Ancient Shadows Awakening

About this game

Latest news

• Patch Notes·22 Aug 2026Official

  Major Demo Update

  This update introduces reworked hunger and thirst systems, a new difficulty system, dedicated slots for weapons and throwable items, quick loot collection, and a range of fixes and optimizations.Empty Bottles and Water SourcesAfter drinking water or a potion, or using oil, the player will be left with an empty bottle.Empty bottles can be refilled at wells, fountains, puddles, sewers, and lakes.Water sources are now divided into clean and dirty water.Dirty water must be boiled before drinking. Otherwise, the player risks being poisoned.New Difficulty SystemIndividual difficulty levels can now affect:Items found throughout the levels.The types and number of enemies.Damage dealt and received.Other gameplay mechanics.Reworked Hunger and ThirstHunger and thirst no longer kill the player directly. Instead, they gradually apply penalties based on their current values.HungerAbove 50: no penalty.20 to 50: slightly slower stamina regeneration and reduced physical damage.5 to 20: a greater penalty to stamina regeneration and physical damage.0 to 5: the strongest penalty.Hunger will never kill the player directly.ThirstAbove 50: no penalty.20 to 50: movement speed is reduced to 90% and stamina consumption is increased.5 to 20: movement speed is reduced to 75% and stamina consumption is increased further.0 to 5: movement speed is reduced to 50% and the strongest stamina consumption penalty is applied.Movement speed will never fall below 50%, and thirst will not kill the player directly.New Equipment SlotsDedicated equipment slots have been added for:Melee weapons.Ranged weapons, including magic staves.Throwable items such as stones, knives, and explosive vases.Quick slots are now used primarily for spells, food, drinks, and potions.Equipment Condition DisplayWhen a melee weapon, ranged weapon, or shield is equipped, its corresponding icon and condition percentage are displayed on the right side of the screen.The more damaged a weapon or shield becomes, the lower its effectivenes...
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Petr "Kajman" Najman)

• Patch Notes·12 Jul 2026Official

  Demo Update – Community Feedback Implemented

  Demo Update Based on Community FeedbackFirst of all, I'd like to thank everyone who reported bugs, suggested meaningful improvements, added the game to their wishlist, or started following the project.Your feedback has been incredibly valuable and has helped shape this update. Thanks to your suggestions, Ancient Shadows: Awakening continues to improve with every new version. I carefully read every comment and always try to make the game a better experience for everyone.What's NewWater, food, and oil consumption is now paused while any UI screen is open.Added item swapping. Dropping an item onto an occupied slot now swaps the two items. This also works with Quick Slots.Active weapons can now be swapped, moved to the inventory, or dropped.Fixed a bug where the player could not move after dying with the inventory open.Added ambient background audio.Fixed equipment icons flickering after loading a saved game.Added localization for the inventory split window.Removed the breakable object icon. Instead, the crosshair now turns red when aiming at a breakable object.Fixed weapons constantly being hidden and shown while switching between UI screens.Improved detection of several items (for example, the trousers in the spike room).Removed the scroll at the end of the demo.Combat has been significantly improved with enemy hit reaction animations, subtle weapon trails, and impactful camera kick effects.Fixed weapon sound effects while using a shield.Removed stabbing animations from blunt weapons such as maces, clubs, and axes.Fixed flying Fireballs casting light through floors.Poison Slime is now much easier to see.Added a new Ice Orb Scroll that freezes all enemies within its area of effect.Added new visual effects for frozen enemies.Added key rebinding for W, A, S, and D.Marked areas that are not accessible in the demo.Fixed shield visibility while using the Magic Staff.Various additional bug fixes, optimizations, and quality-of-life improvements.New Difficulty SystemThe founda...
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Petr "Kajman" Najman)

• Patch Notes·19 Jun 2026Official

  Small Demo Patch

  Hello Adventurers,First of all, thank you to everyone who downloaded and played the Ancient Shadows: Awakening demo during Steam Next Fest.I carefully read your feedback, bug reports, suggestions, and reviews. Every comment helps improve the game and make the dungeon an even better place to explore.Changes in this update• Added FOV setting. • Added Smooth Camera option (disabled by default). • Fixed lockpicking key rebinding. • Added additional safeguards to prevent rare cases where controls could become unresponsive after death or loading. • Lockpicking UI now correctly displays rebound keys. • Minor bug fixes and stability improvements.As a solo developer, I cannot implement everything immediately, but your feedback helps me prioritize future development and updates.If you enjoy the demo, please consider adding Ancient Shadows: Awakening to your wishlist and sharing it with friends who enjoy dungeon-crawling adventures.Thank you for your support and for joining me on this journey.Petr NajmanSolo Developer of Ancient Shadows: Awakening
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Petr "Kajman" Najman)

• Patch Notes·4 Jun 2026Official

  Demo Update

  Thank you all for your feedback!The following changes have been made in this update:Added weapon sound effects.Improved text readability and display across many parts of the user interface.Fixed goblin interactions with doors.Fixed duplicate button sounds in menus.Fixed an issue where brightness settings could change during gameplay.Normalized the volume levels of several sounds.Various additional bug fixes and improvements.Thank you for all the reported bugs, feedback, and suggestions. You are helping me continuously improve the game.
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Petr "Kajman" Najman)

• Announcements·22 Feb 2026Official

  Looking for volunteer translators

  Ancient Shadows Awakening – Looking for Volunteer TranslatorsHello everyone,Ancient Shadows Awakening is looking for volunteer translators who would like to help with localizing the game into additional languages.This is an unpaid collaboration, as the project is being developed solo and on a limited budget. However, if you enjoy dungeon RPGs, want to gain experience in game localization, or simply wish to be part of an indie project, I’d be happy to work with you.What I offer:credit in the gamea Steam keypotential long-term cooperationdirect communication with the developerWhat I’m looking for:translation of game texts (UI, descriptions, short texts)preferably native speakers or strong language skillsreliability and genuine interest in the projectIf you’re interested, feel free to send me a DM on Steam or contact me at: info@ancientshadowsgame.comThank you for your support and interest in the game.
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Petr "Kajman" Najman)