Bane of Darkness

Bane of Darkness

SketchyCat Games · December 4, 2025 · Casual, RPG, Action RPG, Dungeon Crawler, 3D

Bane of Darkness is free to play — no purchase needed. We track it so you know if that ever changes.

PC
Positive100% · 12
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →

Screenshots

Bane of Darkness price

Bane of Darkness is free to play — there is no purchase price, on Steam or anywhere else we track. We keep watching it, so if it ever stops being free the price history on this page will show when that happened and what it changed to.

About Bane of Darkness

Become the Vampire Hunter As the relentless vampire hunter Lovec, storm through a gothic mansion hidden deep in the forests of Bohemia. Wield devastating weapons, grow stronger with every victory, and carve a path through relentless hordes of haunting enemies on your quest to rescue your beloved Eliska from the wicked vampire lord, Mikhail. It’s time to hunt the Bane of Darkness.  

Game Features 

  • Storm the vampire lord's lair! From the eerie Bohemian forest to a deadly mansion, explore the secrets hidden in the shadows. 
  • Wield devastating weapons! Collect and master lethal weapons that deal more damage as you get stronger. 
  • Dash into battle! Practice and use dash attack to vanquish foes at light speed. 
  • Face relentless hordes of enemies! Skeletons, ghouls, skulls, and animated armor. Carve a path through them all!
  • Immerse into the narrative! Cinematic cutscenes will envelop you into seamless gameplay.  
  • Experience a fusion of music! With influences from a variety of genres, the score from Bane of Darkness provides a unique take on haunted symphonies and heart-racing beats.  

Extended Credits 

Bane of Darkness is a student university project, created by the team SketchyCat Games:ProducerSasha-Lee KuzmanovDesignLead Designer….. Zerend SandorGameplay and Level Design….. Zerend SandorNarrative Design… Brenten Edwards & Jorja McGrathLogo Design…. Jorja McGrath & Zerend SandorAudioOriginal Score….. Sasha-Lee KuzmanovGameplay Music….. Dylan YeeSFX Design…… Dylan Yee & Sasha-Lee KuzmanovVoice Over Artist…… Brenten EdwardsArtLead Artist….. Farhaan Hanif2D Cutscenes and Concept Designs…. Jorja McGrathUI Art…. Jorja McGrath3D Environments…. Farhaan Hanif & Kaelum Grossett   Character Modelling and Animation….. Kaelum GrossettVFX….. Eli Merckel, Kaelum Grossett, Dylan Yee & Zan Mohd HazlanProgrammingLead Programmer….. Eli MerckelEnemy Weapons and Movement….. Zan Mohd HazlanPlayer Weapons and Movement….. Eli Merckel & Dylan YeeUI Programming….. Eli MerckelQAOptimisation…. Farhaan HanifPlaytesting…. Zerend Sandor & Brenten EdwardsBug Fixing and Balancing…. Dylan Yee, Eli Merckel, Zerend Sandor & Zan Mohd HazlanThank you for the support!

Bane of Darkness — game info

Platforms
Windows
Player modes
Single-player
PC Game Pass
Not included

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

Players praise this short game for its fast-paced, polished gameplay where your character feels genuinely overpowered in satisfying ways, with good art style and accessible mechanics that are easy to learn. The main complaints center on its brevity and lack of substantial content—there's no boss fight, the skills feel somewhat limited, and it plays more like a tech demo or proof of concept than a full game. Despite these limitations, players are enthusiastic about the creator's potential and hopeful for a full release or sequel that expands on this promising foundation.

Recommended Dec 30, 2025
Very short game, But man did i have a blast, I'm tired in a video game of being handicap ,I want to feel OP , I don't know if that was the intent. But the creators definitely have something here. Recommend 10/10 to play. I hope the creators continue with this formula that they have. I can see this evolving into a rogue like or even a linear hack and slash. So many directions to go into.
5 found this helpful
Recommended Dec 9, 2025
The movement felt fast, the aoe , projectile spam felt good, your character is def overpowered. Unfortunatly no boss, this is like a tech demo, all the skills were pretty much more or less auto or "cast on" mechanic. Game is short, the creator of this game is most likely a huge arpg fan and understands what arpg is suppose to be. The game is fun, hoping for a sequel or full game release. Thank you for making this, you should be proud of what you created here. I for one am proud of you, keep up the hard work and don't give up on your dreams!
3 found this helpful
Recommended May 14, 2026
Best Game of 2026, highly recommend
2 found this helpful
Recommended Jan 21, 2026
If you have 10 minutes to try a new game, try this one! It's a super polished fast paced game. Though its short it is still fun, and from my knowledge it was only made by a small team. The art style is awesome, mega props to that person. I dare people to try and finish a run in under 4 mins, doable, but challenging. Well done SketchyCat!
2 found this helpful
Recommended Dec 30, 2025
This game was fairly short but super easy to learn how to play. There's a guild quest if you want to play through it a few different times. Hopefully there's a full release to the game or maybe some updates in the future, the UI is honestly great and would love to play more if more come up.
1 found this helpful
Recommended Aug 28, 2026
Bane of Darkness is a pretty straightforward action game, but I ended up liking the way it puts everything together. I play as Lovec, a vampire hunter who is trying to rescue Eliska from the vampire lord Mikhail. The whole thing takes place around a gothic mansion hidden in the forests of Bohemia, and the setting gives it a nice dark fantasy feeling from the start. I like that it gets straight to the point instead of spending ages explaining everything before letting me actually play. The combat is the main reason I enjoyed it. There are different weapons to collect and I can become stronger as I keep defeating enemies, which gives me a simple reason to keep pushing forward. The dash attack is also useful and makes the combat feel more active than just standing around hitting enemies. I can move into a group, attack quickly and then get out of the way before I get surrounded. It is not the deepest combat system I have played, but it works well for the kind of short hack and slash experience this is trying to be. The enemies have enough variety to keep the fighting from feeling completely the same. Skeletons, ghouls, skulls and animated armour all have their own look, and dealing …

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