Dark and Light
The shattered remains of the mother planet Gaia float in stark contrast against the sky on nearby satellite planet, Archos, serving as inescapable evidence of the dark forces surrounding the world. As a lone explorer in the wilderness, you must learn to understand the terrain, natural resources, as well as how to domesticate the local creatures and build a home. You will need to harness and control the magical energy that courses through the planet, or you risk being consumed by the looming darkness that permeates throughout the planet. Every aspect of Dark and Light has been re-imagined, re-worked, and upgraded from the 2004 original. Gaia’s very existence is dictated by primal elemental forces, including wind, earth, water, fire, light, and darkness. These elements course through the world, sometimes clashing and causing earth-shattering changes.
Game Discussion
Steam User 21
please please please bring this game back or at least tell us if your still working on it? its been 5 years and no news. give us some hope that this game will eventually return.
Steam User 20
I hope Snail Games comes back to develop this game some more after they're done with Ark Survival Ascended :) This was a fun game!
Steam User 8
fun game, sadly no updates for 5 years and sort of dead
Steam User 4
This was a great game. In my opinion it had a shot at being the best survival fantasy game period. But people and the developers abandoned it.
Steam User 5
A shame. This game is most definitely the king of potential. But as many like it have, another good PvE (with optional PvP depending on servers) survival died. Obviously the developers let the game die because it didn't make them enough money to hit the threshold of continuing updates. So that's that, really. On a list of top ten issues that's number 1-10.
The skeleton of the game is great. If you "have" it somehow, you'll be able to squeeze some fun out of it. No clue if steamCMD/local hosting still supports it or not but I had a server for a few friends and it was wonderful at the time but be prepared for too many bugs to count, and a pretty grindy game even with multipliers on everything to speed it up. One BIG problem is that the map is huge, with certain things being gatekept hard around huge travels and there's not much in the way of maps. If I'm not mistaken, there's like a building or a map you craft and it's really, really, really bad. Basically just shows the map and you gotta guess where you're at and the map's quality was terrible.
Too many things to list, ultimately this could have been a good game - and I'm not even going to go so far as to say it's a bad game. I've paid more for less, but I've certainly played better as well. With developers having yanked support, I'd steer clear. If you're interested maybe just watch a youtube vid to satiate the need to see it, and then if you're still bound and determined check it out afterwards but you really, reaaaally are not missing out.
Steam User 1
This game had some potential until Snail Games got involved, pumped and dumped it. they gave up developing it shortly after it came out on early access. If you can get it cheap enough it's fun to play for what it has. Though it needs a lot of Polish and don't think there's any servers for it now days
Steam User 16
Dark and Light is a game that dares to dream big — a massive fantasy sandbox where dragons soar, magic pulses through the land, and survival depends as much on your cunning as your spellbook. It’s an ambitious blend of open-world survival, RPG progression, and sandbox construction, set in a richly imagined world that almost overwhelms you with possibilities.
But ambition can be a double-edged sword — and Dark and Light knows this all too well.
First and foremost, Dark and Light nails atmosphere. The world of Gaia is enormous, lush, and steeped in mysticism. From snow-covered mountains to scorching deserts and eerie forests, it feels like a living, breathing realm — especially when you stumble upon a griffin mid-flight or spot a storm brewing on the horizon.
The game’s core concept — combining survival mechanics with fantasy elements — is genuinely unique. You can tame magical creatures, build sprawling fortresses, and wield elemental powers. It’s like ARK: Survival Evolved met Skyrim at a D&D table, and they decided to raise a dragon baby together.
There’s an impressive amount of depth here. Skill trees, crafting, cooking, building, spellcasting — you can specialize in almost anything, and progression feels rewarding when things are working properly. Want to be a wizard farmer with a flying wolf mount? Totally possible. The freedom is vast, and so are the systems.
Building mechanics are robust, allowing for creative structures and massive bases, especially in multiplayer. The creature taming and combat are serviceable, though they lack the polish of more focused titles.
Unfortunately, Dark and Light is a textbook example of a great idea held back by technical struggles. The game launched in early access and still carries that “unfinished” feeling — janky animations, performance issues, bugs, and inconsistent optimization. The UI is clunky, the AI is often unintentionally hilarious, and servers can be hit-or-miss.
Balancing is another issue. Some areas are unforgiving early on, while others are oddly empty. PvP can be brutal and unbalanced unless you’re on a private or well-moderated server. And though the world is massive, it sometimes lacks the density of content that makes exploration truly satisfying.
Despite the flaws, Dark and Light has a charm that’s hard to deny. It captures the feeling of adventuring in a fantasy world like few survival games do. It’s ambitious, yes, and sometimes messy — but also rich with potential and unforgettable moments. Flying on the back of a wyvern as a magical storm rolls in over your hand-built tower? That’s not something most games can deliver.
Dark and Light is the kind of game for players who enjoy systems, experimentation, and the wild unpredictability of sandbox survival. It’s not polished, it’s not balanced, and it’s definitely not for everyone — but if you can look past the rough edges, there's a sprawling, chaotic fantasy world waiting to be conquered.
A flawed but fascinating fantasy sandbox. It stumbles often, but when it works, it soars.
Rating: 7/10