Dark Times

Introduction

Dark Times is an upcoming free-to-play brawler royale set in a grim, Nordic-inspired medieval world. Built on the Sui blockchain and planned for Windows PC, it drops fighters into top-down, physics-driven survival matches where they climb from ragged nobodies toward the top of brutal tournaments. Development is led by Big Kid Studios, with Blowfish Studios, an Animoca Brands studio, publishing.

Lore

Dark Times unfolds across the Seven Realms, a medieval land sunk into darkness where old alliances break and nowhere stays safe for long. Power here runs on blood-magic, an ancient and forbidden craft that lends warriors terrible strength at an equally terrible price. With order gone, fighters from across the realms throw themselves into high-stakes tournaments, brawling for survival, standing, and whatever spoils they can seize. Looming over these contests is the Blood Queen, whose challenge draws the desperate and the ambitious alike into the fray. It is a bleak fantasy world where strength, cunning, and a tolerance for violence decide who endures and who is left in the mud.

Gameplay

Each match is a survival brawl: players spawn with almost nothing and fight to arm themselves, level up, and outlast the field. Combat uses a top-down camera and physics-based, ragdoll-heavy melee, layered with an element-driven magic system, so positioning and timing matter as much as raw force. Characters progress from lowly beginnings, and matchmaking runs through league tiers that climb from an entry bracket up to the Immortal League.

• Physics-based combat: attacks, blocks, and knockbacks resolve through a ragdoll system that rewards precise, tactical inputs over button-mashing.
• Five fighter classes: the Mammoth, the Huntress, the Old Man, the Noble, and the Exotic each bring their own skills and playstyle.
• League progression: players fight up through ranked tiers, from a starter bracket toward the top-end Immortal League.

Economy

The economy runs on a tradable utility token, $TIMES, spent to enter matches and buy into higher-stakes competition, with rewards scaling to the risk taken. Access to larger prize pools is gated in part by ownership: Genesis NFTs raise the prize levels a player can reach, while weapons, armor, and cosmetics exist as tradable on-chain items. Building on Sui lets these assets change hands quickly. A premium Slayer’s Circle membership is also planned, unlocking rarer items and extra perks.

• Token-gated stakes: $TIMES funds entry into higher-reward tournaments, with full wagering mechanics the studio has yet to detail.
• Genesis NFTs: holding them unlocks higher prize-pool tiers, not just cosmetic status.
• Owned assets: gear and cosmetics can be bought, sold, or customized as on-chain items.