If you love your rogue games to have a little variety, Dying Land is definitely one to check out. Original Intent Studio’s new action roguelite launches on Steam today, dropping players into a repeating cycle. Every time you die and come back, it’s another opportunity to gather better equipment, push a little further, and eventually work out whether fate can actually be changed.
The fighting is only half of it, though. When you’re not mowing through enemies and hunting for better gear, you can head back to village life and spend your time farming, fishing, chopping trees, racing horses, and getting to know the people living there.
Die, Get Stronger, Do It All Again
The central idea behind Dying Land is repetition. You’ll live through wave after wave of enemies, carrying the knowledge and strength gained from previous attempts forward as you search for some way to change how everything eventually ends.
Combat leans heavily into the joy of finding more stuff. There are 60 weapons and 90 items to hunt down, mix, and match. The aim is to steadily push your stats higher and turn your next incarnation into something considerably more capable than the last.
Exactly how you put that equipment together is up to you, making the hunt for better loot a major part of progression rather than simply grabbing whatever has the biggest number attached.
The game is described as an equipment-driven “loot-and-slash”, so expect plenty of enemies to test whatever ridiculous pile of stats you eventually create.
Reincarnation Has Downtime
Between all that fighting, Dying Land really slows things down. The village gives you somewhere to breathe between adventures, with farming, fishing, tree chopping, and horse racing all sitting alongside the more violent side of the game. You can also spend time talking to villagers, learning their stories, and building relationships rather than immediately sprinting back out to get killed again.
It creates an odd but appealing contrast. One minute you’re grinding equipment and carving through enemies in an attempt to alter your seemingly inevitable fate, and the next you’re tending crops.
There’s More Going on Than the Game Tells You
Original Intent Studio says there are hidden stories, secret events, and other surprises scattered throughout the game that players will need to uncover themselves. There’s a larger narrative running through everything too, delivered through scrolling text that can be hidden whenever you’d rather concentrate on the action.
That means you can dig into the story behind this repeating world and its inhabitants or decide you’re currently far more interested in making numbers go up.
Time to Start Another Life
The reincarnation structure and gradually increasing character strength fit neatly into roguelite territory, while the farming, fishing, relationships, and village activities give each cycle something to offer beyond just another combat run. Add 60 weapons, 90 items, hidden events, and plenty of loot grinding, and there should be a fair amount to experiment with before you finally work out how to escape whatever fate keeps dragging you back.
Dying Land launches today on PC via Steam from developer and publisher Original Intent Studio. It also arrives with a 10% introductory discount running until October 2nd.