Darkness Incoming

The Story So Far…

The legends were true… Magic is an integral part of the very essence of this world. It runs through nature, like lifeblood. It took us decades to find it. Countless hours of research. Lives lost. But find it we did.

We formed the Guild in the hope of harnessing the planet’s energies. The Spire of Aether became our greatest achievement. With it, we would become so powerful we could finally defeat time itself!

But alas, it was not to be. Our efforts did not go unnoticed. The flow of energy has awakened something from beyond. A force unbeknownst to us, a primordial horror.

Darkness personified.

All our knowledge was no match for them. Unrelenting, they came without end. They destroyed our forces in an obliterating tide. As my last action, I wielded the power of the Spire to bring us back to before their first assault. But the mechanisms were incomplete. The machine shattered beneath my hand, its shards cutting my skin as they flew past.

We are not ready to fight this blight. Perhaps if the Spire had been completed—but not without it. We had no choice but to abandon it.

To you, my apprentice, I dedicate this tome. I fear your life will be forever lost in the oncoming battle, your efforts fruitless. But I, as the other mages, will never forget your determination to stay and fight. Your name will be recorded in the annals of time.

May my knowledge bear fruit in your hands.

– Grand Master Bartholomew

Features

• A strategic survival experience where you have limited actions and resources available—and many choices to make.
• Original creature designs for friends and foes, all unique illustrations made by human hands.
• You don’t have the numbers to keep the enemy’s swelling army in check. Make good use of your minions’ powers, the technology of the Spire and resources left by your master to keep your forces alive—or you will be overwhelmed.
• A day-and-night cycle that affects your powers and the enemy's differently. Plan ahead and use the time of day to your advantage.
• Face up to three bosses—and their army—at once throughout the battle.
• Simple gameplay, varied possibilities. There are multiple viable strategies, yet they’ll be challenged by randomized effects and events.
• The battle can reach hundreds of troops on each side, easily represented by counting grids that simplify management and calculations.
• Keep track of the current steps with a meticulous turn sequence that maintains a steady gameplay flow.
• Eight default difficulty levels, with additional customizable conditions for you to achieve the level of challenge you are looking for.

Game Overview

In Darkness Incoming, you play as a wizard’s apprentice who stayed behind to try and save the Spire of Aether—your Guild’s most ambitious project yet—from a force of unknown creatures bent on destroying it.

You play by reinforcing your minions to destroy the enemy forces surrounding the Spire. The enemies surpass you in numbers, but each of your minions possesses specific abilities that make them uniquely capable.

Led by the Overseers, the forces of Darkness bring monstrous troops with nightmarish abilities, coming in continuous waves to destroy your minions and the tower where you reside.

Make use of powerful spells, minion upgrades, magical scrolls, and a time-bending ritual to defeat the Overseers while fighting their army day and night—before an overwhelming tide engulfs your forces… or die trying.

How We Died (Victory & Defeat Conditions)

The Void Overseer brought an overwhelming Tide that slaughtered us all.

To succeed, you must defeat all four Darkness Overseers—Summoner, Dreamcatcher, Chaos, and Void—before the Tide reaches the Spire. If you can do that, it is my hope that their forces will dissipate without the influence of their leaders.

If the Spire is destroyed at any point—or if the Tide reaches the Spire—you lose the game. Should you fail, I fear you will face eternal damnation. May your soul be safeguarded from this evil.

The Spire

The Spire—the most fantastic technomagical accomplishment of our lives—a magic-harvesting structure capable of amassing enough power to bend time itself. The greatest source of my pride, and my misery.

Defend the Spire's three segments, shielded by a single protective barrier

Orb - The upper segment summons one random group of allied units per turn, unless broken.

Conduit - The middle segment partially recovers the shield every turn, unless broken.

Collector - The lower segment partially repairs the Spire’s structural points every turn.

Each segment has its own structural integrity. Damage strikes the shield first, but once depleted, the top segment will take damage, cascading downward. Repair the upper segments to restore them, but if the Collector falls, the game ends in defeat.

Overseers

The arrival of each Darkness Overseer has always been preceded by ominous changes—palpable in the very air we breathe—that alter the ebb and flow of battle. We called them Forebodings.

Overseers are powerful entities that cast magical effects of their own, shaping reality itself before they arrive in battle. If the forces of Darkness fail to destroy you in a timely manner, they will send these mighty beings to make sure you are eradicated. They all possess unique abilities and react threateningly to the multiplication of the Mage Guild’s forces.

Forebodings examples

The Forces of Darkness

These nightmarish entities have incessantly assaulted the Spire since its activation, each more horrid than the last.

You will first face the bulk of the enemy army: nine grotesque monstrosities that threaten your very existence. They arrive in unending waves, linked by synergistic connections, with faculties that shift between day and night.

The Forces of the Mage Guild

The Spire’s core may be shattered, but you can summon minions from different magical schools of the Guild to help defend it.

Harness the eerie powers of the Mage Guild to bolster your defenses with these troops. Your forces can be upgraded over time with new powers that will strengthen their presence, but your summoning capacity is limited. Use their unique strengths wisely, manage your resources carefully, and keep them alive to protect the Spire and push back the encroaching Darkness.

Calendar

Time is a currency we are in short supply of. Follow the Calendar to keep track of how much time you have left.

The game unfolds in alternating day and night turns. By day, enemies advance steadily and relentlessly; by night, they surge in overwhelming numbers. As time progresses, both the forces of Darkness and the Mage Guild unlock new capabilities: Forebodings alter the natural rules of reality, an Eclipse may plunge day into unexpected night, and the Overseers will descend to ensure your doom—yet you will develop improvements to your minions, unlock new powerful magical Scrolls, and may even sacrifice a piece of the Spire to deliver a devastating strike against an Overseer.

The Calendar also indicates your chosen difficulty level, with 8 variants that scale back threats for a more approachable experience.

Spells, Scrolls & The Chronomancy Ritual

From the Spire, you can draw on various Mage Guild powers to bolster your survival. Each turn grants you time to cast 4 Spells before the battle intensifies.

With these Spells, you may summon new units to reinforce your defenses, regenerate the Spire Shield to protect its structure, repair damaged segments of the Spire, or recover minions stunned by the forces of Darkness, but your command over these abilities is limited, so choose wisely.

Scrolls are powerful, single-use artifacts unlocked progressively in tiers. They cost no actions and will greatly aid you in battle, but you may only use one per turn.

The Chronomancy Ritual remains as your mightiest tool: once per game, you may turn night into day at a critical moment. This costs you nothing, and may be combined with Spells and Scrolls, but must be done before taking any other action at the start of dusk.

Counting Grid

You will need to keep track of your and the enemy’s forces in the battle outside. If you do not wish to let those mathematical challenges distract you from the tough decisions you will have to make, you may use the Barge’s magical abacus.

The game’s numbers are carefully balanced—many values divide and multiply cleanly for simple arithmetic. You may utilize a (non-included) calculator if you wish to do so. Decimal numbers are rounded down.

In order to represent the troops on each side of the battle, you utilize counting grids that indicate the number of units within a group (type of entity). Counting grids also represent the Spire’s shield and structural integrity values, and Overseers utilize them as their “health bars” instead, standing as colossi themselves.

Battle Barge Preparations

The game needs approximately 33.5 in x 23.5 in (85 cm x 60 cm) of space to be played comfortably.

Credits

Game Designer, Producer, Writer: Arsootkaban

Art: Katarina Banffy

Editing & Additional Writing: Otávio Banffy