We played Dark Scrolls.

29. June 2026.

From the team at Doinksoft (Gunbrella, Gato Roboto), we have Dark Scrolls, a 2D auto side-scroller that looked great in the trailers. The developers were generous and sent us multiple game codes, so we shared them among the editorial team; I will write a review and highlight the main features, while my colleagues will add their opinions about the game.

Right at the beginning, you are greeted by a short animation that introduces you to the story. A brave knight, magical dark scrolls, a three-headed dragon, betrayal, resurrection. Nothing new, nothing refreshing.

You have three heroes at your disposal: the barbarian Grizz, the rogue Pigeon, and the mage Emerys, each with their own special abilities and shortcomings. All characters have some type of ranged attack (axes, arrows, magic orbs), and it's up to you to decide which one you prefer. It is possible to unlock 7 additional characters, but more on that later.
In such games, I usually start with a mage, and so I did here as well. After being trampled by enemies for about 2 minutes, I decided to go for pure strength and chose Grizz, who might be the best choice to start with since he deals the most damage and has a special ground pound attack that kills enemies in one hit. At least on the first level, until you learn the game mechanics.

You can buy additional abilities with coins (a fairy that throws hearts, increased damage, shooting projectiles backward) that automatically activate when you reach a certain number of stars (1-5), and by collecting 5 stars, you activate a special attack and reset the star counter, giving you a new chance to activate abilities, which last for 9 seconds. By combining them, you can deal massive damage to enemies, but I only used them on bosses.
It's just a shame that these abilities are very poorly or not at all explained, so many you won't even want to buy because they don't sound useful.

One of the most useless functions in the game is the A button, which sends emotes. And that's it. I don't know who even thought of that.
As well as some other bizarre things worth mentioning: why is the vendor actually three geese in a balloon? Why is there no explanation of what to do next after defeating the final boss? The game just throws you back into the village, and you start again. What happens to all those dark scrolls when you conquer them?
Why is there no displayed price for the dungeon key that is crucial (pun intended) for unlocking a new character?

You cannot change the controls, you won't know which abilities you have unlocked, or which scrolls you have conquered. You will be moving in the unknown the whole time.

You will unlock a new character only when you throw 10,000 coins into the wishing well, for one you will have to play with a chef who will feed a hungry and exhausted adventurer with a steak, who in return joins your team. And that's it. New characters, although different, do not add much variety to the gameplay, except that you have to play as some to unlock others.

The game praises co-op gameplay and I tried it with my son, but after a few minutes we realized that it's much easier and smarter to play alone. Because the screen constantly pushes you, your partner pushes you, it gets in the way when you want to jump, and if you jump on him uncontrollably, it often throws you into the air, usually into some enemies or spikes. Enemies come from all sides and you will just bounce from one to another and quickly drain your health bar. When one of you dies, he becomes a ghost that can move around the screen and collect hearts that won't revive him, but it also gets in your way, so it's best to position yourself at the top edge of the screen and put the controller aside.
Not to mention that at one point you need to collect 1200 coins to unlock the second (not at all easier) path, which means one of you has to avoid collecting coins because each has a special counter.
They could have also added friendly fire for the complete experience.

My colleague Zagi, who also played the game, had a few complaints worth noting. He was particularly frustrated that enemies can attack you practically the moment you exit the shop, without any break or protection. He also believes that the screen is occasionally simply too small for the amount of enemies, projectiles, and effects happening on it at the same time, which is why the action often becomes chaotic. This is not helped by sometimes imprecise hitboxes, so you'll occasionally wonder if you really deserved the hit you received.

Although we agree that Dark Scrolls doesn't have the depth offered by some other roguelike titles and that it starts to feel repetitive after a while, we weren't completely in agreement on one thing. While I experienced co-op as a rather frustrating experience, Zagi believes that playing in pairs is more fun than a solo adventure. Despite all the chaos, player collisions, and occasional frustrations, chaotic moments in company can still bring a smile or two.

The Nintendo Switch copy of the game for review purposes was provided by the development studio Doinksoft.