It’s been a long road to launch for Sunken Realms. As we reported last month, solo developer Brad Warren has spent six years working on the dungeon-crawling ARPG, although development hasn’t exactly been straightforward. An early demo arrived back in 2022, before Warren took a full-time job working on another game and Sunken Realms was put on the back burner.
Four years later, it returned with a considerably improved demo, made an appearance at Steam Next Fest, and has now passed 30,000 wishlists. Today, it’s finally time to see the whole thing.
What Happened to Alric’s Father?
Sunken Realms takes us to Aedaria, an underground city that was cursed by the gods decades ago and has been sitting in darkness ever since. Most people have understandably stayed away, Alric’s father wasn’t one of them. He headed into the ruins looking for answers several years ago and never returned. Now Alric is following him underground to find out what happened, although getting to the truth means surviving everything that has moved into Aedaria since its fall.
The story unfolds as you progress, including conversations between Alric and his friend around the campfire between runs.
Aedaria Changes Every Time
Exploring Aedaria won’t mean memorizing a route through the ruins. Its rooms have been handcrafted, but they’re procedurally rearranged whenever you enter the dungeon, changing the layout each time you head back below ground.
There’s plenty waiting inside too. Combat mixes melee and ranged attacks, while forgotten spells give you access to magic as you descend further. Enemies and treasure chests provide gold, crafting materials, and other useful finds to take back to the surface, assuming you make it out with them.
Warren has created more than 100 rooms for the dungeon, spread across six sections, so there’s quite a bit of Aedaria to get through before Alric finds the answers he’s looking for, and probably quite a few things standing in his way.
Back to Camp
Not everything happens underground. Between runs, you’ll return to camp and make use of whatever you’ve managed to bring back from Aedaria. Weapons and other equipment can be crafted, food can be cooked, potions brewed, and your character upgraded before heading down for another attempt.
That gives Sunken Realms its roguelite progression, with each trip underground providing another opportunity to gather what you need to become stronger. You can also increase the difficulty when you’re ready, giving yourself a tougher journey through the ruins in exchange for better loot.
Just how ready anyone can be to willingly make a cursed underground city more dangerous is debatable. The loot had better be good.
Six Years Later, It’s Ready
Sunken Realms began as a project inspired by Outward, a game Warren has credited with giving him the sense of adventure and unknown he wanted to capture in his own work. Six years later, that project is finally complete. The last few weeks have been particularly busy, with the developer working through animations, later enemies, cutscenes, bug fixes, and plenty of final polish ahead of release. A release candidate arrived just two days ago with yet more fixes and additions.
The demo isn’t disappearing immediately either. It will remain available until September 21st, giving anyone still undecided a few more days to head into Aedaria without spending anything.