If you wish Baldur's Gate 3 had more ghoulish dungeons and old school D&D vibes, this cosmic horror RPG might be the one: "Did I just see a Rust Monster in a modern game?"

News
By published

The Secret of Weepstone is black-and-white terror

A screenshot shows townspeople huddled together in a bar in the game The Secret of Weepstone
(Image credit: Talesworth Game Studio)

Baldur's Gate 3 served vampire love affairs and brain tadpoles on a platter, but those of us starving for the the good ol' days of '80s cosmic horror might prefer The Secret of Weepstone, a newly revealed dungeon-crawler RPG that feels like classic D&D meets Mary Shelley.

"In the shadow of a crumbling abandoned keep lies the forsaken village of Weepstone," a press release says like a warning. "Once a thriving settlement, it now withers in silence, fields barren, crops dead, people in fear. Byron, Lord of Weepstone, is ill and bedridden, haunted by night terrors of unholy rituals and unknowable forces. With no champions to call upon, it falls to the commonfolk of the town to face the unknown, confront whatever powers are to blame, and discover the secrets that are held within the crumbling walls.

The Secret of Weepstone | Announcement Trailer - YouTube The Secret of Weepstone | Announcement Trailer - YouTube
Watch On

Arming your hand-drawn crew with magic and daggers might keep some of Weepstone's meanest creatures away, though the press release admits that you should prepare for "almost certain death" no matter what. To account for this, you will be bestowed something called Mortal Favors each time a character dies.

Based on The Secret of Weepstone trailer, which shows off pig-nosed goblins, a deranged banshee, among other enemies, you're in no position to pass up such a macabre good luck charm.

"Did I just see a Rust Monster in a modern game?" says one comment on YouTube, referring to Dungeons & Dragons' nasty, oxidized monster that Weepstone presents with thick claws and a swollen insect belly.

As creepy crawly as they may be, D&D references like these make The Secret of Weepstone look like the perfect vintage dark fantasy... which makes me think indie horror publisher DreadXP is slowly morphing into a haunted powerhouse. It seems to be building on its cult-classic goodwill from 2022 dating sim parody Sucker for Love to do things like impress us with Vincent Adinolfi's recent PS1-style survival horror game Heartworm, and, hopefully, The Secret of Weepstone – whenever it's released on Steam some time in 2026.

After 2,000 hours of Baldur's Gate 3, I might finally be ready for something other than Larian's D&D gem – and this isometric RPG sale on Steam is the perfect place to look.

Ashley Bardhan
Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.