Dark Island: The Road to a Playable Demo

Since Dark Island: Faded Memories joined the studio, the Harpia Games team has been heads-down on one goal: getting a playable demo onto Steam. Here's where things stand.

A new engine pipeline

The biggest change under the hood is a new engine pipeline. It's what finally makes a public Steam demo possible, and everything below is being built on top of it.

A five-stage dungeon

The centerpiece of the last few months is a full five-stage stretch built to show the game's range in one sitting: a cathedral that teaches the basics, a dragon-flight section, a training area, a main dungeon with a village and NPCs to talk to, and a boss fight in the Swamp of Bones against Ithlum the Ent. Checkpoints, six NPCs with dialogue, and a first pass at the UI went in alongside it.

Riding, dragons and horses

Dark Island's dragon systems, carried over from Dragon Odyssey, now support a first-person view with new cloud work for the flight sections. A horse mount joined too, with special care put into cape physics so nothing clips while you ride.

Combat and gear

Melee got a proper moveset to replace the old basic punch, and the camera sits closer to the character now, closer to the Souls feel the team is after. Weapons are being organized into deliberate sets, Bloodfang and Orichalcum among them, rather than a pile of random drops, and new armor sets (druid, jester, and a heavy red set) give runs more identity.

A sharper look

The art direction took a step up this year, moving from the original retro aesthetic toward something more polished while keeping the game's nostalgic soul. New tree and grass work makes the world feel less empty, and the Evil Knight got a redesign that may end up as a sub-boss.

The team also brought the game to Gamescom LATAM 2026, where plenty of playtesting surfaced exactly the kind of bugs you want to find before a demo. Thank you to everyone who stopped by.

More soon as the demo comes together.