Dark and Darker is an upcoming dungeon crawler by IRONMACE Games, and, even though the game is not out on Steam yet, many players have had the opportunity to try it out through the four playtests that IRONMACE has released over the course of the last six months. Each of the playtests has added some brand new features to the game - for example, the new solo queue - leaving hopeful players excited and asking, "When will the next Dark and Darker playtest be?!" as each session concludes.
After the fourth playtest recently came to an end, many fans have been wondering when playtest 5 will come out. In this article, we'll answer your questions about the next Dark and Darker playtest according to what we know so far.
15 March 2023 Update - Page updated with the latest news and leaks.
Latest News
Ironmace Games have confirmed that the next playtest will take place in April 2023, ahead of an early Access launch, tentatively scheduled for late April or early May.
On their official Discord, the devs told fans that the most recent playtest "gave us a lot of clues on how to proceed with development. We realize we still have some important questions that need to be answered. It is for this reason we have decided to schedule another playtest prior to our Early Access launch. We hope to test some pretty substantial additions for this playtest that require a bit more development time than in the past."
The next Dark and Darker playtest is scheduled to start on April 14 and run until April 19.
In addition, the developers explained that whilst the time until the next playtest might be longer than in the past, the team "will work our hardest to make the next one even better than before."
Dark And Darker Playtest 5 Release Date Speculation

UPDATE - Ironmace Games has confirmed that PlayTest 5 will start on April 14 and run through to April 19.
Dark and Darker's fifth playtest unfortunately doesn't have an official release date from IRONMACE Games yet.
That said, we expect Dark and Darker playtest 5 to take place sometime in March 2023. The last playtest ended in February, with the one before it coming in December 2022. In other words, Dark and Darker's developers have released a new playtest monthly, or every 2 months.
IRONMACE Games have a reputation for being extremely communicative about their upcoming game on their official Twitter, so you can keep an eye out there if you want to be one of the first to hear when the next playtest, Dark and Darker Playtest #5, is available for you to play on Steam.
Dark And Darker Playtest Release Dates
To get a better idea of when playtest 5 and other future playtests might come out, it's important to take a look at the dates of when the past Dark and Darker playtests were released.
- Dark And Darker Playtest #1 - 19th August 2022 to 21 August 2022
- Dark And Darker Playtest #2 - 28th October 2022 to 30th October 2022
- Dark And Darker Playtest #3 - 16th December 2022 to 23 December 2022
- Dark And Darker Playtest #4 - 6 February 2023 to 16th February 2023
- Dark And Darker Playtest #5 - 14 April 2023 to 19 April 2023
That's all we know so far about the 5th Dark and Darker playtest, including when you can play it. Stay tuned for more info!