there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to play through the entire thing in time for today’s launch.

You see, if my experience with Darkest Dungeon‘s Early Access builds was any indication, it is not an easy game. I’ve apparently shoved about 60 hours into it (across about three different campaigns, each with varying levels of success) and there are still bosses that remain unfought. Darkest Dungeon is hard, and juggling gold reserves, the psychological and physical health of your party, and the need to delve ever deeper into the game’s regions combine to make for a truly brutal experience.

A quick word of warning, too. If you don’t want to know anything about Darkest Dungeon‘s Darkest Dungeon – the name of the endgame area – then don’t read on. I’m going to try not to spoil too much (and, indeed, I’m only going to be discussing the first of the endgame quests) but there will obviously be screenshots and talk about monsters and so on. I’m fairly certain you can venture into the area right at the beginning of the game, if you really want to, but… well, I figured I should warn you anyway.

So, once again: if you want to play Darkest Dungeon‘s final area knowing absolutely nothing about it, do not read on.

More information.

Today is the release day of Darkest Dungeon - Gameinformer has reviewed the game:

Darkest Dungeon

Aphotic, Atmospheric, And Awesome

Despair overtakes you as your houndmaster misses an all-important attack on an enemy fusilier, the lighter of the brigand’s massive boss cannon. The cannon is going to fire this turn, and there’s nothing left you can do to stop it. While your leper and bounty hunter land the finishing blows on the massive machine, your plague doctor and houndmaster fail to survive the encounter, joining the legions of the dead that occupy the hamlet’s graveyard. Dead champions never return, but their memory will haunt you through all the battles and dungeons yet to come.

Tremendous highs and tumultuous lows combine in the Lovecraft-inspired, turn-based dungeon-crawler Darkest Dungeon. You’re always one hit point or one mind sliver away from complete collapse as you explore winding halls of ruins, warrens, coves, and the titular Darkest Dungeon itself. Featuring permadeath, procedurally generated levels, and some aspects of permanent progression as the player builds up the decrepit hamlet into a bustling economy, the game is ultimately about finding combinations of curious glory seekers and treasure hunters and putting them to work against swarms of deadly and debilitating monsters.

[...]

Score: 9.25/10

• Concept: Assemble various teams of unique characters to battle against against deadly dungeons and bosses in stylized turn-based combat
• Graphics: The stylish look is one all its own and works incredibly well with the dire themes and environments
• Sound:The narration – done by Wayne June of Lovecraft audiobook fame – is stunning and makes the game feel like turning the pages of a Cthulhu nightmare
• Playability: The game is unforgivingly difficult, making it perfect for those looking for a dungeon crawling challenge. Easily frustrated players will have a tough time adapting to the gameplay
• Entertainment: While the game can feel grindy at times and losing a critical team permanently is soul crushing, taking down big bosses, collecting treasure, and restoring the fallen hamlet to glory is challenging and fun
• Replay: High

Blogcritics has reviewed Darkest Dungeon:

Darkest Dungeon is from a small developer called Red Hook and is a hard game to quantify; it is an RPG and a Dungeon Crawl; it is a Rogue-like and a psyche simulator; it is a also a revolutionary title that has to be played to truly understand how cool it can be.  Red Hook has worked diligently on this title since 2012 with a small but dedicated team; a successful Kickstarter in 2014 helped fuel development and a strong launch in Steam Early Access gave them the audience and funds they need to continue. That is a very good thing because the game is compelling, addictive, and has a depth that makes coming back to this fun yet brutal game nearly compulsive.

[...]

Summary: Darkest Dungeon is tough and at times stressful but incredibly addictive to play due to brilliant mechanics and presentation.

Score: 4.5/5

Learn more about The Leper of the upcoming gothic RPG The Darkest Dungeon:

Darkest Dungeon Presents is a comic series that tells the half-remembered horrors of each of the playable character classes in the game. Issue #4 features The Leper. [...]

GamerHubTV interviewed the Red Hook Studios developer Tyler Sigman. The video shows the Darkest Dungeon gameplay on a PS4:

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Check out the unique roguelike dungeon crawler.

Thanks Couch!

Red Hook Studios has localized Darkest Dungeon for a number of languages.

Thanks again to Couch for tonight's news!

“Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.”
H.P. Lovecraft

We are super excited to confirm that we will have the following languages implemented into the game for our January 19th launch!

• French
• German
• Spanish
• Polish
• Czech
• Russian
• Brazilian Portuguese

All of the above languages will have full translations for everything in the game, with the only exceptions being Voice-Over and hero names. Wayne June’s excellent narration will be shown via subtitles–sorry, it wasn’t feasible to find a Wayne in every region just yet! While we won’t be localizing the names, players will have easy access to the files containing all the possible names to modify however they wish.

More information.

On the Darkest Dungeon website an interview with one of their backers (abomination class designer Josh Lauer) can be fond.

Back in February 2014, Josh Lauer pledged to our Kickstarter at the Lord Tier, which invited him to design a playable class for the game. He is responsible for The Abomination, a tortured soul who can transform into a hulking beast of eldritch horror. To coincide with the release of Inhuman Bondage, which is where The Abomination debuted on November 30th, I did a quick Q&A with Josh to get some information on what all went into the process of creating the newest traveller to pass through our hamlets.

 

John: How did you go about coming up with the concept for the Abomination? What inspirations where you drawing from?

Josh: I’ll confess outright that I’m a werewolf fan and that’s where I originally started from. In some regards, the Abomination still resembles the original concept. The transformation mechanic was a reluctant suggestion from me (concerns about how well it would fit the current engine); Tyler snatched that part up immediately. So the concept of a transformation or berserk mechanic was always going to be a factor for this character.

After that came trying to fit the werewolf into the Darkest Dungeon world. I did a bit of research into things like Ngirrth’lu (the Wolf-thing) and Ptar-Axtlan, looking particularly at ‘The Stalker in the Snows’ as well as the Lupine Ones of Ngirrth’lu.

But in the end it came back to simply making a werewolf concept fit. While I am a fan of World of Darkness, the style of Werewolf from there would not fit Darkest Dungeon quite as well.

Visually, a lot of the design is thanks to Chris. I’m not that good at visuals, so everything he delivered without much from me; and frankly I think he did an excellent job with it. Still got a bit of the werewolf, with it still fitting an eldritch beast suited to the universe.>

Thanks Eye.

The Abomination update, Inhuman Bondage, is coming out on Monday November 30:

Darkest Dungeon Presents: The Abomination

The Abomination update, Inhuman Bondage, is coming out on Monday. To celebrate we wanted to release the first in a series of Darkest Dungeon comics.

Each comic will give a hint of some half-remembered horror from each of the playable character classes in the game. Since this is coinciding with the launch of the Inhuman Bondage, we figured our latest class addition would be a great issue #1.

Of course, these wouldn’t be possible without an amazing collaboration with Trudi Castle. Each of these comics are written by our very own Chris Bourassa and Trudi is bringing them to life. Trudi has an amazing portfolio and we couldn’t be more excited for this collaboration.

As we march closer to release you can expect to see more of these. But for now, prepare for the Inhuman Bondage update on November 30th.

The release date for Darkest Dungeon is set in stone - Kickstarter update #35:

Darkest Dungeon Full Release Date: January 19, 2016!

Hello backers!

It's been a busy couple of months, culminating in the Cove release which we hope you have all been enjoying! 

This community has grown beyond our expectations, and we're both grateful and humbled by your support, ideas, critiques, and feedback throughout this past year.  

From the moment we launched early access back in February, we had two important priorities: regularly deliver exciting, meaty updates to the game, and ship the full release this year. We recognized that October would not only be an awesome thematic fit for the full release, but it was early enough in the year to avoid getting swept away by the massive AAA releases around Thanksgiving.

As many of you know, game development has a great many dependencies and variables. Between PAX's, Coves, & corpses, it became clear that an October date would mean rushing our endgame content out the door - a move that would ultimately not be in anyone's best interest. So, we looked at the December 1st timeframe - it would be tight, but with a few lucky bounces and a whole lot of focus, it was doable. A Death Star trench run with Obiwan gently whispering in our ears.

Unfortunately, late last week Chris' father-in-law passed away suddenly. Given our small team size, events such as these have a measurable effect on development. If anyone is out of action, it means delays because each person's job is highly specialized.

As a result, we have set January 19th as our Official Launch Day.

In keeping with our commitment to regular content updates, we'll be dropping an interim patch towards the end of November that introduces a new playable hero: The Abomination! Designed in collaboration with our Lord tier Kickstarter backer, this bloodthirsty class is unlike anything currently in the game. Keep your eyes peeled for the full reveal in the coming weeks! This update will also include two decidedly unsettling backer-designed monsters, as well as some other 'goodies'! You can also expect continued hotfixes as necessary.

As always, a very sincere thanks to all of you who have supported this game from the beginning and made the game and the community something special. We are truly on the home stretch, and we are incredibly excited to bring this game to completion...and beyond!

--The Darkest Dungeon Team

Eye spotted this video overview detailing the bosses in the Cove.

Gamespew have spent time with Darkest Dungeon and come with a review of the game in its current state and rate it with a 8.5.

The other issue is that the game is very much a single focus. There are no alternative modes or challenges. Though at first you get lost in the world (it’s the kind of game you can’t help but play for four hours for the first play) you soon hunger for something a little different – perhaps a horde-style mode, or a separate challenge that allows you to build a team (including selecting negative and positive traits) and pit it against ludicrously powerful dungeons to see who can create the most successful force.

Provided the extra levels don’t fall short, and provided they add some content, Darkest Dungeon could easily be a must-play title. More importantly than any of the mechanics described above, it creates mood. Clive Barker identified this as one of the most important elements of any piece of art – even above its technical execution. The world feels unique, even though its sources can be identified.

Thanks Eye.

For Darkest Dungeon a new update and hotfix has been released. The update adds the Cove dungeon.

The Cove

• The Cove dungeon region, featuring 7 new monsters, 2 new bosses, new curios, all new environment art, and new music!
• The Cove features monsters that are in general both fast and bleed resistant, and also have many bleed-causing attacks.
• The Cove monsters also include some key mechanics previously unused by monsters, such as healing and guarding! These mechanics may begin to work their way into other dungeon regions in the future...beware!
• You do not need to begin a new campaign to play The Cove. Cove quests will spawn alongside quests from other regions.

In addition to that also enhancements to the game were added, of which a full log can be found here.

You can also watch the below video to see in little over 1 minute what the main additions to the game are:

With all these changes a new hotfix was also introduced fixing the below:

• Bug fix: Bonuses from "skill instant" situations restored (marked target bonuses, bonuses vs enemy types, etc.)
• Bug fix: Blight tooltips fixed so they don't show 0 dmg
• Bug fix: Fix to crashes from dying from DOTs
• Trinket fixes: Guardian's Shield corrected to a rank requirement, Book of Sanity now rarer than Book of Holiness
• Bug fix: Heart attack barking restored
• Bug fix: Bosses corrected to give trinket loot more reliably
• Bug fix: music timing
• Misc other bug fixes

Thanks Eye.

Shacknews has interviewed Darkest Dungeon devs about the Cove:

Thanks Couch!

Dorkadia checked out the latest addition to Darkest Dungeon, The Cove at PAX.

Red Hook’s demo at PAX features the new Cove dungeon, the fourth and penultimate content release before the game is out of early access. The Cove fully embraces their Lovecraftian inspiration: your heroes will sludge through squamous caverns while fighting positively Inssmouthian monsters.

The Cove simply seems better tuned than the other dungeons. The synergies between monsters in just a novice level mission were clear and potent, and new enemies types (like bloated zombies that explode after two turns, or guardian fishpeople that protect their allies with 80% damage reduction) give the area a mechanical signature. The content shows a higher level of polish in an already polished offering, they’re clearly refining their craft over time.

I was able to face the Siren, the Cove’s first boss. Her signature attack was a startling charm attack. Her hideous briny visage melts away for a second, revealing an illusory maiden that sings to your party. If it’s successful, one of your party members will join the enemy team for three turns using their entire arsenal of attacks. It was a wonderfully bullshit surprise! I did manage to strike the Siren down with a few clutch crits, but not before losing half of my party. Rest in peace, doomed demo Vestal and Arbalest.

Thanks Eye.

Over at the Jimquisition site Jim Sterling outlines the problems people are having with the Darkest Dungeon and how early access has contributed to this problem. From the editorial below.

Over time, the game did what Early Access games are supposed to do - it updated regularly. Unfortunately, things seem to have gone terribly awry, with many vocal players believing the game has only gotten worse with each subsequent update.

As Red Hook Studios continues to overhaul the game and rebalance its systems, the general consensus seems to be that they're just breaking it.

In the new Roadmap for Darkest Dungeon a release date has been announced:

Darkest Dungeon is still in early access on Steam, but it's just gotten a patch big enough to get its own title, Fiends and Frenzy. Over at PC Gamer, Tom Sykes misreads "Fiends" as "Friends" (as which of us has not to our sorrow?) but otherwise accurately announces:

'Friends & Frenzy' adds two new hero classes, the Man-at-Arms and the Arbalest, who wield themselves and a crossbow respectively. I can't get enough crossbows in games, so that last bit is piercing music to my ears. The new patch also chucks in new loot, the ability to have heart attacks (cheers), and three additional bosses called things like 'Gibbering Prophet'. I know a good cure for the gibbers (*readies crossbow*).

The other two new bosses are the "Formless Flesh" (found in the Warrens) and the "Brigand Cannon" (found in the Weald, wherever that may be). And some of the new loot has the odd property that it can only be found in the pitch dark.

Sykes judges the game "a fun old punishing time in a brutal, Gothic world that wants to kill you".

Tyler Sigman & Chris Bourassa of Gamasutra take a deep dive into the game mechanics of The Darkest Dungeon: A snippet:

What: Modelling an adventurer's mental health with the Affliction System

The ability and skill to fight is only half of the equation. What if a hero was unwilling to fight? 

Darkest Dungeon is about the psychological toll of adventuring. The centerpiece of this is the Affliction System. As heroes adventure, their stress levels build. This is presented in game as a stress meter on each hero. When the stress meter reaches 100, heroes face an Affliction check.  If they fail the check (which is common), they manifest a temporary condition of reduced effectiveness -- an Affliction. Afflictions are different ways that people respond to stress. 

Heroes can become selfish, abusive, hopeless, paranoid, afraid, masochistic, or just plain irrational. The different afflictions cause a wide variety of different game behaviors. For example, a selfish hero may take treasure for themselves, a hopeless hero may give up fighting, and a paranoid hero may become convinced that the other party members are enemies.

Sometimes, a hero will pass the Affliction check. This puts them in an incredibly useful Heroic state, where they may inspire the other team members or fight at increased effectiveness.

To reduce stress, you need to give heroes time off between missions and let them unwind in the ways that people do: drinking, gambling, meditation, prayer, and more. However, there are limited slots in town for each activity, and each hero has their own personal preferences on what they like. This becomes a bit of a board game in terms of trying to make the most of R&R between quests.

The Affliction system puts the player squarely in the role of a team manager, squad leader, or hockey coach. To be successful, you need to consider the human factors on the way to accomplishing your goals. Push heroes to their limit, and they will break mentally.

Why?

We’re big fans of RPGs, ranging from classic old games like the Bard’s Tale series, Eye of the Beholder, Ultima Underworld, etc., on up to Diablo, Dark Souls, and contemporary MMOs.

However, many RPGs lose sight of the human element. Situations are presented as purely a player’s choice whether to face down a terrifying monster with only 1 HP left. We started asking: how would the hero feel?

In addition, we wanted to make something that stood in stark contrast to the "loot pinata" style of RPG. To be fair, some of those are done incredibly well, and we’ve clicked and right-triggered to the best of them, but they rely on a huge amount of procedural loot generation and the game becomes all about finding the next larger sword.

Taken together, those considerations led us to focus almost exclusively on the sword arm, not the sword. More specifically, the ability to fight is only half the equation. What about the willingness to fight?

Red Hook Studios released a new website update for Darkest Dungeon. They share more information about the developers plans for more patches & added content.

Early Next Week: The Roster Patch!

• Color Variations: All heroes have 4 different color palettes available for you to choose from!
• Roster Sorting: Sort by stress, resolve level, and more.
• Party Combo Names 1.0: Certain party combos will be named! When assembling your group, watch for the popup and see if you’ve uncovered a named combo. We’re starting with only a few, but more combo names will be added as we continue development.
• misc fixes, etc.

Content Drop:

We know that many of you are chomping at the bit for more content, and while we want to get as much new stuff out as quickly as we can, we also want to make sure that what we release is of a quality level consistent with the rest of the game. We have targeted the end of May for our first major content update, and it’s a big one!

• New Hero: The Man-at-Arms – a battle hardened commander with mace, shield, and rallying shouts!
• New Hero: The Arbalest – a field medic and artillery emplacement wrapped up in plate armor!
• 2 – 3 new Bosses! We are aiming to get one new boss in each of the existing dungeons.
• Fear the Dark: New rewards for the brave and the foolhardy alike can be found only in the dark during Medium and Long quests. Tread carefully, however, as such rare and powerful trinkets are not left unguarded…

As we focus our content efforts on this patch, you can expected misc. quality of life improvements, bug fixes, balance, tuning, etc to arrive in the intervening weeks.

A UK site called Invision Game Community published a preview of Darkest Dungeon.

While I understand that Darkest Dungeon is meant to be a roguelike, the death and penalties you suffer through playing the game seem to deter me from continuing rather than make me strive to be better. Some of the areas take a large jump in difficulty and sometimes force you to lose to learn the areas and come back with a different team setup to beat, which adds to the repetitive nature of the game even more so. The fact my characters are Level Locked out of areas really put me off, I found it annoying that my favourite character had to stand on the side lines because he felt “This area is too easy”.

The systems at work in Darkest Dungeon are the most interesting I have seen from the genre in a long while and I could see myself enjoying the final product, but right now it feels the mechanics have be exaggerated in the early release to show off what the game is meant to represent. I feel as if the values and points need to be scaled back a bit to allow for a more fluid and calming ride rather than at the moment where every 5 seconds I hear my characters shout “We aren’t going to make it out of here”

I had many problems with Darkest Dungeon–difficulty, balance, direction, being overwhelmed, pacing, UI, and just an overall sense of not having fun. Heroes speak randomly, depending on their stats, which I found annoying because they only have a limited number of responses. The game seems to have a rather unpleasant life of its own, with all the triggering and simulation mechanics behind the user gameplay.

In short, I will have to see a lot of refining before I’m willing to step foot in this dungeon again.

Red Hook Studios released a new website update today for Darkest Dungeon. They talk about the current state of the game, and the developers future plans.

Hello Everyone!

The past month has been incredible.  We have been absolutely blown away by the support that Darkest Dungeon has received.  On behalf of the team I want to thank you for making the game a success.  We have been watching Twitch, YouTube, reading forums (our own & Steam’s) constantly since launch, sharing in your feedback, debates, rage and victories.

We set out to make a game that challenged some of the established RPG conventions, and were hopeful that players would ‘get it’, and you have!  We are deeply humbled and grateful for your support and will work tirelessly to provide you all with an exceptional Early Access experience.  Bugs will be squashed, balanced will be toyed with, content will be added, your heroes will die.

Where are we at?

Shipping the game, supporting the launch, attending GDC and SXSW have been our focus since releasing the game on Feb 3.  We even managed a few days off here and there (Saturday and Sunday, most notably!) to rest and recharge after the gruelling hours of December and January.  We’ve been as aggressive as possible tracking down crash bugs, providing technical and backer support, and generally trying to make ourselves as reachable and responsive as possible.

Now that the initial flood has subsided, we will be shifting our focus to making forward progress on the remaining content and features, driving toward our 1.0 release.  We’re excited to get started!

Laura Hardgrave of Den of Geek published a new article about how Darkest Dungeon handles permanent death, and shared a few video with examples.

Darkest Dungeon makes us think about permadeath differently, and because of that fact, its concept becomes more friendly to more casual gamers. As indie games become more and more relevant, it’s important that developers take the time to re-approach subgenres and interesting facets of gaming and come up with new ways to make their games approachable yet innovative at the same time.

When a game manages that, we’ve reached groundbreaking territory. Darkest Dungeon is a game with a ton of potential. If the developers take what already is an extremely solid RPG and add in new content, the right balance adjustments, and continue to be as passionate and open-minded as they have been, we might just have a groundbreaking game on our hands. Even if it’s filled with traps, diseases, and ugly swine enemies around the next bend.

Bryan Edge-Salois of the Examiner published a new hands-on preview for Darkest Dungeon, and he calls the game a very bright spot in gaming for 2015.

Darkest Dungeon certainly teaches you the value of lowered expectations. Forget killing-all-the-evil-and-saving-the-kingdom happy endings. In Darkest Dungeon, you’ll learn to love surviving with a 50% sanity ratio, although as the game progresses you may have to go even lower.

Thankfully, you can continue to expand your roster of characters and mount short ‘Skirmish’ expeditions to earn money and loot, which is used to fund supplies for each foray as well as upgrade the town and your heroes. You can’t completely screw yourself out of the ability to continue the game, although you can certainly suffer setbacks, and (permanently) lose beloved characters.

The war is long, and you must be practical—if a bit clinical—in your choices. There is no room for idealism here. You will order more than a few heroes to their deaths and others to an asylum in a very Machiavellian fashion.

Jason Wilson of VentureBeat interviewed Tyler Sigman and Chris Bourassa of Red Hook Studios this week to talk about Darkest Dungeon, and the games difficulty.

GamesBeat: I’ve been playing RPGs since the early 1980s. The one thing I noticed is that, almost universally, systems are geared toward not holding the player back but toward encouraging player success. That’s completely the opposite with your game. How different is the mindset that you have to be in, as a developer, to do this?

Sigman: I think you have to remember what you set out to do. Because there’s lots of pressures during development, and certainly even now, to make the game easier across the board. Why are you penalizing for this? Why can’t I save or bring the hero back? That’s not what we set out to do. We set out to make you feel like there’s a cost. We didn’t set out to kill everybody. But I think—that’s something we’ve been able to do really well, is hold true to that vision. Even in times where you’re going to get feedback that’s like, are you sure you want to do that? You’re going to be alienating a lot of players. But we never really set out to make the game for everyone. In having that strong vision, we ended up making it appeal to more people than we ever thought.

Bourassa: Yeah, that’s a great way to say it. The game is fundamentally different. It takes a left when a lot of RPGs take a right, at the very start of the road. We’re not asking you to build one party and get attached to them. You shouldn’t have an expectation of being able to finish a quest. That’s not bad balance. That’s by design. Sometimes things go wrong. You should get in the dungeon and realize you’re outmatched. For whatever reason you’re not getting the rolls you want. You should cut and run. That’s a very foreign mindset for a lot of people who equate balance with progression, immediate moment-to-moment progression. We’re asking players to take a long view of the campaign and use their heroes as a means to an end, as opposed to ends in themselves. Having the two of us, Tyler and I, go back and forth on the game, having built it up from scratch together from a conceptual standpoint, we’ve been able to act as checks and balances to each other. There have been times where I’m like, I think we should make this easier, and Tyler’s like, no, remember this! Remember that! And there’s been the reverse, where something’s really important and I feel we have to keep it in because of our core vision. It’s one of the advantages in having two heads on the snake, I think. We’ve been able to keep close to what we initially set out to do, and incidentally promised to our Kickstarter backers.

Sigman: We talk about this a lot, too. Chris and I played so many classics as well. I’m in the same era as you, everything from D&D basic set — not Chainmail, I was just being born, but the Basic Set — there are just so many good products out there. Chris said that we’re not going to out-Torchlight Torchlight, which was a great Diablo—I don’t want to say knockoff, but in that vein. I’m not ripping it at all. It’s a cool game. Legend of Grimrock brought back Eye of the Beholder and all that stuff and did an awesome job. We love that space, but we didn’t want to enter it just trying to do something either slightly better than the last guy, or maybe not even as good, because some of those are really amazing games. Our love of RPGs in the classic way of doing it is what got us excited about adding a twist, really.

Gamasutra's Phill Cameron interviewed both Creative Lead Chris Bourassa and Designer Tyler Signman of Red Hook Studios to talk about Darkest Dungeon.

You’ve had a very successful Kickstarter, and you’ve now had a very successful Early Access launch, releasing a game that feels very comprehensive, which is unusual for Early Access. Was it always the intention to wait until it was at this point in production before launching Early Access?

Chris Bourassa: I think it’s just been our strategy all along; that when we’re bringing something to the public that we make it as good as possible. Tyler and I have always talked about that as something we wanted to do. When we did our Kickstarter we spent a lot of time researching carefully and taking our time to craft our pitch. Basically not taking anything for granted to make sure that we had some level of success. Our attitude to Early Access was the same, and to make sure we spent our time in Early Access getting community feedback, data, and making the game better and better as opposed to making hte game workable. 

Tyler Sigman: It’s been fun to see the response to Early Access because the game’s not done, and there’s a bunch more that we’re going to add in, and it’s funny because it’s one of the best compliments to hear people say "it feels finished." Internally it doesn’t feel finished, because we know all the other things we’re going to do, but we definitely didn’t want it to feel janky. 

It’s that old adage that you only have one chance to make a first impression, but each step in development, starting from the first trailer, to Kickstarter, to Early Access, and hopefully leading into 1.0 release, at any of those steps you can make yourself a bad impression. So passing each of those checkpoints has given us enough fuel to get to the next, but it’s still really important to make sure people are happy about it. 

CB: We love the game too, and while obviously it was our strategy to put our best foot forward, there was a lot of love for what we’re doing, and I feel like that helps and carries through. 

TS: We’ve been pretty fortunate on time, but I think when we released our first trailer it was a little later than we’d planned, and when we went to Kickstarter it was a little later than we planned. Even when we went to Early Access it was a little later than we planned, and with every one of those we were given the choice of "Is it ready, or do we launch it right now?" we always make sure it’s ready, even if that delays the release.

PCGamesN has news that someone is selling fake copies of Darkest Dungeon.

Just goes to show the saying Buyer Beware is correct.

US Gamer published a new preview last week for Darkest Dungeon. Based on the preview thy enjoyed the game , and write about how it subverts the RPG genre. 

In subverting a lot of RPG conventions, Darkest Dungeon walks an extremely tricky line, risking frustration and alienation in the name of creating something unique. But the more I play it, the more I appreciate the nuances of its design, which is deeper than I initially supposed. My next run might not be for a while, but I've enjoyed it enough to want to come back, even after all the frustration of repeatedly watching my heroes suffer and die in the deep places of the earth. Give it a little more time, and Darkest Dungeon may indeed turn out to be something special.

Red Hook Studios hosted a new live gameplay stream on Twitch.tv, and as usual most of us missed it. So today they shared the recorded version on the games website.

If you happened to miss the dev stream on Twitch, don’t worry so did I but I got you covered.

Matt Whittaker of Hardcore Gamer published a new article with his opinion that Darkest Dungeon is 2015’s first game of the year contender. Do you agree with him?

Darkest Dungeon isn’t just 2015’s most pleasant (or unpleasant) surprise, it’s rapidly cementing itself as one of the front runners for a number of end of the year awards. Whether or not Red Hook’s valiant foray into the RPG genre winds up outlasting all of the promising titles soon to come is anyone’s guess. However, if you’re looking for the best game released so far this year, and a title that has a chance to cement itself as a Souls-level challenge, look no further than Darkest Dungeon. It’ll test your mental fortitude, intelligence and willpower just as much as its dungeon crawls do to its inhabitants. Seriously, it’s that good.

Red Hook Studios released another update on the Darkest Dungeon website that talks about the developers rules for modding the game. So if you're interested read on.

Officially, we can’t give our stamp of approval to any mods at this time because that could come with the obligation for providing technical support and related troubleshooting. Also, our particular vision of the game is still very much in work and we wish to devote 100% of our attention to that at this time. Early Access, by its nature, will be full of balance changes, feature additions, and so on.

That being said, we believe modding in general is good for the community and we’re excited it’s happening. We plan to release official modding tools (e.g. Steam Workshop) at some point in the future and are excited to see what the community might create at that time.

If you create and distribute a mod for Darkest Dungeon, we ask that you include the following language or its equivalent:

<mod name> is not an official Red Hook Studios product or product modification, and Red Hook Studios Inc. is not responsible in any way for changes or damages that may result from using the mod. Furthermore, “Darkest Dungeon” and the Darkest Dungeon logo are trademarks of Red Hook Studios Inc. All content in the game is Copyright Red Hook Studios Inc. All rights reserved.

If your mod confuses potential consumers in a way that may cause them to believe that the mod is an official Red Hook product, then we would be forced to ask you to take it down or otherwise eliminate the confusion.

Finally, you may not commercially monetize your mod in any way, as that would impinge upon Red Hook’s intellectual property rights.

Tim McDonald of IncGamers is the next site to share their impression of the Early Access build of Darkest Dungeon that launched on Steam this month.

What I’m mostly looking forward to seeing, as Early Access goes on, is how the classes evolve. Right now I’m not at all convinced that the balance is right; some of the classes are tremendously helpful in basically any situation, while others are borderline useless. This may actually be a design decision (because there have been multiple situations when I’ve been forced to take along my worst party members) but I suspect a lot of the numbers are still being tweaked.

I’m still playing. I’m still being destroyed, and watching hilarious stories unfold as my adventurers go mad; I’m still trying to get myself into a condition to fight bosses, when I can barely handle a brief trip into the ruins. Bearing all of this in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if – when it’s done – Darkest Dungeon turns out to be something really special. I mean, it’s pretty special already.

Red Hook Studios released a new update on the Darkest Dungeon website this week.

Here is new roundup of previews for Darkest Dungeon I found this week.

Cliqist

The unpredictability of Darkest Dungeon creates emotional turmoil for characters, and upon returning to town they have several de-stressing options. Some heroes prefer the pub, always a commendable choice, while others opt for the cathedral. It’s another setting in which the player must adapt to their heroes, and accordingly to Darkest Dungeon.

PC Gamer

I’m just a dozen hours into Darkest Dungeon, but I’m already in love with it. Even at this stage of Steam Early Access, it’s kicking ass on just about every level. Darkest Dungeon is a great example of what modern roguelikes, and community-funded PC gaming, can be.

Continue-Play

If you’re one of those people who abhors the idea of buying an Early Access title for fear of wasting your money, throw that notion in the dirt right now. Even at this stage, Darkest Dungeon is one of the best games I’ve played in a very long time, and only $20 in Early Access will net you plenty of content, with plenty more to come added in the way of free updates.

Over Mental

You die. More specifically your party members die. In Darkest Dungeon you’re the heir to a damned estate, and it’s your job to lead expeditions of 4 people down into the depths of the darkest dungeon and rid your family’s land from an evil curse. The end goal seems to be fighting the final boss who appears to be some sort of Cthulu like presence, but it seems like the main enemy isn’t a boss but rather the darkness and madness that overtakes your adventurers.

GameSpot

I'm drawn to games that trade in this kind of desolation and desperation. Of course, art and audio are part of a greater whole that includes the actual adventure, about which I'll have more to say when Darkest Dungeon is released next month. Even now, however, it's clear that the game's art style and soundtrack have an important message to convey: you were right all along to be afraid of the dark.

RPGFan

Darkest Dungeon, even with an estimated six months left in development, feels remarkably polished, deep and, most of all, incredibly fun. It's just the right amount of stress, failure and triumph to demand your attention and keep you focused on the quest at hand.

Jake Richards of Power Up Gaming published the next preview for Darkest Dungeon this week. He points out the game has a few problems, but has potential.

That being said, I do have a few tiny criticisms. The game can be unrelentingly punishing at times, even unfair. And while there is no fail state per se, things can get so bad that you'll simply want to restart. I'd like the option to play a game in which I can save. XCOM has a save mode and an Ironman mode, and I'd prefer that option here as well. There are also little technical glitches here and there, and the occasional grammatical and spelling errors. That's about it. That's the sum of my complaints. I'd like to be able to save and there are a few little errors. And this title is in Early Access, which means we can anticipate lots of fine tuning and, hopefully, some cool additions as well. But what's already here, what's already been done, is spectacular.

Mitchell Long of Cliqist published a new preview of Darkest Dungeon based on the new Early Access build that was released this week. So here is a short sample.

Graphically, Darkest Dungeon shines with 2D animation that could easily be mistaken for illustrations in a book. Gothic dungeons, a ramshackle city, and inventive creatures paint a bleak environment. While there is an autosave feature, I found myself wishing there were a manual save option as well. At one point I actually restarted from scratch after losing all my heroes (hey, I never said I was skilled). Being able to load a previous save would have been highly beneficial. However, this structure projects similar psychological factors onto the player: fear of dying in-game, paranoia when opening chests, anxiety about supplies, etc. It’s this investment that allows Darkest Dungeon to transcend the screen, and what makes it a brilliant RPG. You don’t play Darkest Dungeon, it’s an experience. Hauntingly beautiful, intricately chiseled, and meticulously concocted, it’s a fantastic early access release, which bodes extremely well for the finished product.

Darkest Dungeon is now available on Steam Early Access, and here are the details.

Why Early Access?

“Darkest Dungeon already has a ton of content (10 hero classes, 3 dungeon environments, dozens of monsters, 130+ items, and more ) and we want to give fans a chance to play the game now! This in turn gives us a chance to improve the game based upon player feedback and otherwise involve the community in development!”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We plan to be in Early Access for approximately six months, which time we will use to add more dungeons, more character classes, and many new features. Our intent is to release the full version of the game sometime in the 2nd half of 2015.”

How is the full version different from the Early Access version?

“For the full release, we are planning to add more dungeon environments (one of which is the Darkest Dungeon), more character classes, story mode completion, additional monsters, items, quirks, narration, and dialogue. We also have reserved some time to add other new features and make changes based upon player feedback!”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The current Early Access build is playable with 3 complete dungeon environments (Ruins, Weald, and Warrens), 10 character classes, 9 town building types, 5+ quest types, 30+ monsters, 130+ items, and more than 30 interactive dungeon objects. There is currently no end to the Campaign Mode in Early Access, so players can keep raising heroes and embarking on quests indefinitely. The full version of the game will have an end to the story.”

Will the game be priced differently during & after Early Access?

“Final pricing for the game has not been determined, but the initial price will not be below Early Access list price.”

How are you planning on involving the Community ?

“The community is encouraged to post feedback on the official forums: http://www.darkestdungeon.com/forums/. Also, purchasers are asked (but not required) to opt-in for anonymous gameplay data collection, which we use directly to collect play stats to assist with gameplay balancing.”

Red Hook Studios announced on the games website they have sent out some Steam Early Access Keys to certain backers who bought the Wanderer Tier, and higher.

Here is the information.

PC Gamer shared a new Gameplay video for Darkest Dungeon this week. This time we get to see the Wizened Hag Boss in action. It might be a spoiler, or not it's up to you.

Red Hook Studios latest post-funding update has more information about the The Week of Torment contest, and shares some new backer art for Darkest Dungeon.

Happy New Year Backers!

The Red Hook team has been working incredibly hard, and Early Access is just around the corner: 

• Early Access Backers (Wanderer Tier+) will Get Steam Keys Friday Jan 30th
• The public can purchase Early Access on Steam starting Feb. 3rd

In the next backer update, we will be providing full details on this Backer Weekend and what you can expect, including details on how your Steam key will be delivered (Humble Store). At this point we can only guarantee the PC version will be available right off the bat, but we are working hard to make Mac available at the same time and will confirm either way as we get closer.

Red Hook Studios latest website update has information they are holding a new video  contest to celebrate the game being released on Steam Early Access.

Red Hook Studios posted two new updates on the Darkest Dungeon website. The first update they share a new artwork image for the New Year.

Due to popular request, a hi res version (1920 x 1080) of the New Years artwork has been made available for your consumption. Have at it!

The second update is another screenshot of various game heroes.

Earlier on the Darkest Dungeon Twitter feed, we got to see a screenshot of the Hag (also more of the Leper!), one of the boss monsters, preparing one of the many heroes for dinner. She prefers her heroes deep fried.

Red Hook Studios announces that Darkest Dungeon now has an official Steam page.

As Cadogan has pointed out already on the forums, Darkest Dungeon now has a Steam page! Be sure to check it out as it does have a couple new screenshots of various content. Don’t forget that Early Access has been confirmed for February 3 and you’ll only be able to get it through Steam.

In the latest Kickstarter update we are informed of Darkest Dungeon becoming available on Steam Early Access on the 3rd of February, availability on PS4, development updates and the backer exclusive concept art pack.

We are happy to announce that Early Access launch (Steam only!) is planned for Tuesday February 3rd, 2015! That's less than two months away!

Backer Early Weekend: EVEN BETTER, we are planning on giving all Early Access backers access starting on the preceding weekend! (We are aiming to send keys out no later than Friday January 30th but will confirm exact time and day as we get closer.)

Other Backer Rewards Will Come Later: Early Access is just one step towards our final release which will come in mid to late 2015. Your other backer rewards (depending on your pledge level) such as personalized heroes, personalized items, art books, soundtracks, and so on will all come later.

You haven't missed anything and we haven't forgotten about those things! First step is getting the game in great shape, and then we'll shift focus to get some of those things taken care of. We are excited about rolling out the personalized heroes and trinkets, especially! 

What will Early Access Feature? We are incredibly excited about the Early Access program. Our strategy has always been to make sure that what we deliver as an Early Access game is super fun and doesn't feel like a "half-made" game.  Although we will be adding tons of new features and content throughout Early Access, what we launch will still deliver many hours of gameplay.  As we get closer, we'll confirm exactly what's in the build.

Well seems Red Hook Studios released a short audio sample for Darkest Dungeon.

On the Darkest Dungeon Twitter, a snippet of audio by Power Up Audio showing off some of the new Swine monsters sounds and voices can be found. Check it out or listen here.

A movie site by the name of Film Beef posted a new preview of Darkest Dungeon.

The developers stressed that this is a hardcore game that will not hold your hand. Red Hook Games compared their game to Dark Souls when they said, “Much like Dark Souls… the stakes are always high – but bold moves and calculated strategy will reward you.” This won’t be a game that you just sit down and walk through. You’ll have to think it through and strategize.

So, not only does this game offer unique and challenging gameplay, it also has one of the coolest art styles I’ve seen in a game. The setting is very dark and dreary which helps to give the game a feeling of mystery and hopelessness. While not quite in the same strain as Lovecraft, the combination of the heroes’ psychological trauma and the dark style will definitely please any fan of HP Lovecraft.

Red Hook Studios has redesigned the website for Darkest Dungeon. I find the new website to be much better than the old one. Here are the details from the developer.

Welcome to the newest version of Darker Dungeon! A lot of blood and tears went into the creation of this site and I hope that it functions better than the last. All of this was done in effort to increase the longevity of the community and I figured it best to go ahead and get it out of the way now while the community is still small and more manageable.

Something to keep in mind that this is still a work in progress as I have not polished every single feature yet. Some things may be broken or missing. Especially in the media section. I did mention there were tears. That should hopefully be resolved and back to where it used to be in the next couple of days.

Hope you all enjoy the site. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to further improve on things. I’m here for you all.

Red Hook Studios released a new image for Darkest Dungeon on Facebook.

Here at the Darkest Dungeon factory, we've been busy cranking out RPG widgets! The latest two off the line are the exciting and expected 9th and 10th hero classes: the JESTER and the LEPER! This rounds out the 10 heroes that will be launching with Early Access!

Here's a little teaser art for the heroes in-game:

Red Hook Studios posted ther next newsletter that has information on Early Access, and mentions that pre-orders are coming to an end in the next few days.

Pre-Orders Closing Oct 7th!

We are closing pre-orders (aka "Slacker Backer options") THIS COMING TUESDAY, so if you've been on the fence, we encourage you to check out the options and purchase one!

Currently, we offer two premium (more than the base game) pre-order packages on our website:

Early Access Timeline Confirmed

Early Access will be coming exclusively to Steam in January or February 2015. We'll keep you updated with an exact date and price when we set it.

All backers/pre-orderers who pledged at $20 and higher will gain access to Early Access. If you backed at $15, you'll gain access to the full game when it releases later in the year. We are also working on options to allow upgrading should you wish to change to an Early Access level pledge.

For now, just start preparing yourself! If you haven't pre-ordered, consider saving a few bucks for after the holiday rush, and get ready for some dark, stressful, satisfying turn-based dungeoneering!

Darkest Dungeon Subreddit!

Some Redditors who happen to be Darkest Dungeon fans have set up a very nice subreddit that we've given the official blessing. If you are a Redditor yourself, head on over and join in! http://www.reddit.com/r/DarkestDungeon

Red Hook Studios released a new screenshot for Darkest Dungeon on Twitter.

Quest Select/Estate Map screen, now with more quest types!

Red Hook Studios latest update for Darkest Dungeon has a re-cap of the developers time at Pax Prime 2014, and gives a look at what comes next for the game.

Where are we at?

Meeting all the gamers and press at the show was exhilarating - we got a huge amount of positive feedback from everyone who played the build!  We've put two different runs of our PAX build up on Youtube for everyone to check out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-93DwbVSmA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCNMdv_9Gro

With PAX behind us now, we are able to once again shift to a development focus.  Our priority is on creating a meaningful progression as you attempt to rebuild your Estate lands.  That is, medium term goals that keep you engaged and provide interesting rewards as you work towards building a party tough enough to endure the Darkest Dungeon.  And, as always, we're flooding the game with more monsters, items, animations, quirks and environment art!

Early Access: Doing it Right 

We know there's been increasing interest around our Early Access release date, and we wanted to give you backers a heads up regarding our plans. The most important thing to us is validating your support and enthusiasm for the project by launching with a great game. We know that Early Access has a mixed reputation, so we want to do it right. 

Early Access should be a fun experience for those involved. Regular content and feature drops make the process exciting and allow us to collect valuable feedback as we drive toward our 1.0 release. Our vision for Darkest Dungeon's Early Access is a high quality (re)playable experience. There will certainly be bugs, balance hiccups, and some areas of the game will be less polished than others...but we want our core loop to really shine. 

Early Access scope will be announced closer to the launch window. This will give you guys a clear look at what to expect from a feature and content standpoint when the first build goes live. Also just prior to launch, we will release an Early Access roadmap. This will provide a high level look at when new content and features will be added to the game. 

New heroes, environments, trinkets, and enemies will all be streaming into the build regularly, meaning there will always be a reason to grab the latest update and take it for a spin. 

You can expect Early Access to hit Steam around mid-Feb of 2015. 

It might move a couple weeks in either direction depending on release calendars of other games (e.g. we don't want to launch the same day as Bloodborne), but it won't change too much. We are on the home stretch!

No "Early" Early Access is Planned At this point.  

We are not planning on an "extra-early" Early Access for backers only. We may do some very restricted closed alpha testing (for machine compatibility bugs), in which case we will make an announcement regarding any opportunities to join that closed test. However, in general you should expect to gain access to the Early Access when we deploy that publicly on Steam. 

Full Release Timeframe  

Throughout Early Access, we will be adding new features and content to get the game to full "final" release. We are confident that full release will take place during Summer 2015. We know that this is a bit later than some of you are expecting, but just like with Early Access, we would rather deliver something that meets our own internal standards rather than rush out something that isn't ready. Rest assured that we are working hard to move that timeframe up as much as possible without sacrificing the quality of the game! A successful Early Access is the first step.

Pre-Orders are Ending Oct 1st

Also a heads up: we'll be taking the remaining preorder packages off of darkestdungeon.com on Oct 1st.  People will still be able to purchase early access when the game goes live, but the bundled Deluxe and Ultimate packs will no longer be available.  So tell those fence-sitting friends to come down of that lofty perch!

If you're reading this after Oct 1st and you haven't backed the game, don't worry--you can still get it as soon as it launches on Steam!

Red Hook Games posted another new gameplay video of the demo from Pax Prime 2014. This time its from a new area called the Ruins.

Gameplay playthrough of the demo shown at PAX Prime 2014 in Seattle. This video features a Crusader, Highwayman, Plague Doctor, and Vestal as they explore the Ruins and battle skeletons, cultists, and a towering Necromancer. In true Darkest Dungeon fashion, not everyone makes it out alive!

Red Hook Games posted a new gameplay video of the demo from Pax Prime 2014.

Gameplay playthrough of the demo shown at PAX Prime 2014 in Seattle. This video features a Hellion, Bounty Hunter, Grave Robber, and Occultist as they explore the corrupted Weald and battle slimes, giants, fungal zombies, and a towering Necromancer. In true Darkest Dungeon fashion, not everyone makes it out alive!

GameInformer has a new preview of Darkest Dungeon based off a short demo from the developers at Pax Prime 2014. Here is a small sample of the preview.

At PAX East this year, one of my favorite surprises was Darkest Dungeon from Red Hook Games. If you haven't yet had a chance to read up on it, I'll kindly directly you there first.

This time out, I had a chance to experience the full cycle of gameplay from dungeon excursion to boss fight and back to town to recover from the horrors of the dark. There have been some significant changes since last we played, along with four new classes that offer their own gameplay styles.

You'll have to make difficult decisions with your money to upgrade hero skills and weapons, cure ailments and improve stress-induced afflictions. You'll also run into random events that might impact individual characters or force a whole class to sit out the next excursion.

Returning to town was also our first chance to get a good understanding of Darkest Dungeon's experience system, called "resolve." Unlike other games, resolve matters even in between leveling up. The more resolve a character earns, the more resilient they'll be to stress.

The loop feels familiar, but the stress element continues to set Darkest Dungeon apart. The stakes are high in every fight, but it's the uncertainty of interactions among the party that feels fresh and engaging. The variety of the sixteen classes (eight of which we know about now), along with skill progression to create different builds within them gives players the options to experiment with different combinations.

PC Gamer has another video interview this week with Red Hook's Travis, and Chris from PAX Prime 2014 where the developer also shared a new demo of the game.

Darkest Dungeon is a roguelike, turn-based dungeon crawler from Red Hook Studios in Vancouver. Evan chats with Travis and Chris from Red Hook about what's new in Darkest Dungeon in the PAX Prime 2014 demo.

Red Hook Studios latest update for Darkest Dungeon has a link to the games next newsletter that has information on the games development.

Newsletter #5 Update - Darkest Dungeon at PAX

We just sent out a newsletter update, in which we talk about Darkest Dungeon at PAX, the latest developments on the game (including new screenshots!), and more.

Going to keep this short, because you can read all the details here:

News from the Darkest Dungeon - August 2014 - http://eepurl.com/WqeEX

If for some reason you aren't on the newsletter mailing list, we encourage you to join here.  However, as a backer, we'll always keep you updated via Kickstarter, too. The mailing list is purely optional for you.

Red Hook Studio released the results of the first baker poll for Darkest Dungeon on Facebook. The poll was for what new class the bakers wanted.

The results from the first Backer Poll are in, and the winners are....JESTER and LEPER! We will prioritize those two classes for implementation before Early Access begins! The Houdmaster (one of my personal favs) was the runner up.

Final tallies:
Jester: 2,727 votes
Leper: 2,234 votes
Houndmaster: 1,945 votes
Arbalist: 1,598 votes
Man-at-arms: 1,184 votes

Total survey participants: 4,844 people!!!
Thanks for making your voices heard!

Tyler Sigman of Red Hook Studios has posted the second part of his Post-Mortem for Darkest Dungeon on Gamasutra. The first part can be found here.

The 2nd Half of the Campaign: Flogging Schrödinger's Horse

In the Darkest Dungeon Kickstarter Post-Mortem Part 1, I talked a bit about the dreaded mid-campaign trough and how we, up to that point, hadn't been able to successfully jolt the daily raise.  We had an undeniably awesome start to the campaign (and a decent end, as you'll see). However, this doesn't mean we didn't want to hit a home run in the mid-section, too!

Being an engineering analyst in a former life, I looked at a ton of campaigns and compared to ours.  We were getting a pretty steady $3k/day during the middle period.  But there were campaigns like the esteemed Hyper Light Drifter, or Banner Saga, that did $10k+/day in the middle.  Banner Saga even had a two-day spike of $25k/day in the middle.  Why not us? :) At least, that's a good way to think ambitiously.

In the end, we were unable to move the needle much.  However, the $3k/day was still respectable and one thing not to be discarded is that perhaps our efforts, while unsuccessful at causing spikes, actually contributed towards a nice, steady baseline.

Red Hook Studios has posted the next kickstarter update for Darkest Dungeon with more information brigands, new fansite forums, and the next weekly live stream.

Brigands - $100k Stretch Goal

Remember back in February when, with your help, we crushed that $100k stretch goal in the first two days of the campaign? Well, here you go:

The Brigands can be found prowling around most of the dungeons, always looking to net a little cash from the chaos that exists in your ancestral Estate. Beware, as this unscrupulous bunch doesn't care whether they rob from the living or the dead. In other words, be prepared to defend yourselves...it's either you or them!

The Brigand Bloodletter is a cruel taskmaster who employs his cat-o-nine-tails to employ maximum bleeding. And he can finish you off with a point blank shot from his pistol.

The Brigand Cutthroat is skilled with his dual blades...beware the sudden cold icy stab of merciless steel.

The Brigand Fusilier employs his thunderous blunderbuss to suppress and obliterate all who stand in the way.

Unofficial Fan Forums: DarkerDungeon.com

A fellow backer, SneakyPie, has set up a slick looking fansite and associated forum at darkerdungeon.com.

Our official forums are still a few months off, so we encourage you to go discuss all things Darkest Dungeon over at SneakyPie's forum! We'll drop in from time to time and check things out.  We look forward to seeing the conversations!

Thanks to SneakyPie for helping the community grow!

Other Things We've Been Working On

June was a fun month, filled with lots of game progress, including:

• Continuing to build town: heroes can now upgrade, visit the tavern and abbey, and more!
• MOAR MONSTERS: slimes, gargoyles, cultists, brigands, and more are now prowling the hallways!
• Quest select and different quest difficulties: we've been building the systems required to allow quests of different challenge levels
• Boss Design: there are some terrifying things you will face in the depths!
• And tons more!

Q&A:

When do I get to personalize my hero, design my item, etc.?

We aren't sure yet whether we will be able to do those things before first Early Access launch or not. But rest assured, we will let you know when we need something from you! You haven't missed anything yet!

As always, thanks for the support! Until next time,

--The Darkest Dungeon team

Gamespot has a new interview with Game Designer Tyler Sigman, and Artist Chris Bourassa from Red Hook Studios to talk about Darkest Dungeon.

There were several moments playing Darkest Dungeon when I was certain all was lost. A few unlucky critical hits and a stressed-out plague doctor were wreaking havoc on my team. In her panicked state, the good doctor refused to follow orders and stay out of harm's way. This landed her six feet under at the hands of a mace-wielding skeleton, but her sacrifice resulted in my team surviving the battle. Such is the cruelty of Darkest Dungeon, a game about managing the stress of being an adventurer for hire. If you're not already caught up on this Lovecraftian dungeon crawler, fear not. I've prepared a quick video, embedded below, covering the basics.

For those looking to dive deeper into the many secrets of Darkest Dungeon, read on. I talked with game designer Tyler Sigman and artist Chris Bourassa from Red Hook Studios about how the team is putting this game together, as well as one of their newest additions: the bounty hunter, a mix of Batman and Boba Fett who exploits one of the most important facets of Darkest Dungeon's combat.

Red Hook Studios finally has a new update for Darkest Dungeon on the games kickstarter page that gives information on the games development.

June Update: The Flesh is Willing

Welcome to the June update!  Work continues to move along - we've made big strides in the town gameplay, as well as many of the much-needed core systems: upgrades, economy and progression.  Art-wise we've been adding the next 4 heroes: the Bounty Hunter (featured in a gamespot article below!), the Grave Robber, the Occultist, and the Hellion, as well as new monsters and...

Boss Reveal!

Check out the first glimpse of a Darkest Dungeon boss: a powerful summoner that twists flesh and reinforces his ranks with the reanimated dead!  More details to come!

Town 

Keir has been dedicated to town functionality for some time, and has gotten the core workings of our buildings up and running.  The tavern, abbey, blacksmith, guild hall, etc are all doing what they're supposed to, and we've started making the UI more user-friendly.

Weekly Twitch

We're officially 'regulars' on the IndieMEGABOOTH Twitch Channel!  You can join us every Thursday at 4pm PST for look behind the scenes.  Art, design discussions, play sessions, animation - each week we'll try and do something different, but if we can't, it'll be Chris drawing his way through the mountain of monsters we need!

Sweet Gamespot Article!

Getting the nod from Gamespot was huge for us - and the article is great!

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

As always, please feel free to email us or post your comments, we do our very best to get back to everyone!

Red Hook Studios released a new mini update for Darkest Dungeon with news on the games devlopment, and mentions the new Twitch stream is now Live.

GamerHub.TV interviews Red Hook Studios Co-Founder Tyler Sigman in a new video from Pax East last month, and talk about his funded kickstarter Darkest Dungeon.

Red Hook Studios co-founder Tyler Sigman explains what differentiates the new Darkest Dungeon RPG from the crowd in this exclusive preview interview from PAX East.

The latest post-funding update for Darkest Dungeon brings news Red Hook Studios has sent out all the backers surveys, and need all backers to respond.

BackerKit Surveys Sent Out - All Backers Must Respond!

Hello Darkest Dungeon backers!

Check your inboxes for emails from BackerKit. ALL BACKERS MUST RESPOND!

BackerKit is a cool service we are using that helps coordinate and track all of your information, which helps us down the line when we will be sending out all of your rewards.

All you need to do is respond to the survey by putting in the information it prompts you for.  You will be asked:

• Contact info (including shipping address if you bought any physical goods)
• Confirm which add-ons you purchased, or buy new ones if you want more or missed out during the campaign! :)
• A quick question about whether you live in Washington state--just helps us with our paperwork and won't affect you at all.

If, over the course of the next year, you move or change addresses or whatever, you can just update your BackerKit profile and we'll stay up to date!  It's great!

Red Hook Studios has posted the next post-funding update for Darkest Dungeon that share a recap of their time at Pax East 2014, and talk about future developments.

Boston & Beyond!

What's up everyone, we're back!  PAX East 2014 was our first public, hands-on exhibition of the game, and we couldn't be happier with the results!  We got a chance to meet backers, fans, the press, and our fellow developers, and the response to our game was overwhelmingly positive.

Press!

Here's some of the great coverage we got following the show:

Destructoid, EGM, PC Gamer, Kotaku, & Game Informer

We also won mmorpg.com's 'Best RPG' Award, got called out in the Giant Bomb Panel (@58min), and picked up a coveted medal from bigsushi.fm!

Next Steps...

This Thursday, April 24th @6pm pacific, we'll be streaming a complete run of the PAX demo, with commentary from Tyler, Keir and Chris!  It will be archived after the stream, and we'll post it to YouTube.  If you couldn't make it to the show, this is a great chance to check out what we had on offer, and ask questions live as we play.

BackerKit checkout will happen very shortly, maybe even later this week!  Keep an eye on your email :)  During the checkout process you'll get a chance to verify your shipping address, confirm/buy add-ons, and more.

What's Next: We're entering a period of hardcore development focus.  The response from PAX validated many of our core systems, and affirmed that we are on the right path, but we've got a ton of work ahead of us.  Other than the upcoming BackerKit update, expect another backer update towards the end of May, but naturally, we'll be checking comments in the meantime and eagerly anticipating Twitchblade's next instalment! :D

As always, we thank you for your support and enthusiasm for the project - I think we're onto something here...

-Chris, Tyler, Keir, Kelvin

I managed to roundup two more video interviews that were released today for Darkest Dungeon. The first video is from PC Gamer with Tyler Sigman of Red Hook Studios.

The second video is from Kotaku at PAX East 2014.

Red Hook Studios has posted the next post-funding update for Darkest Dungeon that has information about the developer will be at PAX East 2014.

Red Hook Studios has posted the first post-funding update for Darkest Dungeon with news on the developers next steps, update schedule, and general timelines.

Pledge Checkout Survey Will be Coming in 2-3 Weeks

It takes about two weeks from the end of the campaign for all of your payments to clear and the money to be released to us.  After that happens, we will be setting up the checkout process in BackerKit.  When that setup is finished, you will receive a simple checkout survey via email.

In this survey, you'll confirm the email address and physical address (if you pledged for physical goods) that you want used for reward fulfillment.  If you pledged extra for add-ons or international shipping, you'll also get a chance to designate that and correct any errors.  Finally, you'll get a chance to purchase any add-ons if you decide you want any.

The great thing is, if your information changes over the next year (e.g. if you move), you can update it in BackerKit easily.  This puts you in charge of keeping your info up to date, which helps us focus on game development!

We'll keep you updated, but that survey should be happening in a couple weeks.

Future Update Schedule

Thanks to your support, we are able to shift back to a game development focus.  This means that updates will be less frequent than during the Kickstarter campaign, but we want to establish a schedule to keep you informed of our progress.  You can look forward to regular monthly updates, often accompanied with a livestream - except whenever big news happens that we just can't wait on!

We've been fortunate to have several very active members in our comments, posting Darkest Fiction and even fanart.  We are looking into forum solutions and things that make it easier for you all to gather and chat about the game in between these updates.  Stay tuned!

If you missed the opportunity to back Darkest Dungeon on Kickstarter this month you can can now Pre-order the game on it's website, and choose a few extra options.

Pre-Order Darkest Dungeon by Using Any of the Options below.

Notes About Early Access (Win/Mac, Steam Only):

• Early Access is expected late 2014.
• Early Access will be accessible on STEAM only and Early Access is only guaranteed for WINDOWS and MAC only.   We may add Linux 

Notes About Full  Release (Win/Mac/Linux, Steam or DRM-Free):

• Full release is currently planned for January 2015 but may change depending on development progress.
• Windows and Mac will be supported upon release.
• Linux support will be added but is not guaranteed for day 1 release.
• The game will eventually be translated into some other languages, but is only guaranteed in English for day 1 full release.

The Darkest Dungeon kickstarter has ended and managed to get $313,337 of the games $75,000 goal. Here is the latest update from Red Hook Studios.

Funded!!

Thanks to you – your pledges, your passion and your incredible support – Darkest Dungeon is over 400% funded and well on it's way to being the game we've always dreamed it could be. Whether you pledged, emailed, tweeted or helped to spread the word in any way, we are grateful. 

Speaking for myself (Chris) this has been the most incredible and rewarding experience of my career. This game started as a scribble in a sketchbook, a loose idea that somehow stuck around. To have worked so hard and be so validated by our peers, gamers, and friends is a truly special feeling. 

Special thanks to the fans who have supported our efforts from the first moment we launched the 'Terror & Madness' trailer last October. The encouragement they gave reassured us that we were on the right path, and encouraged us to push ourselves further. 

We'd also like to thank Sean Megaw and Fathom Interactive for their help and support. They've been wonderful, providing us with an exceptional office environment to work from, sound advice, and candid feedback.

We humbly take your support as both a validation of our direction & a mandate to create a great game. A game worthy of your pledges and excitement. A game that will make you agonize over your choices, think hard about your tactics, and reward you for a job well done. 

Very Sincerely, 

Chris Bourassa, Tyler Sigman, Kelvin McDowell & Keir Miron

Darkest Dungeon has managed to reach the $285k and $300k stretch goals. The update I'm about to post below only talks about the $285k goal reached.

As of right now the game has made $310,484 of the $75,000 goal with 2 days left.

$285k Stretch Goal Unlocked! The Ancestor's Trinkets

What a day! Thanks to the (beginning of the) end rush, we've hit that new stretch goal already!

As a special thank-you to all of you who have contributed so much passion and support to our project, we wanted to add something a little extra into the game...

There are rumours of 6 precious heirloom trinkets, each a powerful and unique item, carried by your ancestor on his ill-fated expedition. (See "House of Ruin" trailer.)  No one is sure what why he locked himself in his study for hours prior to departing for the unknown depths.  He made no comment, save that his pack was laden with the last of his material wealth, and his most valued tools of Occult divination.  Should you stumble across one of these relics, you'll instantly recognize it as being utterly unique and maddeningly powerful!

On the Horizon...

...is the $300k Character Color Customization goal. A little description on that is in order:

Personalization meets UI functionality in this stretch goal.  Juggling multiple instances of a character class is made easier if you can quickly differentiate them at a glance.  Additionally getting in and giving your favourite heroes a signature palette is a fun way to make them stand out!

As many of you have commented on, the color palette of Darkest Dungeon might be compromised if we introduced wild neon colors, but rest assured, the options will be appropriately themed.  We'll provide a range of available options per hero, each hand-selected to ensure that the overall feel of the game isn't broken.

It will take a bit of art and programming coordination, but we think it will be a really nice addition to the game and allow you some more control over personalizing your party, and increase the UI transparency when your rosters get full.

Looks like we might hit that goal tomorrow! And beyond that, ever shuffling and bellowing, is...

...the...

THE $350k MEGAAAAAAAAAAGOALLLLL! Let's do it!

Darkest Dungeon is entering the final hours of its kickstarter, and Red Hook Studios has another update to go along with it. If you haven't baked the game now is your chance.

The End Times (of this Kickstarter) Are Upon Us!

Chris, Kelvin, Keir and I cannot believe that there are only 1.5 days left. Its has been an incredible ride, and we'll write more about that tomorrow.

But today's order of business is:

New Stretch Goals!

We've been so fortunate to have your support to make Darkest Dungeon funded this well so far!

Although our most distant stretch goals ($400k+) look to be impossible at this point, we have been putting our heads together around the Red Hook office and having intense discussions about how we can deliver the best game possible to all of you.  We've also listened a lot to your comments about the upcoming exciting stretch goals, especially concerning Cinematics (told in the style of our "Terror and Madness" and "House of Ruin" trailers) and Steam Workshop support (to allow mod creation!), for which there is a ton of support all around.

In talking and planning, we explored how both of those key stretch goals actually require different personnel and can be done in parallel.  We also talked a lot about how much we, ourselves, want them both in the game.  Given how well the campaign has done, we believe that if we hit that $350k Cinematics goal, we can find a way to do BOTH. 

So, here are two Stretch Goal changes that we hope you'll be as excited about as we are:

• $285k mini-goal: The Ancestor's Items - 6 rare and powerful trinkets dropped from the expedition of your Ancestor in which he uncovered the Darkest Dungeon, to his eventual demise. You can find these powerful and mysterious items while adventuring.
• $350k MEGA-GOAL: Steam Workshop support has been reduced from $400k and has been added to the $350k Cinematics goal, creating a monstrous, lumbering MEGAGOAL- ZOMG! Why choose chocolate or peanut butter when you can have both?! 

What You Can Do to Help

First of all, just by backing, you have done an amazing amount and we thank you! No further action required, of course!

But if you love that MEGAGOAL as much as we do, then consider spreading the word about Darkest Dungeon in these final hours on your favorite websites, forums, and social networks.

You can remind people that there are several huge benefits to backing:

BACKING BENEFITS

• Get rewards that you won't be able to get when the game releases
• Become part of ongoing backer polls and see concept art and game ideas throughout development (WANDERER $20 tier and higher)
• Even if you just get the basic game (NOMAD $15), you're getting it for a discount over expected retail price.
• Your support as backers is not only enabling Darkest Dungeon to get made--it is making the game BETTER. You have a very real effect on this game.

Thank you for all that you do!

Creative Director and Artist Chris Bourassa oF Red Hook Studios was interviewed by a site called Techno Buffalo to talk about Darkest Dungeon.

Early Success

“It didn’t feel real, quite frankly,” says Creative Director and Artist Chris Bourassa when I asked him about the campaign’s quick success. “We had been working such long hours getting the campaign ready that when the ‘Publish’ button was clicked and things started to really pick up, I couldn’t tell if I was asleep or not!”

“It’s been an incredible experience – at once energizing, and very humbling. It’s been fantastic to get the validation that our concept and product have a market, but we’re all experienced enough to know that there are still many challenges to come.”

Red Hook Studios, like many other emerging indie teams, is made up of development veterans with a handful of great titles to their name. Past experience within the industry had helped them brainstorm and forge a plan of attack before pitching their product to the public, a tactic that Darkest Dungeon should provide a textbook plan for other crowd-funding seekers to follow.

“I think the early announcement in October, and building our mailing list prior to the KS launch were critical to our success. Kickstarter is a momentum-driven thing, and having a small, passionate group that pledge early and help spread the word really helped get us going,” he adds.

“We felt it was important to demonstrate to our backers that we believed in the project enough to dedicate ourselves to development prior to soliciting pledges.”

“We felt it was important to demonstrate to our backers that we believed in the project enough to dedicate ourselves to development prior to soliciting pledges.”

Red Hook Studios has posted the next update for Darkest Dungeon with information on a new Reddit AMA , a new livestream on Tuesda, and the project has three days left.

Final 3 Days to Pledge!

The campaign ends this Thursday at Midnight PST! It's hard to believe 28 days have flown by already.

If you've been following Darkest Dungeon but haven't decided to pledge yet, we hope you'll consider taking the plunge! As always, please let us know if you have any questions that we can help you with. Message us via Kickstarter or write us at feedback@redhookgames.com.

If you've already pledged, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your support is a key ingredient in making Darkest Dungeon happen.

Reddit AMA TODAY (March 10th) on /r/games

The AMA will begin at 3pm PST / 6pm EST: http://www.reddit.com/r/games

Fielding questions will be:

• Chris Bourassa (Creative Director, Artist) - experienced concept artist and art director. Credits include Monster Lab, Max Steel (animated TV series), the doomed Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, Rifts, Hateful Chris, and more.  He has also illustrated for many pen-and-paper games and companies, including Privateer Press, Fantasy Flight Games, Games Workshop, and more.
• Tyler Sigman (Game Designer, Executive Producer) - credits include HOARD, the boardgame Crows, Age of Empires: the Age of Kings (Nintendo DS), Night of the Ill-Tempered Squirrel, Sonic Rivals, and more. He has an MBA and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering (in case that's relevant to Airborne Dungeon Crawling or games biz questions you want to ask.)

Twitch.tv Artstream and Q&A 

Join us for our 4th and final (at least final during the KS campaign, anyway) livestream on Tuesday at 6pm PST / 9pm EST on the IndieMegabooth channel!

http://www.twitch.tv/indiemegabooth/

Chris will be drawing cool stuff, and other team members will be on hand to answer questions and make jokes as necessary.

Darkest Dungeon is a new roguelike RPG from a new studio called Red Hook Studios. The goal of the project was $75,000, but the game has managed to get over $250,000.

Backers flocked to the kickstarter, and it was funded within twenty four hours. If your wondering why it's because the developers are promising something new.

Don't believe me here is a brief description.

Darkest Dungeon is a challenging gothic roguelike RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring. Descend at your peril!

Uncompromising, unforgiving, and unconventional, we present a fresh take on the dungeon crawler that elevates the importance of sound tactics and a character's mental state over their gear.

You will 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.

So to get more information on the game I asked for an interview, and they agreed. I had the chance to ask a few questions from our community, and a few I asked myself.

Gamasutra is hosting a post-Mortem for Darkest Dungeon were one of the developers from Red Hook Studios talks about the games Kickstarter.

Her at Red Hook, we are obviously pleased with the first half of the campaign. But there is a long way to go yet and the final number we can achieve is unknown. And although we're doing great for an unknown indie, we're still a HUGE notch below hits like Hyper Light Drifter, which had grossed about $425k by this point in their campaign and went on to finish with an astounding $645k, or the Banner Saga, which amassed $724k in the end.

Aside from the incredible interest in Darkest Dungeon and the huge number of backer messages and comments, we've also gotten a lot of questions from other devs that are various permutations of: "How did you do it?"

So far, all we know is that we have had a great first half. But I thought it would be interesting to do a brain dump of some of the strategies we've used so far and lessons we've learned (good and bad) up until now.  Then, at the end of the campaign, I hope to do another post (or more) to finish the story.

As a bonus they also share a new video interview.

Video Game Industry Career coach, Rick Davidson, interviews Chris and Tyler from Red Hook Studios about their Kickstarter campaign's runaway success.

Red Hook Studios has posted the next update for Darkest Dungeon with information about new towns events, talks about the game world, and mentions a new AMA.

$250k Stretch Goal Unlocked: Town Events

Our PayPal pledges are now above $2,000, which means the project has exceeded the $250,000 stretch goal!

Battle-weary or proudly triumphant, each time that you return to town after a quest, there is a chance that a Town Event can happen.  There are a wide variety of events, with a mixture of positive and negative consequences.

Most of the time, even bad events will have an upside. Mostly.

Examples of other events:

• Alcohol Shortage! A missed shipment of hops leaves the town dry.  Stressed heroes will have to rely on other activities to bring them back down to earth.
• Heat Wave! Increased chance of ABUSIVE afflictions on the next expedition. This could be good or bad...
• Rumors of a Huge Bounty! Increased chance of recruiting Bounty Hunters while the rumor persists.
• The First One's Free! The Nomad is having a sale on trinket purchases.
• Missing Cargo Ship! A ship overflowing with treasures and supplies has gone missing near the Cove. Perhaps a quest to that dungeon will be more lucrative than usual.
• And more!

Town Events will add flavor to the Hamlet experience, but they also will present you with interesting choices that may alter your plans.

Reddit AMA: Monday, March 10, 3pm PST/6pm EST

Join us for an AMA this coming Monday at 3pm PST/6pm EST!

We'll post the link on the Kickstarter page when it goes live. But for now, mark your calendars!

Red Hook Studios has posted the next update for Darkest Dungeon with information about game add-ons, and that the game only has one week left.

 Art Book, Diorama, Art Print, or Soundtrack! Only 1 Week Left!

Have you considered adding on to your pledge?  There are several things you can purchase to enhance your Darkest Dungeon experience and support us in developing the game.

How to Add On

1) Decide what items you want and calculate the total

2) Click MANAGE YOUR PLEDGE (appears where the original BACK THIS PROJECT button appears)

3) Add money to your pledge to match what the add ons cost. However, DON'T CHANGE your reward tier.

Remember to add $20 for shipping to areas outside the United States or Canada, except for the Soundtrack which is digitally downloaded.

Red Hook Studios has posted the next update for Darkest Dungeon with information about DRM, Paypal, new wallpapers, and a combat overview.

The funding has slowed down, but will pick up as the game nears it's deadline. Don't worry though as the game has already made $226,960 of the $75,000 goal.

DRM Free Option Confirmed!

Good news! As many of you have requested, we now can confirm that all backers will have the option to choose whether to get a Steam key OR a DRM Free download for the full game release. This will be handled via Humble Bundle download page which you will get when the game releases! However:

• EARLY ACCESS WILL ONLY BE ON STEAM! THERE WILL BE NO DRM-FREE EARLY ACCESS AVAILABLE!

DRM FREE builds will be offered once the full game is released after Early Access ends.

PayPal Purchase Option via Humble Widgets

We are also happy to announce that we now have a payment option for those of you unable to use Kickstarter.  You can purchase any of our digital packages by using PayPal via the Humble Widgets. Just visit the following link: PRE-ORDER DARKEST DUNGEON via PAYPAL (HUMBLE WIDGETS)

"Tyler Fights" Ep1: Turn-Based Combat Basics

Just when you thought this update couldn't get any better...behold, the first edition of "TYLER FIGHTS"! In this video, we give a brief "Let's Play" style overview of the turn-based combat in Darkest Dungeon.  Grab a coffee and enjoy some bossanova music while you see how the rank order works, watch different attacks, and get a preview of four types of skeletons!

Please remember that this is "ALPHA FOOTAGE." Features may change and more special FX and sound FX will be added during development!

In this video, we take a casual look behind the scenes. Enjoy some light bossanova as Tyler demonstrates some of the game mechanics and features of the turn-based combat system!

Red Hook Studios has another update for Darkest Dungeon were they post a new Q&A with Stuart Chatwood who is Darkest Dungeon's Music Composer.

Meet Stuart Chatwood, Composer for Darkest Dungeon

Tell us a little bit about yourself...

I am a "lifer" when it comes to video games. I have been fortunate enough to be a video game composer/rock musician/music producer who has been active on the music scene since 1991. My main success would be the Prince of Persia series, with "The Sands of Time" being my most proud moment. That game was 100% my music and I chose the direction. Quite often producers get involved in sequels and second-guess and try to fix things that are not broken. As a result, people rarely mention the soundtracks anymore, unlike the first reviews that highlighted the music.

How did you get involved with Darkest Dungeon? What attracted you to the project? 

I knew as soon as I saw the artwork that I wanted to be involved. I instantly saw Hieronymus Bosch, who is a favourite of mine reflected in the art of the Plague Doctor. "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Bosch, and in particular, the third Triptych, is one of the most fascinating pieces of Northern Renaissance painting. Tyler and Chris' passion for the project and their love for the darker genres sealed the deal. In my youth, I had dabbled in D&D, and my interests do run towards the darker gothic elements of popular culture, so it was a nice fit.

What will the music in Darkest Dungeon be like? 

Any particular influences or directions you want to explore? We're still at the beginning stages right now, but some points of reference I have brought up include the Hammer Horror films, Dark Shadows, anything with Boris Karloff or Vincent Price in it will be listened to. Also, harmonically, I like to reference some composers like Rimsky Korsakov, Bruckner, Wagner, Grieg and Sibelius. The Scythian Suite by Prokofiev is also excellent. We're not looking for perfect sounding things either. Some roughness around the edges will suit us fine. The game's universe is not attached to a specific time period per se, so we want to keep our options open.

Red Hook Studios has another update for Darkest Dungeon with informaion on the jester avatar, a new Twitch.TV stream, and a new design Q&A.

This Campaign Ain't Over!

Things have settled down a bit (very typical for Kickstarters after the first week), which is giving us a chance to catch our collective breath! While we'd love to be knocking out stretch goals every 24 hours, we're still very grateful for all the support so far.  And the slowed pace is giving us time to come up with more ideas to promote the campaign, share more cool stuff with all of you, and so on.  We have a lot of great stuff concocted for the rest of the campaign.  For example, see the Twitch schedule below!

We also have answers coming soon for some of the most common questions that backers are asking!

Jester Avatar!

Here's the avatar for the creepy, scary, jingly jester!    

And remember, you can download ALL the avatars HERE.

More Twitch.tv Streaming!

We are super happy to confirm that @IndieMegabooth will be hosting us on their Twitch.tv channel again for the NEXT THREE TUESDAYS!

During each session, Chris will draw something while other members of the development team will provide banter and answer questions.

• Tuesday February 25th, 9pm EST / 6pm PST
• Tuesday March 4th, 9pm EST / 6pm PST
• Tuesday March 11th, 9pm EST / 6pm PST

Tune in each time to: http://www.twitch.tv/indiemegabooth/ and bring your Darkest Dungeon questions!

If you miss the livestreams, don't fret! We'll post the recordings afterwards.

Tyler Talks Game Design with Arcademia

A month or two before the Kickstarter started, our designer Tyler Sigman was interviewed by the fine folks at Arcademia. Here is a full hour-long talk about design method, inspirations, and some informative bits about Darkest Dungeon!

For the Darkest Dungeon-specific content, jump to 9:39, 20:30, 43:50.

Well we have another update this week for Darkest Dungeon were Red Hook Studios talks of another stretch goal meet, and other various topics.

If you're curious about the games funding so far they have made $201,795 of the $75,000 goal. Not bad and they still have 22 days left.

$200k Stretch Goal: New Dungeon Unlocked! THE COVE

Inspired by the Shadow Over Innsmouth and the crossover of things maritime and ancient: the Cove. Expect a challenging, sickening, and wet dungeon environment filled with blasphemous rituals to aquatic Gods. Your heroes will never look at the ocean the same way again...

• New environment--all new art and setting!
• More monsters--hideous fishy things with obsidian eyes, grasping appendages, etc.
• More curios--mysterious jade carvings, glowing lichens, etc.
• More treasures--idols of submerged gods, fantastically rare gems, etc.
• YOU MADE THIS HAPPEN! Your support is making Darkest Dungeon achieve its potential!

Meet the Jester / Watch Chris Draw It!

Last night, Chris drew the Jester wallpaper on the @IndieMegabooth Twitch.tv channel. He was joined by Kepa Auwae of RocketCat Games (@RocketCatGames, Punch Quest, and the upcoming Death Road to Canada and Wayward Souls) and our very own Tyler (Darkest Dungeon designer).  It was a spirited 1.5 hrs of conversation about Chris' drawing technique, DD features, and the occasional toddler and cat interlude!

Watch the recorded stream HERE.

And feast your eyes on the finished Jester.

Red Hook Studios has information about a new LiveStream , and shares some new art images in the games latest kickstarter update.

LiveStream Tonight! Chris Draws a Character Wallpaper!

Tune in TONIGHT at 6pm PST / 9pm EST for an art LiveStream on the IndieMegabooth TwitchTV channel!

http://www.twitch.tv/indiemegabooth

Chris will be drawing an all new hero wallpaper for a previously unannounced class!

If you can't make that time (sorry for the short notice), we'll be posting the video afterwards, so you can watch it at your viewing pleasure!

Please help spread the word on Twitter, FB, etc!

Darkest Dungeon Forum and Avatar Art

We have uploaded a bunch of Darkest Dungeon themed avatar art in an archive HERE. Or just grab 'em below!

Please use these on your favorite social media sites, forums, and so on. But when people ask, "where did you get that awesome art?", make sure to point them to the Kickstarter campaign link and tell them about www.darkestdungeon.com!

$200k Stretch Goal...Maybe Today?

We are getting closer to the $200k Stretch Goal, which will unlock a WHOLE NEW DUNGEON ENVIROMENT! We can't believe we're almost there already. Let's hope we unlock it by the end of the day!

As always, thanks for your support and trust,

--The DARKEST DUNGEON Team

Red Hook Studios has posted the fifth update for Darkest Dungeon with information about on new heroes, official trailer script,and a new art liveStream.

New Heroes Unlocked: BRAINS & BRAWN!

Thanks to all of your incredible support, we've unlocked two new classes! We can't believe we're here after only 5 full days of the campaign!

OCCULTIST

Some have always felt the twinge of knowledge just out of sight, and mysteries beyond what the uneducated eye can see. The Occultist has made a career of studying arcane, black arts. No text is too weird; no base carving too inscrutable, and no gnawed bone too insignificant for the Occultist. His devotion to powers inhuman and energies cosmic have given him...disturbing...abilities to employ both in combat and around the campfire.

MAN-AT-ARMS

A veteran steeled by many a campaign, he's a tough all-around fighter. Attack, defence, versatility--he knows his way around a battle, with few weaknesses. Accordingly, he can anchor any party. His dedication to a lifetime of martial arts means he can spend time while camping to prepare himself for optimal performance in the upcoming fights. Nobody is better prepared than a professional soldier.

Check out the whole GameTrailers feature where we talk about the HELLION and other classes HERE:

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/nspumz/darkest-dungeon-class-breakdown

Official Trailer Scripts - Help Translate and Subtitle?

Do you have Camping Skills that include "Know Another Language" or "Video Editor"? If so, we'd love your help!

Here is a link is for a PDF that has the trailer scripts (dialogue only).

We know Darkest Dungeon already has fans who speak other languages, but we also know there are even more potential fans out there.

Feel free to take these scripts, translate and subtitle our videos, and spread them around! Just make sure to credit us (videos Copyright Red Hook Studios Inc.). And even better - annotate the videos with links to our Kickstarter Campaign and/or our Website (www.darkestdungeon.com).

Forum Avatars Coming Soon, LiveStream Class Drawing Tuesday

Just a quick heads up on two things:

• Chris is working on some forum avatars for your favorite Interweb haunts. When people see your fly graphics, you can tell them where it came from: the Darkest Dungeon Kickstarter campaign!
• Chris will be streaming himself drawing an unnaounced Class Wallpaper this upcoming Tuesday (February 18th). It will be the evening PST time. We will confirm exact time before then.

 Red Hook Studios has posted the fourth update for Darkest Dungeon with information about new add-ons, class recapc. and new art.

 Show Your Love by Adding-On Extra Game Copies!

Many of you have been asking about the ability to add-on extra copies of the game, so you can purchase copies as gifts for friends, or to help friends who don't have a credit card.

Good news: you can!

HOW TO ADD ON EXTRA GAME COPIES:

• Extra copies of the game can be purchased for $15 (game only) or $20 (includes early access).
• When you make (or adjust) your pledge, add the appropriate amount of money but KEEP YOUR SAME REWARD TIER SELECTION.
• After the campaign closes, we'll send you a survey, and you can indicate what you intended to use your extra $ credit for.
• For example, if you are pledging at the WANDERER tier ($20) and wish to add on 2 extra copies of the game, you would pledge for $60, select WANDERER. After the campaign, in the survey you would indicate that you wanted 2 extra Early Access copies (for $20 each).
• When the game releases (Early Access or final release), you'll get the number of Steam Keys you pledged for!

Simple as slaying giant, stress-inducing maggots!

Hero Recap

We've got a huge list of hero ideas, and thanks to your support, we're able to start adding them to the game.  You may have read about different hero concepts in our anecdotal descriptions of gameplay - some have made it off the wish list and into the production schedule, while others remain, lying in wait for their chance to join the fight!

Currently we have the following heroes confirmed for the game:

• Plague Doctor
• Crusader
• Vestal
• Highwayman
• Bounty Hunter
• Leper
• CLASS REVEAL on GAMETRAILERS.COM  - coming within the next day!
• Mystery Class - HINT: "Why so serious?"
• Mystery Class - ??? 
• Mystery Class - HINT: He's worth his weight
• Mystery Class - ??? 
• Lord Tier Class Design - Even we don't know yet!

Two days into the kickstarter for Darkest Dungeon, and Red Hook Studios has an third update. The game has reached another stretch goal, and with more on the way.

YASGC - Yet Another Stretch Goal CRUSHED!

Thanks to your generosity, we have bloodied another Stretch Goal!

RELEASE THE HOUNDS! Wait, that was yesterday.

RELEASE THE (enhanced) TOWN! Yes, that's right!

The Hamlet has always been a critical part of the game, but our minimum scope plan for town had a smaller number of possible activities and some of the buildings we wanted to do had to be put on the Wish List. But now, thanks to hitting the $150k target, we are enhancing the things you can do in town!

Specifically:

• We're committing to a third activity in the Abbey (FLAGELLATION) and also a third activity in the Tavern (BROTHEL). Hey - who are we to say what floats a hero's boat and reduces their stress level?
• We're separating the Camping Skill trainer from the Combat Skill trainer. We had grouped these together for efficiency, but now we can draw a bit more and implement them separately! Better looking town! 
• AND, we're adding a building that we have really been wanting to do but had on the Wish/DLC list: the NOMAD'S WAGON. The Nomad's Wagon is a shop where special equippable trinkets can be purchased. Some of these trinkets can be found through adventuring, but why trust luck when you can slip a few (hundred or thousand) gold pieces to the crafty Nomad and get it now?

That GameTrailers Interview

In case you missed it yesterday, GameTrailers posted an interview with Chris (Creative Director) and Tyler (Designer). In it, we discuss, combat, town, and other parts of the game in detail: http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/p08bxe/darkest-dungeon-the-minds-behind-the-madness

Red Hook Studios has posted the second update for Darkest Dungeon to talk about brigands, bosses, and game dungeons.

Stretch Goals Crushed: Brigands and Bosses!

Thanks to all of you, we are already slaying stretch goals!

HOUNDMASTER ($90k): We put this guy as the first stretch goal because we personally really wanted him in the game! He's too awesome not to do. 

We'll give more details about him once Chris has finished the drawing, but let me just say that he has some great combat abilities and his camping skills are not too shabby either.  His loyal mastiff gives some great tactical options--a ranged attacker of sorts. And what better to stand on guard while camping than a faithful hound?

WANDERING BRIGANDS ($100k): Heroes aren't the only ones to descend into the dark. The most greedy and desperate also go in search of treasure. And they don't care where the gold comes from. They will happily dispatch weakened adventurers to get the shiny. This band of tough thugs can be found in any dungeon environment, wandering and laying in ambush. On the plus side, they carry treasures that can't be found anywhere else.

BOSS VARIANTS ($125k): Each dungeon environment will now have variant bosses! More content, and more strategies to consider when delving down on KILL quests.  Your support is making the game even more "fleshed out"*!

*"Fleshed out" may refer to gigantic amorphous otherworldly blobs of unspeakable evil.

Environment Early Look: Ruins and Weald

In Darkest Dungeon, your recruit and maintain your heroes in The Hamlet and then go on quests into different dungeon environments scattered around your corrupted Estate.

Meet the first two environments! We'll be sharing more information about them as time goes on.

On to Crushing More Stretch Goals!

Thanks so much for your support. You can look forward to lots more exciting Darkest Dungeon information as this campaign goes on!

Red Hook Studios has posted the first update for Darkest Dungeon with news the game is funded, and to answer a few questions. 

Funded in 24 Hours!

Thank you so much for your support! We smashed the $75k ask in less than 24 hours, and have been racing to keep pace with the torrent of comments, emails, and tweets. It's an incredible feeling to have our dream project inspire the same passion in others!  Your contribution is making this game happen, and we won't let you down.

FAQ Items

We are in the process of adding new FAQ items to the bottom of the Kickstarter page. Please keep your eyes peeled for answers to some of the most common questions. And keep those questions coming, too--we're reading them: feedback@redhookgames.com

Upcoming Events:

On Wednesday, GameTrailers.com will be posting an interview recorded last week with our Creative Director (Chris Bourassa) and our Designer (Tyler Sigman). In the interview, we talk about many of the features and systems in the game. We'll post a link when it's live!

Watch for even more class information being rolled out late this week, as well!

A lot more awesome stuff is in the works, too, so stay tuned.  

The level of support and backing we have received in such a short time is both exhilarating and sobering.  We understand what it means to spend your hard-earned dollars, and are taking this campaign as a mandate: to deliver the best, most soul-crushing and rewarding RPG we can.  Stick with us, together we're going to make something really special.

Now let's keep killing those stretch goals!

SPEAKING of stretch goals, we'd love your opinion on something:

the $250k (Character Color Customization) and $300k (Town Events) goals aren't looking as far away as they used to be. (Which is awesome.) We'd like to know which of those two sounds more interesting to you.  Please discuss in the page comments!

They also released a new trailer for the game.

Ultimate Game Database has a new Q&A with Red Hook Studios.

So I guess the most obvious question is, what's Darkest Dungeon all about?

[Chris] Darkest Dungeon is a challenging take on the dungeon crawling genre that puts the gameplay emphasis on your characters’ personalities and stress levels. We’ve heard people refer to us as 'X-com meets Dark Souls’, and there’s certainly some truth to that. Players recruit, train, and manage a stable of heroes, grouping them into parties of four, and completing quests in a variety of awful places. Unlike many rogue-likes and crpgs, the heroes in darkest dungeon are flawed and (very!) human. They get stressed, develop phobias, proclivities, and other emotional baggage. Their personalities evolve based on their experiences in the dungeons, and players can expect some interesting group dynamics to emerge when the party finds itself in a dire situation.

Also Gametrailers has an exclusive video

Fear the shadows and the insanity that they bring. This is the Darkest Dungeon, a horrific RPG and the latest Kickstarter from Red Hook Studios.

Thanks Legend of Old for the links.

Red Hook Studios has launched their kickstarter for Darkest Dungeon.

Uncompromising, unforgiving, and unconventional, we present a fresh take on the dungeon crawler that elevates the importance of sound tactics and a character's mental state over their gear.

You will 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.

You will have to tend to characters’ spirits as much as you do to their Hit Points. But in these grim situations, you'll find opportunities for true heroism!

Darkest Dungeon is not a game where every hero wins the day with shiny armor and a smile. It is a game about hard trade-offs, nearly certain demise, and heroic reversals. 

Do you have what it takes to survive in the forgotten corners of the Darkest Dungeon?

Red Hook Studios released a new music video for Darkest Dungeon in preparation for the games Kickstarter that should be live in one more day.

 As you know, big week ahead for Darkest Dungeon. Kickstarting tomorrow (Feb 10th, 9am PST) and HOUSE OF RUIN trailer will be available on an awesome website to be announced tomorrow. Then, HOUSE OF RUIN will be in wide-release on Tuesday. HOUSE OF RUIN is a mixture of story and background together with the first official gameplay footage mixed in. But HERE, today, is the House of Ruin score, by the amazing Stuart Chatwood. Listen...and imagine the horrors you will soon see!

Darkest Dungeon is a new RPG being developed by a studio called Red Hook Studios.

Tactical, strategic, and deceptively deep, combat in Darkest Dungeon combines nostalgia with the elegance of modern design. It will challenge you in fresh new ways. Party order is crucial for setting up attacks, but it can also expose your heroes to threats.  At all times, you must juggle the need to do damage with the importance of protecting the health and minds of your party members.  Train, upgrade, and adjust your loadout to find the right combination of skills, honing your party into a four-person monster-wrecking Special Forces team.

The site also has news about the upcoming Kickstarter and Steam.

We'll have a new trailer that gives you some backstory on the gameworld, as well as some actual gameplay footage, screenshots and additional information about the game systems - including a preview of the Town!

The new trailer has been dubbed "The House of Ruin", and will feature Wayne June reprising his role as the narrator, and Stuart Chatwood bringing the business with an epic score.

As the campaign progresses, we'll have developer video updates, a livestream of a new class reveal, OST preview, and much more.

If you're in the know, and following the game at all, the best thing you can do to help is back us early.  A strong first push on Kickstarter is usually integral to the campaign's overall success and will really have a huge impact on our day 1 showing.

Oh yeah, and we're approved to distribute on Steam, too.