Dark Quest 3 XSX Review 8.5/10 "oh go on...one more go..." ⚔️ 🧙‍♂️ @brainseal #IndieGames #GameDev

It has only been over the last few years that I’ve really gotten hips-deep into board games. From diving into breezy games like Dungeon! And Hero Quest to rule-laden slogs like Massive Darkness or Endure the Stars/Rules, I’ve really come to appreciate the wonderful blend of dedication and camaraderie that comes from a day of getting some snacks and drinks in, then settling down for eleven hours of arguing over the results of dice rolls and bafflingly unclear card descriptions.

It was after a recent weekend jaunt to a salubrious part of the country – where the curtains were promptly drawn and daylight not sighted for 48 hours – that I began to yearn for a single-player board game experience… but in the digital realm.

I genuinely spent a few days installing and uninstalling various games on my phone, hunting around for what I was looking for - and it was then that I stumbled across Dark Quest 3, which was due for imminent release, I can’t comment on Brain Seal Ltd’s other games, or even the preceding two titles in this trilogy, but I can certainly say that Dark Quest 3 is exactly what I needed.

The game begins by allowing you to select your party of four from the characters available. Initially, it’s the classic combination of barbarian, dwarf, wizard and archer – but after a few runs, other options become available. Following this, you get a brief overview of the ‘evil wizard blah blah blah’ plot, which is absolutely as wonderfully generic as it needs to be, and then the village elder shoves a health potion in your pocket and kicks your troupe of heroes up the arse and off into the forest to sort out this pesky saucy sorcerer.

The game from then on takes you through various locations through the randomised turns of cards in a deck. In the initial forest, you’ll be facing ‘treants’, evil tree folk that attack you, alongside wolves and the like.

Of course, not each card spells doom and gloom, you may come across the Lady of the Lake, who heals you – or perhaps a dwarven hermit who will pay you to leave him alone etc. whilst the encounters aren’t wildly random, they fit the tropes of the genre to the extent that made me feel like I was lost in a world that has existed in my imagination since I was a child.

There’s little here that parps on the trumpet of world-building complexity, or sharpens the dagger of a layered narrative - but to me, that was absolutely part of the charm. Getting in a sticky situation such as having the dwarf down to 2 health and then being offered 2000 gold by the evil wizard to kill him... the thought of how many combat cards, potions or extra boons I could get should I happen across a trader in the current run was almost too much to bear, and I’m ashamed to say that the dwarf -  he who had been with us since the beginning of the adventure, died by my hand...as did the other three as we all got separated and picked off in The Labyrinth a bit later on, as I’d run out of die re-rolls and seemed destined to only ever roll low bloody numbers! Damn, my gluttony!

The voice acting, artwork (the entire game is set out as if on a gothic tabletop) and sound effects are all completely on point for the type of game that this is. The characters move in combat as if they are figures on a board, and the visage of the evil wizard is peering over at you from under his hooded cloak as if playing the dungeon master.

Viewed from an isometric perspective, aside from the dice-based rolls and choices that made up the adventure side of things, turn-based combat is also extremely simplified and accessible.

You can unlock certain powers and abilities through encounters and have various passive, secondary and primary abilities/spells to turn the tide in your favour. Personally, I fell into a routine of getting my barbarian to throw an axe at an enemy as my dwarf clocked back an ale to double his next attack as my archer got in a sneaky surprise shot and my wizard struck enemies with a multiple-lightning attack.

There aren’t a huge amount of options available, but I always felt like there was something I could upgrade or unlock in an almost casual way that kept adding to that golden ‘one more go’ factor. On top of this, you occasionally bump into members of the thieves guild who gift you crystals that unlock new areas, events and characters, so each run feels rewarding and progress-laden as opposed to a tedious trudge.

SUMMARY

Dark Quest 3 is a simple, accessible game that really feels rewarding with each play.

At its heart – it’s a rogue-lite, digital tabletop title that is effectively a grinder, but it’s such a rewarding and gentle grind with a clear sense of momentum that it couldn’t help but win my heart.

It’s a game that I keep coming back to and will recommend for the rest of my days to those that want a slice of classic board game action in a single-player form on their console of choice.

I look forward to Dark Quest 4...and 5...and 6...and 7…