To Lloyd's misfortune, the dream quickly turns into a nightmare and all attempts to wake up end in failure. While exploring the darkest corners of his subconscious, Lloyd learns how to survive the nightmare by bending the laws of physics and manipulating the fluid fabric of the dream world. 

Apart from gravity-defying puzzles, Lloyd will have to use stealth when nearby enemies. He has no chance of winning in an open confrontation, since the creatures he will encounter are much more powerful and faster than him. Instead, he has to rely on careful planning to avoid getting detected. 

Jump scares in DARQ serve one purpose: they help establish that in a dream world anything can happen at any time. However, this isn't a game that is all about jump scares. Quite the contrary, they rarely occur. DARQ is more about building tension and anticipation in between jump scares. Once the player knows that a jump scare could happen, they are more likely to stay on the edge of their seats for a very long time.

The game is designed to be a moving artistic experience. Elegance is the key word in DARQ's art direction - it serves as a means of seduction, or an invitation for the player to step in and develop and emotional connection with the experience as they progress. The goal is to make the player like being there, even though being there involves facing their fears.

In addition to the base game, DARQ: Complete Edition includes two DLC packs: The Tower, a mysterious structure filled with new puzzles and secrets, as well as The Crypt, the final content expansion of DARQ, twice as big as The Tower. It introduces the most challenging puzzles in the game, never-before-seen mechanics, new achievements, shocking twists, and big surprises. 

Owners of the PC version of DARQ will be automatically upgraded to DARQ: Complete Edition for free at launch on December 4. Players who own DARQ: Complete Edition on Xbox One or PS4 will also get a free upgrade to the fully optimised, native Xbox Series X|S and PS5 versions upon their release.

When the current generation version of DARQ: Complete Edition releases later this year, the final DLC “The Crypt” will also be made available for free simultaneously to PC owners who have purchased their base version of DARQ on Steam and GOG. 

Key Features:

• Psychological horror  about lucid dreaming.
• Unique artstyle
• Shining-like pacing, relying on a slow build and creepy atmosphere rather than gore and violence. 
• Music written by 5-time ASCAP Award winning composer  Wlad Marhulets.
• Puzzles that involve bending the laws of physics (walking on walls and ceilings, levitating), manipulating the dream world (moving things, rotating rooms), collecting and using found objects, and avoiding enemies. 
• 10 hidden secrets to find (optional -for hardcore players only)
• Lots of interactive objects and characters that will unfold the story and help Lloyd find answers about the meaning of his journey.

Music and sound play a very important role in the game. DARQ is a project started by 5-time ASCAP Award winning composer Wlad Marhulets, and since the very beginning the game was designed around music. The score is being written by the game director himself and will be recorded with Budapest Symphony Orchestra. Wlad's music will be mixed by Adam Schmidt, a renowned sound engineer known for his work on Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Pirates of the Caribbean, and others. Sound design is being done by Bjørn Jacobsen, known for his work on such games as Cyberpunk 2077, Hitman, and EVE: Valkyrie.

DARQ: Complete Edition will be launching on Xbox One, PS4, and PC (Steam & GOG) on December 4, 2020 ($19.99 / €19.99 / £15.49), with Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Nintendo Switch to follow in Q1 2021.