Greed is Good gameplay: Is it like Dark and Darker?

Greed is Good was just released on Steam this early November, and it’s about to bring more competition to the extraction-style dungeon crawler genre. In the early access game, you play as one of the selected classes and explore locations full of dangers and traps, get equipment, and fight other players. The main goal is for you to extract out of the dungeon with all the loot you’ve gathered.

As Dark and Darker—the first title to bring extraction-style dungeon crawlers to the limelight—became successful, other developers tried to copy their style. This is already the case with battle royale games, where prominent titles such as Fortnite and PUBG took inspiration from H1Z1 and DayZ. You can find the same story with Greed is Good, but there are minute differences between it and Dark and Darker.

Dark and Darker Steam: Is it Possible?

Greed is Good has a slight advantage over Dark and Darker because it’s available to play on Steam. Meanwhile, after the kerfuffle between Ironmace (Dark and Darker’s devs) and Nexon, you’ll have to go through other avenues to get the game. Dark and Darker’s removal on Steam resulted from a legal battle between both companies. Followed by a DMCA takedown notice made by Nexon, the game was delisted on Valve’s storefront.

You must go to Dark and Darker’s official website to purchase the title and download the launcher. The other option is to get DaD from Chafgames. Until these issues are resolved, players who want to play the game will have to do one of these options. Meanwhile, Greed is Good is available to buy and download through Steam. That fact is already a huge plus if you’re already deep into Steam’s ecosystem. You don’t have to go to a different website and get another launcher to access it.

Greed is Good vs. Dark and Darker: What’s the Difference?

Greed is Good is heavily inspired by the work Ironmace has done with its own creation. Even things such as DaD’s weapon attack and interact animations look to have been copied. Many of Greed is Good’s class, and spell abilities are carbon copies of the ones you’d see in DaD. Heck, even the way you extract from a dungeon is the same—by going through red or blue portals. It’s difficult to distinguish the two titles from each other, but there are still a few differences that may be regarded as advantages.

For starters, Greed is Good has chosen the hero-shooter route regarding its playable classes. The Fool’s Studio’s title also features a swathe of features that Dark and Darker players would love to have, such as shared stashes between multiple characters, floating damage numbers, the ability to buy additional stash tabs, and a robust auction house where you can buy and sell items.

The latter, in particular, is a massive quality of life improvement over Dark and Darker’s text-based market, where you’d have to consistently spam what you’re buying/selling in the barrage of chats. Moreover, trading in Greed is Good is more transparent; you can put up a piece of equipment you have for sale, set your desired price, and wait for 48 hours or until another player comes to buy it. You don’t have to be bothered with buyers trying to haggle with your price.

Another difference between Greed is Good and Dark and Darker is that the former’s graphics quality is slightly superior, thanks to the fact that the surroundings are brighter. You can see more of the dungeon you’re in, with the locations far larger and less claustrophobic-inducing than in DaD, you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled.

What About Project Crawl?

Project Crawl is another title “heavily inspired” by Dark and Darker. The developers—Mithril Studio—recently ran an alpha playtest for three days on September 2023 for those keen to take it for a spin. They call it an “immersive, first-person PvPvE dungeon crawler,” pitting players against each other in a perilous environment. Its store page on Steam doesn’t use the word, but it’s definitely an extraction game.

Project Crawl features more character creation options to choose from. You can change the look of your Rogue or Fighter, as seen on its Steam page, but beyond that, we couldn’t find anything remotely different from Dark and Darker.

Greed is Good Release Date

Greed is Good has been available on Steam since November 6, 2023. If you’re on the fence about trying dungeon-style extraction games, you can give this one a try before delving into Dark and Darker. The reason for this is that Greed is Good is much cheaper; it costs $17, while Dark and Darker costs $35.