It’s always a good day when Devolver Digital announces a bangin’ new indie joint, and today that joint is Dark Scrolls, a ‘dungeon scroller’ dripping in sumptuous pixel art and fusing shmup sensibilities with 2D platforming and roguelite elements.
Yes, aside from having an excellent title, Dark Scrolls is one hell of a pitch in much the same way its Devolver sibling, Ball x Pit tickled the brain with its hotpot of city building and run-based breakout. It’s also in the works at doinksoft, which has well and truly cut its teeth on this kind of retro action in games like Demon Throttle and Gunbrella.
Rounding out the feature list is co-op support, so you and a friend can pick your favourites from the roster of nine unlockable heroes and tackle the semi-procedurally generated runs made from hand-designed areas based on your play and the quests you pick up.
Dark Scrolls is set to launch later in 2026 for PC and Nintendo Switch.
Take a look at the reveal trailer below:
From the developer:
About Dark Scrolls
Fresh from the weird, wonderful minds at Doinksoft – creators of Gato Roboto, Gunbrella, and Demon Throttle – comes Dark Scrolls, a pixel-perfect dungeon scroller that enthusiastically fuses challenging shmup-like chaos with compelling roguelike progression.
Set forth on your quest to [INSERT GOAL HERE] with one of the worthy yet quirky heroes in solo or cooperative play, local and online. Hack, slash, and dodge through hordes of enemies and deadly traps in procedurally generated runs of hand-crafted rooms and levels using each hero’s unique attacks and abilities to your advantage.
Sharp reflexes and split-second decisions are crucial to survival as the intensity ratchets up as each run delivers new surprises, branching paths, and unrelenting bosses to conquer. Gobble up coins to spend at Bruce & Goose’s Shoppe as you take a breath from the action to gain new perks, devastating attacks and summoned allies. Stack them right, and you’ll unleash screen-filling destruction of arcade legend.
“Whenever I search for ‘roguelike’ I don’t find what I’m looking for,” says Doinksoft’s Cullen Dwyer. “I get a poker game or a pachinko game or a heartfelt narrative about a Greek god or a Yu-Gi-Oh! card game. How are those at all like a 1980s turn-based, grid-locked dungeon crawler that you can play in the command line with vim control bindings? They have ‘randomness’? Pathetic. And here I am, part of the problem. Might as well call it a Metroidvania too.”
FEATURES
- Choose from a cast of 9 playable characters and hurl axes, fling arrows, toss knives, and even flip steaks at a rogues’ gallery of bizarre enemies
- Each character, whether it’s a burly berserker or a saxophone-playing rat, has unique skills, side objectives, and customizable trinkets to experiment with
- Play solo or invite a pal aboard to help. Dark Scrolls supports both local and online co-op and collaborating players can strategise and revive each other mid-level
- Super authentic old school visuals, SFX, and music. Looks and sounds like classic games of yore, but with the sparkle of modern controls and design
- Procedurally generated levels stitched together from hand-crafted rooms. Every run offers new surprises, branching paths, and skill-testing bosses