Story
Dungeons Deep
is a fantasy Action-RPG that brings back old‑school brutality. Aim your blows, chop off limbs, never play the same dungeon twice, and team up with friends to conquer underworlds teeming with loot and horrors.
This has been a labor of love for over three years. What began as a solo passion project quickly gained momentum after our first trailer caught the attention of an enthusiastic audience. The response confirmed what I hoped all along, this is a game people are excited to play. Today, we've reached over 21,000 wishlists on Steam, and the demo has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from players around the world!
We can only finish it with your help!
Dungeons Deep draws heavy inspiration from classics like Diablo I & II, born from a simple but powerful question: What would Diablo feel like in third-person? It also pays homage to cult favorites such as Severance: Blade of Darkness, Die by the Sword, and Dungeons & Dragons. Even unreleased titles like Hellraid and Deep Down helped shape the game’s dark, immersive atmosphere.
We have a growing Discord community around Dungeons Deep. Feel free to join and ask all the questions you have, the dev team is in there every day!
Ages ago, the eastern realm of Antioch was a land of wonder and power. Its great kingdoms were ruled by mighty heroes and riders of legendary beasts such as dragons and phoenixes.
But all great civilizations MUST fall.
A curse unleashed by mysterious sorcerers shook the land with a series of violent earthquakes. Poisonous fog released by the tremors killed off the once abundant crops in the valleys, and crumbled the underground fortresses and dungeons. Freed from their masters, the great dragons turned on their former keepers, reducing cities to ash. As kingdoms crumbled, fleeing townsfolk left behind husks of cities, now crawling with monsters and the undead remnants of ancient wars.
Those who remained in Antioch faced endless terror. In the cursed fog, dark creatures hunted the living.
Some settlements survived by reinforcing their palisades, paying what little they had to bandits for protection, or worse... offering blood sacrifices to the beasts in exchange for mercy.
The smaller kingdoms of the west initially welcomed the fleeing refugees. But under the influence of their faith, chose isolation over mercy. Constructing a great wall across the land bridge to seal off the east. Antioch was abandoned, its horrors left to fester and be forgotten.
The story of Dungeons Deep unfolds organically, through environmental storytelling, cryptic notes, and the words of scattered NPCs. The notes hidden throughout the world reveal fragments of Antioch’s forgotten history, its fallen heroes, and the dark events that shattered the realm. Each discovery brings you closer to understanding the curse that haunts these lands.
Beyond the main storyline, Dungeons Deep offers a range of side quests that deepen the lore and reward exploration. These quests encourage you to revisit familiar locations, uncover hidden paths, and interact with factions and characters across the ruined realm. Each one reveals new secrets and pieces of the puzzle, drawing you further into the mystery behind your journey into the fallen land.
Battle goblins, demons, skeletons, spiders, dragons and many more creatures in Dungeons Deep. Each with its own unique fighting style and abilities. From goblins teaming up to rush you, cave horrors charging you into walls, or dragons engulfing you in flames, you'll need to bring a different strategy to overcoming each. Or have your bones added the the piles in the DEEP!
With your support, we aim to bring as many fresh and unique interpretations of classic fantasy creatures to life as possible! From reimagined goblins to terrifying twists on dragons, your backing helps us push beyond the familiar and craft enemies that surprise and challenge at every turn.
We’re throwing out the rule book! Right from the start, you’ll notice how Dungeons Deep breaks away from traditional Soulslikes with skill-based aiming on all attacks, a visceral dismemberment system, randomized dungeon layouts, and the unique ability to customize attack animations within your combos.
Movement is heavier and more grounded. No floaty, unrealistic motions. Combined with a tight, over-the-shoulder camera view, this setup is key to our precise aiming system, delivering a combat experience that feels both intense and intuitive.
In Dungeons Deep, you’ll explore the lands of Antioch using a map system inspired by Fallout 1, offering a strategic overview of this dark world. Discover ancient underworlds and remnants of lost civilizations. Speak with the survivors scattered across the land to uncover the secrets of the past, as you hunt a powerful necromancer who has returned to these cursed lands with a sinister purpose.
Antioch is a land of diverse and dangerous biomes. From scorching northern deserts to the icy peaks in the south. Beneath each lie hollows filled with deadly challenges, valuable loot, and hidden secrets. But beware! While traveling, you may face anything from opportunistic bandits looking to rob you, to colossal threats like a great serpent attacking your ship!
Dungeons Deep offers a thrilling single-player experience, and if we hit our first goal, cooperative multiplayer as well. Dive into captivating quests across the fallen continent of Antioch, mastering a variety of weapons and combat techniques to overcome your foes. Whether you favor melee, ranged, or magic, each class blends these styles in unique ways, supported by an expansive ability tree that lets you tailor your skills and playstyle.
GAME FEATURES
- Play single-player or co-op, planned up to 4 players.
- Nonlinear adventure, explore the world at your own pace.
- Dozens of intricately crafted locations, procedurally rearranged for a fresh experience every playthrough.
- Fluid, skill based combat with full gamepad support.
- Brutal dismemberment system, what's the point in hacking and slashing if nothing comes off?
- Deeply satisfying combat
- Each enemy brings unique tactics and behaviors, relying on the same strategy repeatedly will be your downfall. Mistakes are punished harshly. To survive, you must quickly learn your foes’ weaknesses and exploit them before they adapt.
Never play the same dungeon twice
Hand-crafted rooms are procedurally rearranged each time you enter, delivering a fresh, dynamic experience. With a rich variety of themes, enemies, and bosses drawn from diverse factions, every run offers new challenges, without the emptiness or repetition often found in fully procedural dungeons.
Your character, played your way
With persistent progression and an open skill tree, every level and skill point lets you shape your hero’s path. There are no weapon restrictions, any class can wield whatever you choose, giving you complete freedom to play how you want.
Loot vomit!
Discover hundreds of satisfying loot drops across multiple rarity tiers, each boosting your abilities and letting you specialize your character. Plus, gather and mine resources to craft powerful weapons and armor tailored to your playstyle.
Build your camp
Invest your gold to upgrade your base and prepare for tougher quests ahead. Recruit a blacksmith to forge and sell exotic weapons, or a sorcerer to unlock powerful magical scrolls. Hire mercenaries for backup on your journeys, and bring along pack mules to carry your growing haul of loot.
Hi, I’m Kiefer, a seasoned programmer and 3D generalist with over a decade of experience working in Unreal Engine and various other tools. So far, I’ve been funding this project entirely on my own.
My toolkit includes Unreal Engine 4 & 5, Unity, Blender, 3ds Max, Substance Designer & Painter, Photoshop, Audacity, DaVinci Resolve, Visual Studio, and programming languages like Java, C#, and C++, along with version control using Git.
My vision is to turn Dungeons Deep, and future projects, into a small, sustainable indie studio that creates immersive games for a passionate and growing audience.
While I handle the daily development solo, I collaborate with talented freelancers and friends for specialized work such as concept art, sound design, and voice acting. With your support, I plan to expand the team by bringing on trusted creatives I’ve worked with before.
Dungeons Deep isn’t just a game, it’s a labor of love and the culmination of years of experience and dedication to my craft.
If you're kind enough to support this project, we have a selection of awards available for our backers:
*All rewards are purely cosmetic and do not provide any in-game advantages.
- Backer Credits In-game - Your full name or nickname will be displayed at the end credits of the game under the "Backers" section, as a token of our appreciation for the support for our project!
- Exclusive Discord Role - Unlock a special Kickstarter-only role on the Dungeons Deep Discord, granting access to an exclusive channel just for backers.
- Digital Game Key - Receive a game key to redeem on the game’s release. Platform of your choice between Steam, Epic, and GOG. (If no platform is chosen a Steam key will be issued)
- Alpha Access (STEAM) - Get early access to Dungeons Deep’s Alpha builds on Steam. Experimental versions with new mechanics, helping us gather feedback to shape the game.
- Beta Access (STEAM) - Join the Beta testing phase on Steam, featuring larger, demo-style builds for extensive feedback. Access expected in the latter half of 2025.
- Digital Original Soundtrack - Enjoy the full Dungeons Deep original soundtrack as high-quality MP3 files, including all music composed up to the game’s release.
- Exclusive Phoenix Cape - Show your early support with an exclusive cape emblazoned with the Phoenix banner.
- Exclusive Phoenix Sword Skin - Once you unlock greatswords, craft a golden phoenix sword skin.
- Exclusive Phoenix Soldier Skins - Once you unlock heavy armor, craft an armor skin of the Phoenix kingdom’s foot soldiers.
- Exclusive Phoenix Rider Skins - Once you unlock heavy armor, craft an armor skin of the Phoenix kingdom’s beast riders.
- Exclusive Pack Boar Pet Skin - Upon unlocking pack mules, receive an exclusive “pack boar” pet skin. Yes, you can even pet them!
- Your Name on a Lootable Gravestone or Skeleton In-Game - Your name (and a personalized note) will be carved onto an in-game lootable gravestone or skeleton for other players to discover.
- Access to the VIP Discord Channel with Insights - Gain VIP role and access to an exclusive Discord channel where you can interact more closely with the devs and receive behind-the-scenes info not available publicly.
- Design a Legendary Weapon - Collaborate with our team to create and name a legendary weapon that will appear in the final game.
- Design a Legendary Armor & Helmet set- Work with us to design and name a legendary armor set that players can find and use.
- Design an NPC - Work with us to become or design a non-playable character in the world. Whether it be a farmer, shopkeeper, or blacksmith, you'll have the input.
- Personalized, In-game Statue - Immortalize yourself with a giant statue in the fallen ruins of Ithica, once home to the Phoenix lords. The design will be created alongside the developer to fit lore and gameplay.
- Design a Dragon- Collaborate with us to design a unique Dragon boss. Including elemental type, colors, shape, and name. Crafted to fit the game’s world and mechanics.
- Design a Dungeon- Help design an entire dungeon, including biome, enemy types, and boss encounter, working closely with the dev team to ensure it fits the lore and gameplay.
Our goal is to raise $15,000 to fund the next 12 months of development, during which we plan to deliver a feature-complete Early Access version of Dungeons Deep.
Reaching our stretch goals will allow us to include even more content by the Early Access launch. Funds beyond our initial goal will accelerate development and help add additional features faster. Most importantly, your support enables us to fairly compensate everyone we bring on. With less financial stress, I can focus fully on making the best game possible.
My vision for Dungeons Deep is to create a visceral, up-close RPG experience packed with as much replayability as I can get into it. We’ve made great progress so far, but we’ve now reached a point where outside funding is essential to increase momentum and bring this vision fully to life.
Until now, I’ve self-funded the entire project. The majority of any funds raised will go directly toward supporting our current and future team members financially. This support will allow me to dedicate more, and with enough funding, all, of my time to Dungeons Deep, without the constant pressure of making ends meet. It will also enable me to bring on a few experienced professionals to help deliver a richer, more polished game for our loyal community, and do it faster.
A smaller portion of funds will cover fees, software licenses, taxes, and outsourced freelance work.
I truly believe in this game and am passionate about sharing it with you. Thank you for taking the time to read our story. I hope you’ll join us on this exciting journey!
