Dexter's was settling into its usual lazy routine during the winter. A few old timers sat around, swigging their beers.

Everyone heard the roar of the v8 engine pulling in outside, and the stomp of feet coming to the door. Wait, was that one set of feet, or two?

The door burst open, and a huge bear-clawed mutant stood on the threshold, the year's first dusting of radioactive snow caught in his fur.

"Santa Claws, my friend!" shouted Dexter.

"Grooooowoar! Who's been naughty, and who's been nice this year!?" roared Santa.

"Listen up, I'm putting on two events this year- an arena combat followed by a deathrace. Top prize in each is a fire engine, magically chromed-up by my elves in my workshop in Morgan."

"December 29th, 20:00 and 21:30. With qualifiers earlier that day for the deathrace. Everyone's welcome!"

It’s 75 years after the solar apocalypse, and 65 years after the game itself started with our first racing/deathracing leagues. Welcome to the year 2100!

In Darkwind, one week of real-world time is one month in-game. So every 12 weeks, a new year starts.. a new season in the deathracing and combat leagues, a new season in the squad combat leagues, another year in which road warriors in heavily armed 1970s musclecars continue to dominate the world.

We still have active players who have been there from the start, but the in-game heroes of that time are long gone: characters in Darkwind age and die – if they are lucky enough to survive to old age despite the harsh post-apocalyptic world. Darkwind was described by Rock Paper Shotgun as a ’boutique’ MMO: a small online game with a fiercely loyal player-base who stick around for years. If you’re looking for some uncompromising turn-based vehicular combat with a persistent world and perma-death, there really isn’t anything else.

Here's some of our favorite fan fiction from over the years!

http://www.dark-wind.com/BrookesTale.pdf -- Brooke's tale is a 100 page short story which fleshes out the game world around the year 2050, in a really solid way

https://www.dark-wind.com/fp15.html -- The Birth of Deathracing captures the events of the Solar Apocalypse from a personal perspective

https://www.dark-wind.com/fp16.html -- In The Beginning explains what actually happened, and why the world burned in 2025/2026

The Necromancer's tale is an RPG we've been working on for a while. It's a dark, narrative-first RPG of revenge and raising the dead.

[Steam page just open for wishlists!]

The new Camp Wars system operates on a hexgrid, laid over the game's map. Competing player-run camps take control and fight over each hex. The hexes themselves offer valuable resources to the camps (water, food, scrap metal, etc.) and also various types of unique resources which only appear in one place – e.g. controlling a hex with a mutant village in it will boost a camp’s chances of attracting mutant recruits.

Camp Wars runs on a two-week cycle. In the first week, camps secretly deploy their forces to hexes under their control (for defence) or bordering on hexes they control (for attack). At the start of the second week, battles for contested hexes are scheduled, to be played within that week.

The best reason to fight is for resources. This system aims to add the motivation for PvP that Darkwind has lacked in the past.

Another key thing which this system aims to introduce is a proper route for newer players to get involved in camps. At first, they can assist the logistics and supply, and can use their vehicles and characters to assist a camp in battle. Later, they can become full members of camps, and finally can own their own camps - probably under the protection of a larger camp at first. We have designed a maximum cap on how much hardware any individual player can bring to a battle: this is specifically to promote cooperation and to make newer players valuable.

This adds a set of new Solo Missions (with more coming soon). Try out various cars and lorries, and different types of weapons, on different types of combat map. Successful completion also wins weapons, vehicles and DW$ for your gang.

These also serve as quick-play missions for new players who just want to try the game out a bit, without waiting for scheduled town combats/races or for other players to be ready for a multi-player scout.

The Northern Triangle Deathrally league has been added to the game. This is a 3-event wilderness deathrally league, spanning the towns of Somerset, Elmsfield, and Gateway - the so-called 'Northern Triangle' - which is the part of the world map available to free players. Deathrallies are races with guns across wilderness maps, with randomly defined checkpoints.

Come and join us the Darkwind! - we're experiencing an increase in player numbers over the past few months, with many veteran players from the past having returned.

Hey all - I'd like to let you know about our latest game which has just released. Goblins & Grottos reverses the normal roles, and you play as a goblin attacked on all sides by greedy powerleveling adventurers. Also includes a powerful map editor and online sharing system. You can check it out here: Goblins & Grottos

This year's Slay Ride, hosted by the giant bear-like mutant "Santa Claws" will be a 4-lap deathrace on the SS dirt racing track, using Moose chassis armed with flamethrowers and paintsprays. Top prize is a new squadcar. Check out the forums for details!