Diablo 4 Season 8 is perfectly fine, but feels safe and more of the same. Path of Exile 2’s Dawn of the Hunt has improved dramatically since its rocky release, but the early-access ARPG still has a long way to go. Last Epoch Season 2 is strong, but by now you may be looking for something fresh. Enter The Slormancer, a pixel-art indie ARPG from Slormite Studios that was launched out of early access at the start of this week, and has since built up impressive momentum with very positive Steam reviews and an ever-growing player count.
As either a Mighty Knight, Fierce Huntress, or Mischievous Mage, it’s your job to put a stop to an evil warlock called The Slormancer and his hordes of troublesome minions. It’s got everything that makes the best games like Diablo tick. Fast-paced action that sees you dancing through environments and blowing up dozens of hostile goons in quick succession, pouring damage numbers across the screen. Over 200 abilities, upgrades, and passives to create near-limitless build variations. An endless hunt for perfect loot with 200 legendary affixes, 120 game-changing unique weapons, and the ability to keep boosting your gear’s power as much as you want.
Slormite Studios emphasizes its focus on “collection and progression,” meaning you’re able to switch at any point between absolutely anything you’ve unlocked. That includes all skills you’ve gained access to, any items you’ve previously found, and even the very classes themselves. This creates a level of flexibility beyond what you’ll find in most other ARPGs, encouraging and rewarding experimentation.
Don’t worry about losing all your hard work when you switch builds, either; from loadouts to loot filters, The Slormancer has lots of welcome quality-of-life features. It even boasts a sprawling Ancestral Skill Tree that could give Path of Exile a run for its money, with more than 150 element-related skills and passives available to unlock. Your journey will take you across seven environments with a ton of visual variety, and its brief campaign is just the beginning of a much longer quest for power.
First launched into early access in 2021, The Slormancer is now out in full, and it’s quickly beginning to snowball as word of mouth spreads. What began as a gradual climb has escalated to a weekend high of 10,989 concurrent Steam players. The user reviews are filled with praise, too, with particular love given to the freedom of experimentation on offer and the ability to create weird and wacky builds on a whim based on just one small starting idea.
The Slormancer 1.0 is out now on Steam. Developer Slormite Studios is offering a 25% discount until Tuesday May 20, meaning you’ll pay $14.99 / £12.56. If you’re reading this early on and fancy yourself a new adventure, there’s still time to grab it at the lower price, so do so while you can.
For more stat-based satisfaction, here are the best RPGs on PC right now. Alternatively, take a look through the best indie games in 2025 to make sure you aren’t missing any hidden gems.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.
