Dark Fantasy

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

During Early Access, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, an open-world RPG set in a dark reimagining of the Arthurian legend, rarely had more than 1,000 CCU. However, when version 1.0 was finally released, the number of players skyrocketed!

Marcel Kleffmann13.06.2025 07:30

During the Early Access phase on Steam, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon had a maximum of 1,300 active players one month before the release of version 1.0. However, this number quickly rose to a peak of 25,656 during the first week of its launch. This RPG combines classic fantasy elements with a dark reinterpretation of the Arthurian legend. Set in an open world stuck in everlasting autumn, the game is characterized by decay (Wyrdness, the primordial force of Chaos), hopelessness, and moral ambivalence. It is precisely this world design and dark atmosphere that constitute the game's strengths. In places, they also mask the somewhat outdated graphics. Rarely has desolation been as intriguing as in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. The game is inspired by and based on the lore of the board game of the same name, created by Krzysztof Piskorski.

The complex storyline revolves around morally difficult decisions whose consequences impact the progression of the story. The reinterpretation of the Arthurian legend adds extra depth, especially the inclusion of King Arthur's ghost as a companion and commentator. Some of the quests are well-written and thought out, but unfortunately, this isn't true for all of them. While the first act is strong, the game loses momentum in the second and third acts. This is also evident in the bugs, errors, and glitches. It seems as if the game was released too early, or perhaps the scope was too large for the team. The developers estimate that a playthrough will take 50 to 70 hours. There are three zones to explore (Horns of the South, Cuanacht, and Forlorn Swords), 250 fully voice-acted NPCs (only in English), over 200 side quests, more than 60 enemies and 70+ dungeons. The game also includes systems for fishing, blacksmithing, alchemy, cooking, mining, farming, and house management.

The role-playing system allows players to customize their characters in a flexible way. They can freely combine attributes, skills, and equipment, enabling different playing styles. Players can sneak, fight, or choose diplomatic routes. However, the combat system, which includes melee weapons, bows, magic, throwables, and mixtures, is a little bit slow and less dynamic than in other games of this genre.

"Make friends, enemies, and, most importantly, amazing memories and stories you will take with you from dark, misty Avalon. We wanted to give you, the player, full freedom of how you want to enjoy this world. No one is going to hold your hand here and force fetch quests. Hence, we hope that whenever two people who played Tainted Grail talk about it, their experiences will be so different, it will seem as if they played a different game!" - Questline and Awaken Realms

The Polish studio Questline is behind Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. It is their second game after Tainted Grail: Conquest (2021), a card battle roguelike deckbuilder. The indie studio started with 20 people at the beginning of the project, and by the time of the release, the team had grown to 50 people. Questline is a subsidiary of Awaken Realms, one of the largest board game publishers and creator of Kickstarter successes such as This War of Mine. The Board Game, Lords of Hellas, Nemesis, Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon, and Etherfields. With many years of experience in gameplay design and world creation, Awaken Realms is entering the digital games industry.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon was released on Steam in Early Access and on GOG (Games in Development) on 30 March 2023. The full version was released on 23 May 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S for €44.99.

On 6 June, the developers announced that the game had sold over 450,000 copies, including those from the Early Access phase. Work on the game is set to continue with regular patches to fix major bugs and performance issues, mod support, and a special performance version for Steam Deck. "A huge batch of extra content is coming in Patch 1.1, which will include many of the most popular community requests, especially in the Forlorn Swords (Act 3) region," is planned for Patch 1.1 in August.

Conclusion

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is aimed at players looking for a mature, dark, and bleak fantasy world with complex decisions and a dense atmosphere who can wait until the issues in Acts 2 and 3 are resolved (or who can ignore them).

Features

Role-playing game set in a fascinatingly dark and hopeless world
Offers great freedom of choice and high replay value
Technically, it is not on par with current games, and it is still quite unfinished from Act 2 onwards

"Make friends, enemies, and, most importantly, amazing memories and stories you will take with you from dark, misty Avalon. We wanted to give you, the player, full freedom of how you want to enjoy this world. No one is going to hold your hand here and force fetch quests. Hence, we hope that whenever two people who played Tainted Grail talk about it, their experiences will be so different, it will seem as if they played a different game!" - Questline and Awaken Realms

Conclusion

Features

Role-playing game set in a fascinatingly dark and hopeless world
Offers great freedom of choice and high replay value
Technically, it is not on par with current games, and it is still quite unfinished from Act 2 onwards