Darkest Dungeon® ▶ Trailer
Darkest Dungeon® screenshot 1Darkest Dungeon® screenshot 2
IndieRPGStrategyTurn-Based CombatDungeon CrawlerDark FantasyRoguelikeLovecraftian

3,359 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 5,404

Peak in the last 7 days: 6,286

Darkest Dungeon® Steam store

Game description

Darkest Dungeon is a challenging gothic roguelike turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring. Recruit, train, and lead a team of flawed heroes against unimaginable horrors, stress, disease, and the ever-encroaching dark. Can you keep your heroes together when all hope is lost?

Basic info

DeveloperRed Hook Studios
PublisherRed Hook Studios
PlatformsWindows · macOS · Linux
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateJan 19, 2016
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows XP
Memory2 GB
GraphicsOpen GL 3.2+ Compliant
Storage2 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 403 reviews from the past 1 year

80.8/ 100
Top 50%

Steam rating: Very Positive (92%)

Metacritic: 84 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 20, 2026)

A gothic dungeon crawler where heroes crack under stress, Darkest Dungeon® scores 80.8 from 403 reviews.

👍 Strengths

123 reviews say they enjoy it despite the frustration, and some describe returning for years to finish one more campaign. 56 praise the world and its oppressive gothic atmosphere, with some singling out the narrator and the theme of hope shining through despair. Story & World ranks 161st of 1096. 36 admire the hand-drawn art and the music, and Visuals & Sound ranks 160th of 1249.

👎 Where it falls short

99 reviews find the difficulty unfair, describing leveled heroes lost to bad luck, traps or one bad turn, and some say grinding replaces skill. 26 criticize the balance, saying hit chances and enemy critical hits make careful plans feel irrelevant. 25 say the game explains little, with a steep learning curve, and some rely on a wiki to learn its mechanics. Gameplay ranks 690th of 1396, and Tech & Support ranks 533rd of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“10/10 rating and recommendation despite frustrations” · 123 reviews
“character virtue shines like light in darkness, beautiful moment” · 56 reviews
“balanced characters with no meta, encouraging diverse playstyle usage” · 31 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 78% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +3.15 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “balanced characters with no meta, encouraging diverse playstyle usage” · 31 reviews
Negative “character strength restrictions punish strategic build choices unfairly” · 5 reviews

Progression 23% · Difficulty 60% · Onboarding 17% · Freedom 1% · Controls & feel 3%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 37% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.93 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “character virtue shines like light in darkness, beautiful moment” · 56 reviews
Negative “행복한 게임이 아니고 최후에는 미쳐 죽는 것 같은 어두운 분위기” · 1 review

Story 8% · Characters 7%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 21% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Variety -2.37 · Fresh content and situations versus repetition
Negative “repetition emerges mid-campaign during necessary grinding for city and hero upgrades” · 25 reviews
Positive “fun as a hack-and-slash game with interesting mechanics” · 3 reviews

Volume 7% · Replayability 6%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 27% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Audio +4.08 · Music, sound effects, and voice acting
Positive “excellent BGM and narration voice acting elevate the experience” · 12 reviews

Visuals 20%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 3% of reviews mention this.

Community +2.29 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 1% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 14% of reviews · Bottom 40% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.40 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “unfair RNG and balance issues trivialize player strategy” · 26 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 3% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 5% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.06 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “mod equipment crashes after update” · 4 reviews

Performance 1% · Developer support 1%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

Was this analysis useful? Sign in with Steam to vote

🎲 What kind of gamer are you? Find your title in 3 minutes.