- Closed Beta Sign-Ups Are Now Open - 12 May 2026
The gates of darkness are opening soon.I am preparing a small closed beta test for Apprentice of Darkness, and I am looking for players who would like to help shape the game before the public demo release.The beta will focus on:Gameplay feedbackBalance testingBug reportsGeneral impressions & atmosphereIf you enjoy dark fantasy, turn-based strategy, roguelikes, or simply want to help improve the game during development, you can now sign up for a chance to participate.🩸 Closed Beta Sign-UpHere is the trailer of the game if you haven't seen it yet;Please note:Spots will be limitedNot everyone may receive immediate accessWishlisting the game on Steam helps the project tremendouslyThank you all for the support so far. Seeing people interested in this strange dark world honestly means a lot.Stay tuned.
- Official Gameplay Trailer Released and Demo Coming Soon! - 7 May 2026
Hello everyone,After a long time of development, I’m excited to finally share the first official gameplay trailer for Apprentice of Darkness upcoming demo! Check it out from below!Apprentice of Darkness is a dark fantasy turn-based tactics game where you play as the “evil” side — commanding dark forces, fighting against humans and fantasy creatures, sacrificing enemies, and expanding the power of your Tower of Darkness.The new trailer showcases: ⚔️ Turn-based tactical combat 🔥 Powerful magic abilities 🩸 The sacrifice & resurrection system 🏰 Tower progression and upgrades ❄️ Seasonal battlefieldsI’m also happy to announce that a playable demo is coming soon!The demo will allow players to experience the core gameplay systems and get an early look at the world of Apprentice of Darkness.If the game looks interesting to you, please consider wishlisting it on Steam, it helps a lot and supp…
- How to make a Dark Ritual Game? - 3 August 2025
I love talking about games in general, so I thought why am I not sharing my vision with others? Obviously, I don't expect to get millions of views, but as I've said talking about games, design, art etc. I love this stuff, so as a hobby I've decided to use my Youtube channel a bit more actively. If you love these sort of stuff, check out this video below and give me your thoughts!Also a little update, there will be a "Beta" testing soon for my game, so stay tuned for that. I am almost there!See you soon cultist friend!
- Apprentice of Darkness Demo is Almost Ready! - 5 July 2025
Hey there Servant of Darkness! I am _theRaven, solo developer of the game called "Apprentice of Darkness" and today I have some news to share with you!First of all, I would like to announce that a demo is on it's way and I have also completed most of my checklist before the demo, get done with the core mechanics and the visuals that I need for the game, but I've also made some crucial decisions and changes to the game design. I am a solo developer who works in a full time job, so the progress is a bit slow, but we are getting there. Are you ready? Let's dive in!1- Winning/Losing SystemMaybe the most important thing I've cleared up my mind regarding to the game design is the "Winning/Losing" logic. To be honest, it was also the hardest one to deal with, because in a rogue-like game, even though you are investing into the game, the rewards and the setbacks are crucial regarding to the bal…
- Welcome Apprentice of Darkness! - 9 April 2025
Welcome Apprentice of Darkness! This is my evil little passion project. It’s a turn-based strategy game where you don’t save the world—you corrupt it. You lead hellish armies across a continent, spreading darkness, capturing enemies, and sacrificing them (sometimes dramatically) to power up your Tower of Darkness. Also, the weather changes every few levels. Not because it affects gameplay much, just because I thought it would look cool. Priorities. There’s dark humor, terrible decisions, and a lot of Very Bad Things. It’s all going on Steam, and if anything in the trailer makes you chuckle or go “oh no” in a good way, a wishlist would genuinely help a ton. Wishlist Apprentice of Darkness Here’s the trailer! Let me know what you think, or tell me I’m going to strategy hell. I accept both.
- My Game is now on a Big Sale! Let's Play Maeldor! (Chapter 1-3) - 2 September 2024
The Time Has Come Adventurer Hey everyone, _theRaven here! If you are not familiar with me or my game, I call myself _theRaven and I am the solo developer of the Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact. After working for 3 years on it, I have released my passion project and this is my first game on Steam! It is also on quite a big discount -%69-, so if you haven't tried it yet, this might be a good time do it! 👍 Maeldor is inspired by Role Playing Games, a handcrafted story-driven action-adventure platformer! Control a fellowship of 3 heroes as they travel to the Mount Trumnor where the God of Darkness Atronien rules! Discover a magical world, fight your enemies, upgrade your heroes, find treasures, meet locals and be part of an epic quest to save Maeldor! Below is a video, which belongs to a series called "Let's Play Maeldor!", where I play my own game "Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact" to expla…
- Let's Play Maeldor! (Chapter 1-1) - 2 September 2024
Hey everyone, _theRaven here! Welcome back to the video series where I will be playing my own game "Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact" to explain the game to the players who are interested and also to give you some tips/hints about the game so you can beat the levels, whenever you get stuck at some point! In this chapter I will be playing the Chapter 1-2 of Maeldor, go check it out from below if interested! For those who are new here, I call myself _theRaven and I am the solo developer of the Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact. After working for 3 years on it, I have released my passion project and this is my first game on Steam! It is also on quite a big discount -%69-, so if you haven't tried it yet, this might be a good time do it! 👍
- Let's Play Maeldor! - 10 January 2024
Hey everyone, _theRaven here! I have started a new video series, where I will be playing my own game "Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact" to explain the game to the players who are interested and also to give you some tips/hints about the game so you can beat the levels, whenever you get stuck at some point! I call myself _theRaven and I am the solo developer of the Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact. After working for 3 years on it, I have finally released it about a month ago and this is my first game on Steam! It is also on a %30 discount, so if you haven't tried it yet, this might be a good time do it! 👍 Another good news is, I will be pushing an update soon, so thank you so much for your support so far! You can also check out my YouTube channel if you enjoy these type content, because I will be uploading regularly! See ya on the next one adventurer!
- Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact Version 0.1 - Update 0.2 - 7 November 2023
-Characters and Enemies Movement Speed Optimized, -Characters Attack Collision Detection Fixed, -Further Optimizations Applied, -Other Small Bug Fixes.
- Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact 0.1 - Update 0.1 - 31 October 2023
-HP Stuck in Ground Fixed, -C3-3 First Selected Button Changed to Reject -Further Optimizations Applied, -Other Small Bug Fixes.
- Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact is Available Now! - 25 October 2023
Hello dear Maeldorians! After all the hard work of almost 3 years, now I have come to an end with my journey in Maeldor as the solo developer, and now it is your time to delve into this magical land to experience an epic quest to save this world from the growing darkness. There are so many things to say, but I am a bit too excited at the moment, so I will try to keep it short and simple. First of all, I would like to thank to the all the people that helped me in my journey, gave me feedback on the game, stood beside me when I felt the most intense burn-outs, and encouraged me to keep going to accomplish my dream. I could not have done this without you, so thank you, sincerely from the bottom of my heart. And secondly, besides my excessive excitement of the launch at the moment, I also feel so blessed and grateful to be able to share this imaginative world and the stories that have come…
- Release Date Announcement - 25 September 2023
Hello dear Maeldorians! After a long and hard work of 2.5 years, I have finally come to an end with my title "Maeldor: Quest of the Artifact" and I am proud to announce that my game will be available 25.10.2023 on Steam, if I do not encounter with any major problems. I have been silent for a while, because of the development and other stuff, to make the game available on the time I have decided before, but right now, I am feeling so excited and also blessed to be able to share this imaginative world of mine with you, which was my dream all along since I've started this journey, and I hope you will enjoy every second of it! And hey, don't forget to add Maeldor to your Wishlist to be reminded when the game is out!
- Welcome to the Castle of Miserable Souls! - 2 September 2023
Hello dear Maeldorians! Today I wanted to show you one of the latest designs I've made for Maeldor, and also to inform you about the current development stage I am in. This is an "Atra Castle" design, where the servants of the darkness dwell and also the last chapter of my game. It is said that the "Atronien" himself built this castle when he whispered his malice to the Mount Trumnor and disrupt the foundations of the Maeldor. A great adventure is waiting for you in this foul place full of darkness! As you can guess I am also at the last chapter of the development process, and so far things are going well! Hopefully Maeldor will be available in October 2023! Do not forget to push that "Wishlist" button to be notified when the game is out! Until we meet in another devlog, have fun!
- Updates on Development & Release Date - 22 July 2023
Updates on Development Hello everyone! Yes it's me, I am not dead and still lurking in these mortal soil you call earth! Hehe. Since I've buried myself to my indie game dev cave for the development process and have been silent for a while, I just wanted to give you some quick updates about it -like where am I at it, what else left to do etc.- and some info about the release date of my game. Regarding the development things are going pretty well, and so far I haven't come across with a huge problem -fortunately- which would've slow me down. I've completed the first 4 chapters along with all the cut-scenes, enemies, boss fights, music and other level elements such as traps, treasures, mystery urns and ancient lore books. So as today, I'll start working on the 5th chapter and here are some gifs/Ss for you to check out! https://i.imgur.com/508yDv3.mp4 https://i.imgur.com/FRWK0R2.mp4 https:/…
- #5 Devlog of Maeldor (Characters-Pelethorn) - 18 June 2023
#5 Devlog of Maeldor (Characters-Pelethorn) Welcome to the #5 Devlog of Maeldor (Characters-Pelethorn) and now we have come to my favorite character and also the main character of the short stories I’ve been writing, which takes place in Maeldor. He is the source of joy and courage in our fellowship, a natural outcome of his naive personality, our beloved Water Elf, Pelethorn. Oh how I love this character! Are you excited to learn more about him? If so, grab your coffee and let’s get started! Blessed Child https://i.imgur.com/DkwIq73.mp4 Alright, first thing first. Who is he? He is a water elf, who is blessed with the “Water Soul Summoning” ability, by the divine lake of Neni, when he was just a baby. It is a very old tradition to wash a newborn baby in the waters of the Divine Lake of Neni and on rare occasions, sometimes a part of the lake binds its soul to the baby, surrounding him/h…
- New Trailer & Name Changing - 28 May 2023
NEW TRAILER & NAME CHANGING Hello everyone! It has been sometime since I've updated my devlogs, because I've been working pretty hard to implement some of the new features to the game and I've finally finished the new trailer, with all the new content I've added into it for these past 4 months, and here is the list; -2 more playable character -Complete upgrade system -Full gamepad support -Enemy damage displays -Improved levels regarding to design and also visuals -New skills and abilities There are still lots of things to do of course before the release, but I thought that old trailer needed to be updated to showcase all the new content I've added since. Hope you'll enjoy! And another news is that I've changed the name of my game to "Maeldor: Quest Of The Artifact" because that "Enhanced Edition" was causing to some confusion for some people, so I thought this would fit much better to…
- #4 Devlog of Maeldor (Characters-Anoriel) - 1 May 2023
#4 Devlog of Maeldor (Characters-Anoriel) Hello and welcome to another devlog! In this one I will be talking about the second character that we will be able to control in Maeldor. Get your coffee and let's begin whenever you are ready! Favorite Child of the Forest https://i.imgur.com/IObgdfG.mp4 Our second character, and the character I am currently working on is called Anoriel. She is a wood elf, carrying a legendary bow made by the strong trees of the Narinar Forest, her homeland. She is a very skilled archer, and also the personal guard of the queen of the wood elves, Nulinviel. She was sent by the queen herself, by the order of the Forest Spirits to investigate the growing darkness outside their borders and also to aid in any way she can in this fight. Being deeply connected to the forest, she was granted with special abilities and also a dagger forged with the wisdom of her people,…
- #3 Devlog of Maeldor (Mystery Urns-Buff System) - 16 April 2023
#3 Devlog of Maeldor (Mystery Urns-Buff System) Hey there Maeldorian! Welcome to the #3 devlog of Maeldor, where I will be talking about the “Mystery Urns (Buff System)” of my game. I will explain what kind of a buff system it is, what buffs I have implemented so far, and also to share some of my exciting ideas about all the cool buffs I will be implementing in the future to the system. Did you get your coffee? Alright, lets begin! WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? So what are these “Mystery Urns” exactly? Well, they are one of the reasons why you want to explore the levels, because they contain some sort of an ancient power within them, to be consumed and use. So basically, this is a buff system where you become stronger or get a new ability for your character. https://i.imgur.com/Szj06JB.mp4 And why did I wanted to add something like this to my game? Well, there are more than one reason behind, a…
- A Proud Warrior - Indie Game Video Devlog #2 - 5 April 2023
A Proud Warrior - Indie Game Video Devlog #2 Hello dear Maeldorian! I hope you are having so much fun with your life! I have been quite busy developing my game, and I have some good news! I have %90 completed the second playable character of my game "Anoriel", and can't wait to share some footage about her to tell you more! I am also going to share a devlog about her soon hopefully! And the other news is; I have shared my second video devlog on youtube, and in this devlog I make some character analysis about a proud warrior called Turmaeg, the first character I've designed for my game and also showing you how my day starts usually, hehe. If you prefer visual devlogs rather than text, grab your coffee and check it out, I hope you'll enjoy it, and don't forget to Wishlist Maeldor to be notified when my game is out!
- Journey Begins - Indie Game Video Devlog #1 - 27 March 2023
Journey Begins - Indie Game Video Devlog #1 Hello everyone! Wanted to share something pretty exciting for me this week; I have started to make my devlogs in a video format too, for the people who preffer more visual devlogs rather than texts, and here is the first one! I put a significant amount of effort to making of this video and I hope you will enjoy it! This is the video version of the first devlog of my game, where I introduce myself, my games history, general game design, fundamentals, what milestones I have achieved so far and what else left to do before the release. If you are interested in my work, go ahead and Wishlist Maeldor now, so you can be notified when the game is out!
