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Darkout

Darkout is an enjoyable experience that is truly immersive as it is beautiful. The game could do well to be more user-friendly, especially since it involves a lot of paying attention to its method of crafting and resource hunting.
Darkout Game Cover
49%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
stability, optimization
42% User Score Based on 601 reviews
Critic Score 80%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

PCWindows
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Darkout Game Cover

About

Darkout is a single player survival action adventure game with horror and science fiction themes. It was developed by Allgraf and was released on December 4, 2013. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

Darkout is a sandbox action-game with survival and strategy components. You are the only survivor after your escape pod crashes on a strange planet. The environment is full of mysterious and hostile shadow creatures, and the only way to survive will be to gather resources used to craft and researching new weapons and technologies.The world is sunk in permanent darkness and the shadow creatures sur…

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Darkout screenshot
Darkout screenshot
Darkout screenshot
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42%
Audience ScoreBased on 601 reviews
story28 positive mentions
stability37 negative mentions
  • Beautiful and immersive graphics with a unique sci-fi dark atmosphere that stands out in the 2D crafting/sandbox genre.
  • Deep and rewarding crafting and research system encouraging exploration and base building with functional power and lighting mechanics.
  • Addictive gameplay that offers many hours of progression, exploration, and base defense, appealing to fans of Terraria and Starbound.
  • Game is unfinished, abandoned by developers, with a broken or incomplete story and some promised content turned into paid DLC that may never be released.
  • Numerous bugs, crashes, poor optimization, and technical issues including compatibility problems on modern systems, making the game sometimes unplayable.
  • Clunky controls and user interface, frustrating crafting and building mechanics, along with a steep learning curve and inadequate tutorial support.
  • story
    157 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story features an intriguing sci-fi setting with atmospheric lore revealed through scattered logs and exploration, offering a deeper narrative than many sandbox games. However, it remains incomplete and unevenly developed, with main quests abruptly ending mid-way and progression often hindered by bugs or design flaws. While the story adds flavor and motivation for some players, its unfinished state and lack of a proper ending leave the experience feeling unfinished and occasionally frustrating.

    • “This is a *very* beautiful sandbox game, with rich story and a lot of nice surprises to discover.”
    • “The story is rich and really interesting, and truthfully can last you hours because it's all scattered and goes in no particular order; you're trying to work out a puzzle, not go on linear quests.”
    • “Darkout is much more story driven than Terraria; it has a main quest line that can be followed and has tons of lore that can be found randomly throughout the world.”
    • “The story missions just stop, they were never finished.”
    • “However, the storyline is incomplete; the developers stated (after the game released from early access) that further story would be released as paid DLC, and then support vanished after the DLC stance prompted major backlash.”
    • “The story gets harder to follow; the concepts are more abstract and the only indicator as to where to kill something to get it to drop a log or data cube (which is how all story elements progress) is to catch the one hint in the last log as to where it will be found.”
  • graphics
    122 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics are widely praised for their high quality, detailed art style, and impressive lighting effects that create a unique, immersive atmosphere far surpassing typical pixel-art sandbox games like Terraria or Starbound. The seamless blend of 2D, 2.5D, and 3D elements, along with vibrant environments and dark sci-fi themes, sets a new standard in the genre. However, some users note occasional graphical inconsistencies, glitches, and performance issues on lower-end systems, and a few feel the visuals can outshine the gameplay's polish and interactivity.

    • “The art style, graphics, and especially the lighting is incredible, I've never seen 2.5D done this well. I was pretty impressed with how awesome my mining area ended up looking when at the end of the day it's just a series of caverns.”
    • “Actually playing the game proved that screenshots didn’t lie: Darkout is by far the most beautiful game in the 2D sandbox exploration/building genre, and while I believe that graphics isn’t that important, great graphics like this certainly adds to the enjoyment.”
    • “The most noticeable difference between Darkout and other games of the genre is its graphics level, a full head and shoulders above most other games in the genre. It provides lush jungles, beautiful reflective crystal caves, and ominous ruins for the player to traverse that all look stunning.”
    • “The game, whilst being beautifully detailed and obviously having passion put into the graphics, is currently quite a mess.”
    • “Due to a lack of options the game has a few fps issues and also graphical issues.”
    • “Loaded my save the next day and all foreground graphics were gone (only black shadows where things are), no fix after several patch gfx drivers up to date, dev team did not respond or acknowledge, new game does not fix this.”
  • gameplay
    89 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Darkout offers a unique twist on the Terraria-style sandbox with its innovative light/darkness mechanics that influence combat and exploration, providing an atmospheric and strategic gameplay experience. While the core mechanics, crafting, and research systems are engaging and promising, many players find progression slow, gameplay somewhat clunky, and the experience ultimately incomplete due to lack of content and ongoing development. Despite technical issues and occasional frustration, the game still delivers several hours of solid single-player gameplay for fans of the genre.

    • “The mechanics are interesting, it's an interesting sci-fi take on the Terraria style of games, and, to use terms I rarely ever use and mean it, this game is hauntingly beautiful and quite atmospheric at times.”
    • “It was the first survival game that really clicked with me, especially because the darkness is used as an actual mechanic (and it really brings the game to life compared to other 2D survival games) and being crashed on a remote planet lends itself well to a single-player survival story.”
    • “Having light as a battle mechanic gives a small but considerable degree of strategy to your base designs and how you handle combat.”
    • “Back at the game's release, a lot of people were willing to show support because of the passion of the devs and the promising product that the game could have been. In my opinion, this game could have destroyed Starbound and Terraria in terms of detail and lore, but while the former has more lore and the latter has more playability, both are complete games. Darkout is so lackluster in comparison that it may as well not even be linked to them—sacrificing gameplay, optimizations, and progression for Steam trading cards three years after release.”
    • “To the game's credit, it is the prettiest of the lot, but its clunky gameplay and tedious, sluggish grind make it a game I wouldn't recommend.”
    • “A poorly done and abandoned Terraria clone with a mechanic (darkness) that could be cute if the game wasn't punishing, derivative, and not a whole lot of fun.”
  • atmosphere
    48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game excels in crafting a hauntingly beautiful, dark, and immersive atmosphere that sets it apart from similar sandbox survival titles like Terraria, emphasizing tension, loneliness, and exploration. Its atmospheric visuals, dynamic lighting, eerie sound effects, and a fitting soundtrack create a moody, claustrophobic world infused with mystery and moodiness that deeply enhances the player experience. While the atmosphere is widely praised for its uniqueness and emotional impact, some note minor audio inconsistencies but overall consider it a standout feature that defines the game’s identity.

    • “This game is hauntingly beautiful and quite atmospheric at times, with a unique sci-fi take on the Terraria style of games.”
    • “The lighting and fog create an incredibly atmospheric experience that you need to see in motion to fully appreciate.”
    • “Darkout has an excellent atmosphere with a very creepy feel throughout, enhanced by beautiful graphics and a haunting soundtrack.”
    • “The atmosphere is oppressive and you're glad to find whatever light source you stumble upon or assemble.”
    • “Looks and atmosphere are the selling point as the game is prettier than some of its competitors and feels claustrophobic in the dark depths filled with horrors.”
    • “Darkout is a sandbox survival game in the same vein as Terraria but Darkout has oodles more atmosphere and can be pretty unforgiving to a casual, unobservant, or impatient gamer.”
  • stability
    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent crashes, corrupted save files, and poor optimization that causes lag and freezes, especially on older or weaker systems. It is widely described as buggy, unfinished, and abandoned, with many game-breaking problems limiting playability and progress. While some players tolerate these flaws due to early access expectations, overall, the stability severely hampers the experience.

    • “Obviously a buggy piece of software, causes PC to lose display and require a hard reset (power button).”
    • “The optimization is appallingly bad (playing the game on older computers is impossible due to how buggy/unfinished the lighting engine appears to be, game can crash repeatedly on older, slower processors, etc).”
    • “The game has a fairly good core, but is buggy (some bugs are even game stopping, like corrupted saves).”
  • music
    37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in these games is generally praised for fitting the atmosphere, being relaxing, and enhancing immersion, with some soundtracks described as beautiful and distinctive. However, a few users find the music repetitive, occasionally annoying, or unremarkable, and some mention issues with loud or awkward sound effects that detract from the experience. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a strong point that supports the game's mood, even if not universally acclaimed.

    • “Unfinished game with unique concept, great atmosphere, soundtrack and complex crafting system.”
    • “The game is quite beautiful, the music fits the background and it is very relaxing to play.”
    • “Truly a beautiful and immersive game one might say, and the soundtrack, by the gods, the soundtrack is truly amazing, it really sets the mood there.”
    • “The music is kinda so-so and rather unremarkable but the sound effects are really jarring at times and sometimes don't make any sense.”
    • “The music, initially 'okay', gets repetitive and annoying really quick, and the sound effects sometimes are awkward or way too loud compared to other effects.”
    • “My only real complaint is the random playing of loud music when I do some things, and I have music turned all the way down and it still does it.”
  • optimization
    19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Optimization in the game is widely criticized, with many users reporting frequent frame drops, lag, and performance issues even on high-end systems, suggesting poor optimization overall. While some praise the smooth graphics and large worlds when it runs well, stability and bugs significantly hinder the experience, indicating the game requires substantial optimization improvements.

    • “It's a beautiful game with good performance, easy to build in, has surprisingly large worlds, and the storyline is decent.”
    • “The game runs smoothly with nearly no bugs.”
    • “The graphics are smooth with no performance issues whatsoever and the character is easily controllable.”
    • “Not a bad game; however, it is poorly optimized and drops frames a lot.”
    • “The game has many performance issues and bugs. The developer planned to switch to a new engine but could not due to a financial crisis.”
    • “Performance can be bad for no reason in many situations, leading me to believe the game isn't optimized at all.”
  • grinding
    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is often described as tedious and repetitive due to clunky crafting, difficult resource gathering, and frequent enemy scaling. While some find the mining meditative and progression structured through research, many highlight the sluggish, buggy mechanics and necessary farming as a chore, making the grind a significant drawback for players seeking a smoother experience.

    • “To the game's credit I would say it is the prettiest of the lot of them, but its clunky gameplay and tedious, sluggish grind make it a game I wouldn't recommend.”
    • “With the same old spotty mouse targeting as others, a horrible grouping system for mining, a terribly inaccurate crafting system, and a slew of other annoying bugs, it is tedious at best during these hours searching for resources, and can often be a real chore to play.”
    • “In addition, parts of it are extremely grindy and unfun.”
  • replayability
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers good replayability with randomly generated worlds in multiple sizes, providing varied experiences each time. However, once all achievements are unlocked, some users feel the novelty diminishes. Overall, it remains a challenging and engaging experience for extended play.

    • “Worlds are randomly generated and available in 3 sizes, providing replay value for days and days.”
    • “It's replay value is good as you can create something a little different in a new location every time.”
    • “Replayability is there and it is a challenging game.”
    • “As soon as you've unlocked the last achievement, you've seen it all.”
  • emotional
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect is somewhat mixed, as the animations show thoughtful design and overall quality, but the unarmed melee and attack animations require some refinement. Additionally, progression can feel detached from the available technology, which may affect player engagement.

  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users appreciate that the game delivers content true to its advertisements, with no misleading promises. However, some note that promotional posts sometimes include ads for unrelated products, which can be distracting.

  • humor
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is subtle, with enemy animations and sounds providing occasional laughs. Additionally, players find trapping enemies amusing, adding a playful element to gameplay.

    • “It is possible to trap enemies as well, which is pretty hilarious, providing ways to make XP grinders and the like once you have enough resources.”
    • “Enemy animations and sounds can be a little funny, making the game still fun.”
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80%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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36h Median play time
60h Average play time
15-81h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 10 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Darkout is a survival action adventure game with horror and science fiction themes.

Darkout is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 60 hours playing Darkout.

Darkout was released on December 4, 2013.

Darkout was developed by Allgraf.

Darkout has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Darkout for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Darkout is a single player game.

Similar games include Edge of Space, Signs of Life, Planet Explorers, Osiris: New Dawn, Planet Centauri and others.