
A dark fantasy incremental breeding game where you cultivate a monstrous brood, inherit stronger traits, unlock mutations and automation, then send your evolving creatures into conquest across a hostile corpse-world.
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
Media

About
Cradle of the Dark Brood is a dark fantasy incremental breeding game about building power through inheritance, mutation, automation, and conquest.
You begin as something trapped outside the rules of the world, able to act only through the creatures you create. Breed new offspring, preserve stronger bloodlines, cull weaker results, and shape your brood into a force capable of surviving beyond the cradle.
Every generation can push your numbers higher. Improve core traits such as Lethality, Vitality, Durability, Motility, and Synapticity, then use those gains to unlock new systems, stronger roles, and more dangerous forms of progression.
Breed and refine a growing brood through incremental stat progression.
Select kings, queens, soldiers, scavengers, and other specialized roles to support your expansion.
Discover mutations that alter your creatures and open new evolutionary paths.
Unlock automation for breeding, culling, promotion, conquest, and support systems as your brood matures.
Expand your abode with upgrades that improve incubation, capacity, inheritance, scavenging, and combat readiness.
Send soldiers into conquest across caves, wastelands, black shores, ruined kingdoms, dragon domains, void passages, and divine realms.
Defeat enemies, clear zones, gather resources, and recover new biological advantages from the world.
Develop research and support roles.
Pursue long-term prestige through Apotheosis, carrying power across runs and reshaping future growth.
Uncover dark lore as the brood spreads through a wounded world that refuses your existence.
Cradle of the Dark Brood is built for players who enjoy layered incremental progression, creature optimization, unfolding systems, and the slow satisfaction of turning a fragile beginning into an overwhelming biological empire.
Genres
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English
Engagement
Hours played at review time, across 33 reviews with recorded playtime.
Reviews
I have played the beta version and loved it. The full version is fun too! It starts a bit slow, but as you explore, the things get sped up. There are a lot of QoL upgrades and, with time, they allow you to play the game fully idle. The game can be completed in 1-2 week at a leisure pace of playing.
Really great game, enjoyed the story and the combat, as well as the base building and evolutions - Spoilers - I hope that in subsequent updates we can rebuild the heavens, find the reincarnations of other gods, and gain more evolutions for our critters, like dual paths such as a attack power + crit chance path
Really great incremental game with interesting story and mechanics. Mechanics are really greatly polished, grind feels perfect - which means there is enough of it to feel satisfaction of it, but not too much to feel frustrated about it. Story is really interesting, working towards the next lore message is so satisfying. The game definitely deserves more recognition in incremental community. I am totally recommending it to my friends.
The game itself is very creative and addictive, worthy to be played. it took around 16h to finish and get everything 100% completion of the game. be waned though, game also is more creepy and sad then the other game the dev has made so far, but the vibes made me want to know more and to get stronger to beat the rest of the content. Difficulty wise, it's not hard as there are many ways to get stronger and beat the game just that it's slow at first but then it goes very fast as you get more powerful. Though i feel like there is a lack of endgame content after you beat the game but alot more ways to get stronger. I would like to beat even more powerful enemies and get stronger even after beating the game, which shows how addicted i am to this game. Graphics wise very good interfaces and motion effects, but for me the world map i think could be more polished instead of 8bit like world map graphics. Sound design. Creepy but again fits the vibes. Would like more different music but it's probs coz im used to not playing creepy games Price - for the amount of hours vs the game it's decently good. Worth it. overal a solid 10/10 made me finish the actual game to the end! - Great hidden Gem looking forward to the Dev's other future games
Total 100% Completion in about 33-34 Hours. I'm someone who plays a lot of incremental games so when I tell you that this one feels good to play, it should be an indicator for you to take need. There's nothing particularly phenomenal about the game like nothing is going to absolutely blow you away. But what is present is a pretty refined experience albeit following the normal incremental game chemistry. Aside from some weird grammar at times, the developer did a very good job. Definitely worth the money he's asking. I could best describe the game as a shorter spiritual succession to a game like Trimps. Whereas Trimps is just vanilla number-go-up. This one has a bit of a story and lore to why you're doing what you're doing. So if you enjoyed Trimps there's a good chance you'll find this worth a purchase. Definitely a 7.5/10 with a 5/10 being average. For reference I'd probably give Trimps a 7/10. For under $10 you really can't go wrong. Try it.
Good, and unique idle for once. Content ran out in less than a week but it was fun overall.
Pretty good little idle game, wish it was a bit bigger in the ability/prestige unlocks part of the game (but that's just cause I wish it was longer). Imo some of the "building" become useless long term once you prestige enough so mid-late game you just find yourself leaving the housing side of the game alone. Plus a lot of the skills for your brood are kind of useless if you don't mind waiting an extra half hour. It really seems like there is just one correct path to take the longer you go on. As for my own enjoyment i think it was fun, it was something I could check on every so often to distract me. Plus I liked the pacing of the game expect for the very end. Nothing seemed too rushed and it gave me time to know what I'm working with. Also I completely finished the game and got every achievement but I cant for the life of me find where the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ scouts are, so there are a few things which aren't like easy to figure out or you're told about (which isn't too bad yk just click like a few buttons and read) 8.5/10 game I didn't know ai was used in it until the spelling mistakes
This game is a gem! I've had a lot of fun playing it in my time so far. Pacing seems a little weird after the initial few restarts, right around when you unlock the order side of the tree but, I may just be playing the game weird. I have to say, I love the way the story is set up, very compelling and interesting.
Nice and fast (~53h for all achievements) incremental game which at one point evolves into an idle game
I really enjoy this game. It shares a number of design ideas to their previous game Idle Reincarator while still being an entirely separate game. It most reminds me of a genre of old flash games that i cant remember the name of but remember playing a lot and enjoying it.
Related
Related
Trends
Modeled estimate over time, reconstructed from Steam's monthly review histogram.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
Related
| Zero Reflex : Black Eye Edition | $5.7K | 63 | 78% | $3.99 |
| Odysseus: Long Way Home | $5.7K | 84 | 63% | $3.99 |
| Undead Shadows | $5.7K | 63 | 29% | $3.99 |
| Bunker - The Underground Game | $5.7K | 84 | 57% | $3.99 |
| Blood Lily Ghoststories | $5.7K | 119 | 95% | $2.99 |
| 异世界生存指南 | $5.7K | 253 | 77% | $3.99 |
Related
| 7 Days to Die | $425.3M | 403.6K | 87% | $44.99 |
| Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord | $309.8M | 294K | 88% | $49.99 |
| Project Zomboid | $239.1M | 461K | 94% | $19.99 |
| Don't Starve Together | $164.7M | 539.5K | 95% | $14.99 |
| 鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal | $137.7M | 189.9K | 57% | $19.99 |
| Mount & Blade: Warband | $101.9M | 171.6K | 98% | $19.99 |