Jämmerdal Games, a new Swedish development studio founded by solo developer Olof Hagelin in his small closet, and publisher Three Friends have announced Decrepit, a dark fantasy first-person souls-like, live at the Game Awards.
In Decrepit, every death drags you back to the dungeons below, stripped of all equipment. Armed with only the knowledge gained from each escape attempt and whatever you can loot from undead inmates and guards, the only path out is learning the castle’s layout before it kills you.
Each run begins in a different cell of the hand-crafted castle, but memorizing the winding halls, unlocking shortcuts and understanding enemy patterns reveals the path to escape. Players must overcome challenging bosses to ascend to each new area, but the real progression is mastery – learning the castle well enough to make each run more efficient than the last.
Inspired by classic first-person action games like Hexen, dungeon crawlers like Eye of the Beholder, and modern souls-likes, Decrepit emphasises spatial mastery over power creep. Keen-eyed explorers will find hidden secrets throughout the castle that provide permanent bonuses. Helpful, but never a replacement for knowledge and execution.
Key gameplay features of Decrepit include:
- Stamina-Based First-Person Combat – Combat focused on positioning, timing, and mastering weapon movesets. Each weapon has distinct attack patterns – light attacks, heavy strikes. Spells slot naturally into melee openings for strategic combinations. Study enemy telegraphs and exploit openings, or pay the price.
- Equipment-Based Classes – Classes emerge from equipment you find. You can carry one weapon, one staff, and one armor piece at a time – these three slots define your current build. Collecting matching gear from the same archetype (Mage, Warrior, Rogue, or Shaman) unlocks set bonuses and unique abilities. Adapt to whatever the next slain enemy drops, or commit to hunting down a complete set.
- Variable Encounters in a Fixed World – The castle layout never changes, but enemy encounters vary. Familiar foes appear in different positions. Rare threats emerge to challenge veterans. Hand-crafted architecture meets dynamic encounters to keep each run tense, even when you think you know every corner.
- Master the Layout, Unlock the Path – Shortcuts stay unlocked. Elevators remain active. Secrets stay found. Early runs feel endless. Later, you’re sprinting through sections that once took twenty minutes, heading straight for the challenge ahead. The castle compresses as you learn it.
- A Decaying Medieval Prison – From suffocating dungeons to rain-soaked courtyards, explore interconnected areas in a castle where the living have been replaced by the dead. Prisoners still wear their chains. Guards still patrol their posts. Even servants who died mid-task now attack from inside whatever confined them. The world is oppressive, but it follows rules – learn them, and they become tools for survival.
“Decrepit knows exactly what it is and doesn’t apologize for it,” says Albert Säfström, Co-Founder and Producer at Three Friends. “It’s a tightly designed challenge with no filler, no bloat – just you, the castle, and the skills you’ve earned. It’s not for everyone but there’s a certain kind of player who’s been waiting for this. If you know, you know.”
