Skip to main content

Dark Scrolls

Doinksoft's latest is an odd roguelike with lots of characters.
Dark Scrolls Game Cover
69%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, music
Most mentioned negative aspects:story, stability
67% User Score Based on 103 reviews
Critic Score 70%Based on 12 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchPCWindows
Buy Nowfrom $6.38
Buy NowGet on Steam €9.99
Dark Scrolls Game Cover

About Dark Scrolls

Dark Scrolls is a single player and multiplayer arcade platformer game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by doinksoft and was released on June 22, 2026. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Dark Scrolls is a fantasy-themed action platformer that fuses shmup-style chaos with roguelite progression and is packed with charm, challenge, and secrets.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
Dark Scrolls screenshot
+14
Skip Games Like Dark Scrolls

Games Like Dark Scrolls

Looking for games like Dark Scrolls? Here are top arcade platformer recommendations with a fantasy focus, selected from player-similarity data — start with Bloodshed, 30XX or Rotwood.

Bloodshed Image
83%1.1kreviews

Bloodshed

2025Shooter
Xbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 4+5
Games like Bloodshed
30XX Image
88%3kreviews

30XX

2021Arcade Platformer
Nintendo SwitchPCPlaystation 4+4
Games like 30XX
Rotwood Image
92%2.3kreviews

Rotwood

2026Hack and Slash
PCSteam DeckWindows
Games like Rotwood
Warden's Will Image
72%248reviews

Warden's Will

2025Shooter
PCWindows
Games like Warden's Will
Morsels Image
72%416reviews

Morsels

2025Shooter
Nintendo SwitchPlaystation 5Playstation 4+10
Games like Morsels
Gatekeeper Image
86%1.7kreviews

Gatekeeper

2025Shooter
PCSteam DeckWindows
Games like Gatekeeper
Have a Nice Death Image
83%4.5kreviews

Have a Nice Death

2023Arcade Hack and Slash
Nintendo SwitchPlaystation 5Playstation 4+10
Games like Have a Nice Death
Absolum Image
90%4.6kreviews

Absolum

2025Arcade Hack and Slash
Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPC+9
Games like Absolum
Wizard of Legend 2 Image
59%1.2kreviews

Wizard of Legend 2

2025Hack and Slash
PCXbox Game PassCloud+3
Games like Wizard of Legend 2
Hyper Light Breaker Image
58%3.1kreviews

Hyper Light Breaker

2025Open World Hack and Slash
PCSteam DeckWindows
Games like Hyper Light Breaker
More games like Dark Scrolls
Skip User Reviews

Reviews

67%Audience ScoreBased on 103 reviews
gameplay7 positive mentions
grinding4 negative mentions
  • Charming pixel art style and catchy music that evoke nostalgia for classic arcade platformers.
  • Unique characters with distinct playstyles and a rewarding skill-based gameplay loop once mastered.
  • Fun and chaotic co-op experience that adds replayability and enjoyment with friends.
  • Slippery and floaty controls, including awkward double jumping, causing frustration especially in precise platforming.
  • Numerous bugs and technical issues, including loud audio bugs, clunky UI, inconsistent mechanics, and occasional crashes.
  • Lack of tutorials, unclear mechanics/progression systems, no control customization, and unbalanced character design diminish accessibility and player engagement.

  • gameplay

    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    19% positive mentions, 73% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions

    The gameplay offers a fun and nostalgic run-and-gun platformer experience with a unique roguelite twist and character variety, but many find it basic, repetitive, and occasionally frustrating due to lack of tutorials, unclear mechanics, and pacing issues. While some appreciate its skill-based combat and modern quality-of-life improvements, others criticize its shallow depth, UI problems, and imbalance in multiplayer. Overall, it appeals to fans of retro arcade action but may wear thin quickly for those seeking deeper or more polished gameplay.

    • “But once you give it a bit and get used to the mechanics, what you'll find is a refreshingly unique and engaging take on a run and gun/platformer.”
    • “It's playful and irreverent in its presentation, offering a unique twist on classic roguelite upgrade mechanics, plenty of wild and wacky characters to unlock and experiment with, and a gameplay loop that scratches an itch I didn't even know I had.”
    • “This game delivers on all things it promises: a fun retro platformer with modern roguelike mechanics.”
    • “The game art screams with passion and heart-felt love, but the actual gameplay and UI design are genuinely atrocious.”
    • “The gameplay is messy, the UI is awful, and the only reason I won't refund this is because it comes with two free games and because I have hope for the future of this game.”
    • “The gameplay loop is incredibly bland, and in the first 5 minutes you'll see the entirety of what the game has to offer.”

  • music

    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    47% positive mentions, 35% neutral mentions, 18% negative mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its catchy, retro 8-bit style and nostalgic vibes reminiscent of classics like EarthBound and Castlevania, enhancing the overall charm and atmosphere. However, many users note that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, especially during intense gameplay moments. Despite this, the music remains a strong point that contributes to the game's unique and enjoyable experience.

    • “Also, special shout out to the music (there are a few tracks that sound straight out of Earthbound), and the Castlevania/Ghosts & Goblins style map between stages.”
    • “Visuals are pretty nice and colorful retro pixel stuff, and the music is very catchy. I really like the lava level track, but of course stage 1 is stuck in my head forever.”
    • “The soundtrack, the aesthetic, the humor is great.”
    • “Music and art are charming but wear thin really quickly when monsters start spawning on top of you.”
    • “It would be really good if there were another kind of music for sections; it gets repetitive quickly.”
    • “The music is awful, but some will say that's a matter of taste.”

  • graphics

    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    63% positive mentions, 18% neutral mentions, 19% negative mentions

    The game's graphics feature a charming retro pixel art style that skillfully balances modern smoothness with old-school aesthetics, offering colorful, well-designed characters and backgrounds. While visually appealing and reminiscent of classic titles, some users note issues such as graphical clutter that can hinder clarity, alongside occasional audio bugs. Overall, the art style is praised for its creativity and nostalgic appeal, strongly complementing the game's challenging gameplay.

    • “Spritework and art style are very appealing from the character/enemy designs to the backgrounds; sound design is incredibly charming.”
    • “One of my favorite aspects of Dark Scrolls is its art style; each entity is cleverly depicted in their own palette, rather than a single palette being given to the entire screen.”
    • “I think the artwork is fantastic, striking the perfect balance between looking smooth and modern and old-school and chunky.”
    • “Graphical clutter makes it damn near impossible to tell anything apart.”
    • “Aesthetics-wise, it looks alright.”
    • “The aesthetic harkens back to classics visually and through its sound design.”

  • story

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, -20% neutral mentions, 60% negative mentions

    The story is minimal and mainly serves as a backdrop for arcade-style gameplay, featuring basic missions tied to character progression rather than a developed plot. NPCs are bland, and the narrative lacks depth, making it a contrast to expectations from the developer. Overall, the focus is on quick, fun action rather than storytelling.

    • “Each character also has missions (such as defeat enemies with specific attacks or defeat a number of certain enemies) that can unlock permanent passive perk trinkets for that character (such as more starting health) or give crystals for the hub shop.”
    • “New Zealand Story and Liquid Kids are what it reminds me of the most, but with the forced scrolling of SonSon and a dash of Ghost 'n Goblins and shmup elements thrown in.”
    • “This isn't a 30-hour quest sort of game; it is quick arcade fun and that is all it needed to be.”
    • “- No real plot and surprisingly bland NPCs, which is a bit of a shock from Doinksoft.”
    • “Speaking of characters, balance is all over the place; for example, the barbarian character has a busted stomp attack that I used to cheese a bunch of enemies and bosses, and some quests to unlock trinket slots are significantly easier than others.”
    • “Each character also has missions (such as defeating enemies with X attack or defeating a number of X enemy) that can unlock permanent passive perk trinkets for that character (such as more starting health) or give crystals for the hub shop.”

  • stability

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent netcode problems, desyncs, and glitches, making it feel buggy and unreliable. However, it performs well on Linux and runs smoothly even on lower-end hardware.

    • “On the plus side, the game runs great on Linux without any tweaks.”
    • “Runs great even on hardware that struggles with other titles.”
    • “And from the radio silence, I'm guessing it's staying a buggy mess.”
    • “We’re talking super shoddy netcode with desyncs and glitches aplenty.”

  • grinding

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game is notably slow and tedious, with players earning only minimal currency per run to unlock upgrades. This repetitive progression can feel frustrating and drawn-out, contributing to a grind-heavy experience common in roguelites.

    • “Unlocking new upgrades is also tediously slow, unlocking pretty much one per run if you earned the currency for it.”
    • “A lot of short roguelites are grindy to balance the campaign progression, in-run progression and meta progression.”
    • “The game is absurdly grindy... I got to the third area after like three or four runs and the game has given me five diamonds so far I can use to unlock more items in the shop.”

  • humor

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game's humor is charming and delivers genuine laughs initially, contributing positively to its overall appeal, though its comedic impact diminishes upon repeated playthroughs.

    • “The soundtrack, the aesthetic, the humor is great.”
    • “The game has undeniable charm and the humor got some sensible chuckles out of me.”

  • emotional

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game evokes strong emotional passion through its art and heartfelt design, but this is undermined by frustrating gameplay mechanics and poor UI, which often lead to accidental deaths and player frustration.

  • optimization

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Users report that the game is well-optimized, with smooth performance and minimal issues, consistent with the developer's previous titles like Gato Roboto.

  • replayability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The replayability is low, as each run feels very similar and the “pick from three” mechanic offers minimal variety or incentive to replay.

    • “Each run hardly feels different from one another, and the 'pick from three' component is entirely unremarkable as well as a bare-minimum shot at replayability.”

  • character development

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The character development is praised for its distinct and well-designed characters, with visually appealing sprites that help each character stand out.

    • “The character designs are very good; I enjoy that they feel different and their sprites are great.”
Skip Critic Reviews

Critic Reviews

70%Critics’ scoreBased on 12 critic reviews
Skip Game Offers

Buy Dark Scrolls

Some of these are affiliate links — if you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Play Times

2h Median play time
2h Average play time
1-2h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
Skip Videos

Videos

Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Dark Scrolls is a arcade platformer game with fantasy theme. Common tags for Dark Scrolls include indie, roguelite, 2d, female protagonist, pixel graphics and others.

Dark Scrolls is available on Nintendo Switch, PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 2 hours playing Dark Scrolls.

Dark Scrolls was released on June 22, 2026.

Dark Scrolls was developed by doinksoft.

Dark Scrolls has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked Dark Scrolls for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

Dark Scrolls is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Bloodshed, 30XX, Rotwood, Warden's Will, Morsels and others.