Darkest Dungeon II: Race Against The Clock In Free New 'Kingdoms' Game Mode Later This Year

Developer Red Hook Studios has revealed Kingdoms, a new free game mode coming to Darkest Dungeon II later this year. In a race against the clock, Kingdoms challenges players with finding and defeating monstrous threats before they overwhelm the kingdom, which is spread across towns, safe haven inns, and more. 

Kingdoms will be free for all Darkest Dungeon II players on PC (the game is not available on consoles) and alongside new gameplay mechanics, it brings with it three new monster factions: The Coven, Beastmen, and Crimson Courtiers. Plus, Kingdoms can be played independently of the base “Confessions” campaign mode. 

Check out the new Darkest Dungeon II: Kingdoms update trailer for yourself below: 

“Kingdoms is an exciting project for us,” Red Hook Studios co-founder and Darkest Dungeon II creative director Chris Bourassa writes in a press release. “If you look at our release history, no game or DLC has ever retread ground, and we’re proud to continue that tradition here. This new mode will blend some of the permanence and roster management of the original Darkest Dungeon with the traversal and combat of Darkest Dungeon II. Best of all, this is a massive, free update to Darkest Dungeon II, packing our flagship title with even more content and value for our players.

“At Red Hook, we evaluate projects based on their potential to elicit surprise, delight, and despair. Kingdoms hits all three. We can’t wait to share more with the community.” 

While defending the kingdom, players will journey across vast lands to gather resources and battle evil incursions in Kingdoms. Acquired resources can be used to upgrade your heroes and the inns as well, which can be improved via separate upgrade trees. Like the base “Confessions” game mode, Kingdoms will feature unique questlines for players to complete. 

The Kingdoms update is expected to hit Darkest Dungeon II on PC in late 2024. 

For more, read Game Informer’s Darkest Dungeon II review.

Are you going to check out Kingdoms in Darkest Dungeon II later this year? Let us know in the comments below!