Dark Scrolls launches tomorrow, June 22, giving Devolver Digital and doinksoft another chance to turn a small-screen arcade idea into something players can obsess over in short, messy bursts.
The Steam page lists June 22, 2026 as the PC release date, with doinksoft as developer and Devolver Digital as publisher. Nintendo's official store listing confirms a Nintendo Switch version, with Nintendo Switch 2 compatibility marked as supported and behavior consistent with Switch. The pitch is compact but loaded: a fantasy action platformer that mixes shmup-style projectile chaos, roguelite progression, solo play and local or online co-op.
That combination gives Dark Scrolls a clearer identity than another retro-styled dungeon crawler. It is not leaning on nostalgia alone. It is trying to make side-scrolling rooms feel like little arcade panic boxes, where enemies, traps, coins, perks and projectiles all compete for attention at once.
Doinksoft's next game is not starting from nowhere
doinksoft has already built a recognizable lane inside Devolver's catalog. Gato Roboto arrived in 2019 as a brisk monochrome metroidvania about a cat in a mech suit, all tiny animations, secret routes and clean movement. Gunbrella followed in 2023 with a grittier noir-punk action-adventure, built around a firearm that doubles as traversal gear. Demon Throttle added another odd footnote, with Devolver's own description presenting it as a doinksoft game from the creators of Gato Roboto that came to Switch as a physical-only release.
Dark Scrolls looks like the studio pulling several of those instincts into a louder format. The fantasy setup is sillier and broader than Gunbrella's rain-soaked revenge story, but the doinksoft signature is easy to spot: a simple premise, sharp movement, small character gimmicks and a willingness to let the screen become ridiculous.
That history raises expectations in a specific way. doinksoft games are not sold on scale. They are sold on feel, readability and the pleasure of discovering one more trick inside a compact structure. Dark Scrolls needs the same thing to work tomorrow. If the rooms are clean, the hero roster is distinct and the co-op revival loop holds up under pressure, it could be the sort of game that lives through repeated runs instead of a single campaign push.
What Dark Scrolls actually asks you to do
Steam describes Dark Scrolls as a run-based action platformer made from procedurally generated runs of hand-crafted rooms and levels. Players hack, slash and dodge through enemies and traps, then spend coins at Bruce & Goose's Shoppe for perks, attacks and summoned allies. Runs also include branching paths, bosses, secrets and heroes to rescue.
That last part is important. Dark Scrolls is launching with nine heroes, each with unique skills, side objectives and customizable trinkets. In a roguelite, roster variety can be the difference between a game that becomes routine after two evenings and one that keeps inviting experiments. A berserker, a magician or a stranger gimmick character changes more than damage numbers if the rooms are tuned around movement, crowd control and projectile reading.
The co-op angle should also shape the day-one appeal. Dark Scrolls supports solo play, but the official Steam description calls out local and online co-op, combining attacks and reviving a fallen partner. That gives it a couch-friendly Switch hook and a PC-friendly online hook at the same time. It also makes the bullet-hell influence less forbidding. A screen full of danger feels different when a friend can pull a run back from disaster.
Who should watch tomorrow's launch
Dark Scrolls should be on the radar for players who like their roguelites fast, readable and slightly unhinged. The obvious comparison point is not a giant action RPG. It is the modern pile-up of arcade roguelites, compact platformers and co-op chaos games that get passed around because one run takes minutes, not weeks.
The Nintendo Switch launch helps that pitch. The official Nintendo Store lists the game at $9.99 in the U.S., and the Switch 2 compatibility note means early Switch 2 owners are not being asked to wait for a separate version. On PC, Steam lists full controller support, which fits the twitchy room-by-room structure better than a keyboard-only assumption.
Dark Scrolls also arrives during a week without a single blockbuster swallowing every conversation. That can matter for a Devolver-scale release. A game like this does not need to dominate the calendar. It needs enough space for players to see the hook, try a few runs, laugh at whatever killed them and send the trailer or a clip to someone who likes messy co-op.
The useful thing to know before launch is that Dark Scrolls is a full new doinksoft game, not a DLC drop or a port of an older release. It launches June 22 on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch, with solo play, local and online co-op, nine unlockable heroes and a dungeon structure built around branching runs rather than fixed stages.