Interview: Dungeons of Dusk dev reveals exciting new details about the upcoming Doom RPG-like
Even newer blood
- Dungeons of Dusk is an upcoming dungeon-crawling spinoff of the hit throwback FPS
- And we got the chance to put some key questions to developer 68K Studios
- Find out what you can expect, and more of what inspired Dungeons of Dusk
With the announcement of Dungeons of Dusk last week, I don't think I was alone in my curiosity about this upcoming spinoff of David Szymanski's hit throwback FPS Dusk. And I also wasn't the only one to note the similarities to a certain Doom RPG, either. As far as underrated classics go, this was an interesting well to draw from, and it immediately had me curious.
So, curious about what else we could expect, I decided to reach out for a quick chat with none other than 68K Studios, the developers behind Dungeons of Dusk, and lead dev Federico Fanelli to find out more.
Can you give us a quick intro to who you are and a little of the history behind the studio?My name is Federico Fanelli, and I am an Italian video game developer. 68k Studios is the name I use to publish my projects, which I develop with the help of various artists and illustrators, while I handle game design, development, and all the other stuff. I published my first game on Steam in 2017, and in recent years, I have specialised in making RPGs, particularly first-person dungeon crawlers.
How did you first get involved with developing Dungeons of Dusk? Did you pitch the project to New Blood and David Szymanski, or did they approach you?I was approached by New Blood about making the game. Dave Oshry, CEO of New Blood, had played my two previous dungeon crawlers (Ludus Mortis and Inferno - Beyond the 7th Circle). They were looking for someone to develop a game in that genre and decided to contact me.
Dungeons of Dusk has already prompted comparisons to Doom RPG - the classic mobile spinoff of the FPS franchise, but your work in first-person dungeon crawlers goes back many years. Is it just a happy accident that this was among your inspirations?When I was asked to develop a dungeon crawler based on Dusk, I immediately thought of Doom RPG as the main inspiration, and that was exactly what the guys at New Blood had in mind. The presence of the fireman axe in Dungeons of Dusk is no coincidence; it's the same weapon used in Doom RPG. I had also played Wolfenstein RPG, Doom II RPG and Orcs & Elves in the past, so I had a pretty good grasp of the gameplay mechanics.
As for my previous dungeon crawlers, they were slightly different in terms of gameplay mechanics compared to Doom RPG: the combat did not take place directly on the game map but in a separate scene (in the style of Etrian Odyssey, for example). So the idea of creating a new dungeon crawler with different mechanics than those I had already explored immediately struck me as interesting.
What was the most important element of the original Dusk experience you wanted to preserve when developing Dungeons of Dusk? Was there anything the original devs singled out for you to include?The challenge I set myself was to create a dungeon crawler that maintained the same fast pace as Dusk. And that's no easy task for a turn-based game. Many of the games I looked at as references had movement that was a bit too slow and combat sequences that were a bit stiff.
I therefore tried to speed up the entire gameplay, always maintaining the turn-based mechanics, in order to give the players time to carefully choose their actions, but without having to wait for several seconds for the enemies' actions.
As for David and New Blood, they gave me complete freedom in terms of game design, and the only requests they made were related to certain elements characterising the setting and characters of the Dusk universe.
Dungeons of Dusk is coming to mobile, and (as far as I'm aware) will be your first release on the platform. Was this intentionally done to fit the Doom RPG comparison, or do you see potential for 68k Studios' future projects on mobile?The idea of bringing Dungeons of DUSK to mobile was born from day one, precisely because of the comparison to the Doom RPG. Actually, I had already published small games for Android and iOS over 10 years ago, before focusing my work on PC games. And I think my main focus will continue to be on PC games in the future, but I may find other projects like Dungeons of DUSK that make sense to exist on both platforms.
Do you think that Dungeons of Dusk will offer something new on mobile? What do you think will make it stand out for players who might not be familiar with Dusk?Our idea is to offer an experience similar to that of pre-iOS and pre-Android mobile games. I'm talking about the era of flip phones and old Nokia phones. The first mobile version of Dungeons of Dusk was very similar to the PC version, but with touch controls. Then, talking with Dave and David, we decided to go for a true early 2000s experience, simulating an old phone with a physical keyboard; the few seconds of mobile gameplay shown at the end of the Dungeons of Dusk trailer are real.
It will be a true RPG experience to play on mobile, with modern elements but designed for old-school gamers.
Are there any more hints or teasers that you can offer fans of the original Dusk about what they can expect from Dungeons of Dusk? Such as where it fits into the overall story?Dungeons of DUSK starts at the end of the first episode of Dusk. The first half of the game takes place between Episode 1 and Episode 2, and the second half takes place between Episode 2 and Episode 3. So it will be part of the game canon.
Thank you!So there you have it. Suffice it to say, it seems like Dungeons of Dusk will be a true-blue throwback to mobile's days of yore. And it'll certainly make some of our veteran readers feel a bit older. But when Dungeons of Dusk releases in 2026, you can relive the glory (or should that be gory?) days for yourself!
