Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals

Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals is a first-person multiplayer horror action game set in fantasy-themed nightmarish mazes. Players select roles as either monsters or mortals from the Dark Deception series and various crossover franchises, competing across multiple game modes to collect soul shards while monsters hunt to eliminate the mortals in a fast-paced, team-based battle for survival.

Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals: A Chaotic, Cross-Dimensional Carnival of Horror

In the bustling ecosystem of indie horror, few titles have carved out a niche as bizarre and ambitiously collaborative as Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals. Emerging from the shadowy mazes of its namesake episodic single-player series, this 2020 spin-off dared to ask: what if the nightmarish, symbol-laden corridors of Dark Deception were populated not by a lone protagonist, but by a chaotic melee of players, each embodying iconic monsters or desperate mortals from a dozen different horror universes? It is a game that is less a coherent narrative experience and more a volatile, player-driven tapestry of fear, frustration, and fleeting triumph. As a historical artifact, Monsters & Mortals represents a fascinating—and often messy—intersection of indie ambition, fan service, and the logistical realities of live-service multiplayer game development. Its legacy is that of a cult phenomenon perpetually on the brink of obsolescence, yet stubbornly persistent through a relentless parade of crossover DLCs and community-driven balancing acts.

1. Introduction: The Party from Purgatory

To understand Monsters & Mortals, one must first grapple with its progenitor. Dark Deception (2018) was a critically acclaimed first-person horror maze game that eschewed traditional combat for tense, sprint-based evasion through labyrinthine levels filled with uniquely terrifying monsters, each a personification of a specific sin or phobia. Its tone was a knowing, almost satirical blend of retro horror aesthetics and modern indie grit, wrapped in a surprisingly potent psychological narrative about abusive parenting, guilt, and damnation.

Monsters & Mortals strips away that single-player narrative scaffolding and transforms the core “run through a terrifying maze collecting shards” loop into a competitive, often anarchic, multiplayer sport. The thesis of this review is that Monsters & Mortals is a brilliantly conceived but fundamentally flawed experiment. Its genius lies in translating the tense, atmospheric horror of its predecessor into a social, repeatable format with a staggering depth of character and map variety. Its fatal flaw is a persistent undercurrent of jank—in networking, combat hit registration, and balancing—that has prevented it from achieving the mainstream success its concept deserves. It is a game that lives and dies by its community, a living document of patch notes, DLC announcements, and player-driven meta-strategies.

2. Development History & Context: From Solo Horror to Multiplayer Mayhem

Studio & Vision

Glowstick Entertainment, founded by the enigmatic Vince Livings, was a tiny independent studio operating on a shoestring budget. The original Dark Deception was a passion project, a love letter to 90s horror and Pac-Man. With Monsters & Mortals, Livings and his team aimed to leverage their existing monster roster and level assets to create a multiplayer title with broader appeal. The vision, as stated in early Q&As, was to include new characters not seen in the single-player game, immediately establishing it as a parallel universe rather than a direct sequel.

Technological Constraints & Launch Turbulence

Built in Unreal Engine 4, the game’s technical foundation was solid enough for a small-scale indie project but showed its seams. The most infamous development story is its launch delay. Originally slated for October 30, 2020, the game was rejected by Valve because developers forgot to uncheck the “beta testing” box in the Steam submission form. This three-day wait, while frustrating, became a serendipitous development sprint. The team used the time to finish three original characters—Glowstick Vince, Nikson, and PenPen—which were then included at launch, enriching the base roster.

The change log reveals a studio in constant reactive mode. Balance patches (e.g., 1.6.6’s major rebalance of shard counts, player counts, and wall-hack vision) show a game whose core mechanics were still being fundamentally shaped months after release. The shift between dedicated servers (1.6.6) and a return to peer-to-peer (P2P) networking (1.7.3) highlights the studio’s struggle with infrastructure costs versus player experience, a classic indie dilemma. Network stability and “attack hitboxes going through players,” as noted in Steam community discussions, remained perennial issues.

The Gaming Landscape & The Crossover Gold Rush

Monsters & Mortals launched into a world hungry for horror crossovers. The success of Five Nights at Freddy’s and Poppy Playtime had proven the marketability of animatronic terror. Livings’ genius was in formalizing this hunger. Through Twitter polls, he let the community decide DLC priorities: Five Nights at Freddy’s won the first poll, but the follow-up polls (Little Nightmares, Sally Face, Siren) reveal a deep, specific knowledge of the horror fandom’s hidden gems. This strategy created a perpetual hype cycle—each new DLC wasn’t just an addition; it was a fulfilled fan wish, a direct conversation with the community. However, this approach also led to complications. The Yandere Simulator DLC was delisted following the allegations against its creator, YandereDev. The Silent Hill and House of Ashes DLCs were also later made unavailable for purchase, though existing owners retain access, signaling the fragile nature of licensing agreements in the post-launch lifecycle.

3. Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive: A Patchwork of Phobias

It is here the review must address a central paradox: Monsters & Mortals is a narrative-light, game-first experience, yet its thematic DNA is entirely inherited from the rich, story-saturated world of Dark Deception.

The inherited lore: Malak, Bierce, and the Ring of Heaven

The game’s framing device remains the conflict between the demon Malak and the treacherous spirit Bierce over the shattered “Riddle of Heaven” (a deeply ironic name, as Bierce notes, for a demon’s power). Soul Shards are fragments of tormented souls. This meta-narrative is largely absent from gameplay, relegated to loading screen tips and the occasional taunt from Malak (“Bad choice, mortal”). The profound, dark backstory of the protagonist Doug Houser—his abusive childhood, his own descent into abuse, his terminal illness—is completely removed. Instead, Monsters & Mortals treats the monsters and settings as playable archetypes divorced from their specific tragic origins.

The Phobia Engine

The game’s true thematic strength is its systematic, almost clinical, cataloging of human phobias. The Fandom wiki’s comprehensive “Phobias” table is a masterclass in horror game design by checklist:
* Coulrophobia (Fear of Clowns): Crazy Carnevil map, Clown Gremlins, Goliath Clowns.
* Paedophobia (Fear of Children): Agatha, Trigger Teddies.
* Leporiphobia (Fear of Rabbits): Lucky the Rabbit, Robbie the Rabbit.
* Nyctophobia (Fear of Darkness): Stranger Sewers, Silent Sacrifice Boss Time.
* Scopophobia (Fear of Being Watched): Doom Ducky’s stare, CCTV cameras.
* Agoraphobia / Cleithrophobia: The maze structure itself, the impending “Trap Time” and “Boss Time” events that shrink safe spaces.

This approach makes the game a kind of interactive phobia museum. A player with a fear of clowns will have a markedly different, more intense experience on Crazy Carnevil than on Monkey Business. The horror is universal yet personalized. Crossovers like Poppy Playtime (Fear of Toys, Anthropomorphism) or Silent Hill (General dread, bodily violation) seamlessly plug into this existing phobia framework, demonstrating the genius of the original monster design: they are not just enemies, they are concepts.

Character as Symbol

Even within its competitive format, character selection carries weight. Playing as the Reaper Nurses (iatrophobia) isn’t just about speed and invisibility; it’s about embodying a corrupt medical authority. Agatha isn’t just a creepy child; she’s a manifestation of repressed childhood trauma and violence. The Gold Watchers (aurophobia) represent greed made statue-still. The game’s aesthetic and mechanics constantly reinforce these themes, making each match a subconscious encounter with a specific fear.

4. Gameplay Mechanics & Systems: Chaos Engineered

The core gameplay is deceptively simple but layered with interdependent systems that create a high-skill, high-variance experience.

Core Loops & Game Modes

The game offers several asymmetrical and symmetrical modes, a rarity for a small indie title:
1. Maze Escape (4v2): The signature mode. Four Mortals race to collect a map-specific number of Soul Shards (e.g., 600 on Monkey Business, 750 on Silent Sacrifice) to summon two escape portals. Two Monsters hunt them. The tension is a relentless pressure cooker. Death as a Mortal causes a shard penalty (initially 15, later increased to 25), creating a punishing resource management layer.
2. Shard Mayhem (6-player FFA): All players are Monsters. Shards spawn in waves. The goal is theft and survival. This mode highlights the combat and ultimate ability (Ult) game, turning the maze into a brutal battle royale.
3. Soul Collection (6-player Elimination): All players start as Mortals. After each shard wave, Malak claims the soul of the player with the fewest shards, transforming them into a Monster to hunt the survivors. A brilliant “loser becomes the hunter” mechanic that ensures no one is ever truly out.
4. Upcoming Modes: Shard Stash and King of the Monsters were teased but never materialized, a common ghost of ambitious roadmaps in live-service games.

The Mechanics of Fear: Items, Events, and Ultimates

The genius of the systems is how they create dynamic, map-altering moments:
* Portal Boxes: Scattered throughout maps, these are the game’s randomizer. They contain health, shards, or crucial one-use items: Telepathy (see enemies through walls), Trap Time (summons map-specific traps for 60 seconds), and Boss Time (summons a map-specific boss).
* Ultimate Abilities: Each character has a unique, powerful Ult with a cooldown.
* Mortals often have supportive or defensive ults (Heather Mason’s damage reduction, Detective Evans’s long-duration stun).
* Monsters have aggressive ults (Dread Ducky’s multi-bite “Ducky Surprise!”, Malak’s phantom form). Balancing these ults is a perpetual arms race documented in the changelog (e.g., Agatha’s ult damage nerfed from 100 to 80, Dread Ducky’s bittenerfed from 25 to 18 damage, then later buffed to 60).
* Match Events: Trap Time and Boss Time are masterstrokes of design. They temporarily invert power dynamics. A Monster caught in Trap Time is as vulnerable as a Mortal. A Mortal might trigger Boss Time to clear an area of pursuing Monsters, only to be chased by the boss itself. These events, combined with random Portal Boxes, ensure no two matches play the same way.

Character Classes & Progression

Characters are divided into broad Mortal classes (Balanced, Support, Ranged, Power) and Monster archetypes (Speed, Power, Balanced, etc.). The progression system is a classic Gashapon (“gacha”) model. Players earn Shards (the premium currency) by leveling up via match wins. Shards are spent on two capsule machines for character skins and art gallery unlocks. The level cap was famously raised to 666 in update 2.0.0, with a elaborate tiered “Seal” system from Paper Seal to Ultimate Crystal Seal, providing long-term goals for dedicated players.

Flaws in the Foundation

The changelog is a litany of fixes for broken states. The original Maze Escape had Monsters seeing through walls permanently, creating an impossible hide-and-seek scenario. This was patched (1.6.6), but then Telepathy was re-added for Monsters via Portal Boxes to compensate. Early versions of Crazy Carnevil had progression-breaking skips. Soul Collection didn’t work on all maps until 2.0.0. The most persistent issue, echoed in Steam discussions (“attacks go right through people”), suggests imperfect hitbox detection or netcode prediction errors, a common but fatal flaw in fast-paced PvP games. The shift to dedicated servers and back to P2P suggests the studio never fully solved its netcode cost-benefit equation.

5. World-Building, Art & Sound: Aesthetic of Anxious Chaos

Level Design as Phobic Architecture

Each map is a themed nightmare meticulously constructed to evoke its associated fear:
* Monkey Business: A hellish, claustrophobic hotel (Cleithrophobia) patrolled by Murder Monkeys and Chef Monkeys. The tight corridors and banana peel traps create constant panic.
* Elementary Evil: An abandoned school (Scolionophobia) where the monster Agatha can teleport through the very walls you use for cover, weaponizing the environment against you.
* Stranger Sewers: A Maze of sewage-filled tunnels (Mysophobia, Thalassophobia) with Dread Duckies that can pull you through grates. The green-tinged lighting and sluggish movement in water are masterful environmental storytelling.
* Deadly Decadence: A shift to opulence—a hedge maze leading to a golden mansion (Aurophobia) with Gold Watchers that move when you blink.
* Torment Therapy: A hospital merged with a strip club (Iatrophobia, Psychosexual Horror). Pink and red lighting, giant syringes, and Reaper Nurses that whisper taunts in your ear while invisible.
* Mascot Mayhem: A desolate amusement park (Masklophobia) where the joyful animatronics Lucky, Hangry, and Penny offer a terrifying contrast of cheerful aesthetics and murderous intent.
* Bearly Buried: A vast cave system (Claustrophobia, Megalophobia) culminating in a literal “Underworld” of screaming faces, home to Mama Bear and Trigger Teddies (Paedophobia).

Crossover DLCs brilliantly reinterpret these templates:
* Monstrum Madness: The cargo ship from Monstrum, evoking thalassophobia and entrapment.
* Silent Sacrifice: Fog-drenched streets of Silent Hill, with Robbie the Rabbit and the iconic Red Pyramid Thing.
* Akademi Assault (Yandere Simulator): A Japanese school, tapping into school-related anxiety and the specific terror of a relentless, obsessive rival.
* Poppy Panic: The claustrophobic, toy-strewn factory of Poppy Playtime.
* Ancient Ashes (House of Ashes): Mesopotamian ruins, introducing new phobias like archaeophobia.

Visual & Auditory Dissonance

The art style is a distinctive blend of somewhat stiff, low-poly character models (reminiscent of early PS1 horror) against often stark, atmospheric environments. The monsters are the stars: their designs are simple, iconic, and profoundly unnerving. The reliance on jump scares is tempered by the pervasive * dread of the maze itself—the knowledge that any corner could hold a Dread Ducky, any shadow an Agatha.

The sound design is exceptional. Each map has a looping, tense theme that often incorporates leitmotifs for its primary monster (e.g., the manic “Joy Joy Ditty” for Mascot Mayhem). The most brilliant audio touch is the use of diegetic sound as a warning system. You hear the Murder Monkey’s cymbal-crash before you see it; the Dread Ducky’s distorted Rubberducky squeak; the Reaper Nurse’s distant, giggling taunts. These sounds create a 3D audio map more reliable than the sometimes-limited visual cues.

The change log details constant audio-visual updates: improved map visibility to match Dark Deception Enhanced, new FX for boss transformations (the desaturated “glitch” world of the Fun Girls), and environmental touches (flowers in Akademi Assault). This constant polishing shows a team deeply invested in the feeling of each nightmare.

6. Reception & Legacy: The Mostly Positive Paradox

Critical & Commercial Reception

Official critic scores are non-existent on MobyGames (n/a score, 1 rating), reflecting a general critical bypass. The game exists in the sphere of influencer and community reception. On Steam, it holds a “Mostly Positive” rating (79% of 2,914 reviews as of early 2026), a solid but not spectacular score for a niche title.

The commercial story is one of price erosion and platform expansion. It launched at $9.99, dropped to $4.99 in February 2022, and is now often on sale for sub-$3. This suggests sales did not meet initial hopes. The 2.0.0 update in late 2024 marked a significant push, adding console releases (Xbox, PlayStation) and a sweets-themed skin pack, attempting to rejuvenate interest.

The Community & The “Dead Game” Dilemma

Steam discussions are a microcosm of its lifecycle. Early guides and tips proliferated (“Stats, tips, and tricks (2.0.0 Version)” by The Ghost™ has 66 ratings). Players meticulously documented shard wave spawns and character stats. However, recent discussions are dominated by players lamenting the lack of active matches (“it’s dead guys,” “Bot Ai mode?” requests). The game’s dependence on 6-player matches for its primary modes makes it critically vulnerable to player count decay. The “Instant matchmaking” feature promised on the store page now, for many, results in endless queues or connection errors—a direct consequence of its shrinking pool.

Influence & The Crossover Precedent

Monsters & Mortals‘s most significant legacy may be its proof-of-concept for the “community-voted crossover.” It demonstrated that a small indie studio could, through persistent engagement and clever licensing, build a Super Smash Bros.-esque roster of horror icons. It paved the way for later crossover-focused games and showed that fan service, when managed transparently, can be a sustainable content model. Its use of a shared currency (Shards) and unlock system across DLCs created a cohesive meta-game rarely seen in such disparate collaborations.

The lawsuit from Monster Energy over the use of the word “Monsters” in the title is a bizarre footnote in gaming legal history, highlighting the absurdity of trademark trolling but also the vulnerability of small studios to corporate pressure. Glowstick Entertainment fought the suit, and the game’s title remained, but the episode cast a long shadow over its marketing.

7. Conclusion: A Flawed, Fascinating, and Ultimately Transient Experiment

Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals is not a perfect game. Its netcode wavers, its matchmaking struggles, and its core combat can feel imprecise. Its narrative depth is sacrificed for competitive chaos. For every moment of exhilarating, perfectly-timed escape as a Mortal, there is a moment of frustrating, inexplicable death due to a hitbox error.

Yet, to dismiss it would be to ignore its remarkable achievements. It successfully translated the tense, exploration-based horror of Dark Deception into a repeatable, social, and strategically deep PvP experience. Its roster is a who’s who of indie horror, assembled with genuine affection and mechanical consideration. Its understanding of phobias as a design language is profound. Its post-launch support, for years, was relentless, treating the game as a living platform rather than a static product.

Historically, Monsters & Mortals stands as a testament to the potential—and peril—of the live-service model for indie horror. It shows what a dedicated, communicative studio can build with community input: a unique, ever-evolving sandbox of fear. However, it also starkly illustrates how such games are hostages to network effects and player retention. Its “Mostly Positive” rating belies a community in slow decline, a vibrant carnival with fewer and fewer patrons.

Its place in history is secure as a fascinating anthology of horror iconography and a bold, if messy, design experiment. It is the game that asked, “What if Pac-Man was a terrifying, multiplayer slaughterfest?” and, against many odds, delivered a compelling—if deeply flawed—answer. For horror aficionados and students of game design, it remains a essential, chaotic case study. For everyone else, it is a compelling curiosity: a multiplayer horror game that feels simultaneously ahead of its time and tragically stuck in the quagmire of its own ambition.