Duskers developers reveal Below the Crown a love letter to chess, roguelikes, and dungeon crawlers

Below the Crown has now been officially revealed from Misfits Attic, developers of the award-winning Duskers. It's a thoroughly unique blend of games inspired by chess, roguelikes, and dungeon crawlers.

“We like to think of Below the Crown as either a gateway drug into chess or a fun alternative that scratches the same strategic itch without the heaviness,” said Tim Keenan, Founder, Misfits Attic. “It offers a massively single-player experience with tons of community interaction and a satisfying gameplay loop, all wrapped in a cool ‘80s retro tech aesthetic with Duskers vibes."

In Below the Crown you progress through dungeons, capturing enemy parties with superior strategy and a spell card or two. Answer strange, glitchy psychological questions between battles to uncover what’s really going on here. Check out the announcement trailer below:

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From the Steam page:

Chess meets Awesome - No memorizing openings, long drawn-out endgames, or stalemates. Start with 1 piece instead of 16. Cast new pieces with exciting abilities onto the board. No analysis paralysis – enemy movement stays basic until you encounter the dungeon’s bosses… Collect Undo Tokens if you need ’em, or more gold if you don’t!

You are not Alone - Post your epic victories as challenges to the community! Watch replays from top players to further improve your skills as you take on Daily Challenges. Dive into the custom board editor to create & download new rooms to spice up your dungeons in this massively single-player experience.

This is a Test - Answer simple questions based on your psychological state and relationships to your pieces as you progress through the depths of the Dungeon. Please answer openly and honestly. Your answers will not be used against you.

I think it looks awesome, combining lots of mechanics I love in my strategy games. It will arrive in Early Access sometime in Q4 2025 and a demo is arriving in Steam Next Fest in October. It will need Proton to run on Linux.