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Darkest Dungeon (PC, Mac)

RED HOOK STUDIOS

We’re all pretty fragile, aren’t we? Never mind being mauled by fang and claw, merely being in the dark for a short time can deteriorate our defensive capacity. We grow paranoid and mad. Authors have long known this and picked at it with their words. Lewis Carroll used the language of nonsense to invent an unknowable monster, the Jabberwocky. The unknown is scary to us. And it’s this that H.P. Lovecraft so brilliantly exploited with his vast, unimaginable horrors that struck fear due to existing beyond the limits of humanity’s tether to sense and sanity. As with these authors, Red Hook Studios understands that our own psychology is among our greatest weaknesses. With Darkest Dungeon, the studio turns the dungeon crawler into a battle against paranoia, madness, and masochism as the toil of the journey warps the minds of your adventurers. You must deal with more than waves of monsters here. You have to cope with the unpredictable manifestations of the human mind when stressed towards breaking point.

Perfect for: Psychologists, masochists, Lovecraft’s disciples

Playtime: Six hours