SKALD: Against the Black Priory on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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SKALD:Against the Black Priory is a retro-style party-based RPG set in a grim-dark fantasy world of tragic heroes, violent deaths and Lovecraftian horror. Take a chance and roll the dice as you embark on a compelling story filled with deadly creatures, branching story and tactical, turn-based combat
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is a strategy, singleplayer and minimalist game
developed by High North Studios AS
and published by Raw Fury.
Released on May 30th 2024 is available in English on Windows and MacOS.
It has received 2,958 reviews of which 2,785 were positive and 173 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.0 out of 10. 😍
The game is currently priced at 8.24€ on Steam with a 45% discount, but you can find it for 4.59€ on Gamivo.
The Steam community has classified SKALD: Against the Black Priory into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at SKALD: Against the Black Priory through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel i5 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel Iris / AMD Vega or equivalent
- DirectX: Version 10
- Storage: 500 MB available space
MacOS
- OS: macOS 14
- Processor: M1
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Storage: 500 MB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Excellent distillation of modern CRPG design into a DOS-colored dream. Cosmic horror themes, Lovecraftian almost explicitly. Deeply respectful of your time while also telling an excellent story, this is an extremely ECONOMICAL game. Sometimes this economy works to its detriment--I would have liked a little more crunch in the combat and character building, but this is nitpicking, and I am a sicko.
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It's good to understand what this game is, first. SKALD is a story about struggling very hard against entities and cosmic movements you can hardly understand, much less hope to prevent. As a writer and a lover of Horror and Fantasy books, it is also perhaps the best written game I can remember playing. The person who wrote this really knew what they were doing. There isn't a single bad quest, side-quest or encounter (except maybe the random encounters -- but you can turn those off). It's also one of the only video-games I can name which actually capture a sense Cosmic Horror, instead of just the tentacled and mind-flayer cloaked aesthetic. I'd definitely recommend this one. It's an experience you won't find elsewhere. The pixel art is also gorgeous. It's not perfect, of course. I really would call it a "story you play" as much as a game. It's a campaign, basically. The game-play is good, and definitely nothing to sneeze at, but you can see through the cracks in its design. But I mostly say this because things are (for the most part) linear, with only a few side-quests, and no really big choices to make. Normally I wouldn't even bring this up (after all, I wouldn't critique a FPS campaign or a traditional Horror game for being too linear), but the way SKALD presents itself is a lot closer to more open-world, big-decisions-matter, many-factions, type games, when it really isn't that. This isn't a bad thing, but it is something to be aware of and understand going in. (Also worth noting my playtime was inflated by leaving the game open in the middle of a fight while eating dinner a couple times. The actual full playtime is probably more like 12-18 hours depending on how thorough you are.)
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Skald feels close to excellence, but falls short in key areas. It's an old school, and I do mean OLD SCHOOL, crpg. We're not talking Baldur's Gate and Fallout. Nah, we're going back to Ultima and the Gold Box era of crpgs. I love those games and think they're forgotten classics that still hold up, but they are dated. Skald is old school to a fault. Poor design choices that have long since been addressed like the inability to select a different character for a skill check. Why is the game repeatedly forcing my character in dialogue sections to do skill checks like picking the lock of a prison cell when Kat is in my party? There's one side quest where you must pass a skill check or die instantly, which isn't really a choice. You can rest nearly anywhere any time with no risk of attack and food is far too plentiful for it to be a concern ever. You can't interact with the environment to move objects out of your way or just simply step over them, so there will be some silly moments where your character can't cross a tile because a lantern is on the ground. The UI is beyond cumbersome. Spells, potions, abilities are just all thrown together with no way to sort them at all. You can't move the camera to see enemies off screen. I get it. It's meant to emulate the classics, but those games were made within the limitations of tech at the time. This is intentionally antiquated with all of the good and bad. The design elements that did work were, for one, the fast paced, crunchy, tactical turn based combat. Crits and backstabs feel extremely satisfying. Kat is a menace in combat because of this. The visual and audio effects are impactful. The MIDI soundtrack is atmospheric with some catchy battle themes. Progression was fast and satisfying. When you unlock a feat, you immediately feel it. It's not like some modern rpgs where 90% of skills/feats are passive and too context sensitive to be useful. The pixel art looks great, especially in dialogue sections where you see some beautiful and brutal imagery. It's a refreshing take on the fantasy formula to integrate Lovecraftian horror. I also dug the crafting system. All the different potions you can make are incredibly useful. Cooking food, however, was a waste of time since all that any dish gives you is a food value that has to add up to the 60 threshold to rest. Exploring the Outer Isles was cool. There's not a lot to see, this isn't a terribly long game anyway, but all of the side quests were unique and well written. The Carnivale quest was paced well with a dark conclusion. Can I just say anyone saying magic is useless has me confused. Focus on increasing max cascade and attunement and you will be unstoppable. Spells are insanely powerful late game with Thunderclap being unbelievably broken. It just drains the shit out of your mana. The narrative is a mixed bag though. I love the world building. You can see the effort placed here to flesh out a setting we only see a small portion of. The highlighted terms and names with encyclopedia entries that reveal the background lore is a great modern QoL feature seen in other crpgs like Pathfinder. I loved the detailed descriptions in dialogue that set the scene and describe the action like something out of a book. The dark cosmic horror all throughout this game is intense and unrelenting. This is a very harsh game and I like that. The problem I have begins with the many typos. There are a lot of grammatical and spelling errors everywhere. While the characters make their presence felt and are good in combat, they're just not that interesting. It would help if they had any companion quests. Only Embla was all that memorable since she's plot critical, but you don't unlock her until Chapter 4. There are already only 6 companions (one of whom leaves at the start of the next chapter), so I'm not sure why so little writing was given to them to flesh them out more. And I get this is a Lovecraftian story, but that conclusion felt rushed and underdeveloped. The alien ship (?), the time loop, the dragon and god were all barely touched on. I appreciate a dark conclusion that's inevitable, but to explain so little because "that's just cosmic horror" is a copout. It's just not well setup, so it didn't land with me and just left me scratching my head like I missed something. There wasn't any shocking revelation that was so subtly built up. It just ends leaving more questions than I had at the start. It just feels like a poor imitation of Lovecraft with none of the themes that his stories were built on. It makes it a hard sell to ever wanna play the game again considering its story is entirely linear and doomed from the start. Skald is still a very good crpg who long for that old school design philosophy that used the tabletop as its foundation. It respects the player's intelligence enough to not hold your hand at every time and is better for it. It's just not the masterpiece that Ultima 5 or Wizardry 6 were. (7/10)
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This game has reignited my passion for CRPGs, reminding me of their depth and immersive experiences. The intricate storytelling, branching dialogues, and strategic combat make every decision feel impactful, truly bringing the world to life.
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This is pure KINO. It takes you on a short whimsical journey full of pixelated gore, cosmic horrors, text-based gore, fish people armed with forbidden magic and an option to pet dogs. The pixelated barf-like aesthetic, the old-school music and competent writing brings back memories of games that used to be standard for this type of genre. Now they are as rare as games on PS5. 10/10, can recommend
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Frequently Asked Questions
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is currently priced at 8.24€ on Steam.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is currently available at a 45% discount. You can purchase it for 8.24€ on Steam.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory received 2,785 positive votes out of a total of 2,958 achieving an impressive rating of 9.02.
😍
SKALD: Against the Black Priory was developed by High North Studios AS and published by Raw Fury.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is playable and fully supported on Windows.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is not playable on Linux.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is a single-player game.
There are 3 DLCs available for SKALD: Against the Black Priory. Explore additional content available for SKALD: Against the Black Priory on Steam.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory does not support Steam Remote Play.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for SKALD: Against the Black Priory.
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 22 July 2025 11:11 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 24 July 2025 10:26 |
| Steam price | 31 July 2025 04:28 |
| Steam reviews | 30 July 2025 07:54 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about SKALD: Against the Black Priory, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about SKALD: Against the Black Priory
- SteamCharts - Analysis of SKALD: Against the Black Priory concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck SKALD: Against the Black Priory compatibility
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14.99€
8.24€
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14.99€
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14.99€
5.89€
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14.99€
10.69€
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Game modes
Features
Online players
45
Developer
High North Studios AS
Publisher
Raw Fury
Release
30 May 2024
Platforms
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