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Watch trailer on Steam ↗Dawnfolk
Darenn Keller · Published by Klei Publishing · Official site ↗
Very Positive — 95% positive (729 reviews) · 99 achievements
Last updated 27 Sept 2026
Dawnfolk is a charmingly dark, casual and puzzly survival building game. Gather resources, rebuild your realm, and protect your people from oppressive shadows. Can you unveil the secrets of the monoliths and bring light back to the world?
£12.79
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Price history
Strategy, Casual · 2025 · More £5 - £15 games
In Dawnfolk, strategize your survival by gathering resources and defending against shadows. Reveal the mysteries of the monoliths while rebuilding your world with casual gameplay from developer Darenn Keller.
About this game
In a world of darkness, you are the ruler of a kingdom lost to shadows. On a quest to save your people, you have found the mythical creature called “Lueur,” a fiery companion who will light your way. But what kind of ruler will you be?
In Dawnfolk, you will explore an uncharted medieval fantasy world, manage resources, build cities, and survive against many dangers.
Minigames add a unique challenge to supporting your people. The better you are at the minigames, the more resources you get and the more likely your community will weather the darkness.
Every choice matters as you explore different strategies and play styles in Dawnfolk.
Not everyone has time to invest hundreds of hours into learning how to play a grand strategy game. You can dive right in and start building your settlement immediately, going from a handful of tents to a big city in less than an hour.
Dawnfolk was designed to feel familiar, yet unlike any building strategy game you’ve ever played before. Unwind and play with ease, whether you’re at home or on the go, with your gamepad, keyboard, or handheld console. Go back to the roots of gaming, where exploration and experimentation are the key to fun and discovery.
Decades ago, titanic obsidian monoliths rained down from the sky. A raging tempest of unfathomable darkness gathered around them, slowly crawling across the world and consuming all in its path. You are the ruler of this land, once mighty and resolute, now broken and wounded. But not defeated! You intend to reclaim the realm and bring back light to the world.
After years of wandering, your story begins as you finally find the Lueur, a mythical creature able to radiate a powerful enough brightness to dissipate darkness. It is time to explore the shadows and rebuild your realm.
This darkly cute survival city-builder has been created with much love by a very French developer named Darenn Keller.
After working in the game industry for a few years, Darenn set off on an adventure into indie dev land. Originally called Lueur and then Lueur and the Dim Settlers (as Darenn’s initial goal was to make non-French-speakers sound like complete morons attempting to say the name of the game), the idea for Dawnfolk came about in the LOWREZJAM in 2022 as the challenge was to make a game in one week with a resolution of 64x64 pixels.
Darenn has chosen all elements of creative direction and design. He has mixed the music, molded the sprites, and shaped the game to be reflective of his game design philosophy. But no game is made in a vacuum - Dawnfolk wouldn’t be the amazing game it is without the support of the playtesters and community. The game continues to grow and evolve thanks to players like you so check out the Discord for ways to provide feedback straight to Darenn!
Your choices determine the fate of your realm and its inhabitants.
Will you turn a blind eye to impending disasters, or will you face them head-on? How will you handle the tough moral choices that define your legacy? Can you grow and optimize your cities not just survive, but to thrive as a shining beacon for future settlers?
Will you succeed in bringing light back to the world?
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS *: Windows 7
- Processor: 2+ Cores, 2+ GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 2 GB VRAM
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Support for OpenGL 3.3
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 or better
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 4 GB VRAM, NVIDIA GTX 970 or better
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Support for OpenGL 3.3
Supported Languages
*languages with full audio support
Latest news
AnnouncementsOfficial
Dawnfolk is out on Android and iOS
Today's a special day: Dawnfolk is out on Android and iOS!Just search for Dawnfolk on the App Store or Google Play and you'll find it. This is something a lot of players have been asking for, so I'm really hoping you'll have a great time with it! As for you guys on Steam, I'm pretty sure most of you already own the game, but feel free to share it with your friends who play on mobile! You can of course buy it to support me, or if you just want another excuse to play Dawnfolk again and beat it on your phone. A huge thanks to Short Circuit Studio, who ported the game and are currently handling everything, so I can sit back and relax while players report bugs. And thank you all again for joining me on this adventure. I started working on the first version of Dawnfolk almost 4 years ago, and now it's available on PC, Switch, and mobile. iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dawnfolk/id6759442443 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shortcircuitstudio.dawnfolk&hl=en_GB And a small reward for those who read this first: here are keys for the game on Android and iOS! Android key: DEE63E92T66806QEX9RSRD4iOS key: YANAJ3KEAFMNFLX8WJTake care!DarennRead full article on Community Announcements (Darenn)Community & EventsOfficial
Here's the winner of the "Famine" contest!
The "Famine" contest is now over. Thank you to everyone who participated, and congratulations to our Top 10 players! The winner is Borealis, with an incredible score of 174 points! To give you some perspective, 2nd place has 118 points, and 3rd place 81 points. Borealis really optimized everything. Congratulations Borealis, you'll be immortalized in the #hall-of-fame and the game credits (in the next update), you have a shiny role on discord with access to a secret channel and you'll have a tile of your own design integrated into the game! Borealis strategy to win: Pause the real-time timer. The first turn is by far the most important (followed by the last), so don't hesitate to restart if your opening isn't strong. Your goal on turn 1 is to maximize Science and set up your economy: collect the shipwreck and treasure chests, upgrade your Home into a Forge, clear the first Crypts, destroy the eastern Obelisk, reveal the northern Elves, Great Tree, and the first Light Breaches, then start building Cow Pastures. The exact order matters, as some actions increase the rewards from others.Once you reveal the 4th Light Breach, destroy the remaining Obelisks while keeping their costs low. The 5th Light Breach is far west through the swamp, where the Ogre event grants 2 Workforce. In the northwest, claim the treasure chest before the Crypt to increase its rewards. Prioritize Cow Pastures for most resource generation (except Production). Free the Orcs during their event, and make peace with the Elf camps after building a few Mines first. Use Observatories, Wisps, and Light Breaches for Light—don't build Wells. Research priority: Tree of Life → Forge → Barracks → Market → Cow Pasture → Royal Farm (final turn). Optional: Carpenter and Pyramid. Finally, never let Food overflow. Trade excess Food for Workforce with the Market and Druid, and always keep at least one forest available (ideally east of your Home) so the Druid can spawn and trade additional Science.Stay tuned for the ...Read full article on Community Announcements (Darenn)Patch NotesOfficial
patch 1.5.1
Removed the contest level Fixed bugs reported by players on Discord and Steam forumsRead full article on Community Announcements (Darenn)Community & EventsOfficial
You still have 3 days to enter the contest!
You still have 3 days left to enter the contest! Right now, Borealis is in 1st place with an incredible 139 Food produced! TolkaKiska is close behind in 2nd with 118, and treybc is currently 3rd with 81. To make it into the Top 10, you'll need to produce more than 31 Food. Here's the original contest post if you'd like to learn more about it and how to participate.Good luck! I'm excited to see if anyone can dethrone Borealis! Take care,DarennRead full article on Community Announcements (Darenn)AnnouncementsOfficial
You actually own your copy of Dawnfolk.
Hey everyone,I think this is a good time to remind you that Dawnfolk is yours forever, even if you bought it on Steam.I believe our games should remain ours and playable forever, even in digital form.Dawnfolk is DRM-free. You can copy the entire game folder anywhere you'd like and it'll still run. Steam isn't required to launch the game.To do so, simply right click on the game in your steam library, go into properties, then Installed Files and finally click on the Browse button. This will open the game's installation folder "lueur", which contains the game files as well as the executables for Windows, Linux, and macOS. You can simply copy this folder wherever you'd like to keep a backup.Dawnfolk didn't sell well enough to justify a physical edition, but I still hope it'll get one someday so those of you who collect physical games can add it to your shelves. Until then, make sure it's safe in your digital collection.Happy preserving ❤️Read full article on Community Announcements (Darenn)
