Darkwood

The game is played from a top down perspective. It features a semi-open world, with the player unlocking new areas as the storyline progresses. It also features a crafting system, a day/night cycle, trading and non-player character (NPC) interaction, a skill system, stealth and combat, as well as multiple storyline branches which alter several aspects of the world.

During daytime, the player can explore the world and scavenge for supplies at several locations scattered around each biome as well as spend this time repairing doors or barricades around the hideout and crafting new items and upgrades at the workbench. During the day, the player can also "cook" Hallucinogens at his stove to gain access to various skills, any beneficial skill that the player chooses requires a detrimental skill to also be chosen. During the night, the player cannot leave the hideout and must defend against possible intruders until morning. Planning a defensive strategy is key and players have the opportunity to lay traps and barricade doors or windows to slow down any intruders.

Darkwood is set somewhere in Poland in the late 1980s where a mysterious forest has engulfed a large amount of land and is continuing to expand. Many people have been left trapped by the forest and a strange plague is ravaging the survivors, killing and causing victims to transform into monsters and abominations. A group named "The Outsiders" consisting mostly of government officials and soldiers were sent to investigate the woods, setting up hideouts and a tunnel system to get in and out of the forest. By the time the game takes place most of the Outsiders are dead or evacuated from the zone.

In the prologue, the player takes control of an apparent doctor as he searches for supplies. The Doctor seems to be disillusioned with his job of helping locals and is hellbent on escaping the forest. After the prologue, the player takes control of "The Stranger", a man who is searching for the stolen key that will lead him through an underground passageway out of the forest. Other characters include the trader, who helps the protagonist in the prologue, the three, another trader who appears in chapter 2, a half-man half-wolf hybrid known only as "The Wolfman", a drunk cyclist known as the "Bike Man", and Piotrek, who is mesmerised by space travel and Yuri Gagarin, and wishes to build a rocket.

According to the developers, Darkwood was inspired by:"The works of David Lynch, Strugacki brothers, Stanisław Lem. Games like Fallout, Dark Souls, Project Zomboid, Teleglitch. Slavic folklore. And, well, life."

They also said:"A lot people said there are similarities between Lovecraft and Darkwood, and turned out that none of us read any Lovecraft before making Darkwood."

Critics wrote positive pieces regarding the game prior to and after its public release. It has a score of 80/100 on Metacritic based on 16 reviews. Metacritic also included it in their "top 100 best videogames of 2017" list. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 77% of critics.

Amy Josuweit, writing for The Mary Sue, praised the game for not relying on jumpscares, creating what she calls a "PTSD-inclusive horror experience".