The Wild Darkness

About

The Wild Darkness is a single player casual role playing game. It was developed by popeyed inc and was released on December 30, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

In The Wild Darkness, you are thrust into a mysterious world where survival depends on gathering food, crafting items, and overcoming nightly monster threats. Navigating diverse regions like plains, tundras, and jungles requires patience, knowledge, and careful interaction with the environment. Progression hinges on learning ecology, collecting totems, and unlocking recipes to face the unknown challenges ahead.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

82%

Audience ScoreBased on 140 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

monetization10 negative mentions

The game offers a challenging and rewarding survival experience, encouraging players to learn from their mistakes and improve over time.
It features a rich variety of content, including different character types, multiple endings, and a mix of exploration and crafting mechanics.
The developers are responsive to feedback and consistently add new content and improvements, making the game feel fresh and engaging.

The game can be excessively difficult, especially for beginners, with issues like scarce food resources and punishing permadeath mechanics that can frustrate players.
There are frequent bugs and technical issues, such as crashes during crafting and problems with saving progress, which can detract from the overall experience.
Inventory management is cumbersome, and the game lacks clear guidance on mechanics, making it hard for players to navigate and strategize effectively.

gameplay
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
50%
17%
Gameplay is a mix of challenging and rewarding mechanics, with a strong emphasis on trial and error, often leading to frustration but ultimately fostering addiction. While the game features engaging crafting, survival, and combat systems, players note a lack of clarity in combat mechanics and hidden features, which can hinder the experience. Despite some criticism regarding inventory limitations and lootbox mechanics, the overall pacing and tutorial are praised for enhancing the gameplay experience.
- “I still love the gameplay, it's challenging and frustrating but it's great.”
- “No forced ads, interesting gameplay (spent over 200h already and won't stop soon) and most importantly - they react fast.”
- “The game has a 'don't starve' feel, very dynamic gameplay with interesting crafting, survival and fighting mechanics.”
- “Inadequate information on combat mechanics.”
- “Totem mechanic requires constant suicide by campfire.”
- “There's also a huge lack of information about hidden mechanics that are an absolute nightmare to learn on your own, such as being able to drink from any water tile at critical thirst.”
monetization
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
91%
The monetization model of the game is praised for being non-intrusive, with no forced purchases or data mining. Players appreciate the optional nature of ads, which are primarily reward-based and do not detract from gameplay, allowing for a satisfying experience without the pressure to engage with ads or microtransactions. Overall, the approach is seen as fair and user-friendly, enhancing rather than hindering the gaming experience.
- “It's so fun! There are no ads unless you specifically want to view them for extra upgrades, but I never do, and it didn't affect my gameplay.”
- “The monetization is fair and doesn't disrupt the experience; I appreciate that I can choose to watch ads for bonuses if I want.”
- “I love that the game offers optional purchases without forcing them on you, making it enjoyable without feeling pressured to spend.”
- “Although I would like to suggest reducing the ad time because it can take up to 1 minute to claim or open your rewards.”
- “The only ads are reward ads, and the in-app purchases are just for cheats: respawns.”
- “There's some ads if you want extra items.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and adorable art style, contributing to an enjoyable atmosphere that enhances the overall gaming experience. Players appreciate the thoughtful design and find the visuals to be a significant highlight.
- “The art style is very awesome, and the game is actually fun in general.”
- “Already half an hour into the game, and I have to say I enjoy the atmosphere, art style, and the premise.”
- “I love the art style of the game; it's very unique.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report significant stability issues, including frequent errors, crashes, and freezes that hinder gameplay. Many express frustration over the inability to save progress due to these glitches, leading to a diminished gaming experience and potential abandonment of the game.
- “It keeps saying error and there is none, bruh. Besides, I want to delete and reboot the game and install it again, but I couldn't save my account to the cloud because of the error. Now the game is fully unplayable without any fun. Please fix these glitches or I'll leave the game.”
- “Before, every time my game crashes or freezes, I just upload my game where my saving point is.”
- “This is rather frustrating due to crashes and freezes.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
150%
The story features a variety of quests that require online participation to earn rewards, which some players find limiting. Comparisons to other titles, such as "The Walking Dead," suggest that the narrative and gameplay may be more engaging in those games.
- “In some ways, TWD is even superior in gameplay and story.”
- “The story feels disjointed and lacks a coherent narrative, making it hard to stay engaged.”
- “Many quests are forced online to obtain rewards, which detracts from the overall experience.”
- “The character development is shallow, leaving players feeling disconnected from the story.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers express a desire for additional music in the game, indicating that the current soundtrack may be lacking or repetitive.
- “Some more music would be nice.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the game's atmosphere, highlighting its engaging art style and intriguing premise as key elements that enhance their overall experience.
- “Already half an hour into the game, and I have to say I really enjoy the atmosphere, art style, and the premise.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players note that grinding in the game is limited, as it prevents endless farming of resources like trees, which adds a layer of strategy to resource management.
- “You can't just keep walking and walking and farming trees.”
- “The grinding feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged.”
- “I spent hours grinding for resources, but it felt like I was getting nowhere.”