About the game
Reign of terror begins here
Arise Dark Lord is an action-strategy hybrid RTS, blending tower defence, base building, and direct control of your Dark Lord avatar.
You are The Dark Lord, and your goal is to raise an undead army and crush the feckless, godless heathens known as humans. As your sorcery and your evil army grow, all of the world will rise up against you to destroy your Dark Tower and end your reign of terror.
Fortify your dark realm, upgrade your sorcery, and build enough strength to march out and crush the humans once and for all.
What you get
Why play Arise Dark Lord
A dark fantasy strategy sandbox where defence, empire building, and avatar combat meet in one browser session.
Action-strategy hybrid
An RTS that blends tower defence, base building, and direct control of your Dark Lord avatar.
Raise an undead army
Grow your sorcery and evil forces until the world itself rises to stop you.
Defend the Dark Tower
Fortify your realm, hold the line, then march out to crush the race of men.
Play free in browser
No download, no install. Load the game here and start your reign of terror.
Getting started
How to play
Jump in from the player above. Use a desktop browser for the best experience while the web build loads.
Claim your tower
Fortify your dark realm and prepare the foundations of your undead empire.
Grow your power
Upgrade your sorcery, expand your army, and survive waves of human resistance.
Crush the heathens
When you are strong enough, take direct control and march out to end mankind.
Studio
From Introversion Software
Introversion Software are the BAFTA and IGF award-winning developers of seven indie videogames, including Prison Architect, DEFCON, Darwinia, and The Last Starship.
Arise Dark Lord is in early development, and is due for release sometime in 2027. This site hosts a free browser-playable build so you can try the dark fantasy RTS while the full game is still being forged.
Help
Frequently asked questions
Is Arise Dark Lord free to play?
Yes. This browser build is free to play online — no purchase or account required to start.
Do I need to download anything?
No. The game runs in your browser. The first load may take a while because the web build is large; after that, your browser may cache assets.
What kind of game is this?
Arise Dark Lord is an action-strategy hybrid RTS. It blends tower defence, base building, and direct control of your Dark Lord avatar as you raise an undead army against humanity.
Who developed Arise Dark Lord?
Introversion Software — BAFTA and IGF award-winning creators of Prison Architect, DEFCON, Darwinia, and The Last Starship.
Is this the full release?
No. Arise Dark Lord is in early development, with a planned release sometime in 2027. This page hosts a playable web build for fans who want to try it in-browser.
Can I play on mobile?
Desktop browsers with a keyboard and mouse work best. Some mobile browsers may struggle with the large download or WebAssembly features required by the Godot web export.
The game will not start — what should I try?
Use a modern Chromium-based or Firefox browser, keep the tab focused while assets load, and allow the page to finish downloading the .wasm / .pck files. A stable connection helps on first load.