The latest joint by Doinksoft, makers of fun, quirky titles like the Metroid 2-inspired Gato Roboto and action platformer Gunbrella, is back at it with this unexpectedly engrossing auto-scrolling action game. As one of three starting characters, you’ll blast through barrages of incoming enemies either as a wizard lobbing magic orbs, an axe-tossing barbarian, or a dagger-throwing rogue. Being forced to constantly move forward due to the auto-scrolling stages while dodging tricky enemy patterns makes survival challenging, especially since the run-based structure means starting from scratch after each failure.
However, unlocking various upgrades, such as imbuing weapons with elemental damage, faster attacks, or even shooting fire from your feet, helps extend runs. I wasn’t hot on Dark Scrolls during my first run; auto-scrollers don’t usually do it for me as a platforming fan. But after the third attempt, the hooks started to dig in. The itch to reach a castle at the end of the game, a path that splits along the way by fulfilling certain conditions, is real. I felt genuine excitement when I lasted longer than a previous run, and avoiding attacks while blowing away foes is satisfying. Thanks to its format, I’ve enjoyed fitting in a run or two of Dark Scrolls between bigger games and look forward to conquering my current roadblock: the second-level boss.