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 8.99€ on Steam with a 40% discount, but you can find it for 4.63€ 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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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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this is probably the only review i will ever leave on steam. i just finished my first playthrough about 70 seconds ago. i am absolutely blown away by the grotesque beauty of this game. countless times i would sit, staring at a pixelated screen in the middle of a dialogue, listening to the gorgeous score, for minutes at a time. i would refuse to choose a dialogue choice just so i could enjoy the art a bit longer. numerous games with vastly "better" graphics have failed to communicate such gut-wrenching terror with 10x the pixels, 60x the frames, etc. the best way i can think to compare this game is comparing an expressionistic portrait to a photorealistic portrait. both are paintings, both are beautiful, but the expressionist conveys such emotion, such intangible substance, that the photorealistic painter can not. idk, take my thoughts with a grain of salt. maybe i'm just a pretentious asshole trying to justify her love for retro pixel game. this game is incredible. well-written, horrifying, electrifying, and just fun. i cannot recommend it enough.
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Ultima 8 was my baby's first and it was a mess. Yet, SKALD's world reminded me of Pagan in many ways. Then I got my dial-up and discovered Ultima Online. There, if I wasn't scammed, I was reskilled as soon as I left the capital. Good times! Today, the game is a garish mess and one look at Shroud of the Avatar tells me that Richard Garriot has forsaken the virtues by letting some hacks convince him that selling virtual chairs for real money is the future. More than ever, we needed a tribute to the series and SKALD... isn't exactly it. But it's a tight combat-focused RPG with a vision. While it's not as obtuse or sadistic as its aspirations, there's no modern bullsh#t like fast travel, objective markers, or harems. Good. Visually it's, uh, CGA'd EGA multiplied by C64, cranked up to 11? Ultima's sight system adds a lot, not to mention the fancy lighting, vivid pixel art, and terrific drawings. Alas, all that eye candy can look messy in combat, especially at night or in dark caves when combatants pile up. SKALD needs more vivid outlines for visual clarity. But the UI is generally alright. Tooltips on click make everything comprehensive, I liked the generous inventory system and how found ingredients show you what they can be used for. Alas, the trading screen could be better. You can't see what your characters are wearing or try on the gear without exiting. Finally, I don't know how to talk music, let's just say I enjoyed the memorable chiptunes. Setting Welcome to planet WARDA. Yes, in my headcanon, everyone screams the names of geographical locations in your face. You and a band of mercenaries are tasked to find a magic girl on an island of IDRA. That part of the world shares its visual flair and miserable disposition with Pagan. The prelude ends on a shipwreck caused by a Kraken. Be ready to unveil forbidden secrets, explore darkest dungeons, ancient castles, and volcanic wastes. With communities to aid and monsters to kill. The setting is grimy yet not too self-serious. Being tonally consistent, it's a playful game that knows when to clown and when to unfold its profound and melancholic story that goes beyond the realms of generic fantasy. Bearing the seed of early Ultima games, the setting is cosmic, laced with Giger's influence and Lovecraftian motifs. You'll witness macabre events in the vein of oldschool choose-your-adventure books by Steve Jackson, only darker. You'll walk knee-deep in body horror and step on all sorts of cultic cabals, cutting your way through putrid caves and vile abominations nesting on grey beaches. This game has fed the morbid curiosity of an old Evil Dead fan well. Death is on everyone's lips, in every home. When you don't casually dissect a corpse, getting attacked by its entrails, you meet an old woman feeding chunks of her flesh to her "baby"... In such a horrific world, you're lucky to have friends. If you so choose. Writing Companions react to your choices and partake in most conversations, which fleshes them out a bit. You can appease or piss them off, but it's all flavour. No real relationships get built here, at least not based on what you say. You're here to survive the hellish islands and find a friend, not eat each other's asses. The same goes for other people. One of the victims of this design was the amount of choices you have. The ones to make are typically inconsequential. Whether you pass a skill check or not, it's no big deal. SKALD is mostly a linear dungeon crawler. It's streamlined, but it doesn't skim on laconic and evocative writing, breathing life into the world. Poetic to the brim, it creates potent intrigue and elicits emotional response. When it gives you a beautiful vista, it never fails to mention something like the stench of burning corpses. When you arrive at a peaceful place, it won't let you rest easy. There's always a dark secret beneath the surface, a strange eye under the molehill, a disturbing rhyme overheard. You just never know what lurks ahead. If it puts a character in front of you, it will highlight their mannerisms and quirks, proving that characters can be memorable without being horny or flashy. I still remember the old drunkard from the start. A side character who was written in such a heartfelt, precise way - he struck a nerve. I'm in awe of the remarkable world-building stemming from this. If the devil is in the details, then SKALD is all devil all the way. Exploration When SKALD makes you explore its multi-leveled premises and participate in tailor-made encounters, you're bound to find lots of loot, puzzles, and side quests. I always felt rewarded for my curiosity after swimming through its dark caves, discovering the secrets of a mad wizard's laboratory, dredging through the sewers of a plague-ridden city, and sailing the seas. Like Fallout, this is a boomer shounen that moves fast and never looks back. You come, solve everyone's problems, get showered in nice things and praises, steal every potato in sight - and get cracking. This high-effort approach made for a repetition-free RPG campaign. That's how SKALD has a bit of everything, yet none of it is complex. Camping is intuitive, allowing you to use the party's skills to buff, scavenge, craft, etc. But its near-constant availability makes resting a non-issue, and the food system could be fun if the ingredients were half as abundant. Although, the economy is interesting, taking longer to break than usual. From the start, it pulled me into a loop of carelessly spending my riches on artifacts and magical trinkets in one location, then not being able to afford anything in the next one. Until I found another treasury. If a game is about stuff, finding it should bring satisfaction on all levels apart from vapid hoarding. Combat Feats The progression system is intuitive. Each class has a feat tree. Invest one point into a block on the tree to get further, invest enough points into one block to get new skills, stat upgrades, or magic. Sometimes it can be something drastic like a second attack or a spell aura range increase. Nothing too fancy, but to me impactful level-ups kept being a cause for celebration. I particularly enjoyed how unbalanced top-tier spells are. Solo games don't need to be fair, only fun. All in all, I enjoyed contemplating my feats, even though it wasn't necessary. A randomly clicking blind man can make a viable build. Which leads us to the turn-based murder. You get your initiative order, spells, charges, flanks, techniques. It's about positioning and crowd control. Party members don't just die but wake up after a clash with a trauma that can be healed by resting. It allows you to fight to the last drop of blood. While it sounds great on paper, most of the fights are easy. Only a few caused me some trouble, meaning I stopped being lazy and used everyone's skills. But it wasn't boring still! To make encounters feel special, the man went through the effort to design one-off enemies and bosses like creepy mould kids, abominable ultra-rat, homunculi, demigods of the sea. Closer to the end, the game even throws you curveballs. But the system had the potential for bigger challenges. VERAMOCOR? Take SKALD as a casual CRPG or maybe an unusually sophisticated JRPG if you're an optimist. I believe it was designed this way for pacing. You move through the world rapidly, discovering something new every step of the way, admiring exceptional art and writing. And while the game is rather easy, I don't hold it against it. It's too unique to be a stick in the mud, too inspired to nitpick. More importantly, there's a lot to loot and a lot to feel. After all, Arcanum and KOTOR, hell, most RPGs of old broke like baby's bones, right? So, let's end on a high note: the dev had created his own engine for SKALD to make more games with it. Yay! Harder games, I hope. My curator [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/35305390-Big-Bad-Mutuh/?appid=262060]Big Bad Mutuh
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Frequently Asked Questions
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is currently priced at 8.99€ on Steam.
SKALD: Against the Black Priory is currently available at a 40% discount. You can purchase it for 8.99€ 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 | 12 June 2025 00:34 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 13 June 2025 08:12 |
| Steam price | 15 June 2025 04:27 |
| Steam reviews | 14 June 2025 20:05 |
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
Game modes
Features
Online players
57
Developer
High North Studios AS
Publisher
Raw Fury
Release
30 May 2024
Platforms
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