Indie developer Red Hook Studios revealed that its turn-based roguelike role-playing game Darkest Dungeon will get its first major expansion with the launch of The Crimson Court in early 2017.
A promotional image released alongside this week’s announcement hints that vampires will play a significant role in the forthcoming expansion and players can expect to see many new items, afflictions, and challenges in the months ahead.
Darkest Dungeon debuted in 2014 via Kickstarter, where it managed to quadruple its initial funding goal. Promising backers a turn-based RPG inspired by genre classics like The Bard’s Tale and Ultima Underworld, Darkest Dungeon went on to earn more than $300,000 in crowdsourced pledges and development soon kicked off in earnest.
Launching first via Steam Early Access, Darkest Dungeon saw numerous updates and improvements throughout 2015. A feature-complete Steam release debuted earlier this year and ports for the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita premiered in September.
Backed by a bleak, Gothic atmosphere, Darkest Dungeon features turn-based battles bridged by dungeon exploration sequences. Players search each floor of a seemingly endless dungeon for weapons and resources, killing any creatures they encounter throughout. As they progress through each floor, players encounter random events that can either benefit their party members or lead them to their doom.
Darkest Dungeon also features several ‘afflictions’ that party members suffer after extended dungeon dives. As characters buckle under the stress of exploration, they earn permanent status effects that can either help their chances of survival or make them liabilities in battle. Players must carefully gauge the risks involved in various character afflictions in order to survive encounters that become more difficult as gameplay progresses.
Darkest Dungeon‘s The Crimson Court downloadable content launches for the PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Windows, Mac, and Linux PC platforms in early 2017.
