Dark and Darker is a new PvPvE dungeon adventure game. Adding co-op functions to play as treasure hunters and crawl through dungeons. With game mechanics similar to Escape from Tarkov looting and extraction, Dark and Darker takes place in a fantasy setting. Game developers at IRONMACE state that “Dark and Darker aims to capture the wonder and awe of classic fantasy adventure games. We stand on the shoulders of giants and strive to pay respects to the traditions of the genre…Instead of shying away from our roots, we embrace that familiarity and look forward to incorporating all the dungeon fantasy tropes as a loving homage.”

On Youtube, Force Gaming describes the game similarly to Dungeons and Dragons, “It is not in the literal sense like the tabletop game, rolling the dice and telling the story. No, it’s not that but more so the picture that painted of an adventure through a dark dungeon that’s full of surprises, traps, deadly creatures, and other players all at the search of loot.” 

 Wizard of the Coast (WotC), known for the creation of Dungeons and Dragons had canceled at least five games in 2023. Force Gaming responded to this by stating on Twitter, “Meanwhile, Dungeons & Dragons inspired game (Dark & Darker), from small indie studio, sees massive success and huge player counts in pre-release Alpha playtests. It’s crazy really, that WotC can’t make the IP work in gaming. It’s got literally infinite potential in the space.”

The developers at IRONMACE, have held three previous playtests. The playtests have allowed players to give feedback to the developers prior to the final release. Some of the recent changes after the third playtest include cosmetic shops, mining and crafting, and complete map reworks. According to the Dark and Darker Steam page, the upcoming playtest date for the U.S. is February 6 through February 13. 

Darker and Darker allows the player to choose different classes. These classes include fighter, barbarian, rogue, ranger, wizard and cleric. In addition, IRONMACE is adding functions like skill trees, allowing additional building customization. 

“If you slightly like the premise of DND and Tarkov, loot and extract game, and have any tolerance for janky combat. Everything else about this game is great. It’s a lot of fun, and I think it has a lot of potential given that it’s not even launching for, like another year”, said Force Gaming.