This ghostly game will unlock the darkest parts of a nightmare, and the only way to wake up is to endure every wicked obstacle. Darq is a second person game where the main character is entrapped within their own dream and they are forced to lucid dream their way to an escape.
“Darq tells the story of Lloyd, a boy who becomes aware of the fact that he is dreaming.” Lloyd is a poor soul that will have to find his way out of his own nightmare. For being trapped in one’s own dream, you would think you’d be able to manifest a reliable defense, but Lloyd’s imagination is far more cruel. Facing creatures that dwarf him in size, he will have to take advantage of his puzzling and twisted environment by hiding in constricting corners, lurking beneath the safe cloak of darkness, and perfectly timing an enemy’s presence.
It’s definitely safe to agree that Darq holds some strong similarities to the game Little Nightmares. They both carry elements of deep mental fears, abnormal beasts that cannot be defeated, and desperation for escape. While both games are based on psychological fears, they have very different conflicts. Little Nightmares is based on the childhood fears a kid commonly faces in this gargantuan world; where Darq is centralized on Lloyd’s internal psychological conflicts. The game is also designed in a way that keeps players on their toes. Even though it is a horror game, Darq doesn’t rely on multiple jump scares to keep its scare factor. The game concentrates on building excruciating suspense and torturous anticipation, so that when the jump scare does arrive players are reminded that “in a dream world anything can happen at any time.”
Unfold Games intends to release Darq some time this year, but for now the game will continue to face improvements. The developers even go to say, “the goal is to make the player like being there, even though being there involves facing their fears.” Darq will be playable for PC, and might make it to consoles.