You’re held prisoner by the hideous Lich, who captured you during his expansion wars and locked you up for eternity in his fortress with the other outcasts. With no name, no past, and left to rot in a place of death and damnation, you have one goal: survive... and escape.
Advance through different rooms in this horrific citadel, face the enemies that block your way, and keep on your path toward an illusory salvation. Every choice counts: in combat, in the alliances you make, in the upgrades you will accept.
The path is long and unforgiving. Each step could lead you closer to freedom... or drag you toward an even darker fate. But in The Fortress, death is never the end: when a prisoner falls, another one takes their place, in endless cycles of suffering and hope.
Will you endure long enough to see the light of day again?
Each game is different from the previous one.
Choose from nine available classes and customize your prisoner with unique abilities, upgrades, and gear. Advance one room at a time through a procedurally generated path, designed to be always unpredictable and full of surprises.
Confront the Lich’s dark army with a combat system based on dice rolls, which blends strategy and risk at every choice. Pick up hundreds of items, relics, and gear items to adapt your playstyle and increase your chances of survival.
During your escape, experience a dark and gothic story, populated by enigmatic characters who are ready to offer a helping hand... or betray you.
The Fortress is full of monsters, but also full of unexpected opportunities.
Throughout your journey, you will encounter unlikely and unreliable allies: vampire merchants, disgraced abbots, and other eerie characters, each with their own secrets and hidden agendas. Their help could prove to be vital... but at what cost?
It is up to you to choose whom to trust, which alliances to forge, and when to walk away. Each choice could push you closer to salvation or sentence you to an untimely demise.
And if you fall on the battlefield, another prisoner will be ready to take up your legacy and attempt to escape again.
9 playable classes, each with unique abilities, gear and strategies
Dice-based combat system that changes based on class and gear
Strategic and demanding old-school dungeon crawler gameplay
Procedurally generated rooms: some are filled with enemies, others will allow you to catch your breath
Compelling narrative with gothic and horror elements
Over 70 enemies, end-of-level bosses, and NPCs
More than 60 items, relics and gear items
Sophisticated and atmospheric pixel art
Original soundtrack
The Fortress was developed by Baryonyx Games, an Italian independent studio based in the ancient city of Rome. It was founded out of our passion for old-school video games, complex systems, and dark settings.
We are a small, passionate team fully involved in every phase of development: we design, develop, and polish every detail with care, collaborating with trusted creatives when needed to bring our vision to life.
For us, The Fortress is more than a game: it is an ongoing challenge against the unknown. Each mechanic, room, and battle is crafted to build a world of choices, survival, risk, and sacrifice, blending retro aesthetics with a distinctive artistic and narrative identity. In other words, our goal is to deliver experiences that deeply resonate with our players.
