89% positive reviews, 30% launch discount: New dungeon-crawler RPG launches on Steam with unique skill-teaching mechanic

While the recent launch of Banquet for Fools has satisfied those looking for a "tactile" pagan mystery, this new game goes back to the grid-based roots of the 1980s. Thysiastery officially released on March 9, 2026, dropping players into a bleak, pixelated labyrinth that comes with the punishing difficulty of Wizardry, alongside a modern-style roguelike progression. 

Finnish indie developer Dirga is behind this title, which arrives after a successful demo period that had already garnered a lot of community hype. The game debuted to a "Very Positive" rating - early players are loving its atmospheric world-building and its spin on party management. In its first 48 hours, the title has seemingly carved out its own niche as a high-value entry in the "blobber" sub-genre, with an 89% positive reception across its early reviews.

Key specs and data

Thysiastery is a lightweight project that puts most of its value on art style over heavy assets.

• Pricing: Currently available at a 30% introductory discount ($9.09) until March 23, with a base price of $12.99.
• Unique Mechanic: Features a "skill teaching" system where party members can teach their discovered abilities to one another.
• Permadeath: There's a "wound" system similar to Darkest Dungeon, where characters "store" injuries that increase the risk of permanent death rather than immediate deletion.
• Hardware: Requires only 1 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM.
• Steam Deck (curr. $940 on Amazon for a renewed variant): Reported by users as running smoothly with "stellar" audio-visual presentation on the handheld.

The narrative casts you, the player, as a "Bearer of the Brand," one of several characters drawn into a vast labyrinth that "hungers" for those it marks. Visuals-wise, the game uses a restricted, low-resolution color palette that can be swapped between 12 different presets, from classic GameBoy greens to high-contrast grays. The enemy design is particularly eclectic - it uses traditional dark fantasy tropes with Lovecraftian horrors and even mechanized units inspired by World War-era aesthetics.

Dirga has tried to fix the static nature of old-school blobbers by layering roguelike mechanics and procedural generation over a basic dungeon crawler,  The inclusion of a real-time element prior to combat - where long-range enemies can fire at your party on the grid before you even enter turn-based mode - adds a neat touch to Thysiastery. While the font choice did receive some minor criticism for legibility, the "skill teaching" meta-game effectively offsets these early problems.

Thysiastery gets you a lot of value, if you're into grid-based RPGs or the "blobber" genre. It rewards slow, careful exploration and careful party planning. If the default retro font is a struggle, just make sure you check the settings immediately, as the developer has included three alternative font options to improve readability.