You've got three extra days to play in the Dark and Darker alpha

1 year ago 114

Dark and Darker - three teammates stand in a castle room by torchlight

(Image credit: Ironmace)

If you didn't hear, one of the most-played games on Steam last week was actually a demo. Today would have been the end of the latest alpha for PvP dungeon crawling extraction game Dark and Darker but the developers have extended the playtest another three days.

"Due to the earlier downtime with the trading post, matchmaking, and lost playtime for players that were falsely banned, we have decided to extend the playtest until Feb 16," Ironmace says in a news post. "We also plan to use the time to address issues that are inconveniencing players and to continuously improve the game." So far, Ironmace has pushed out a total of five hotfixes since the alpha began last week, including lots of bug fixes and a nerf to wizard casting limits.

It's worth giving a shot if you're keen to be on the cutting edge of what could be a rather popular battle royale-adjacent game when it eventually launches. I've long enjoyed the PvP tactical thrill of royales and extractions games, struggling though I do with my FPS skills, and came away from the demo quite pleased to report that Dark and Darker proves extraction shooters don't actually have to be shooters.

I spent several more hours diving into the Forgotten Castle with my pals over the weekend and I'm definitely experiencing a familiar PvP glee whether I'm winning or losing. Proximity chat can sometimes mean making pacts with other teams or just rolling real hard on an overly cocky wizard wearing only his underpants while slinging fireballs. You know the type. I still take issue with the exfil portals only taking one teammate at a time out of the dungeon, but the unusual constraint has created some really edge of my seat moments while my team watches our last member snag their nail-biting exit.

You can download the demo over on Steam and start making your own way through the dungeon halls until Thursday.

Lauren started writing for PC Gamer as a freelancer in 2017 while chasing the Dark Souls fashion police and accepted her role as Associate Editor and Chief Minecraft Liker in 2021. She originally started her career in game development and is still fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long books, longer RPGs, multiplayer cryptids, and can't stop playing co-op crafting games.