Darkwood is a promising top-down horror roguelike that has cult classic written all over it
From the developer of Kevin Costner's Tatanka Hunting Simulator 2013.
The three-person Poland-based Acid Wizard Studio may not bear much name recognition yet, but it definitely seems like a diverse, talented studio to keep an eye on. Last month I wrote about its hilarious Global Game Jam winner Kevin Costner's Tatanka Hunting Simulator 2013, and now it's showing off the debut trailer for its upcoming very polished looking top-down horror roguelike Darkwood.
Described as "a mix of Project Zomboid, Teleglitch and Don't Starve, directed by David Lynch," Darkwood will feature randomly generated environments where you explore the spooky outdoors by day then defend your home base at night.
Based on the debut trailer above, it looks surprisingly spooky. Usually top-down games aren't particularly scary since you can see your surroundings, but the limited sight lines and creepy sound effects eschew any sort of notions one usually has about this distant perspective. The evocative animations look great, too, and put me in mind of Hotline Miami where the relatively simple presentation makes your mind fill in the blanks and all your actions seem somehow cooler than if they were portrayed literally in a realistic looking blockbuster. Plus it's got a talking generator, so there's that.
As of now Darkwood is in pre-alpha and there's no set release date. The only announced platform so far is PC and Acid Wizard told us that it will "probably seek funding through Kickstarter or Indiegogo in the future," so look out for that.
