Darkwood - a new perspective on survival horror. Scavenge and explore a rich, ever-changing free-roam world by day, then hunker down in your hideout and pray for the morning light.
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
Media
About
Survive the horrors of the Darkwood as you explore the ever-changing world by day, and seek shelter to survive the night. Scavenge for vital resources, build your defenses, and pray for the morning light.
How you came to this ruined land is a mystery, but now your determination to escape is set. But to leave, you must first survive. Explore multiple dense biomes as you make your way from hideout to hideout, while accumulating the resources, allies, and information you need.
The locals of the woods have a variety of dark quests and rewards for those brave enough to indulge their requests. However, the twisted inhabitants of the forest are often at odds with each other, and hard decisions will need to be made. The story will change based on your choices as you slowly uncover the mysteries of the Darkwood. Would you doom an entire village in hopes of reward from a creature, or try to assist what pockets of humanity remain?
From festering catacombs to fetid swamps, Darkwood’s landmarks, quests, and encounters are all carefully hand-crafted. However, with each new game, the woods and places of interest will rearrange, ensuring that you’re never quite certain of your path in the woods while also giving new opportunities with each playthrough.
Rather than momentary startles made to jolt you in your chair and then be forgotten, the most terrifying moments are designed to linger in your memories long after your journey ends. Some threads of terror will be immediately clear, but others may not be obvious without careful analysis of your discoveries in the world and your conversations with its inhabitants. This is a slow burn, atmospheric horror game with no jumpscares.
Your best hope of survival is in careful planning, and taking advantage of the many resources offered by the woods. Roam freely in a wide world, decide when to move on and when to fortify up, and weigh the risks and rewards as you balance escape against fleeting safety.
There are no quest markers or hand holding, and you’ll need to learn and experiment on your own. Continued exploration and understanding of the ever sinister woods and its denizens will be critical to your survival, and other characters and groups may have goals at odds with your own. Remember – don’t trust anyone.
Gather strange mushrooms, meat, and other oddities of the woods, and bring them back to your hideout for refinement. Choose to unlock powerful mutations like invisibility when holding still or the ability to regenerate by devouring wood, but embracing the power of the Darkwood will bring vulnerabilities as well.
From desperately swinging a plank to firing assault rifles, defending your life from the Darkwood will only become more challenging the deeper you delve. There are a myriad of weapons to both find and craft, and the less hungry residents of the forest may be willing to engage in trade. Your hideout will offer upgrades and enhancements to your weaponry, along with allowing you to produce less conventional solutions like molotov cocktails. Of course sometimes the best defense is one you may not need to be present for, and chain and bear traps or exploding oil drums may protect you best as you fortify your hideout for each night.
Adjustable difficulty settings will allow you to tailor the play experience to your preferences. Experience the story with unlimited lives, or embrace permadeath on Nightmare difficulty. Regardless, planning and patience will be paramount, and careful observation of your surroundings will serve you better than the most rugged shotgun.
When the sun sets, the hostility of the woods cannot be survived, and you must seek shelter in one of many hideouts you discover in your travels.
Even these makeshift bases will leave you vulnerable in their broken state. Seek out resources to repair what you can before carefully barricading the doors and windows to board yourself up and survive the night.
Secure fuel and keep the generator running to power what electrical fixtures remain. Though you may ward off many creatures that stalk the night, some cannot be defeated with your conventional weapons, and a flicker of light may be all that can save you from what dwells in the shadows.
No two nights will be the same as your base may be assaulted by creatures of the woods, become the site of bizarre rituals, or experience other unsettling events that leave mysteries to pursue when the sun rises. As your journey continues the line between dreams and reality may begin to blur. Experience disturbing vignettes that may conceal more beneath their grim portents and seek to unravel their mysteries in the waking world.
Genres
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Engagement
Hours played at review time, across 129 reviews with recorded playtime.
Reviews
Themes across 129 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
Reviews
[h1] Darkwood has become one of my all-time favourites 9.4/10 [/h1] Darkwood. Wow. What a game. I started playing with no expectations really, especially considering I haven't really played top-down horror before. But within minutes, the game drew me in with its atmosphere and one-of-a-kind sound design. I have never played a game with such fantastic and quite frankly, brilliant sound design. The way sound is used in this game I have never experienced before, in ANY game, it's used in such a way that makes you feel true dread and immersion, which in a game like Darkwood, which relies on top-down horror, is extremely vital. Now, the story, with its characters, dialogue options, choices, it's truly something special. felt like I was actually there, interacting with the characters, feeling the consequences of the choices I had made and as a result, I feel honestly different after this game. The gameplay itself is very Hotline Miami like, but with a horror twist, which I can appreciate a lot as a huge fan of HM. I was a bit weary of the survival mechanics and how they would affect progression towards the story in a way that was somewhat tedious but it wasn't the case at all. If anything the survival is done so well through it's crafting and looting that it makes the game feel even more immersive. I am literally struggling to find a negative thing to say - maybe lack of skills and the stamina can be a little annoying but these are inconsequential. The game is truly unique and a must-play if you are a fan of horror or games with a compelling and different story.
Best part of this game was the recurring nightmares I had months later after I finished the game 10/10
Reminds me of what Minecraft probably felt like back when it first came out. The uncertainty of not knowing what's coming in the night and what kinds of monsters lurk about. Obviously, its a lot scarier than Minecraft though. Good game with slow-burn horror that always leaves you a little tense.
What an amazing experience for horror fans! I just finished my first playthrough upon writing this review and I will say I definitely will be doing another playthrough. Darkwood offers some really good story telling that is for the most part told through exploration and character narratives. This game also has a slight survival aspect to it which I think adds to the horror. Weapons break, generators need fuel, windows need to be barricaded etc. Combat can be really satisfying, I really feel like every encounter I'm fighting for my life. Sometimes I straight up avoid conflict just because its in my better interest to do so. For a top down horror game its Impressive how many times I was on edge playing and I think it has to do with the audio design. My man Artur Kordas was cooking when he composed the soundtrack for this game. It is unreal how good the audio is here. I can't recommend this game enough if you are somebody who enjoys horror, it is a must play!
Had this game on my wish list forever. I love horror games and always thought the vibe looked amazing but was unsure if I'd like it. Got it in sale recently and honestly if I'd have known I would have enjoyed it this much I would have paid for it a long time ago. The world is so unique and mysterious, and it had me craving more. That being said, I saw the trailer for the second game and was not impressed. Don't know why they tried to change something that was already perfect. Such a drastic change in style. Definitely did not grab me the same way this one did.
Absolutely horrific game! Expect nightmares when you play this. Do love the game but never want to play it again (can't wait for the sequel)
Best game I've ever played. Genuine, true horror on an existential level, and environmental storytelling done in a way no other game I've played has. Buy this game, play it, and enjoy.
Wow... I didn't think it was possible to write a review for something after just five hours of game time but this game has had such an impact I don't even know where to start. I'll save the meat of the review for after I've finished the game but I will say this game ranks as one of the most tense games I have ever played. Genuinely bone chilling stuff. I have rarely been so stressed out playing a video game after just 5 hours of play time. I think the art style and the sound and music design is what makes this happen totally immersing you in the horror of the experience despite the top down view. Not to mention the whole aesthetic and the lore of the world is beyond creepy. Can't wait to keep playing (after a break to calm myself down)....
I would really enjoy playing this game if it saved automatically when you quit. Why is this not a feature? It is completely unclear how much longer you need to play before reaching the next autosave. When I want to stop playing and exit, I get a warning saying that the last save was six (!) minutes ago. Why not make it work like Don’t Starve, where the game saves when you leave? I do not want to replay a section I have already completed every time, or keep searching and playing until the game finally autosaves. I honestly do not understand why it was designed this way.
滿足作者癖好的福瑞OC森林探險游戲，裏面的人物全他媽是福瑞/福瑞愛好者，主角還必須（基本必須）跟這些福瑞搞好關係，還有主角移動太他媽慢了，我也不喜歡半開放世界的游戲，尤其是主角真的太他媽墨跡了 正經話在這 這個游戲不嚇人，真的，因爲這太讓人安心了，這個游戲是一個戰鬥 另類搜（不可再生資源）打撤 DAYZ，但他表現得有些四不像，游戲的很多東西在盡力模仿 Blood Borne和 Fear and Hunger，但給我的感覺就像是，“哦 有個屋子太好了 進去搜 遇到怪就打” “666又來個獵頭怪直接手法繞柱敲死” 歸根結底就是游戲的懲罰太少了，BB玩的是他的風格，難度較高（亞楠前期），當然可以手法解決，F&H有斷肢系統，無論何難度都會帶來挑戰性，消耗類資源使用節奏平衡且合理，但這游戲呢，主角超人類，一根棍能敲死大部分怪，特殊技能全TMD是消耗性的，一天那 麽長的時間居然只能用一次？？？少部分是不需要消耗的永久技能。 時間平衡不合理，一天那麽長時間，一部分時間都是垃圾時間，浪費的時間，沒有任何意義，房子太小了，二區庇護所開始我就沒有存活過，跑，黑燈瞎火的窗戶也不通，野人全員夜視，打，對面攻擊範圍老長一塊，屋裏就那麽大點地，雙拳難敵四手，我在那垃圾結構的避難所裏看到倆野人進來一個前一個后我都他媽氣笑了。 當然這游戲也不是完全沒有優點，只不過不是 F&h 或者BB那樣的就是了。 劇情塑造上的優秀，整個游戲給我的感覺更像是逃生和森林的結合，因爲這游戲沒有提拉個大屌攻擊你或者其他露生殖器的怪攻擊你，就算你死了也沒事，不會有人把你腿砍了關起來爽爽，也沒有哥特式建築和死馬的馬頭，更多的是一直不言的詭異，比如提親男孩和他爹媽，這幾個人都毫不在意自己十分潰爛的臉之類的玩意，仍然就像正常那樣生活，這種感覺真的是有些詭異，村莊也應該是十分對味的地方了，整個地方的人們維持一種混亂的生活，瘋狂，無法停下，但又出奇“有秩序的生活”明白嗎，我也不明白，這太難表達了 游戲的世界觀有點拉，首先森林沒有起點，或者説合理的，其他作品描述黑暗或者裏世界的世界觀大多都是什麽神鬼的創造的這那的，但這游戲我還沒瞭解全，説是外星人還是隕石什麽創造的“森林”？？？？？太他媽掉價了，我説真的，別怪我説話難聽，與之相比下的瘋狂就看起來很不合理了，BB的起源來源於 地下墓穴的探索，FH2的起源來源於月蝕，而這游戲是ET UFO天體？？這麽多可能誇張了，但這游戲森林就是起源於外星，我這麽説可能有點誤導 我討厭這個游戲，缺少詳細的血肉 生殖器等等惡心血腥的描寫，也缺少獨特的懲罰機制，世界觀更是有點像爛泥，站不住脚，我很討厭說某部作品過譽了，但真實情況如此，他最好的是在一些詭異地方的描寫，游戲性啥的真有點做的不完整，我很喜歡村莊這一個地方，很帶感，但這是個9.9拼好游，如何跟 宮崎老狗 索狗 和 生殖器斷肢RPG游戲相比，根本不需要拿多有見識的眼光看就完了 我真不喜歡這游戲推劇情内容，因爲我根本不知道要怎麽做，恐懼與飢餓至少圖就那麽大點瞎晃也能推進，而這游戲居然是TM魂類傳紙條類的推劇情模式，有些時候配角的一些支綫啥的根本不TMD告訴你要去哪你只能在一個全 TMD是蘑菇地雷 裂頭怪 夾子 大狗的該死的TMD那麽大且空的一個地方找那特點的一點點的一個建築，我真他媽要被隱身怪和傻逼毒蘑菇搞煩了 還有武器耐久，真耐用啊，好歹是二戰（大概）的時候了工業依然拉跨一個叉子戳兩下就廢了，平衡性過拉，我想這游戲根本沒在生存上用心，而是粗暴的選擇了殺殺殺，基本沒什麽運營，不能像其他游戲那樣滿世界亂跑收集什麽傳説中的武器哪怕是零件，我知道有人會扯皮什麽想玩RPG去玩博德之門別玩這游戲，但我想説這游戲硬核不硬核 RPG不RPG的太亂了沒得洗，這游戲不會還有孝子每天巡邏評論區看差評吧？ 説了一堆有的沒的根本沒人看哈哈哈 滿足我自己想説話的欲望
Related
Related
Trends
Modeled estimate over time, reconstructed from Steam's monthly review histogram.
Engagement
DAU/MAU are modeled from peak concurrent players (≈×8 and ×28) — Steam publishes no active-user counts, so treat these as rough estimates, not reported figures.
Audience
Languages: English, Polish, Russian, German, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Brazil, Italian, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, Hungarian, French
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
Related
| Rising Front | $1.5M | 4.1K | 88% | $9.59 |
| Moving Out | $1.5M | 2.3K | 80% | $24.99 |
| Plebby Quest: The Crusades | $1.5M | 2.9K | 86% | $19.99 |
| Three Kingdoms Mushouden | $1.5M | 2.1K | 74% | $19.99 |
| Lake | $1.5M | 5.8K | 87% | $19.99 |
| Öoo | $1.5M | 6.4K | 99% | $9.99 |