{"id":889199,"date":"2025-12-22T13:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T13:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dXJGMG8viVFeP5rPC9tcmM"},"modified":"2025-12-22T13:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T13:03:14","slug":"the-final-steam-playtest-for-fantasy-extraction-game-dungeonborne-attracts-thousands-of-eager-adventurers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-final-steam-playtest-for-fantasy-extraction-game-dungeonborne-attracts-thousands-of-eager-adventurers\/","title":{"rendered":"The final Steam playtest for fantasy extraction game Dungeonborne attracts thousands of eager adventurers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dungeon-crawling extraction game Dark and Darker has company: An open beta for the very similar Dungeonborne is underway now on Steam. An exact duration for the playtest hasn't been set, but the plan is for it to last a week or two, after which Dungeonborne will launch in early access.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It's one of those betas you can join by hitting a button on the Steam store page<\/a> to request an invite. You won't have to wait, though: The playtest is open to everyone, and I was let in immediately and automatically after clicking the button.<\/p>\n

Dungeonborne's playtest hasn't overtaken Dark and Darker on the Steam concurrents chart, but it has peaked at a respectable 14,448 simultaneous players, so it's definitely competition.<\/p>\n

I like the Diablo-like inventory and methodical first-person melee combat, although I'm becoming resigned to the fact that I truly suck at extraction games. I'm so nervous about finding an escape portal without being humiliated by a low-level monster that I'm totally helpless against more confident players who just chase me down like it's a deathmatch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At least my character, a skeletal cryomancer that I named BartSimpson, looks pretty cool. Dungeonborne's eight classes offer the usual trade-offs\u2014speed or health, damage or healing\u2014and come with unique abilities, such as poor BartSimpson's moveable, area-of-effect Ice Storm attack. I haven't made great use of that spell yet on account of spending so much time running away from small bats and other things that are trying to kill me.<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: Mithril Interactive)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My favorite thing about Dungeonborne right now is how quickly I can get into a match. On the casual Clouseau Castle map, it only takes about 20 or 30 seconds between me clicking “Start” and the game starting. I think that really matters, especially in games that can end as abruptly and disappointingly as extraction games\u2014quick restarts save it from feeling totally hopeless.<\/p>\n

Granted, I may actually be hopeless. It's not even players killing me anymore; I just got cornered and chomped to death by a mimic.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, after a legal fight<\/a> got it booted off Steam in 2023, the original first-person extraction dungeon crawler, Dark and Darker, returned to the platform in June. Its free-to-play model was not received well\u2014it's more of a free demo\u2014but the developers say<\/a> they plan to “make amends,” and it seems to be doing pretty well, with positive user reviews and a spot among Steam's top 50 most played games<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dungeon-crawling extraction game Dark and Darker has company: An open beta for the very similar Dungeonborne is underway now on Steam. An exact duration for the playtest hasn't been set, but the plan is for it to last a week or two, after which Dungeonborne will launch in early access.\u00a0 It's one of those betas you can join by hitting a button on the Steam store page to request an invite. You won't have to wait, though: The playtest is open to everyone, and I was let in immediately and automatically after clicking the button. Dungeonborne's playtest hasn't overtaken Dark and Darker on the Steam concurrents chart, but it has peaked at a respectable 14,448 simultaneous players, so it's definitely competition. I like the Diablo-like…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":889200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[23,748],"class_list":["post-889199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-gamer","tag-action","tag-games"],"yoast_head":"\nThe final Steam playtest for fantasy extraction game Dungeonborne attracts thousands of eager adventurers | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dungeon-crawling extraction game Dark and Darker has company: An open beta for the very similar Dungeonborne is underway now on Steam. 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