Dark Quest 3 is a role-playing game developed and published by Brain Seal Ltd. It is a rogue-lite tabletop that aims to recreate the nostalgic charm of playing a board game, but on PC and consoles. Additionally, it is a blend of card games and strategic, turn-based combat in one.

The concept of Dark Quest 3 is pretty straightforward, yet complex: you form a party, draw combat cards, roll dice, and fight vicious monsters while traveling through different landscapes filled with danger lurking around every corner. The game’s theme is that of a dark medieval fantasy.

Journey through a grim medieval world

In Dark Quest 3, you and your party are plunged into dangerous lands in an attempt to reach the chaos castle and defeat the evil sorcerer within. The game begins at hero camp, where you can pick from a generous roster of 12 heroes, each possessing distinct abilities, giving you room for strategic party-building. There are 13 areas to explore, and you can encounter over 60 different monsters.

Each battle provides a unique experience, as the game offers procedurally generated combat. Combat is turn-based, and you are going to choose Combat Cards to make your move — these can range from spells, weapons, potions, and equipment. Exploring areas also uses Adventure Cards, and these determine what type of encounters you are going to get in each area — be it an ambush, loot opportunities, or boss fights.

Despite the unique approach of combat, it does begin to feel like a repetitive grind, and you can expect the same encounters to pop up if you have been playing for quite some time already. In addition, it is more luck-based rather than strategy, since the outcomes of these encounters depend on dice rolls and the cards you have drawn.

Great for its board game-inspired theme

In conclusion, Dark Quest 3 is a charming board-game style title with a dark fantasy theme. The hand-drawn graphics do add up to its grittiness, and it offers enough fun if you prefer games with casual tactics and luck-based encounters. The game does have a bit of replay value due to its randomness, but it gets stale once you’ve spent several hours in it.