Skip to main content

The Fortress

The Fortress Game Cover
62%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, graphics
Most mentioned negative aspects:replayability, stability
62% User Score Based on 101 reviews

Platforms

PCMac OSWindows
Buy Nowfrom $3.20
Buy NowGet on Steam $6.99
The Fortress Game Cover

About The Fortress

The Fortress is a single player tactical role playing game with horror, fantasy, mystery, medieval and others themes. It was developed by Baryonyx Games and was released on January 22, 2026. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

You’re held prisoner by the hideous Lich, who captured you during his expansion wars and locked you up for eternity in his fortress with the other outcasts. With no name, no past, and left to rot in a place of death and damnation, you have one goal: survive... and escape. Advance through different rooms in this horrific citadel, face the enemies that block your way, and keep on your path toward an…

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
The Fortress screenshot
The Fortress screenshot
The Fortress screenshot
The Fortress screenshot
The Fortress screenshot
The Fortress screenshot
The Fortress screenshot
The Fortress screenshot
The Fortress screenshot
Skip Games Like The Fortress

Games Like The Fortress

Looking for games like The Fortress? Here are top tactical role playing recommendations with a horror, fantasy, mystery, medieval, historical and dark fantasy focus, selected from player-similarity data — start with Lootbound, Dice & Fold or SpellRogue.

Lootbound Image
83%737reviews

Lootbound

2026Tactical Role Playing
Nintendo SwitchLinuxXbox Series X|S+4
Games like Lootbound
Dice & Fold Image
82%1.5kreviews

Dice & Fold

2024Tactical Hack and Slash
LinuxPCMac OS+2
Games like Dice & Fold
SpellRogue Image
90%1.1kreviews

SpellRogue

2025Tactical Role Playing
PCSteam DeckWindows
Games like SpellRogue
Overlooting Image
78%821reviews

Overlooting

2025Tactical Role Playing
PCWindows
Games like Overlooting
Slots & Daggers Image
90%4.3kreviews

Slots & Daggers

2025Casual Role Playing
Nintendo SwitchAndroidPlaystation 5+13
Games like Slots & Daggers
He is Coming Image
87%2.5kreviews

He is Coming

2025Tactical Role Playing
PCXboxSteam Deck+1
Games like He is Coming
Hellslave Image
87%1.1kreviews

Hellslave

2022Tactical Role Playing
PCWindows
Games like Hellslave
Ring of Pain Image
88%2.5kreviews

Ring of Pain

2020Role Playing Shooter
Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPC+8
Games like Ring of Pain
Banners of Ruin Image
78%2.3kreviews

Banners of Ruin

2021Tactical Role Playing
Nintendo SwitchPCCloud+1
Games like Banners of Ruin
Die in the Dungeon Image
93%1.8kreviews

Die in the Dungeon

2023Tactical Role Playing
PCMac OSSteam Deck+1
Games like Die in the Dungeon
More games like The Fortress
Skip User Reviews

Reviews

62%Audience ScoreBased on 101 reviews
gameplay13 positive mentions
replayability3 negative mentions
  • The game features strong presentation elements including evocative dark fantasy art, excellent voice acting, and a fitting atmospheric soundtrack.
  • Gameplay is simple yet addictive for fans of dice rolling and RNG-based roguelikes, with some strategic choices in allocating dice damage and managing relics.
  • There is a satisfying sense of progression with unlockable classes, relics, and achievements that provide replay value for those who enjoy the genre.
  • The gameplay is heavily reliant on RNG with little player agency, often leading to frustrating and repetitive combat encounters with minimal meaningful choices.
  • Numerous bugs and game-breaking glitches affect equipment functionality and cause crashes, severely hampering playability and progress.
  • The game is quite short and linear, with limited variation in classes, enemies, and items, and unskippable cutscenes which detract from the experience.

  • gameplay

    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    34% positive mentions, 58% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions

    The gameplay is heavily reliant on RNG with simple, repetitive mechanics that offer limited player choice or strategic depth, making it potentially frustrating for those averse to randomness. However, many find it enjoyable and addictive for casual play, especially when combined with its strong dark fantasy aesthetic and atmospheric design. Improvements such as more meaningful upgrades, refined mechanics, and better quality-of-life features could enhance the overall experience.

    • “The gameplay is simple but quite fun and challenging; it had me on the edge of my seat during a couple of tight rolls.”
    • “The gameplay is very intuitive, and even if the dice sometimes work against you, the relics come to your aid and save the day.”
    • “Interesting gameplay: it's heavily reliant on RNG, but its simplicity makes it quite fun.”
    • “The gameplay is extremely RNG-reliant, which you'd expect from a roguelike dicebuilder, except the gear you can collect only makes the numbers go up a little bit, and not enough to make that much of a difference over the course of dozens of rolls.”
    • “There is little to no depth to the mechanics, and RNG trumps any attempts at strategy.”
    • “This game needs a lot more work -- many more upgrades, and refined gameplay that actually involves the player making decisions.”

  • graphics

    34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    53% positive mentions, 38% neutral mentions, 9% negative mentions

    The game's graphics receive widespread praise for their unique, retro pixel art style and strong dark fantasy aesthetic, creating a compelling and atmospheric experience. Many reviewers highlight the visuals as a key selling point, noting the combination of gritty, 1980s-inspired graphics and effective sound design enhances the game's mood. However, some criticism is directed at the lack of graphic customization options and that the gameplay does not fully match the quality of the visuals.

    • “The art style/aesthetic is instantly one of my favorites.”
    • “The fortress has a lot going for it in its art direction and retro aesthetic.”
    • “Even for the visuals alone, the game is absolutely worth buying (without taking anything away from the work of other developers).”
    • “There are no graphic settings and no window mode.”
    • “Graphics and sound are pure 1980's big pixel type affairs.”
    • “Like the artstyle and world-building/storytelling, but the gameplay is too simple.”

  • atmosphere

    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its dark fantasy, gritty art style, and immersive, tense dungeon-crawling experience, often described as heavy, creepy, and perfectly capturing a horror vibe. Players consistently highlight the strong visual and audio design that pulls them into the fortress setting, making atmosphere one of the game's standout strengths despite some criticisms of gameplay mechanics.

    • “The dark fantasy art and immersive atmosphere pull you right into the dungeons, and the mechanics are solid and satisfying.”
    • “The atmosphere is heavy, creepy and pulls you in right away, and the art style is just awesome.”
    • “The slightly dark and unsettling atmosphere, with just the right touch of tasteful horror, makes it a real pleasure to look at.”

  • story

    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    31% positive mentions, 46% neutral mentions, 23% negative mentions

    The story features atmospheric medieval fantasy and horror elements with some interesting twists, but it is generally simplistic and primarily serves to support the gameplay. While the art style, music, and world-building receive praise, many find the narrative unremarkable, with some frustration around unskippable cutscenes and limited depth. Overall, the story provides a decent backdrop but lacks significant surprises or complexity.

    • “The music, voice acting, story, and enemy design all serve the old school dungeon crawl well; gritty medieval fantasy with a pinch of horror.”
    • “The story was very cool, the music was great, and the atmosphere was a 10/10 for me.”
    • “Awsome game, the art, the atmosphere, the story... absolutely hope they continue to add to it!”
    • “The downside that could easily drag this review to the thumbs down zone is the story rails.”
    • “There's cutscenes, but all they really do is elaborate on the area's boss, and a minor twist near the end with the lich's identity, but otherwise that's all you're getting for story.”
    • “Having completed the game, I find the unskippable cutscenes even worse because the story itself isn't some sort of revelation that needs to be told; it is, at best, there just in service of the gameplay, and the game is actually strong enough to exist without the story, which contains nothing interesting or surprising.”

  • music

    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    63% positive mentions, 37% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The music is widely praised for enhancing the game's gritty, medieval fantasy and horror atmosphere with an ominous and fitting soundtrack. It complements the visuals, voice acting, and story well, creating an immersive old-school dungeon crawl experience. Overall, the music is considered a strong and integral part of the game's mood and style.

    • “The music, voice acting, story, and enemy design all serve the old school dungeon crawl well; gritty medieval fantasy with a pinch of horror.”
    • “The story was very cool, the music was great, and the atmosphere was a 10/10 for me.”
    • “Soundtrack is ominous and fits well within the theme.”

  • replayability

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

    The game is criticized for having minimal replayability, largely due to repetitive RNG mechanics and a game-breaking bug. Improvements such as better enemy scaling could enhance depth and encourage more replay value.

    • “A well-presented RNG fest with no replay value and a game-breaking bug that makes the game nearly unplayable.”
    • “No replayability.”
    • “Needs better enemy scaling to add much-needed depth and replayability.”

  • stability

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

    The game suffers from frequent stability issues, including bugs that cause freezing and progression-blocking glitches. Many players report having to reset or abandon runs due to these technical problems.

    • “I encountered several bugs, including freezes and the game refusing to process that I'd died, which forced me to reset.”
    • “More of my runs of this game have ended due to glitches not letting me progress than any other cause.”
    • “First, a dragged item freezes in mid-air and doesn't let me progress.”

  • humor

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

    The game's humor is fast-paced and clever, offering amusing moments such as the ironic option to name your character despite the quick and challenging gameplay. Overall, it delivers a lighthearted and entertaining experience.

    • “Fast, funny, and challenging.”
    • “The most hilarious thing about this game is that it allows you to name your character; as if it’ll be that long before you’re cooked to make it worth typing a name out.”

  • character development

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

    Character development is noted for its interesting and unique character designs, though there is no mention of strategies or depth beyond aesthetics.

Skip Game Offers

Buy The Fortress

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

Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Game News

Game News

The dice are as deadly as the pixelart is lush in dungeon RPG The Fortress

January 15 on rockpapershotgun.com
Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

The Fortress is a tactical role playing game with horror, fantasy, mystery, medieval and others themes. Common tags for The Fortress include turn-based, gothic, demons, indie, 2d and others.

The Fortress is available on PC, Mac OS and Windows.

The Fortress was released on January 22, 2026.

The Fortress was developed by Baryonyx Games.

The Fortress has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked The Fortress for its gameplay but disliked it for its replayability.

The Fortress is a single player game.

Similar games include Lootbound, Dice & Fold, SpellRogue, Overlooting, Slots & Daggers and others.