Once Glorious Artahk

About

Once Glorious Artahk is a single player casual puzzle game with fantasy, mystery and dark fantasy themes. It was developed by Bismuth Tales and was released on November 18, 2025. It received very positive reviews from players.

In Once Glorious Artahk, you’ll explore the ruins of the ancient city of Artahk in search of a way to save the world from an endless night. Solve a variety of different puzzles to unlock new paths, abilities, and forgotten lore, then read the lost stories you uncover to gain insight into a tangled web of mysteries. Using only your wits and your trusty torch to guide you, you must find a way to ret…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

94%

Audience ScoreBased on 31 reviews

story8 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

Engaging and deep puzzle mechanics that offer satisfying 'aha' moments without excessive frustration.
Rich, well-written lore and story that motivates exploration and puzzle solving, creating an immersive narrative experience.
Atmospheric art and music that complement the dark fantasy setting and enhance the overall mood.

Navigation can be frustrating due to a maze-like design, initial lack of an in-game map, and tedious backtracking.
The beast mechanic, while optional, is perceived by some as annoying and poorly thought out.
Font readability issues and a sometimes overly dark or zoomed-in visual style can hinder player comfort.

story
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
45%
15%
The story is deeply engaging, blending epic fantasy with cosmic horror elements and rich world-building that gradually unfolds through exploration and puzzle-solving. While early journal entries may feel slow due to heavy world-building, the narrative becomes more compelling as character-driven threads develop, effectively motivating continued play. Overall, the well-written, intricate lore and effective storytelling make the game highly rewarding, especially considering it's the work of a solo developer.
- “Without spoilers, the game has an epic fantasy story reminiscent of Richard Adams' work and Lois McMaster Bujold's Five Gods series, with some cosmic horror elements.”
- “The game does a great job of setting up a world and story that leaves you curious to keep learning more, motivating the puzzle solving and exploration.”
- “The storytelling alone makes this game well worth the purchase, especially considering it's all coming from a solo developer.”
- “- This is subjective, but I found early journal entries to be boring as they focused too much on world-building before introducing the characters and storylines needed to care enough to read dozens of pages learning about the world.”
- “Long story of once glorious Artahk is unfolded as we persist in looking and reading for hints and details.”
- “Nor will I ever enjoy having to do game-related things (like quest tracking or maps) outside of the game.”
gameplay
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
58%
16%
The gameplay is praised for its unique and varied puzzle mechanics, including innovative elements like discovering words to unlock lore, which adds depth without feeling overly guided. While some find the beast mechanic intriguing and tension-inducing, others see it as potentially frustrating, though it can be disabled. Overall, the gameplay offers a gradual increase in complexity and exploration challenges, though the limited number of tracks may lead to some repetitiveness toward the end.
- “The puzzles themselves are quite varied, with a few staple mechanics (such as the classic laser reflection with twists), but the majority of puzzle mechanics are unique.”
- “Discovering words that unlock lore entries is a unique gameplay mechanic, never seen it before and I like that.”
- “The gameplay mechanics grow the further into the game you get.”
- “But I wished it had some more tracks, because near the end of my gameplay it started feeling repetitive.”
- “Nothing in the limited lore I found suggests an immortality or respawn mechanic, so it seems to just be there to be an obstacle and some 'spooky' lore while fully realizing that that sort of mechanic in an exploration/puzzle game is a frustrating experience.”
- “Imo it is the only annoying and not well-thought out mechanic of the game, but you will see.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
43%
The music is widely praised for its quality and fitting atmosphere, with several users finding the soundtrack memorable and enhancing the game's immersive experience. Many comparisons to Skyrim highlight how the music elevates exploration and puzzle-solving. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a strong complement to the game's world and story.
- “Some of the music tracks might be stuck in my head for the foreseeable future.”
- “The OST is nice and creates the perfect atmosphere for this adventure.”
- “The music is great and honestly reminds me of Skyrim; this makes exploring and piecing the puzzles together infinitely better.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its captivating dark fantasy tone, enhanced by a fitting soundtrack and art style. The unnerving late-game ambiance, combined with rich, well-written lore, deeply immerses and motivates players throughout the adventure.
- “The game's greatest strength is its fantastic atmosphere, which is deeply enhanced by the unbelievably well-written lore entries that motivate you to keep going.”
- “Also, the lore and the atmosphere are very captivating dark fantasy.”
- “I love the unnerving atmosphere especially in late game.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game involves repetitive puzzle-solving and backtracking, particularly in areas like the royal parterre, which some players find a bit tedious. However, engaging writing and overall design prevent it from becoming overly frustrating.
- “The other area for improvement is that some of the areas (especially Royal Parterre) require you to redo the same puzzles over and over to switch between traversal paths, which ended up being a little tedious.”
- “Backtracking can be a little tedious at times, but it never got bad enough to really frustrate me.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The graphics feature detailed and impressive art style with comfortable, dim lighting that maintains visual interest without straining the eyes. The beautiful artwork, including large cinematic pieces, complements distinct and well-designed zones, while the use of darkness is balanced and never overwhelming.
- “The writing, art style, and level design are all really detailed and impressive so far.”
- “The artwork is beautiful, especially the big cinematic art pieces, and each zone of the map is distinct with well-balanced darkness.”
- “The art style is comfortable, dim, and keeps my attention without straining my eyes.”

Skip Game Offers

Buy Once Glorious Artahk

Once Glorious Artahk
€14.79
See offer on Steam

Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like Once Glorious Artahk

89%10.1kreviews

TUNIC

2022

Role Playing

+12

96%17.5kreviews

ANIMAL WELL

2024

Platformer

89%2.6kreviews

Quern: Undying Thoughts

2016

Open World Simulation

93%792reviews

Akurra

2024

Open World Puzzle

93%5.8kreviews

Roadwarden

2022

Role Playing

More games like Once Glorious Artahk

Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Once Glorious Artahk is a casual puzzle game with fantasy, mystery and dark fantasy themes.

Once Glorious Artahk is available on PC, Windows and Linux.

Once Glorious Artahk was released on November 18, 2025.

Once Glorious Artahk was developed by Bismuth Tales.

Once Glorious Artahk has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked Once Glorious Artahk for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Once Glorious Artahk is a single player game.

Similar games include TUNIC, ANIMAL WELL, Quern: Undying Thoughts, Akurra, Roadwarden and others.

Once Glorious Artahk

Platforms

About

Buy Once Glorious Artahk