The Witcher 3 dev's vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker plays out in 30 days and nights for the main story, and there will be "consequences" for your family if you waste your time

The Blood of Dawnwalker is an upcoming vampire RPG with a very interesting premise we don't see much of these days: you only have 30 in-game days and nights to finish the main story and save your family. That being said, the game carries on even if you don't manage to accomplish this feat, although the developers warn there will be consequences.

I love a time-sensitive game. From The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask to XCOM 2 to Stardew Valley, a bit of pressure helps keep me focused and stops me worrying about seeing every inch of a world before moving on to the next objective.

For those of you who are less keen on being pushed, Dawnwalker seems to tread a good line. Exploration and combat don't advance time. Instead, the devs state that only finishing quests and selecting some specific dialogue options will turn the clocks forward.

These all have a "time cost" that you'll be informed about beforehand, so you'll never be caught out finishing up a quest and accidentally progressing the game way further than you intended. It seems like a solid way to force us to actually get a move on but without pushing too hard. You can take as much time as you want with each quest, but you'll be limited by how many you can do.

So, you have 30 in-game days and nights to save the family of protagonist Coen, but the game won't just end as soon as time runs out. The moon won't crash into the world and force you to start over – probably, I haven't played the game. But, you should get a move on, otherwise the family will "suffer the consequences." Ominous.

The Blood of Dawnwalker is coming sometime next year, 2026, and it features former CD Projekt Red developers, so there's some strong RPG pedigree there. We've been in need of a new vampire game for a while, so hopefully it delivers.

In the meantime, check out the best RPGs you can play right now.