Dark Scrolls Review: 9 Heroes, One Sharp Roguelite

Dark Scrolls review: the short version is that doinksoft made exactly the game the Gato Roboto pedigree suggested they would, just bigger. Nine heroes with distinct weapon types, a Shoppe upgrade system with real synergy depth, co-op modes that actually work at launch, and the same refusal to take its own fantasy premise seriously that made Gato Roboto a better time than a cat-in-a-mech concept had any right to be.

The longer version requires talking about where the game earns its 8.0 and where it loses the fraction.

Key Takeaways

• 9 playable heroes at launch, each with a fixed weapon type and distinct special ability
• Bruce and Goose's Shoppe sells perks, devastating attacks, and summoned allies between zones using coins earned in runs
• Solo, local co-op, and online co-op all present at launch; Remote Play Together also supported
• Star meter system drives burst attacks and perk thresholds, rewarding constant offense
• Biscuit must be unlocked during the first stage boss fight; the other 8 are available from the start
• Developed by doinksoft (Gato Roboto, Gunbrella), published by Devolver Digital

Dark Scrolls review: what kind of game is this? (quick answer)

Dark Scrolls is a hack-and-slash roguelite. You pick one of nine heroes, fight through procedurally generated runs assembled from hand-crafted rooms, collect coins, spend them at Bruce and Goose's Shoppe between zones, and die when the dungeon outscales your current build. Runs take 30 to 50 minutes when they go deep. They end faster when a mid-zone difficulty spike catches you without the right perks.

Each hero has a fixed weapon and one defined special ability. Grizz throws arcing axes and chain-pounds. Pigeon fires daggers at close range and can angle them downward. Emerys launches bouncing magic orbs and deploys a stationary shield. Biscuit barks with crowd-stun range and enters pinball form to clear groups. Nezumi fires saxophone notes in directional sequences to equip Shoppe abilities mid-run without spending coins. Ironbeard swings a short-range hammer with substantial burst damage. Quinn shoots long-range arrows and keeps distance. Confit throws steaks and operates well at medium range.

The ninth hero rounds out the roster with an archer variant. All nine are distinct enough that hero selection at the start of a run is the most consequential decision you make.

Gameplay

The star meter is the mechanical spine of every run. Hit enemies to build stars up to five. Stars fuel burst attacks and unlock perks assigned to specific thresholds. A perk keyed to four stars does nothing until you hit that count, then deactivates if you fall below it. Builds that attack constantly outperform defensive approaches not because offense is the designed solution, but because star generation requires contact. A Pigeon build that stays at safe range and fires daggers sporadically builds stars slowly, runs below perk thresholds, and hits the second zone boss under-prepared. A Pigeon build that learns to close distance, daggers at maximum cadence, and routes around enemies to maintain star count clears the same zone with perks active and coins to spare.

The Shoppe is where runs differentiate. Bruce and Goose appear between zones with a rotating selection of perks, attacks, and ally summons. Thorns adds damage reflection on contact. Shuriken fires a bonus projectile alongside every main attack, which on Pigeon's rapid-fire cadence means near-constant screen coverage. Koi Ploy adds a fish projectile modifier. Summoned allies follow your hero and attack independently, which is most useful in co-op where they give the support player something to do while the damage dealer focuses. The economy is tight: coins require combat efficiency to accumulate, and spending on the wrong perk category for your hero wastes a Shoppe stop that can't be recovered.

Co-op runs in Dark Scrolls require deliberate hero pairing. Biscuit's bark stun gives a partner setup time, while Grizz and Pigeon cover different range bands in the same run.

Nezumi is both the most interesting design decision and the roughest edge in the game. The saxophone note system gives access to 16-plus Shoppe effect combinations without spending coins, which in theory makes Nezumi the most resource-efficient hero. In practice, the note sequencing requires learning which combinations produce which effects, and the in-game documentation for this system is minimal. A first-time Nezumi run produces mostly wrong note sequences, no Shoppe effects, and a confused death somewhere in zone two. A tenth-run Nezumi session, with the sequences memorized, produces a character who never needs to spend a coin and can equip mid-run abilities your co-op partner can't access without paying. That's a real gap: it's easily 6-8 hours of play before Nezumi feels rewarding rather than just confusing.

The difficulty curve steepens faster in later zones than the earlier zones prepare you for. Zones one and two are comfortable for most hero choices with moderate Shoppe efficiency. Zone three introduces enemy density and speed combinations that punish the same movement patterns that worked in zone two. That's not a design flaw exactly, but the slope is steep enough that players who reach zone three without adjusting their combat habits hit what feels like a wall rather than a gradient. Zone two doesn't warn you this is coming.

Co-op

Dark Scrolls ships with solo, local co-op, and online co-op at launch. Remote Play Together is also in the Steam category list, which extends the couch-co-op experience to players without a physical shared space. Couch co-op in pixel roguelites tends to arrive in patches six months post-launch when it arrives at all. Day-one presence of all three modes is a real selling point, and doinksoft knows it.

The hero pairing decisions carry more weight in co-op than the individual builds do. Biscuit's bark stun gives a partner setup time for big hits. Grizz and Pigeon pair naturally: Pigeon's rapid dagger attacks build stars quickly and handle forward density, Grizz's ground pounds handle elevated enemies and clear vertically distributed groups. Emerys in co-op becomes a genuine zone controller because the orb shield absorbs incoming projectiles that would otherwise split your partner's attention.

Nezumi in co-op is stronger than Nezumi solo once both players understand the system. A partner who covers the forward fight while Nezumi cycles through note combos to equip abilities has a clear edge over two players running conventional perk-purchase builds. You need to communicate, but the output is higher. For the Dark Scrolls dungeon guide covering zone progression, the zone-three and beyond difficulty spike is best approached with a Biscuit or Emerys as the group's defensive anchor.

Emerys's bouncing orbs deflect off walls, hitting the same enemy group two or three times per throw when positioned near a wall segment.

Verdict

Dark Scrolls earns its score because the core question of a roguelite review, does this hold up past the first few hours, has a clear answer. After 15-plus hours across multiple heroes and co-op configurations, the hero-perk interaction space hasn't collapsed. Runs on Nezumi feel structurally different from runs on Grizz not because the zone layouts change but because the resource economy plays differently. Pigeon and Ironbeard use the same Shoppe but produce different screen states by the end of zone two. That kind of variety isn't a given, it's designed, and doinksoft designed it correctly.

The half-point deductions come from specific friction: Nezumi's learning curve with insufficient in-game scaffolding, the late-zone difficulty slope that cuts runs short before players feel they got a fair chance, and the price ambiguity at launch that made first-day discovery needlessly awkward. Those aren't mechanical failures. They're fixable annoyances around a game that's otherwise well put together.

For the full hero-specific build breakdowns, the Dark Scrolls best builds guide covering all 9 heroes has Shoppe priority lists for each character. If you're coming from Gato Roboto and want to know where Dark Scrolls sits in doinksoft's output, the comparison is straightforward: bigger game, more replayability, higher skill ceiling, at the cost of the tight and contained feel the studio's earlier work had.

The quest goal literally says "[INSERT GOAL HERE]" on the Steam page. Eight out of ten.

Related Reading

• Dark Scrolls Best Builds: All 9 Heroes Ranked 2026: Full Shoppe priority lists, star-meter build theory, and perk synergy breakdowns for each hero.
• Dark Scrolls Dungeon Guide: All Floors and Zones 2026: Zone structure, enemy behavior by section, and Shoppe timing across the full run.
• Dark Scrolls Launch News: Launch details, co-op mode breakdown, and what the game's "[INSERT GOAL HERE]" description actually signals.
• Dark Scrolls Co-op Guide: Ghost System and Hero Pairings: Dark Scrolls co-op guide: when a player dies they haunt enemies as a ghost.
• Dark Scrolls Tips: 9 Things to Know Before First Run: Dark Scrolls tips for beginners: the screen scrolls and you die if it leaves you.

References

• Dark Scrolls on Steam: Store page, release details, co-op categories
• doinksoft on Twitter/X: Developer announcements, hero reveal posts
• Devolver Digital: Publisher page
• Dark Scrolls on Loaded (sponsored): CD key reseller, worth a price check before buying on Steam directly

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dark Scrolls worth buying? Yes, if you want a co-op roguelite with genuine hero variety. Nine distinct characters with different weapon types and Shoppe synergies give the run-to-run variety to hold attention past 15 hours. The difficulty curve steepens sharply in later zones, which is the main caveat for casual players.

How many heroes are in Dark Scrolls? Dark Scrolls has 9 playable heroes at launch. Named heroes include Grizz (axe), Pigeon (daggers), Emerys (magic orbs), Biscuit (bark and pinball), Nezumi (saxophone note system), Ironbeard (melee hammer), Quinn (bow), and Confit (steak throw). Biscuit is unlocked during the first stage rather than being available from the start.

Does Dark Scrolls have online co-op? Yes. Dark Scrolls supports solo play, local co-op, and online co-op at launch. Remote Play Together is also listed in the Steam categories. This makes it one of the few pixel roguelites to ship all three co-op modes on day one without a post-launch patch.

How long is a Dark Scrolls run? A single run through all zones takes roughly 30 to 50 minutes depending on hero choice and Shoppe routing. Runs can end earlier if you die before the final zone.

What is Bruce and Goose's Shoppe in Dark Scrolls? Bruce and Goose's Shoppe appears between zones and sells perks, devastating attacks, and summoned allies purchased with coins earned during a run. Known perks include Thorns (damage reflect on contact), Shuriken (bonus projectile alongside main attack), Koi Ploy (fish projectile modifier), Reverse (trajectory change), and Fat Stack (coin or stat modifier).

Who developed Dark Scrolls? doinksoft developed Dark Scrolls. The Portland studio previously made Gato Roboto, Gunbrella, and the physical-only Demon Throttle. Devolver Digital acquired doinksoft in April 2023 and published this release.

What is Nezumi's note system in Dark Scrolls? Nezumi fires saxophone notes in directional sequences. Different combinations equip different Shoppe abilities mid-run, giving access to over 16 effect combinations without spending coins. It is the hardest hero to play but the most mechanically distinctive.

How does the star meter work in Dark Scrolls? You build stars by hitting enemies, up to five. Stars fuel burst attacks and unlock perks assigned to specific thresholds. A perk keyed to four stars only activates at that count, then deactivates if you fall below it. Constant offense maintains star count better than defensive play.