Dark Hours

About

Dark Hours is a single player and multiplayer survival action adventure game with horror and mystery themes. It was developed by Piece of Cake studios and was released on October 23, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Dark Hours is a co-op survival horror game for up to 4 players. You and your crew were ready for the perfect heist, until something went terribly wrong. Right after breaking in, the power cuts out and you realize something isn’t right. You’re trapped inside the building you came to rob… and you’re not alone. A monster has taken over the place and you’re its next prey. Will you manage to escape?…

Skip User Reviews

84%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,513 reviews

gameplay38 positive mentions

stability40 negative mentions

Highly enjoyable and funny co-op horror-heist game, perfect for playing with friends, with frequent updates and a supportive developer team.
Procedurally generated maps and diverse monsters provide a fresh, tense, and exciting experience each playthrough.
Unique blend of heist objectives with horror elements and interactive mechanics such as pushing friends, tranquilizer guns, and monster-specific strategies.

Numerous bugs including missing items, crashes, and game-breaking glitches hinder gameplay and progression at times.
Limited content with only a few maps and monsters leads to repetition and a lack of long-term replayability.
Some monsters are unbalanced or annoying, with issues like spawning on players, inconsistent AI, and lack of effective counters especially in small groups, making solo or two-player sessions frustrating.

gameplay
130 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
59%
12%
Gameplay is generally praised for its fun cooperative elements, creative monster mechanics, and engaging heist-style loops, but many reviews note it becomes repetitive and shallow over time with limited variety in objectives, maps, and enemy encounters. Some mechanics are considered clunky or unintuitive, and balancing issues along with bugs affect the experience. While atmospheric tension and team dynamics add excitement, the gameplay would benefit from more diverse content, refined mechanics, and narrative depth to maintain long-term engagement.
- “Its blend of procedurally generated challenges, diverse enemy encounters, and tense team-based gameplay creates an engaging and often heart-pounding experience.”
- “The amount of little mechanics that fill this game is one thing I greatly adore about it, there's so many awesome features you wouldn't expect, like being able to make coffee, the monsters actually crouching through doors, smashing statues with the iron gates, I could go on!”
- “Mechanics enable a lot of shenanigans while rewarding team play, monsters are distinctive and it's fun to discover how to counter them.”
- “The gameplay becomes repetitive almost immediately, and the monsters—while initially intriguing—become predictable and boring.”
- “Update - the game gets boring and repetitive after 20-30 hrs of gameplay yet devs expect you to grind for 100+ hrs for overpriced cosmetic items.”
- “Most of the gameplay is gameplay for gameplay's sake; it doesn't make sense why you can't use the hacking device and the keypad at the same time when they are one foot from each other.”
humor
98 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
1%
The game's humor is widely praised, especially in multiplayer where chaotic, silly moments and player interactions lead to nonstop laughter and fun. Players enjoy the blend of horror and comedy, with funny mechanics like tranquilizer gun mishaps, quirky enemy behavior, and goofy animations enhancing the experience. While some note bugs and occasional inconsistency, the humor remains a strong and entertaining highlight, particularly when playing with friends.
- “From coordinating hacks to saving each other from face-hugging parasites, it’s chaotic, hilarious, and terrifying in all the right ways.”
- “My friends and I have spent more time getting each other murdered and laughing our asses off while doing it than anything else.”
- “The intense moments and unexpected scares will have you laughing and screaming in equal measure.”
- “Too boring, only one level, not funny”
story
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
82%
6%
The game's story is minimal and repetitive, centered around heist-themed objectives disrupted by monsters, with missions often feeling tedious due to limited variety and unclear or inconsistent item placement. While the tense, cooperative gameplay with monsters adds excitement, the lack of narrative depth and mission diversity leaves players wanting more layered storytelling and varied mission design. Bugs and missing features like hints or a journal further hinder immersion and mission clarity.
- “The gist is that a monster (or two) will be trying to get to you and your teammates, and stop you from completing whatever crime-themed objective you are given (whether it's stealing, evidence destruction, bomb planting, etc.), and you need to survive and get out with as many of the objectives (and as much of the loot) as you can while doing so quickly due to the run having a time limit that restricts how many total missions you will be able to do.”
- “The 1 hour timer to complete as many missions as you can plus two different monsters makes things very tense and constantly interesting, especially with the different items all having so many uses on the different enemies.”
- “Now that we know the ropes, every mission grows more tense the closer we get to the end, as you all start planning how you might gank your friend right before extract to increase your personal gain.”
- “But as of recently a lot of key items are not spawning in, which is preventing us from being able to complete the majority of missions.”
- “After a few rounds, the gameplay can feel repetitive, and adding layers of story could help break that cycle.”
- “We've struggled a bit to hit some of the contract requirements in missions such as only finding 3 of 4 incriminating documents/photos and spent a ton of time trying to find the fourth but never could.”
stability
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game’s stability is notably affected by frequent bugs and glitches, including monster AI issues, player movement problems, and mission-breaking errors, often disrupting gameplay. While the game remains fun, especially with friends, these technical shortcomings and occasional crashes significantly impact the overall experience. As an early access title, ongoing updates are expected to address these stability concerns.
- “Players get stuck, monsters are buggy and the balancing needs work.”
- “Buggy as hell needs a lot of work only had 1 full game that lasted an hour and we got no reward for it, tried to play multiple more times and it's same issue just bug after bug.”
- “Very funny, especially when played with friends. The objectives and all are somewhat simple, but unfortunately the game is so buggy, this needs a lot more work before I can recommend this to anyone... a lot of the bugs are multiplayer related, like desync on mission selection and loadings, but there are others like when trying to perform some animations the game crashes.”
graphics
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
54%
13%
The graphics receive mixed feedback, with many praising the art style, atmosphere, and overall visual design as beautiful and enjoyable. However, optimization issues are common, especially on lower-end PCs, leading to performance problems and occasional lag. Some users feel the visuals need further enhancement to match gameplay improvements and avoid feeling outdated or clunky.
- “The graphics are amazing.”
- “The maps are amazing, the creatures aren't similar, and the graphics are beautiful.”
- “I highly recommend the game—the sound and graphics are top-notch and the optimization is great.”
- “The optimization is also not very good, while the graphics got worse after it came out.”
- “The graphics look like they were rendered on a toaster, the AI has the brainpower of a potato, and the bugs are so bad I’m starting to think they’re a feature.”
- “The game does not run very well graphics wise if you have a lower end computer.”
optimization
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
50%
20%
Optimization reviews are mixed, with many users reporting poor performance and low frame rates even on high-end PCs, while others praise smooth gameplay and good optimization. The game struggles particularly on laptops and less powerful systems, indicating a need for better performance tuning and online connection improvements. Addressing these issues would enhance accessibility and overall player experience.
- “Game is fun and runs smoothly.”
- “I highly recommend the game—the sound and graphics are top-notch and the optimization is great.”
- “Very good game, funny co-op multiplayer, very good optimization”
- “As of right now, this game is completely unplayable for me. I'm running an i9-14900k, 64 GB DDR5, 4090, and the game is not properly utilizing them; it stutters every time I move or look around.”
- “The game is still unoptimized to hell and back where I'm stuck at 20 FPS, yet games such as Expedition 33 run at 100 FPS on high.”
- “The performance is god awful; I have a great system and it still runs poorly.”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
81%
Grinding in this game is widely criticized as tedious, repetitive, and overly time-consuming, with progression often locked behind grind-heavy systems that can feel frustrating and unintuitive. While some new mechanics like the reputation system add purpose to grinding, the overall gameplay loop, including monster encounters and objectives, tends to become monotonous and disengaging over time.
- “There's also a lot of cool stuff you can't actually access because it's locked behind a very grindy progression system that, let's be clear, we will never be able to beat lol.”
- “Even without the bugs the creature encounter design is simply lazy and either far too easy with barely any interaction, or impossibly hard and tedious to play around.”
- “Had high hopes for this game but the enemies are too frustrating and kill you way too easily, the objective seems fun until you realise there are barely any maps and the game then becomes tedious, refunded.”
atmosphere
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
81%
13%
6%
The atmosphere of Dark Hours is widely praised for its creepy, immersive, and thrilling qualities, successfully blending supernatural horror with cooperative heist elements. Many highlight its eerie environments, spine-chilling sound design, and intense jump scares, making it a standout aspect of the game. However, a few users find the music and atmosphere somewhat underwhelming, suggesting room for improvement in audio and narrative integration.
- “Dark Hours is a thrilling horror game that immerses players in a dark, atmospheric world full of eerie environments and spine-chilling sound design.”
- “Overall, Dark Hours offers a unique twist on the survival horror genre by fusing cooperative heist elements with a supernatural thriller atmosphere.”
- “Like the atmosphere is absolutely terrifying, the sudden jump-scare when you have the eyeless monster is terrifying and the mechanics of the weeping angels and eyeless monster is just so well made!”
- “I also found the music and atmosphere to be somewhat underwhelming.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
Replayability is generally praised due to dynamic, random elements, time-based challenges, and customization options like upgrades, cosmetics, and base customization. Procedurally generated maps and variety of monsters keep each playthrough fresh, though some users desire more content and monsters to enhance longevity. Overall, replayability is seen as strong and engaging, especially in multiplayer, but could benefit from additional updates.
- “This makes for good replayability along with a risk system; you get 60 minutes of real time to complete as many jobs as you can.”
- “What makes Dark Hours particularly engaging is its dynamic and replayable nature.”
- “But once you get a feel for it, including the use of the graffiti as signs, the randomness actually makes the game way more replayable and keeps every run feeling fresh.”
- “Needs more content, maps, and monsters for replayability, but the gameplay available is awesome.”
- “The monsters were more frustrating than scary, and the game severely lacks replay value.”
- “Most gamers love upgrades, especially visual ones, and adding base customization would be a huge bonus to increase the need for money and improve replayability.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The music in the game has enjoyable moments, especially in the prologue and lobby areas, with fun interactive touches like confetti and emotes. However, many users find the soundtrack underwhelming and repetitive, suggesting that more dynamic, horror-themed, and atmospheric music would better enhance the game’s intensity and element of surprise.
- “The new lobby is also nice, my friend got the ball in the hoop and the music and confetti was a cute touch :) I don't know if the emotes are new but I greatly enjoy them and I will probably be spending all my time in the lobby trying to dance in sync with my friends lol”
- “Music greatly increases the element of surprise.”
- “I also found the music and atmosphere to be somewhat underwhelming.”
- “By enhancing the audio design to match the intensity of the game’s premise—maybe more dynamic music that shifts based on in-game events or subtler, creepier ambient sounds—it could take the overall experience to the next level.”
- “Love the prologue version but I wish this game had more puzzles and more horror soundtracks; honestly, it gets boring after some time.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users indicate that despite misleading advertising, the game offers a quality experience that feels genuine and avoids the common pitfalls of being a cash grab, making its monetization fair and unobtrusive.
- “The advertising and information regarding this game sculpt a a very different reality than actually playing it.”