Planned Release Date: Q1 2027

About This Game

Doll Arena is a dark 2D metroidvania steeped in Slavic folklore – explore it on your own, then face up to 3 friends in PvP arenas on one screen or over LAN. You play as a red doll with button eyes, a folk guardian armed with nothing but a handful of needles.

A guardian doll gone hunting

In Slavic folklore, a motanka is a guardian doll – wound from scraps of cloth and thread, traditionally faceless, hung over a cradle to ward off evil spirits. Our heroine is its dark mirror: she has a face, two red button eyes, and instead of waiting for evil to pass, she hunts it down, needle in hand. The painterly world draws from the same myths as Baba Yaga and the spirits of the forest – a place where a protective charm and a real threat are separated by a single thread.

A needle you have to fight for

Forget a sprawling arsenal – you carry a handful of needles. Stab and parry up close, or throw them to strike from range. Every needle you throw leaves your reserve. Run dry and you're defenseless until you dash in to reclaim them. Every fight becomes a real-time game of resource management.

Precision movement that drives exploration

Movement in Doll Arena isn't a side dish to combat — it's the first line of defense. Jumps, dashes, and wall-bounces let you slip between platforms, dodge danger, and reach places that look unreachable at first glance. Mastering these three tools is the foundation both exploration and combat are built on.

Metroidvania: an interconnected world full of secrets

Doll Arena is a metroidvania in the classic sense — every location connects into a single, cohesive map, and each newly earned ability opens a path you couldn't cross before. Exploration, hidden routes, secret rooms, and the satisfaction of finding a shortcut you never knew existed sit at the core of the game's structure, familiar to fans of the genre.

Precision movement

Jumps, dashes and wall-bounces are your first line of defense. Master them to slip between platforms, dodge attacks and reach places that look unreachable.

A classic metroidvania

A classic metroidvania Every location connects into one hand-drawn map. Each new ability opens a path you couldn't cross before. Hidden routes, secret rooms and shortcuts reward players who explore.

4-player PvP arena

Grab controllers and gather around one screen, or connect over LAN. Up to 4 players, compact wrap-around arenas and the same needle rules as the campaign: every throw is a gamble, every reclaimed needle a second chance. Last doll standing wins.

Key Features

• Needle combat with a limited reserve – stab, parry, throw, reclaim

• Precision movement – jump, dash and wall-bounce

• Interconnected metroidvania world full of secrets

• PvP for up to 4 players – local (shared screen) or LAN

• A heroine born of Slavic folklore – a red motanka doll with button eyes

• Painterly, hand-drawn dark fairytale visuals