
Dark, surreal point-and-click text adventure inspired by the poetics of Dark Souls. Guide the Wanderer through ruins and tombs in a purgatorial world.
Revenue comes from in-game items and microtransactions, which our price-based model doesn't estimate. Copies below reflect the player base, not paid sales.
Media

About
This game isn’t for everyone.
Darkward is a dark, text-driven point-and-click adventure that won’t hold your hand. Instead of a map, you’ll get traces. Instead of explanations, you’ll get consequences. And instead of heroism, more often a choice that hurts.
You’ll step into a world of crumbling sanctuaries, twisted vows, and old truths that should have stayed buried. The story is built from fragments: inscriptions, found records, the meaning of places, and what you decide to do — or refuse to do.
A Dark Souls mood without combat. Lovecraftian dread without cheap jump scares.
Just you, the words, the silence… and links that open the next step into the dark.
Text-based point-and-click gameplay: no typed commands — you choose actions by clicking links in the text.
Atmospheric exploration & lore: the world speaks indirectly and rewards attention.
Choices with consequences: some paths close forever; others open only later.
Dark fantasy: faith, ruin, and things beyond human understanding.
If you want fast action or clear explanations, you won’t find them here.
If you enjoy indirect storytelling, mystery, and slow revelation, Darkward will reward you.
Recommendation: don’t rush — read between the lines.
Around you now lies a time that does not flow. Your body is heavy, hollow and foreign – seated rigidly with your arms crossed over your chest. You feel no heartbeat. Your lips are cracked and mute, your hands are grey and cold. The silence around you is suffocating, as if this world has never known a voice. The chill of the stone bites into your skin like a thousand needles. You feel pain, but you sense it differently, as something distant. Your soul is empty, as empty as your mind and memory.
Slowly, you rise from the stone. Your limbs crack in the silence, as if they had forgotten how to move. Dust spills from your grey hands, and your muscles obey only under protest. You stand – not as one who lives, but as one who has been commanded to rise.
Rise, Wanderer!
Genres
Stats
Languages: English, Czech
Engagement
Reviews
creppy but steady, pigeonapproved
I did quite enjoy Darkward! I do think it would really benefit from clearer word-hints in the descriptions, as quite a few actions I was supposed to take were incredibly unclear and left me stuck for ages trying every item on everything, which took away from my enjoyment of the game. I did really like the story and the sound design. I do wish ai was not used while developing this game, it is still quite noticable in some images and decreases the quality of the game for me. Overall a fun experience :)
Достаточно прикольная головоломка, новелла, разок пройти можно.
Related
Related
Trends
Modeled estimate over time.
Hours played at review time, across 31 reviews with recorded playtime.
A relativity short but well crafted text based adventure, that is full of atmosphere. If you enjoyed classic solo D&D, or choose your own adventure style structured narratives you'll probably enjoy this.
can we add french language planse :(
good atmosphere, good lore, good artwork, good sound design, its good
A cozy and brutal dark fantasy. I really look forward to snuggling down with this game and enjoying its simple, text-based design, its soft sounds, and the way reverence or horror of the lore will make me hold my breath! Aesthetic to a 10 in the nostalgic dark-fantasy stylization my gothic heart craves. So happy to find a dungeon crawler that I can slow down and steep in, allowing the foreboding atmosphere to crawl slowly through me. So eager to keep exploring Darkward's puzzles and lore. I am so fond of being chewed up and spat out by the map (and almost tangible despair + intriuge coating its walls), and look forward to my inevitable demise again soon!
El concepto, ambiente e historia son interesantes. Por supuesto, es un juego gratuito y no nos deben nada. Todos empezamos por algo así a la hora de hacer videojuegos. Mi mayor queja es que es poco intuitivo. Leer está bien, pero quiero ver. No necesito que me describas el orificio que hay en la pared, quiero verlo. Al igual que una representación un poco más fiel del inventario en el HUD. El problema de hacer juegos de este estilo es que beben demasiado de lo que el usuario puede apreciar con la vista, similar a los de encontrar objetos ocultos. Quiero tener el suficiente feedback visual como para razonar que, X objeto puede encajar en X ranura por el mero hecho de la forma, y no intuirlo, probar, y fallar.
A++++++++++++++
Инди-хоррор с элементами выживания, где игрокам предстоит исследовать мрачный и опасный мир. Плюсы: Атмосферное оформление — пугающая и гнетущая обстановка; Разнообразие головоломок — интересные задачи для разгадывания; Уникальные звуковые эффекты — усиливают чувство страха. Минусы: Ограниченное количество локаций — некоторые игроки могут посчитать игру короткой; Однотипные враги — могут повторяться и быть однообразными; Технические недочёты — возможны баги и проблемы с оптимизацией. Итог: понравится любителям хорроров и атмосферных игр. Захватывающая атмосфера и интересные головоломки делают игру увлекательной, несмотря на возможные технические проблемы и однотипных врагов.
Momentum
Pace estimated from the game's recent review growth (our daily snapshots) at its own sales-per-review ratio — a momentum signal, not booked sales.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.