More than five years after a Kickstarter campaign for a board game based on Darkest Dungeon roared past its goal—ultimately finishing with $5.7 million on a $300,000 target—the project has collapsed. Red Hook Studios says board game publisher Mythic Games is not able to get the job done, so to make up for it as much as it can the studio is giving away all relevant games files to backers.
"As many of you know, the financial situation at Mythic Games has been strained for the past several years," Red Hook wrote on the Darkest Dungeon website. "We have been keeping an eye on the situation, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, at this point, Mythic Games is no longer able to manufacture or deliver the Darkest Dungeon board game.
"We put our trust in Mythic Games to deliver on their promises and uphold the Darkest Dungeon name. We won’t mince words, their collapse and inability to fulfill Wave 2 orders is an enormously disappointing development and we know it deeply affects many Darkest Dungeon fans."
Financial troubles at Mythic came to light—for Darkest Dungeon board game backers, at least—in July 2022, when the company asked backers to kick in more money to help cover production and shipping costs, which had been driven through the roof by a combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Hello everyone, As many of you know, the financial situation at Mythic Games has been strained for the past several years. We've kept an eye on the situation, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, at this point, Mythic Games is no longer able to manufacture or deliver the Darkest Dungeon board game.
— @darkestdungeon.bsky.social (@darkestdungeon.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-01-27T16:32:28.584Z
Mythic Games itself is no longer operational, having been officially liquidated in December 2025, according to BoardGameWire. Mythic told the site that as a "final act" it would give backers the 3D printer files for the game's planned miniatures, but a former Mythic employee later said that was basically a fake-out, because Mythic didn't actually own the rights to the files and "never had the intention of releasing them." The employee added that they'd contacted Red Hook directly and had been given permission to release the files.
Red Hook's announcement essentially confirms this report, as all backers have now been sent an email explaining exactly what's happened, with a link to "all game files, including files of the rules, 3D models and more."
"We understand that nothing can replace the experience of receiving the full boardgame. Unfortunately, Red Hook has neither the board game manufacturing expertise nor have we had the ability to divert funds of the scale required to remove whatever obstacles Mythic has faced without endangering our own operations," Red Hook wrote. "We only hope that this final gesture can be a silver lining in an otherwise disappointing situation."
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