Red Hook Announces Distribution of Darkest Dungeon Boardgame Files to Backers

The developers of Darkest Dungeon, Red Hook, have made a significant announcement regarding the distribution of game files for the troubled board game adaptation by Mythic Games. It has been revealed that backers of the project will now have access to these files, following the grim conclusion that Mythic Games are unable to manufacture or deliver the product.

The Darkest Dungeon board game, which was funded through Kickstarter in 2020 with a total of $5.7 million, has faced challenges due to financial struggles at Mythic Games, based in Luxembourg. Despite having raised over $19 million through crowdfunding in five years, the company found itself in a difficult position. In 2022, they requested additional funds from board game backers due to increased material and shipping costs caused by the Covid pandemic and the early stages of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Unfortunately, Mythic Games went into liquidation in December, reportedly due to a criminal investigation into fraudulent activities and mismanagement of funds. This led to the closure of the company, leaving several projects, including the Darkest Dungeon board game, in limbo.

Prior to their closure, Mythic Games managed to deliver the first wave of Darkest Dungeon board game materials to backers. As part of the liquidation process, it was stated that backers would receive STLs (digital 3D models) for both waves. However, this was initially not possible as Mythic Games did not own the copyright to the designs. Fortunately, a former Mythic employee has since obtained permission from Red Hook to share the files with backers.

On their official site, Red Hook expressed their disappointment in the situation, stating, “We put our trust in Mythic Games to deliver on their promises and uphold the Darkest Dungeon name. We won’t mince words, their collapse and inability to fulfill Wave 2 orders is an enormously disappointing development and we know it deeply affects many Darkest Dungeon fans.”

Red Hook further explained, “Recently, we were contacted by an ex-Mythic employee who asked for our blessing to distribute the project files to all backers. While we at Red Hook don’t own or control the board game files themselves, we were happy to give our permission for our copyrighted material within those files to be distributed to backers for non-commercial use.”

Backers of the Darkest Dungeon board game should have received an email from the Kickstarter campaign containing a link to access all game files, including rules, 3D models, and more. If you have not received the email, you can reach out to darkestdungeonrescuefiles@gmail.com for assistance.

While it is positive that some aspects of the project have been salvaged, receiving email attachments may not compare to the excitement of receiving physical game pieces in the mail. Red Hook acknowledged their limitations, stating, “Unfortunately, Red Hook has neither the board game manufacturing expertise nor have we had the ability to divert funds of the scale required to remove whatever obstacles Mythic has faced without endangering our own operations. We only hope that this final gesture can be a silver lining in an otherwise disappointing situation.”