Best Dark Fantasy Games on Steam 2026: 25 Picks
Dark fantasy is one of the largest genres on Steam. This list, from the team at Tyrian Games, is the twenty-five dark fantasy games we think are worth your time in 2026, from AAA canon to hidden indie gems to upcoming releases. Short descriptions per entry. Focus on what each game does better than its peers. The list leans toward 2023 to 2026 releases but includes older classics where they still define the genre.
TL;DR
- Dark fantasy stretches from FromSoftware's Soulslikes to indie folk horror.
- Our twenty-five picks span Elden Ring down to obscure indie Soulslikes.
- The list is weighted toward 2023 to 2026 releases. Older classics are included where they still define the genre.
- HAWKER in September 2026 is our own entry in the grimdark corner of the category.
- The distinction between dark fantasy and grimdark matters: dark fantasy leans bombastic, grimdark leans patient. See our grimdark pillar.
The twenty-five
1. Elden Ring (FromSoftware, 2022). The benchmark. If you haven't played it, start here. Dark fantasy open world with Soulslike combat. Eighty-plus hours, and Shadow of the Erdtree in 2024 added another thirty.
2. Bloodborne (FromSoftware, 2015). PS4/PS5 only but still the peak of Belle Epoque dark fantasy atmosphere. No PC port at the time of writing.
3. Dark Souls Trilogy (FromSoftware, 2011 / 2014 / 2016). The canonical dark fantasy Soulslike trilogy. All three remastered and available on Steam.
4. Lies of P (Neowiz, 2023). Korean Soulslike with Belle Epoque atmosphere. See our games like Lies of P piece for more.
5. Hollow Knight (Team Cherry, 2017). Metroidvania dark fantasy. Hand-drawn art, patient world design. See our Hollow Knight roguelite alternatives.
6. Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook Studios, 2016). Grimdark tactical roguelite. See our grimdark pillar.
7. Blasphemous 2 (The Game Kitchen, 2023). Spanish grimdark metroidvania with religious iconography. A strong sequel to the 2019 original.
8. Dredge (Black Salt Games, 2023). Folk-horror fishing with dark fantasy atmosphere. See our games like Dredge.
9. Diablo IV (Blizzard, 2023). AAA dark fantasy ARPG. Largest audience on this list, with continued season expansions through 2025 and 2026.
10. Path of Exile 2 (Grinding Gear Games, Early Access 2024). Dark fantasy ARPG with deeper systems than Diablo. Still in Early Access but already one of the richest ARPGs on Steam.
11. HAWKER (Tyrian Games, September 2026). Our game. Grimdark shopkeeper roguelite with Breton folklore, a thirty-day debt to Ankou, and combat that inverts at night. Wishlist on Steam.
12. Grim Dawn (Crate Entertainment, 2016). ARPG in the Titan Quest lineage. Deep dark fantasy setting, and the Fangs of Asterkarn expansion in 2024 extended the canon further.
13. Salt and Sanctuary (Ska Studios, 2016). 2D Soulslike. Shorter scope than FromSoftware's, strong atmosphere, and Salt and Sacrifice in 2022 continues the series.
14. Code Vein (Bandai Namco, 2019). Anime dark fantasy Soulslike with cooperative combat.
15. Mortal Shell (Cold Symmetry, 2020). Compact Soulslike with distinctive shell-possession mechanics. Under ten hours but dense.
16. Vagrus: The Riven Realms (Lost Pilgrims Studio, 2021). Caravan-trader dark fantasy. Unusual niche, and worth flagging because the mobile-caravan fantasy connects directly to Hawker's own design heritage.
17. Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones (Cultic Games, 2019). Lovecraftian dark fantasy RPG with a distinctive art style.
18. Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science, 2024). Chinese dark fantasy action. A new benchmark for non-FromSoftware Soulslike production values.
19. Lords of the Fallen (Hexworks, 2023). Reboot of the earlier series. Dual-world mechanic, post-launch patches improved the reception significantly.
20. Darkest Dungeon 2 (Red Hook Studios, 2023). Sequel, polarising but substantial. Caravan-based run structure.
21. Nine Sols (Red Candle Games, 2024). Taiwanese metroidvania with dark fantasy atmosphere and some of the best combat in the 2024 indie slate.
22. Blasphemous (The Game Kitchen, 2019). Original. Pixel art grimdark, still worth playing even after the sequel.
23. Remnant II (Gunfire Games, 2023). Third-person shooter with Soulslike structure. Dark fantasy with cooperative multiplayer.
24. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (Team Ninja, 2023). Chinese historical Soulslike with Three Kingdoms framing.
25. Thymesia (OverBorder Studio, 2022). Plague-doctor Soulslike. Short and focused, under ten hours.
Upcoming dark fantasy in 2026
Several releases to watch through the year. HAWKER in September 2026 is our own entry. Possible Blasphemous 3, though it's not confirmed. Further expansions for Elden Ring, Diablo IV, and Path of Exile 2 are all expected. Various Steam Next Fest indie Soulslikes are tracking toward release windows in the back half of 2026, and at least two FromSoftware-adjacent indie studios have projects that may surface across the year.
The dark fantasy versus grimdark distinction
Worth flagging for people searching this category. Dark fantasy is a tonal palette: gothic, shadowy, morally ambiguous. It can be maximalist, bombastic, scale-heavy. Elden Ring is dark fantasy. So is Diablo IV. So is Bloodborne.
Grimdark is a tonal approach: quieter, more patient, more concerned with ruin than threat. Grimdark games are almost always smaller than AAA, with exceptions like Lies of P. Darkest Dungeon is grimdark. Dredge is grimdark. HAWKER is grimdark.
Overlap exists. Dark Souls is both. Lies of P is both. But the distinction matters because players searching "dark fantasy" and "grimdark" are often after different things. Dark fantasy fans often want scale and spectacle. Grimdark fans often want intimacy and quiet menace.
A first-hand Hawker example
One of the decisions we made while building Hawker was about how dark to go visually. Our art director made a case for pushing the palette toward full dark-fantasy bombast, inspired by Bloodborne's Yharnam. Big shadows, heavy reds, oppressive skies.
We tested both directions. The Bloodborne-style version was visually stunning and, in playtest, exhausting. Players played shorter sessions and reported feeling weighed down. The softer version was less striking in screenshots but held players longer.
We went with the softer version. It's still unmistakably dark fantasy. The sky is never truly blue. The amber horizon is always wrong somehow. But the volume isn't maxed. Hawker sits in the grimdark corner of the dark fantasy category, and the art style reflects that deliberately. Dark fantasy is big enough to include both bombastic and patient versions of itself, and we've tried to make Hawker the patient kind. The lesson from Bloodborne is that atmosphere is earned by restraint, not by saturation. The Yharnam we love was built in the spaces between the big set-pieces, and we've tried to make the Gwiravon's smaller moments carry equivalent weight.
FAQ
What makes a game "dark fantasy"?
Medieval or pseudo-medieval setting, morally ambiguous or bleak tone, magic or supernatural elements with dangerous costs, and themes of decay, loss, or corrupted grandeur. The palette is gothic rather than cheerful.
Is Elden Ring the best dark fantasy game?
Most critics and players say yes as of 2026. It has the largest audience and the most content, particularly with the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.
What is the best indie dark fantasy game?
Subjective. Hollow Knight, Blasphemous 2, Darkest Dungeon, Dredge, and Lies of P (borderline indie/AAA) are the most commonly cited.
Are there any multiplayer dark fantasy games?
Elden Ring's cooperative mode, Remnant II, Path of Exile 2, and Diablo IV all support multiplayer. Most indie dark fantasy is single-player.
What's coming in dark fantasy in 2026?
HAWKER in September 2026, possible Blasphemous 3, continued expansions for Elden Ring and Diablo IV, and various Steam Next Fest surprises tracking through the year.
The dark fantasy reading list
A parallel reading list for dark fantasy fans who want to understand the genre's literary roots. Michael Moorcock's Elric saga from the 1960s onwards is the single most influential set of texts on modern dark fantasy game design, with Elden Ring's Melina arc owing significant DNA to Elric's relationship with Stormbringer. Glen Cook's Black Company series from 1984 onwards is the grimdark literary bedrock, and a lot of Warhammer 40K's tone traces back to Cook.
Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy from 2006 to 2008 is the modern dark fantasy literary benchmark, with Abercrombie's influence visible across Witcher, Black Company-adjacent games, and the indie grimdark scene. Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire trilogy from 2011 is the darker contemporary counterpoint. Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen is the most ambitious dark fantasy text of the 2000s, and though it's game-adaptation-resistant, the sense of scale and consequence has influenced indie designers directly.
Reading even two of these gives you the literary vocabulary that the current wave of dark fantasy games draws from, and the games often reward readers who recognise the references.
Extended genre notes
Worth naming a few observations about the broader indie gaming landscape this category sits in across 2026. The indie market has grown significantly since 2020, with Steam alone now publishing thousands of titles per year. Discovery is the category's biggest challenge, not production. Most players find new games through a combination of algorithmic recommendation, word of mouth, and curated lists like this one.
The 2026 commercial story for the category favours studios that ship with clear positioning rather than studios that ship as genre-default entries. A game that knows who it's for tends to find its audience even at small scale. A game that hopes to be liked by everyone often ends up being recommended by no-one. HAWKER's positioning (grimdark shopkeeper roguelite, Breton folklore, thirty-day clock) is deliberately narrow because narrow positioning travels better than broad positioning in 2026's crowded indie market.
The audience for this category tends to cross generational lines. Players who grew up on 1990s PC games, players who came in through the 2010s indie boom, and players new to indies through 2020s word-of-mouth are all represented. The category isn't age-coded the way some indie genres are, which means studios can build for breadth rather than specific cohorts.
Practical buying advice
If you're using this list to build a reading-and-playing library, a few practical suggestions. Most of the games mentioned go on Steam sale at least twice a year, often at 50 percent or more off. Adding them to your wishlist and waiting for the next sale is usually the most cost-efficient approach. Many of the older entries are cheap year-round. The newer ones often go on sale first during Steam's summer or winter sales. HAWKER's Early Access price is below the planned full-release price, which is standard indie practice.
If you play on handheld (Steam Deck, Switch 2, ROG Ally) most of the games above run well on these platforms. The category tends to be performance-friendly because the production values prioritise tone over graphical fidelity. This is worth knowing because category fans often play across multiple platforms.
Spoiler wall
Everything above keeps Hawker at the level of atmosphere and shape. The Gwiravon, the caravan, the debt to Ankou, and the art style are all shown openly in our trailers. Specific late-game locations and characters sit behind this wall.
Closing
Dark fantasy is one of Steam's richest categories. The twenty-five above are our current top picks. Add HAWKER to the list in September.
Next read: Grimdark indie games in 2026.