8BitSkull announce Skull Horde

I love hearing of games being developed in Scotland, makes me proud for some reason. Announced yesterday, Scottish developer 8BitSkull announced its next game following its first three since 2020, Skull Horde. Set to release sometime next year, the “auto-battler dungeon crawler,” certainly seems interesting, if a little outside what usually catches my attention.

“‘Death’ is nothing but a temporary inconvenience as players take on the guise of a floating skull fueled by the shadowy powers of necromancy as they summon a horde of skeletons in a battle of bone versus flesh!” The press release notes.

“Something wicked this way comes as whispers of the dead fill the catacombs, the dearly departed itching to rise up once again. Luckily, the creators of BORE BLASTERS are here to provide[.] Their upcoming title, Skull Horde, has players embody (well, maybe not ‘body’, you play as a flying skull) a powerful necromancer, raising hordes of living dead to battle against hordes of living… living [sic]. Raise an ever-growing skeletal army and battle through procedurally generated dungeons, collecting casket-loads of boons and loot and unlocking powerful perks to upgrade the shambling horde and achieve each soldier’s fullest necrotic potential.

Crypt commanders can purchase a variety of unit types to build their skeleton squad throughout each run. Each unit possesses unique abilities, allowing players to mix multiple specialties and build the ultimate horde. Acquiring multiple units of the same type merges them into stronger versions, eventually unlocking spectral special abilities. Additionally, loot discovered in the dungeon interacts with unit classes and tags, giving potent benefits. Utilize resources to strategically reroll units, loot, and craft the ultimate death-bringer builds. Fans of Diablo II’s Necromancer class’ tricks are in for quite the treat – Skull Horde’s bite-sized and streamlined version of ghoulish gameplay is familiar enough to make the crypt keepers feel right at home.“

Neither Alex Asvengren (lead developer), Christoph Gray (music and sound effects), nor Andy Behan (visual design) of 8BitSkull comment on the announcement of the studio’s latest announcement. However, we do get a small rundown of Skull Horde‘s key features:

“Procedurally Generated Dungeons: Explore different procedurally generated dungeons, each with unique enemy types that demand different battle strategies. Different challenges require creative builds to overcome, lest you be sent to the grave yourself.

Realtime Auto Battling: Battles in Skull Horde are duked out in real-time, and your minions do battle independently. Develop your squad, choose where to explore, when to move on, and when to send your enemies six feet under.

For Whom the Bell Tolls?: Test out different playable characters with unique special abilities to see which one fits your particular style of death[-]dealing.

Rise from Your Grave: Raise the dead and put them to work, battling swarms of wretched flesh soldiers. Diversify your army or merge unit types to gain stronger versions and unlock unique abilities.

Powerful Loot and Boons: Each dungeon type is filled with chests and shrines with powerful loot and boons to collect, but don’t get greedy–lest you risk being overwhelmed by the horde.”

As I said, there are no specifics on the release date, just a vague window of 2025. However, the press release does note that Skull Horde will be coming to Steam for PC and Linux, with Steam Deck support. Skull Horde will also be playable in English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Polish. You can wishlist Skull Horde on Steam right now and follow the development via Twitter (jump in a bin Elon) and the team’s Discord. Or via the studio’s website. As I say, despite finding auto-battlers strange, something about Skull Horde is oddly intriguing.