A turn-based fantasy wilderness Rogue-lite. It’s not as forgiving as Minecraft, you start over after death. There’s a recurring focus on food gathering, preparation, and storage. Combat and equipment are also integral to the game, as is exploration to keep gathering resources for future improvement. 24 hour cycle, clothing, and terrain that affect body temperature and exhaustion complicate things.
The Wild Darkness is Android only. No porting here, the touch interface is well thought out and doesn’t need many taps. After collecting a few resources, you can begin building campfires, lean-tos, and more permanent structures anywhere in the game world. You’ll find altars you can use for fast travel , I’d recommend building near one of those. The map is randomly generated, but the basic milestones in a run are fixed.
Random blueprints, rare drops from dungeon boss fights, and some random crafting outcomes give a small taste of Diablo / lootbox feel in the context of turn-based Rogue-style gameplay. There are also a few “end-game” options you can choose after the main quest line, to complete your run in style and have a bonus to the next one.
There are a couple merchants hidden in the wilderness, that refresh stock every so often. Plants and animals will respawn after a number of turns, once you’ve explored enough zones you’ll be able to make food collection routine. By that time, you’ll also be growing crops and cooking with pots and pans.
This is a single-player game. There are the usual opportunities to spend money and watch ads, but as a “rogue-lite” you’ll slowly accumulate perks, starting classes, and blueprints that give advantage on a new game . There’s also a bit of collectible cosmetic element.