A text-only survival story that grows from one fire into a busy village and a dangerous trip across a wasteland.
A Dark Room opens on a black screen with one button that says to light the fire. That is the whole game at first. You tend the flames, a stranger stumbles in from the cold, and line by line a small settlement takes shape around you. Much later you leave it behind to explore a broken world on foot.
There are no pictures. Every event shows up as a short line of text in a log, and new buttons appear as the story unlocks them. That spare style is part of the appeal, because your imagination fills in the gloom.
How a run unfolds
The early minutes are about warmth. A fire needs wood to start and more wood each time you stoke it. While the room stays warm, the stranger slowly recovers and eventually agrees to build for you.
Next comes the forest, where you collect wood and turn it into traps, carts and huts. Traps catch fur, meat, scales and teeth. Huts attract villagers, and you assign them work. Gatherers bring in wood, hunters bring in meat, and other trades turn one material into another until the village mostly feeds itself.
The trading post eventually offers a compass. Once you own it, the Dusty Path unlocks, and there you load food, water and gear before stepping onto the world map. Each step burns supplies, so you plan routes past outposts and turn back before the bag runs empty. Deeper in, you find places like a mine that put more villagers to work, and the last stage carries you off the map altogether.
Planning your village
The job list is where most problems start. Some trades use up the very things others produce, so a busy village can still slide into shortage. Keep an eye on the income numbers next to each resource, and move people back to gathering or hunting when a total starts to drop.
Hold on to scales and teeth instead of trading them all away. The compass asks for fur plus a fair stack of both, and it is your ticket out of the village.
Tips for the wasteland
- Pack extra water. You drink every step but only eat every other step.
- Carry cured meat, since you cannot leave the path without some.
- Get iron armor before wandering far. The game warns you when you travel eight or more steps out without it.
- Expect harder creatures the farther you roam from home.
Good to know
The bottom corner holds four small links: “hyper.” for double speed, “lights off.” for a dark theme, “save.” for an export code, and “restart.” to wipe and begin again. This copy runs silently because the original music came without clear permission to reuse it. Finish the story, and a later game can lead you to supplies left behind from the run before.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse |
|---|---|---|
| Use an action (light fire, gather wood, build, trade) | — | Click the button |
| Switch between locations | Left / Right arrows or A / D | Click a location name at the top |
| Walk on the world map | Arrow keys or W A S D | Click the map on the side you want to move toward |
| Steer the ship during the escape | Arrow keys or W A S D | — |
| Double game speed, dark theme, save code, restart | — | Click "hyper.", "lights off.", "save." or "restart." in the bottom corner |
A Dark Room FAQ
Does A Dark Room work on a phone or tablet?
It is not built for phones. The game expects a mouse for its buttons and a keyboard for walking the map and steering during the escape. A laptop or Chromebook with a keyboard and trackpad is the best way to play it.
Will I lose everything if I close the tab?
No. Progress is written to browser storage as you go, so the village is still there when you return on the same device. You can also click "save." to get a text code, then import it somewhere else to move your game.
How long does a full game take?
It is a slow-burn game that plays out over a long session or several shorter ones, since stores build up over time. If the waiting drags, click "hyper." in the corner to run most timers at double speed.
What happens if I run out of water on the map?
Running dry out there is deadly, and dying sends you back to the room. You lose what you were carrying and the map progress from that trip, but your village, buildings and stored goods stay safe.
