DangerQuest
A grimdark nostalgic dark fantasy tactical RPG of crooked roads, weighed packs, and bad bargains.
† ✦ †
A chronicle of the cursed
The kingdom does not remember its own name. The bells in the broken cathedral ring without hands. Somewhere past the last honest milestone, a road forks into the Ashen Vale — and you, foolish or chosen, are walking it again. You came back from the last raid lighter than when you left. You will leave again at first light. That is the bargain.
Danger Quest is a turn-based extraction dark fantasy RPG in the spirit of the old grim ones — short, sharp runs through a node-map of bad luck, fought in zone-by-zone tactical combat where every parry is a gamble and every backpack is too small. Die, and the road keeps what you carried. Live, and you carry a little more next time.
“The dead refuse the dirt. The living refuse mercy. Walk softly, traveler — the Vale keeps better records than the king.”
Pillars of the run
† The Branching RoadA node-graph of forks and fog. Choose between the merchant and the shrine, the campfire and the elite — knowing only one of them is lying. |
† Double Threat CombatFour zones — head, body, arms, legs. Each turn: one strike, one guard. Read the enemy's intent, or learn it the hard way. |
† The Weighed PackA spatial grid inventory where every blade and bandage has a shape. Hoard wisely; the protected pouch is the only thing the Vale lets you keep when you fall. |
† Oaths & ClassesWarrior, Rogue, Ranger, Zealot, Alchemist — five sworn paths, each with a signature trait that bends the rules of a single, desperate turn. |
What waits in the dark
| † Five oath-bound classes, each with a turn-bending trait | † Hand-built node maps with hidden shrines and fog of war |
| † Zone-based parry and strike — no dice, only nerve | † Tetris-grid inventory with durability and the protected pouch |
| † Permadeath by default — your stash, skills, and oaths persist | † Status effects: bleed, stagger, exposed, crippled |
| † A hub of crooked merchants, drinks that lie, and a doctor who doesn't ask | † Plays in any modern browser — free, no installer, no excuses |
† ✦ †
On the horizon
† The Bloodied Arena — SOONAn online PvP arena. Two travelers, four zones, one road home. Carry your oath, your scars, and whatever the Vale let you keep — and prove it against another living soul. |
† Seasonal Wagers — SOONRanked ladders, weekly stakes, and arena-only loadouts. Bring your warrior. Bring your reputation. Leave one of them behind. |
† ✦ †
Development log
- DangerQuest is live - a dark fantasy nostalgic RPG14 hours ago
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
I see…a sword, floating in the void, with music. It says to click anywhere to continue, but clicking does nothing. It turns out that finding the game requires scrolling down; after I refreshed, the “scroll” indicator showed up.
FWIW, that is the kind of baffling design decision that AI often comes up with.
Hey Josh, thanks for checking it out and for the honest feedback!
Just to clarify - that intro screen was actually a deliberate human design choice, not AI. The game was originally built for its own website where the layout worked fine, but uploading to itch.io introduced some technical quirks with how the page renders, which is why the "scroll" indicator sometimes only shows up after a refresh.
I'll be patching and optimizing the itch.io build soon, and I'll also tweak the intro screen UX a bit to make it clearer.
Appreciate you flagging it!
Hey! So, usually, I don't like AI generated games, but yours got my curiosity.
I had fun with choosing my character and exploring the camp. I went into the abyss, but got confused when I had to fight my first enemy: Is there a way to know where they're going to it us? I rapidly gave up.
Still, I think it's a good game, even with the AI generated graphics. I mean, I do not have artistic talent - drawing for exemple ain't my cup of tea - and think if AI as a tool for someone who wants to create by themselves without having to pay fortunes for character design. I mean, one know their strength, right? XD
Keep up the good work! ♥
Hey, thanks so much for trying it out and for the honest feedback! ♥
Yeah, I'm trying to realise my idea right now, and that's why I went with AI art - it's the only way I could actually get this thing made solo. But I still tried to push it as much as possible to make it feel atmospheric, to get it as close to how I see the game in my head as I could. Glad some of that came through for you.
About the abyss - yeah, it's quite a hardcore game, the combat doesn't really hold your hand. The enemy actually does tell you where it's about to hit: under the enemy you'll see their intent (like "Head" or "Body"), and on the doll figures the targeted hit zones are highlighted too - you just need to block that same zone on your side. One thing worth knowing: you need enough Perception to read intents on tougher enemies - low Perception means you'll see "???" instead of the actual zone, so it's a stat worth investing in. I can totally see how that wasn't obvious on a first fight though, so I just added some hover tooltips to make the hidden intents clearer, and I'll keep working on making that connection more readable for new players.
Thanks again for giving it a chance, really appreciate it!
You are very welcome! Thank you for explaining! ^^ ♥