A Dark Room ®

Amir Rajan

About this game

A minimalist low-fi RPG harkening back to the days of Zork and Nethack.

- Official Android release of A Dark Room (registered trademark).
- No ads.
- No micro transactions.
- No data usage (playable without wifi)).
- No elevated permissions.
- Made with love by indie game developers.

A Dark Room is an innovative text-based adventure that harkens back to the magic of Zork, adding a modern spin on a classic genre and time in gaming.

It challenges the player’s perceptions, actions and imagination. Visually clean, A Dark Room presents text and cues with limited visual flourishes, but the experience that takes shape is full of depth and environmental storytelling. Audio is also important, portraying a dark world that the player can only imagine.

It is a game that draws players in, allowing them to perceive the intriguing...

Ratings and reviews

I played this when it was a browser game, and a lot of story/dialogue were added. I think the storytelling is less subtle this way. Still an elegant game teaching of the evils of colonialism, still love the twist when the game switches from management sim to rpg. A bit buggy in counting alien alloys tho, and I dont understand how to get the hinted at alt ending. I'm proud I was an early reviewier of the browser version on my blog, and knew it'd come to mobile!

Wasn't sure if I would like it at first, but I found myself imagining the world in my head as I ventured around. I ended up a bit obsessed. The more I went on little expeditions, the more the world felt like it had this mysterious story... and that's where I got sucked in. I was kind of hoping for the story to be more fleshed out and have some stronger closure. I really liked this gameplay style. But again, being text based, a stronger story would've made it just a bit more special.

It was totally a 5* game before, but the UI and gameplay update ruined it for me. Forced landscape, a color scheme that is darker and makes it harder to see, incredibly cluttered screens where there used to be a simple, minimalistic beauty, increased confusion with the looting and combat mechanics.. The only thing that's neat is the addition of sound. If I can't roll it back to an earlier version, I don't think I'll continue to play it as it stands.

What's new

- Added gamepad support (ignores controllers that aren't recognized).
- Volume preferences are now saved and will be respected across sessions.
- Added link to The Ensign (pre-sequel to A Dark Room).