Urtuk: The Desolation
Released Feb 2021
Urtuk is an open world, tactical turn-based RPG in a low-fantasy setting. Guide your band of adventurers through the ruins of an ancient world. Recruit new followers, loot the corpses of your fallen foes, and do your best to survive in this harsh and unforgiving realm.
87% positive · 2,526 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Where to buy
Steam $13.99
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Evaluation
Urtuk: The Desolation left Early Access and reached its full 1.0 release on February 27, 2021. At that time, the developer announced plans for additional free content including a new faction, new biomes, new bosses, and modding support. That content was delivered on September 18, 2021, when a free update added the new Shattered faction, the Obsidian biome, new music, events, items, and objectives — fulfilling those stated plans.
Since that September 2021 update, the developer has made no further announcements about new content for Urtuk. The December 2023 post from the developer announced a brand new game (Maraka) as their next project, and in February 2025 Maraka launched. In May 2025, the developer announced yet another new game, Echo Bastion. These posts make clear that the developer's attention has fully shifted away from Urtuk toward new projects. The last substantial developer communication about Urtuk itself was in the context of a 75% discount sale in December 2023, with no mention of planned content.
The only DLC listed is the soundtrack, which was released in 2020. No unreleased DLC is listed on the store. The game has no live service structure.
With all announced content having shipped, the developer having publicly moved on to multiple subsequent projects, and no new content communicated for Urtuk since late 2021, the game is complete as of the September 18, 2021 free content update.
Evidence
Free content update released adding the Shattered faction, the Obsidian biome, new music, events, items, objectives, boss maps, and game mechanics — fulfilling the content plans announced at 1.0 launch
Full 1.0 release announced; developer outlines plans for upcoming free content including a new faction, new biomes, new bosses, and modding support
Content
1 of 1 released · no outstanding content
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
David Kaleta
Achievements
20
Platform
Windows, macOS, Linux
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Verified
Players
Single-player
About this game
Urtuk is an open world, tactical turn-based RPG in a low-fantasy setting.
Guide your band of adventurers through the ruins of an ancient world. Recruit new followers, loot the corpses of your fallen foes, and do your best to survive in this harsh and unforgiving realm.
Ram your enemies onto spikes or over high cliffs! Shield your allies and counterattack your enemies when they strike. Use your archers for ranged support while performing melee attacks. Or execute one of many possible combo attacks!
Ram your enemies into environmental hazards
Off you go!
Extract skills and traits from fallen enemies and apply them to your units! These custom abilities can totally change a character's role in combat. Extracted abilities include pushing the enemy on a critical hit, retaliating when being hit, avoiding a lethal strike, and performing a lifestealing counterattack against your foe!
Your characters also learn new skills when executing specific actions in battles. Pay attention and be rewarded!
The game world is a place of toil, suffering and darkness. There are no elves, dwarfs, dragons or other classical fantasy creatures. There are some light magical elements, but no overwhelmingly powerful sorcerers either.
Many centuries past, Giants roamed the world, living peacefully alongside humans until the war between the two species left the Giants extinct. Some years ago, a cabal of scientists discovered a process to extract the Life Essence of the ancient Giants from their bones.
This mystical fluid promised to cure many different diseases, mend grievous wounds, and perhaps even halt the aging process. Unfortunately, instead of improving the health of the subject, very often the serum would have the opposite effect, inflicting a mutation or lethal disease. Until the exact nature of this wondrous medicine can be determined, experiments on unwilling subjects continue.
The story begins when the main character, Urtuk, escapes from the Sanatorium, a facility where these experiments are carried out on abducted commoners. Urtuk suffered a severe mutation from his exposure to the Life Essence, and with every passing day his health worsens. Now he wanders the world in search of a cure. Unless he can find a way to counter his evolving mutation, Urtuk must eventually die.
For a quick video introduction of Urtuk, please head to the screeenshot/video section and select the second video. It is a quick intro to combat mechanics in the game.
Guide your band of adventurers through the ruins of an ancient world. Recruit new followers, loot the corpses of your fallen foes, and do your best to survive in this harsh and unforgiving realm.
Features
- Survival RPG with focus on combat and open-world exploration in a dark fantasy setting
- Turn-based, tactically rich combat on large maps, with multiple environmental factors and a carefully crafted class/skill system
- Procedurally generated survival campaign
- Extract character upgrades directly from your fallen enemies
- All graphical assets are hand drawn, from characters, monsters and objects, to the world map and battlefields
Dynamic battles
Ram your enemies onto spikes or over high cliffs! Shield your allies and counterattack your enemies when they strike. Use your archers for ranged support while performing melee attacks. Or execute one of many possible combo attacks!
Ram your enemies into environmental hazards
Off you go!
Characters
Extract skills and traits from fallen enemies and apply them to your units! These custom abilities can totally change a character's role in combat. Extracted abilities include pushing the enemy on a critical hit, retaliating when being hit, avoiding a lethal strike, and performing a lifestealing counterattack against your foe!
Your characters also learn new skills when executing specific actions in battles. Pay attention and be rewarded!
Story
The game world is a place of toil, suffering and darkness. There are no elves, dwarfs, dragons or other classical fantasy creatures. There are some light magical elements, but no overwhelmingly powerful sorcerers either.
Many centuries past, Giants roamed the world, living peacefully alongside humans until the war between the two species left the Giants extinct. Some years ago, a cabal of scientists discovered a process to extract the Life Essence of the ancient Giants from their bones.
This mystical fluid promised to cure many different diseases, mend grievous wounds, and perhaps even halt the aging process. Unfortunately, instead of improving the health of the subject, very often the serum would have the opposite effect, inflicting a mutation or lethal disease. Until the exact nature of this wondrous medicine can be determined, experiments on unwilling subjects continue.
The story begins when the main character, Urtuk, escapes from the Sanatorium, a facility where these experiments are carried out on abducted commoners. Urtuk suffered a severe mutation from his exposure to the Life Essence, and with every passing day his health worsens. Now he wanders the world in search of a cure. Unless he can find a way to counter his evolving mutation, Urtuk must eventually die.
For a quick video introduction of Urtuk, please head to the screeenshot/video section and select the second video. It is a quick intro to combat mechanics in the game.
Last evaluated Jun 22, 2026
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