Info about The Hidden Scrolls:

Official game description:
Step into a Spring and Autumn fantasy realm where ink-wash brushstrokes meet the texture of oil painting. Mist-shrouded peaks, abandoned bamboo paths, desolate ancient ruins… Five distinct regions await your exploration. Battle monsters, bandits, and fallen souls twisted by obsession into demonic forms. Collect cryptic bamboo slips to piece together the truth behind the chaos.
Assemble your expedition party by freely combining retainers from 13 classes: Swordsmen, Physicians, Shamans, Drum Warriors and more. Combat goes beyond positioning; skill synergies are key. Even with the same lineup, drastically different playstyles emerge, ready to take on 60 mystical beasts and over 10 uniquely designed bosses.
Battle tests not only your tactics, but also your retainers' minds. They may grow bolder in desperation, or break down and flee from terror. Fallen characters face permanent death. When a companion is lost in the wilds, will you risk your entire party to bring them back?
After each expedition, return to town to rest, develop, and recruit talent. Construct various buildings and enlist legendary figures from the Spring and Autumn era: Lord Xinling helps you recruit capable retainers to fill vacancies, Yan Ying boosts morale through lectures, and Gan Jiang forges peerless weapons for you. Through rituals and research, strengthen your forces, enhance your gear, and prepare for the journey ahead.

Release date: Jul 15, 2026

Categories: Darkest Dungeon-like, Turn-based Tactical, Roguelike, Character Progression, Town Management, Permadeath, Party-based Combat, Resource Management

Feature scans:
- Steam Deck: score 75; verdict: Broken; summary: The game shows artistic merit but is severely hampered on Steam Deck by frequent crashes, black screen freezes, and tutorial freezes. The UI text is also too small for comfortable reading, adding to the friction. These technical problems dominate the experience, making it unreliable.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 23.0h
  - Story completion: 10.0h
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The first quote directly states the story/campaign can be finished in about 10 hours, supporting storyCompletion. The second quote reports a 23-hour playthrough that achieved 52 out of 55 achievements, indicating full game completion, supporting gameCompletion. The 2-hour and 3-hour quotes reflect early playtime, not relevant to completion or session length metrics, so sessionLength and endgame remain null.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game is enjoyable immediately, with players finding it addictive thanks to early freedom and character-building, despite minor gripes about grind and simple visuals.
  - Stance: Fun immediately
  - Anchor: N/A
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: N/A
  - Unlock drivers: N/A
  - Conditions: Players who enjoy the Darkest Dungeon style; Players who don't mind simple graphics; Players who tolerate a bit of grind
- Player Archetypes:
  - Darkest Dungeon Devotee (sale)
    - Motivation: To experience a Chinese-themed iteration of the Darkest Dungeon formula with tweaks and new content.
    - Playstyle: Masters the tactical combat, manages party stress and position, grinds for achievements and optimal runs.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: 暗黑地牢忠实拥趸
    - Reference games: 暗黑地牢
  - Hardcore Tactician (buy)
    - Motivation: To solve challenging combat puzzles through team composition, positioning, and resource management.
    - Playstyle: Engages deeply with the 3x3 positioning, skill synergies, and roguelike decision-making, prioritizing efficiency over flavor.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: 硬核玩家
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Chinese Fantasy Enthusiast (sale)
    - Motivation: To enjoy a Chinese-themed strategy RPG with distinctive ink-wash aesthetics and mythological flavor.
    - Playstyle: Appreciates the atmosphere, explores the world and characters, and enjoys the team-building despite the genre mechanics.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: N/A
    - Reference games: 暗黑地牢


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Beautiful ink-wash art (weight 0.71): The unique blend of ink-wash painting with oil-painting textures is widely praised as visually appealing and distinctive. This art style is considered a major strength of the game.
- Easier than predecessor (weight 0.54): Players consistently find this game significantly more accessible and forgiving than Darkest Dungeon, with lower difficulty and gentler mechanics. This makes it suitable for newcomers while still retaining familiar elements.
- Enjoyable and addictive (weight 0.52): General sentiment is highly positive, with players describing the game as fun, interesting, and addictive. The gameplay is polished and satisfying once mechanics are understood.
- Accessible to newcomers (weight 0.42): Several players note the game is easy to pick up and simple to operate, making it approachable for those unfamiliar with the genre. This accessibility is a key selling point.
- Strong strategic depth (weight 0.38): Players appreciate the deep progression systems, strategic variety, and high replayability. The game offers meaningful choices and engaging gameplay that keeps players invested.
- Innovative Darkest Dungeon adaptation (weight 0.33): The game successfully adapts the Darkest Dungeon formula while adding unique innovations and quality-of-life improvements. It fixes many pain points and introduces fresh features, making it a worthy entry in the genre.
- Excellent atmospheric design (weight 0.33): The combination of art style and setting creates a strong, immersive atmosphere that enhances the overall experience. Players find the ambiance appealing and well-executed.
- Unique Chinese setting (weight 0.25): The Spring and Autumn period mythological setting is a distinctive and rare theme, praised for its originality and cohesion with the gameplay and art. This cultural backdrop sets the game apart from its inspirations.

Common complaints:
- Frequent bugs and crashes (weight 0.65): The game suffers from numerous bugs including freezes, black screens, corrupted save files, and softlocks during combat. These issues cause significant loss of progress and frustration.
- Combat feels unrewarding (weight 0.48): Players report weak positive feedback, poor rewards, and low experience gain from combat. This makes battles feel like a chore, and the high risk with minimal reward discourages engagement.
- UI is simple and crude (weight 0.47): The interface is repeatedly described as overly simplistic, unpleasant, and crude, with a poor layout that looks cheap or mobile-like. This affects readability and overall presentation.
- Content is too limited (weight 0.38): The game has a small amount of content, with repetitive events, sparse boss battles, and an incomplete story. Players feel it is a partial product, especially for its price.
- Difficulty is poorly balanced (weight 0.38): Difficulty spikes are common, with some early areas too easy and later content or bosses extremely hard. High-HP enemies and powerful regular mobs can cause harsh penalties and unfair deaths.
- Excessive evasion mechanics (weight 0.36): Enemies, especially on high difficulty, have very high dodge rates, leading to strings of consecutive misses. This is seen as unbalanced and can block progress entirely.
- Harsh death and stress system (weight 0.35): Characters die permanently, lose equipment, and suffer from severe mental breakdowns, spreading negative emotions. This makes the game overly punishing and discouraging, especially for new players.
- No combat experience gain (weight 0.33): Experience is only earned through expedition count, not combat victories. This reduces the incentive to fight, makes progression grindy, and encourages avoiding combat altogether for looting.
- Combat mechanics are flawed (weight 0.33): The combat system suffers from low base accuracy, weak healing, poor feedback, and a confusing corruption mechanic. There is no resistance system for evasion, making high-dodge enemies unbeatable without specific setups.
- Characters lack depth (weight 0.32): Characters have no backstory, limited builds, and poor synergy. Many retainers are useless, and the trait system is polluted with unclear effects, making progression feel disconnected.
- Progression and growth broken (weight 0.3): Level-gating prevents over-leveled characters from entering dungeons or fighting bosses, while high-level recruits have weak gear. Permanent upgrade points cannot be reset, and equipment with negative effects is worse than nothing.
- Visual and audio presentation weak (weight 0.29): The art style is crude, battle animations are awkward, and the fonts and UI look cheap or underfunded. The audio settings also have bugs where sliders affect the wrong volume channels.
- Poor tutorial and guidance (weight 0.29): The tutorial is inadequate, easily dismissed, and fails to explain key mechanics like skills, positioning, and win conditions. New players are often confused and overwhelmed.
- Lacks Darkest Dungeon depth (weight 0.28): The game is considered too similar to Darkest Dungeon but with less content, shallow mechanics, and fewer mods. It replicates the bad parts while missing the elements that made the original fun.
- Inventory space is too small (weight 0.25): Players complain about a cramped backpack with limited slots and low stack limits, especially for identical items taking up multiple spaces. This makes looting and resource management frustrating.
- Boss design is lacking (weight 0.24): Bosses are often perfunctory, with low threat levels, overpowered skills, or too high corruption resistance. Some bosses are unwinnable at high difficulty, and their design limits strategic variety.
- Font is too small (weight 0.21): The in-game font size is too small and tiring to read, with additional issues of messy rendering and mixed fonts. This strains the eyes and harms usability.
- Repetitive and low variety (weight 0.21): The game becomes boring after a few expeditions due to repetitive events, fixed late-game compositions, and limited trinket options. Dungeon interactions are uninteresting and lack meaningful choices.
- Controls and UI navigation issues (weight 0.18): Mouse clicking misaligns in 4K, right-click interactions are non-obvious, and there is no way to switch between character screens directly. Fullscreen mode may not work properly.
- Abandonment and inactivity (weight 0.16): Players feel the game is abandoned due to minimal updates, silence from the official group, and unresolved severe bugs. This erodes confidence in the product's future.

Gameplay feedback:
- Darkest Dungeon-like tactical roguelike (weight 0.94): The game is consistently described as a turn-based tactical roguelike with strong inspiration from Darkest Dungeon, featuring dungeon exploration, character growth, and hardcore mechanics. Many reviews explicitly compare its gameplay feel and formula to Darkest Dungeon, noting it as a similar experience.
- Turn-based combat system (weight 0.48): Combat is turn-based and strategic, with up to four characters and position-based attack ranges. This familiar system emphasizes careful planning and positioning.
- Town building and management (weight 0.37): The game features a town building system where players send teams to collect materials, upgrade facilities, and unlock new structures. This progression element is central to long-term growth and resource management.
- Thirteen character classes available (weight 0.33): Players can assemble parties from 13 distinct classes, such as swordsman, shaman, physician, and drum warrior, each with unique skills and synergies. The variety of classes supports diverse tactical strategies.
- Permanent character death (weight 0.31): Character death is permanent, and defeated characters are removed permanently, losing all long-term growth and gear. This hardcore mechanic is frequently highlighted and aligns with the roguelike nature of the game.
- Chinese historical setting (weight 0.25): The game is set in the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China, offering a Chinese-style alternative to Darkest Dungeon. This historical backdrop is a unique selling point for players.
- Party formation and positioning (weight 0.24): Players select four characters and position them in an eight-slot formation, with placement affecting combat effectiveness. This tactical element is key to the gameplay.
- Morale system affects characters (weight 0.21): Morale can collapse during battles, causing characters to lose control, flee, or even die permanently. Managing morale is critical, as low morale leads to sanity rolls and desertion.
- Four active skills per character (weight 0.19): Each character has access to eight skills, but only four can be configured for active use. This customization allows players to tailor skill sets to their strategy.
- Corruption value mechanic (weight 0.19): Enemies have a corruption value that, when filled, causes heavy damage and stuns them. This mechanic adds a strategic layer, encouraging players to exploit it.
- Exploration consumes stamina (weight 0.18): Exploring requires stamina, which can be replenished with food or provisions. Managing resources is essential for successful expeditions.
- Skills and equipment upgrades (weight 0.15): Players can upgrade skills, weapons, armor, and equipment between runs, enhancing character effectiveness. This progression system adds depth and replayability.
- Mission difficulty and rewards (weight 0.14): Missions have varying difficulty levels, with harder tasks yielding greater rewards. Completing missions grants experience and levels up characters.

Performance notes:
- Game stability issues (weight 0.17): Players report frequent crashes, black screens, and freezes during gameplay, which significantly disrupt the experience. Some instances are isolated, but the recurring nature of these problems points to a broader stability concern.
- Save file corruption (weight 0.06): Quitting during battle can cause save file corruption, leading to lost progress. This is a critical issue that may deter players from engaging in longer sessions.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for Darkest Dungeon fans (weight 0.37): Many reviews explicitly recommend the game to fans of Darkest Dungeon, highlighting its similar gameplay style and appeal. It is noted as easy to pick up for those familiar with the genre.
- Suitable as Darkest Dungeon substitute (weight 0.28): The game is frequently positioned as a decent, simpler alternative or substitute for Darkest Dungeon. It serves as a supplementary or entry-level option for players seeking a similar experience.
- Recommended for hardcore roguelike players (weight 0.16): Reviews recommend the game to fans of hardcore tactical roguelikes and strategy games. It appeals to players who enjoy challenging, hope-in-despair gameplay and tactical depth.
- Start on lower difficulty (weight 0.16): Multiple reviews advise new players to start on the lowest or first/second difficulty level for easier onboarding. This is especially recommended for those without similar game experience.
- Good for weaker challenge seekers (weight 0.09): The game is recommended for players who like Darkest Dungeon gameplay but want a weaker challenge. It serves as an entry-level Darkest Dungeon for new players.
- Worth experiencing for interested players (weight 0.08): A review suggests the game is worth experiencing for players who are interested in dark dungeon tactical games. This is a general positive endorsement.
- Try game before committing (weight 0.08): Players worried about difficulty are advised to try the game first before committing. This is also recommended for those concerned about permanent death or stress systems.
- Suitable for turn-based tactics players (weight 0.08): The game is very suitable for players who enjoy turn-based tactics and roguelike exploration. Reviews also mention it for those who enjoy strategic management.
- Good for dungeon-crawler newcomers (weight 0.05): The game is recommended for newcomers to the dungeon-crawler genre as it is easy to learn. This makes it accessible to players new to the genre.
- Not recommended in early access (weight 0.05): One review does not recommend purchasing the game in its current early access state. This suggests concerns about the game's completeness or polish.
- Must-play Chinese-style dungeon masterpiece (weight 0.05): One review calls it a must-play Chinese-style dungeon masterpiece not to be missed in 2026. This is a strong positive endorsement.
- Recommendation conditional on bug fix (weight 0.04): One review would only recommend the game if retainer names are fixed, indicating a specific bug affecting the recommendation. This is a niche concern.
- Positive review overall (weight 0.04): The game receives an overall positive review with an endorsement from the reviewer. This indicates general satisfaction with the game.
- Good domestic roguelike (weight 0.04): The game is recommended as a good domestic roguelike, appealing to players interested in locally developed games. This highlights its origin as a positive aspect.
- Worth playing after optimization (weight 0.04): One review states the game is worth playing after waiting for optimization. This suggests performance issues are present but may be fixed later.
- Recommended for Spring-Autumn mythology fans (weight 0.04): The game is recommended for players who like similar games and the Spring and Autumn mythological genre. This is a niche recommendation based on theme.
- Try if similar games are liked (weight 0.04): If you like similar dungeon-crawling games, it is worth trying. This is a general recommendation for fans of the genre.
- Use save-enabled mode (weight 0.04): One review recommends using the save-enabled mode rather than the no-regret mode. This suggests the save-enabled mode offers a better experience.

Other player notes:
- Frequently compared to Darkest Dungeon (weight 0.56): Many reviews note the game's strong similarity to Darkest Dungeon in style, structure, and gameplay framework, often calling it an inspired or localized version. This comparison appears across multiple clusters, indicating it's a dominant theme in player feedback.
- Chinese Spring-Autumn setting (weight 0.54): The game is set in China's Spring-Autumn period, blended with myth and fantasy, featuring monsters and historical figures. This unique setting is noted across multiple clusters, highlighting its Chinese cultural identity.
- Lower difficulty than Darkest Dungeon (weight 0.41): Players frequently mention that the game is easier and more accessible than Darkest Dungeon, with reduced difficulty and less punishing mechanics, making it a good entry point for newcomers. This is highlighted in several clusters, showing a consistent perception among reviewers.
- Ink-wash visual style (weight 0.35): The art style combines ink-wash painting with oil painting, which reviewers find distinctive and rare. This visual identity is praised and considered a key feature of the game.
- Similar but not identical (weight 0.33): While many find the game similar to Darkest Dungeon, some note it lacks the 'dark' feel or depth of the original, making it a weaker substitute. This suggests mixed feelings about its execution.
- Development details (weight 0.22): The game is developed by Red Dragon Studio and published by 2P Games, with frequent updates and a demo available. It is an indie title that does not require DLC purchases.
- Simplified and streamlined mechanics (weight 0.21): Compared to Darkest Dungeon, the game removes or simplifies tedious elements like arbitrary level limits and prideful characters refusing missions, making it more user-friendly. This is seen as both a positive and a negative, depending on player preference.
- Lacks mod community support (weight 0.2): A notable drawback is the absence of a mod community and Steam Workshop support, which limits long-term replayability. Players express hopes for future mod support to expand content.
- Potential for future updates (weight 0.18): Reviewers hope for continued updates and improvements, indicating that the current content is solid but has room for expansion. There is also a desire for workshop features and bug fixes.
- Technical issues with settings (weight 0.11): One issue involves sound settings where sound effects and voice controls are linked, and another mentions resolution distortion at 2560x1600. These bugs reduce the overall experience but are being addressed.
- Offers strategic team building (weight 0.11): Players discuss optimal team compositions and the variety of retainer classes, emphasizing the strategic depth and freedom in skill combinations. This is a positive aspect of the gameplay.
- Positive reviews may be botted (weight 0.09): Some players suspect that certain positive reviews are purchased or botted, raising concerns about review authenticity. This is mentioned in a few clusters, suggesting distrust in the review system.
- Short completion time (weight 0.08): The game can be completed in about 10 hours, with some reviewers finishing it quickly. This indicates a relatively short experience, which may affect replay value.
- Lacks character backstory (weight 0.05): A reviewer notes that no character backstory is provided, which diminishes narrative immersion. This is a minor issue compared to other aspects.
- Compared to Iratus: Lord of the Dead (weight 0.05): One review mentions the game copies the pressure-kill mechanic from Iratus, indicating additional inspiration beyond Darkest Dungeon. This is a specific and niche comparison.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.22): Players report a wide range of frustrating issues, including high difficulty spikes, frequent crashes and freezes, and a punishing combat system with high miss rates. The game's poor UI, lack of explanations for core mechanics, and unrewarding combat loop contribute to a sense of wasted effort. Additionally, progression is hampered by limited inventory space and an experience system that disconnects from actual combat.
- Appreciation (weight 0.1): Players largely appreciate the game's unique Chinese ink-wash art style, which is often blended with oil painting textures to create a strong, atmospheric classical mythical mood. The distinctive setting and its localized cultural elements are highly praised, as is the well-crafted soundtrack and audio design. These aesthetic qualities, combined with a strategic gameplay foundation similar to Darkest Dungeon, are seen as the game's standout features.
- Disappointment (weight 0.08): Many players express disappointment over the game's perceived incompleteness, citing a lack of content, a weak or non-existent story, and a UI that feels unfinished or cheap. Core gameplay elements such as the experience and rage systems are criticized for being poorly implemented, leading to unsatisfying combat and progression. The game is also faulted for not innovating enough beyond its primary inspiration.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.07): Players find the core gameplay loop engaging, particularly the deep combat mechanics involving formations, rage, and morale. The unique Chinese historical and mythological setting, combined with the distinctive art style, creates an appealing and immersive world. The game's innovative additions to the Darkest Dungeon formula make it a fresh and fun experience for strategy fans.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.07): Players feel the game provides a rewarding experience due to its high replayability, complete roguelike systems, and numerous build options. The early-game design is praised for being more forgiving and accessible than similar titles, with several quality-of-life improvements. The satisfying combat feedback and the ability to manage a town base add to the overall positive sentiment.
- Frustrated (weight 0.06): Specific frustrations stem from broken in-game mechanics, such as a high enemy evasion rate that causes repeated misses despite high hit-chance stats. Players are also blocked by artificial restrictions, like being unable to fight bosses due to recommended level limits. The overall difficulty curve is seen as unfair, with high risk and low reward in combat, compounded by a small UI and poor item management.
- Annoyance (weight 0.03): Annoyance is primarily caused by poor UI and inventory design, including a small backpack, non-intuitive skill indicators, and difficulty in finding characters. Gameplay mechanics create further irritation, such as dangerous enemy spawns from road interactions and a penalty for being over-leveled. The tutorial is also criticized for being inadequate and failing to explain key mechanics.
- Confusion (weight 0.03): New players are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content and mechanics introduced without proper explanation. The tutorial is widely considered poor, leaving core win conditions and game systems like wounds and bleed unclear. Technical issues, such as misaligned mouse clicks on certain resolutions, can also add to the initial confusion and feeling of being lost.
- Disappointed (weight 0.02): Players are disappointed by the game's lack of a distinct identity, feeling it is too derivative of Darkest Dungeon. The core loop of fighting without meaningful progression or rewards makes combat feel pointless. Additionally, the limited roster of characters and a bug with voice volume control contribute to a sense of incompleteness and lower satisfaction.
- Satisfied (weight 0.02): The game is considered well-made and generally fun, offering a less stressful experience than its primary inspiration. The turn-based combat is praised for its strategic depth and strong sense of impact. This combination of accessible gameplay and tactical challenge leads to a highly enjoyable overall experience.
- Excitement (weight 0.02): The high-pressure strategy and permadeath mechanics in ironman mode create a thrilling and engaging experience. The game's combat offers many strategic possibilities, and the immersive Jianghu atmosphere adds to the sense of adventure. This tense, high-stakes gameplay is a major source of excitement for players.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Players are angered by the game's perceived unfinished state, citing numerous bugs and a sense that the developer abandoned the project. Unfair gameplay mechanics, such as unbalanced dodge rates and restrictive level-based content blocking, cause significant frustration. This is compounded by a progression system that charges money for failed leveling attempts, furthering the sense of being cheated.
- Interest (weight 0.02): Players are intrigued by the innovative character designs, especially the shape-shifting and sanity mechanics, which add strategic depth. The unique Chinese historical and mythical theme is considered highly interesting. The potential for future content, such as a Steam Workshop, also piques player interest.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): A lack of variety in events and a low challenge from boss fights lead to repetitive gameplay. The grind required to level up many retainers is considered tedious due to low rewards and monotonous actions. This combination of repetition and low payoff results in boredom for some players.
- Approval (weight 0.01): Players approve of the game's decision to include town-building mechanics, which fill a gap present in similar titles. The overall effort from the developers is seen as solid and commendable. This fills a niche and adds a layer of management strategy that is appreciated.
- Appreciative (weight 0.01): The game is appreciated for its solid basic mechanics and rich gameplay depth. Players recognize that it has successfully carved out its own identity rather than being a simple clone of Darkest Dungeon. The quality and unique features of the game are specifically praised.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Players express hope that the developers will continue to polish the game and create a better overall experience. There is a specific desire for future refinements to the art and the eventual implementation of Steam Workshop features. This optimism suggests a belief in the game's potential despite current shortcomings.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): The game is admired for its high strategic depth and comprehensive growth systems. The sincere effort to create a Chinese-style roguelike with original local adaptations is lauded. This recognition of the developer's ambition and execution earns admiration from players.
- Angry (weight 0.01): A major source of anger is the risk of losing significant progress due to save file corruption, especially when quitting during battle. Permanently losing valuable equipment when characters die creates a highly punishing and frustrating experience. These harsh penalties can lead to outright anger and a feeling of unfairness.
- Impressed (weight 0.01): The game impresses with its high-quality skill visual effects and its detailed Chinese hand-drawn art style, including period-specific details. Players are also impressed by how the game addresses and fixes pain points from its main inspiration, offering players more agency. This combination of polish and thoughtful design leaves a strong positive impression.}