Dark Scrolls

The big picture

Fantasy parties are often assembled through prophecy, ancient bloodlines and a solemn conversation beside a fire. Dark Scrolls looks more interested in who might survive a room full of projectiles while making the situation entertaining. Its nine unlockable heroes bring different skills to a mixture of platforming, dense combat and roguelite progression. A cheerful character selection is a lovely introduction. Keeping the selected character alive is where the game begins asking less friendly questions.

Developed by doinksoft and published by Devolver Digital, Dark Scrolls launched in full on June 22, 2026 for Windows PC and Nintendo Switch. The previously announced May 28 date was replaced, not followed by a second launch. Nintendo lists compatibility with Switch 2, rather than a separate native Switch 2 edition. The adventure can be played alone or with a second person locally or online, so you can choose between accepting responsibility for mistakes and immediately having another possible explanation available.

Jump somewhere you can survive landing

Platforming and projectile-heavy fighting pull at different instincts. Jumping asks for commitment, while dodging often rewards keeping an escape available. Combine them and a clear route through the air isn't enough; you also need a reasonable destination. The floor can be perfectly reachable and still be a terrible place to introduce your feet.

That makes movement part of combat judgment. An attack that clears an escape may be more useful than one that deals impressive damage somewhere irrelevant. Chasing a reward or another hit can leave you badly placed when the next hazard arrives. There is an appealing little argument between greed and caution inside that setup, and greed is usually very good at presenting its idea as a brief, harmless detour.

The cost is a busy screen and several simultaneous demands. More enemies, effects and hazards don't automatically mean better decisions for every player. Someone who enjoys reading a crowded situation has a clearer reason to investigate than someone seeking quiet, precise platforming with plenty of time to admire the next jump. Cute does not mean calm. Many cute things have terrible judgment about personal space.

A shopping trip can change the plan

Bruce & Goose's Shoppe exchanges coins for perks, attacks and allies. The official feature overview also describes customisable trinkets and combinations of perks and elemental powers. A shop gives the action a pause with a purpose: decide what the current run needs before returning to the business of staying alive.

Sometimes the sensible purchase covers a weakness. Sometimes it reinforces something already working. Sometimes an exciting combination persuades you that a glaring weakness is really an opportunity to demonstrate courage. The value of the build system is having enough room for those choices to alter how you approach the next stretch, rather than merely making the same attack produce a larger number.

Nine heroes with different skills provide another way to vary the starting point. They invite experimentation, but quantity alone isn't the whole argument. The meaningful question is whether a different character or upgrade makes you notice different opportunities. A good run gives the player something to think about after leaving the shop, not just something expensive to show the next monster.

Bring a friend who can recover from your ideas

Two-player cooperation supports reviving a fallen partner, so a mistake can become a rescue problem rather than an immediate conclusion. That adds a useful complication: the surviving player must decide how to help while remaining capable of helping. A rescue attempt that produces a second casualty is wonderfully generous and strategically unhelpful.

Different personalities can make that dynamic entertaining. The opportunist chases openings, while the cautious partner wonders whether any of those openings are worth dying beside. Neither role has to remain fixed. A shared run gives both people opportunities to demonstrate that their own ill-advised decision was completely different from the one they criticised thirty seconds earlier.

Co-op isn't automatically an easy mode. Another player adds movement and decisions to an already active screen, and cooperation works best when both enjoy adapting. Online play also doesn't establish cross-platform matchmaking. Nintendo's listing confirms one or two players on a single system and online for Switch; it isn't permission to assume every platform can join every other one.

Dark Scrolls makes its clearest case as repeatable, lively action with room to alter your approach and, optionally, involve one willing accomplice. Its combination of crafted encounters, changing runs and build choices is more important than the retro charm alone. Come prepared to enjoy the act of dodging and reconsidering. The eccentric party can get you through the door, but somebody still has to stop it walking directly into the next projectile.