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Crimson Dawn

Crimson Dawn Game Cover
59%Game Brain Score
gameplay, optimization
story, music
59% User Score Based on 150 reviews

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PCWindows
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Crimson Dawn Game Cover

About

Crimson Dawn is a single player casual role playing shooter game. It was developed by Purple Lake and was released on April 11, 2023. It received neutral reviews from players.

Crimson Dawn is a casual roguelike game about slaying hordes of monsters, upgrades and leveling different characters, weapons and spells. Recruit a mercenary, choose weapons and spells, slay thousands of monsters, return home with a reward, craft new weapons and spells. Repeat.

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Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
Crimson Dawn screenshot
+7
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59%
Audience ScoreBased on 150 reviews
gameplay8 positive mentions
graphics3 negative mentions
  • Simple and accessible gameplay that is easy to pick up, focusing on positioning and dodging with automated attacks.
  • Offers a decent progression system with unlockable characters, upgrades, and a hub area, providing a sense of improvement between runs.
  • Affordable price point with enjoyable moments and a good introduction to the horde-survival/roguelite genre for fans looking for a compact experience.
  • Severely lacking in content and variety with only a few maps, characters, and weapons, leading to a short and repetitive experience.
  • The game feels unfinished and unpolished with bugs, balance issues, and no meaningful updates or developer support since its release.
  • Heavy grind with limited depth and linear upgrade paths reduce replayability, and the lack of features like endless mode or weapon evolutions make it less engaging.
  • gameplay
    28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay offers an accessible, addictive roguelite loop with automated combat that emphasizes positioning and strategy, making it enjoyable for short sessions but somewhat shallow over time. While it has unique ideas and decent replayability, it suffers from limited content, mechanical depth, and polish compared to genre peers, leading to a somewhat bare-bones and repetitive experience. Overall, it’s a competent but modestly presented game that appeals mostly to players seeking a low-complexity, budget-friendly roguelite.

    • “It’s a loop designed to be both low-maintenance and addictive, offering a compact, budget-friendly take on familiar mechanics with just enough variety to keep players engaged for a while.”
    • “This design choice removes the need for aiming or constant clicking, shifting the gameplay toward positioning, dodging, and strategic decision-making.”
    • “Crimson Dawn, like Vampire Survivors, focuses on easy-to-learn but hard-to-master rules, providing fun gameplay and high replayability.”
    • “It feels cheap, half-baked, not cared for and lacks in everything in its foundation—from hitboxes to movement to map object borders being way too big (not aligning with their visuals) to balancing and descriptions of core mechanics/things in general.”
    • “Initial early access has less content and mechanics than similar types (Rogue: Genesia, Soulstone, Spellbook Demonslayers, etc.). It is a very bare bones Vampire Survivor with pretty slow progression mechanics.”
    • “But its limited variety, modest presentation, and lack of mechanical depth may leave some players disengaged after the initial novelty wears off.”
  • story
    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game currently lacks a developed story, functioning mostly as an early access title with focus on RPG mechanics and metaprogression rather than narrative. Players report that missions and quests feel repetitive, buggy, and often unbalanced, which detracts from engagement and makes the overall experience underwhelming.

    • “Crimson Dawn’s RPG elements come into play between missions, where players return to a hub area to manage their resources, upgrade equipment, unlock new characters, and access features like the blacksmith or market.”
    • “The mission system makes for nice discrete goals, but mostly exists in service of a metaprogression grind focused on stat pumping.”
    • “The hub and quest system actually looks interesting, but other than that it just felt underwhelming in general to be honest.”
    • “☑ early access | no story yet”
    • “Optional quests within levels offer increased difficulty, but the rewards for completing them can sometimes feel underwhelming, which discourages risk-taking and makes high-difficulty challenges feel more punishing than rewarding.”
    • “The final levels depend on luck - had to try final mission several times, with everything maxed out, and could not finish it due to too low DPS (you have to kill the boss within given time).”
  • music
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is generally described as modest, repetitive, and somewhat generic, providing a relaxing but unmemorable atmosphere. While some players appreciate its chill vibe, others find the looping tracks annoying and call for more varied, fitting compositions to enhance the experience.

    • “It's very easy and relaxing to play, I enjoy the music and the different level-mechanics even though it gets really tough later on.”
    • “Slapper game, the music is great, and as barebones as it is I got 8 good hours of playtime (and I haven't finished everything yet).”
    • “Yes, you can turn the music all the way down to 0, but I do like some good music that fits the game.”
    • “The audio design is similarly modest, featuring background music that provides atmosphere but doesn’t stand out, and sound effects that are clear and functional but not particularly memorable.”
    • “It feels very janky, the animations look unfinished, no exciting synergies and the generic looping music can drive someone to insanity.”
    • “But right now, there is a super annoying like 5 second long music track that just loops over and over and over and becomes super annoying.”
  • graphics
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a pixel-art style that aims for a nostalgic feel but comes across as basic and somewhat unpolished. While the graphics are visually acceptable, issues like misaligned hitboxes and oversized map objects detract from the overall presentation.

    • “Visually, the game opts for a pixel-art aesthetic that falls somewhere between functional and nostalgic.”
    • “Pros: nice graphics and addictive gameplay (for an hour or two).”
    • “It feels cheap, half-baked, not cared and lacks in everything in its foundation from hitboxes to movement to map object borders way too big (not aligning with their visuals) to balancing and descriptions of core mechanics/things in general.”
    • “It does not look or play exactly like Vampire Survivor; there are a lot of subtle differences in the gameplay, sound, and graphics, and the meta is quite different.”
    • “Graphics: (no further details provided).”
  • grinding
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is generally seen as excessive and potentially frustrating, especially due to randomized upgrades and mandatory unlocks required to progress. While some aspects of grinding are optional, many players find it overly linear and tedious to fully max out stats or reach the end.

    • “But then in the very end there are 4 more unnecessary achievements, which are grindy as hell to max out the passive stats. This is really annoying to complete because upgrades come randomized; sometimes one of them doesn't even appear throughout the entire run.”
    • “A solid versus-like game, although a bit too grindy, since you have to unlock and power up a lot of things to reach the end.”
    • “But it feels incredibly grindy and overtly linear.”
  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere is characterized by limited and repetitive level design, leading to a somewhat chaotic and unorganized feel. Audio elements offer functional background music and sound effects that support the mood but lack distinctiveness or memorability.

    • “Perhaps even discontinued, because there are only two unique levels and the third one, while looking significantly better, contains heavily copied elements from Vampire Survivors. There is also a strangely unorganized and chaotic atmosphere.”
    • “The audio design is similarly modest, featuring background music that provides atmosphere but doesn’t stand out, and sound effects that are clear and functional but not particularly memorable.”
  • optimization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Crimson Dawn is well-optimized, running smoothly with low system demands and quick startup times, making it accessible even on older machines.

    • “In terms of overall polish, Crimson Dawn runs smoothly and demands little from your system.”
    • “It performs well even on older machines and is optimized for quick startup and play sessions.”
  • replayability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Crimson Dawn offers easy-to-learn yet challenging mechanics, delivering engaging gameplay that ensures high replayability.

    • “Crimson Dawn, like Vampire Survivors, focuses on easy-to-learn and hard-to-master rules, providing fun gameplay and high replayability.”
  • emotional
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users express a lack of emotional attachment to the game, viewing it primarily as a task to complete achievements rather than an engaging or meaningful experience.

  • monetization
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users feel the monetization of the game is similar to other "vampire survivor" titles and express concerns that it may be a cash grab.

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10h Median play time
10h Average play time
10-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Crimson Dawn is a casual role playing shooter game.

Crimson Dawn is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 10 hours playing Crimson Dawn.

Crimson Dawn was released on April 11, 2023.

Crimson Dawn was developed by Purple Lake.

Crimson Dawn has received neutral reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

Crimson Dawn is a single player game.

Similar games include Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel, Scarlet Tower, Spellbook Demonslayers, Yet Another Zombie Survivors, Soulstone Survivors and others.