$14.99Cursemark Your Build Is the Puzzle
Fight through a cursed dark fantasy world where every run deepens the mystery and every rune changes how you play.
Is Cursemark worth it?
Cursemark is worth it if…
- you want to earn your power through deaths, not despite them
- you like games where the build is the puzzle and synergies do the heavy lifting
- you enjoy exploring a fixed map that rewards attention over hundreds of runs
- you have patience for a hard game that starts brutal and eases up as you learn
Screenshots
Runes that rewrite your abilities
Every ability has a slot, and what you put in it changes what that ability is. Integrate a rune into your sword and it can chain lightning between enemies. Multiply your fireball and it splits into a volley. Cast it another way and ice pillars erupt from the ground. Your ward can blind attackers and heal you when they strike it. Runes are randomized each run, so you never walk in with the same kit: you read what the run offers, pick a direction, and build around it. When a combination clicks, the whole game changes shape around it.
A kingdom that keeps its secrets
The Unknown Lands are a fixed, hand-built world, and it does not point at anything. No map markers, no hand-holding. Secret passages, hidden relics and strange sights are tucked into every corner, and riddles guard both power and shortcuts. The world unravels a little more with each run: a door you could not open last time makes sense now, a note you skimmed turns out to be a clue. Curiosity is the resource here. Pay attention, read what you find, and the map slowly stops being unknown.
Death is a step forward
This is a game that expects you to die, and it makes dying count. Shrines and forges scattered through the world are permanent: discover them, upgrade them, and every future run starts stronger, with more rune slots and blessings you can aim at your favorite build. Shortcuts you unlock stay open too, so the map you keep failing on slowly becomes a map you know. Early runs end fast and the game is genuinely punishing, but each death buys knowledge and power you keep. The loop is built so one more go always feels worth it.
What is a run like?
How long does a run take?
Short enough for an evening session. Runs land around half an hour, and since the map is fixed, each one is less about surviving a random layout and more about choosing a route: which nodes to clear, which secrets to chase, when to turn back. Clearing rooms raises the curse and strengthens enemies, so lingering forever is not an option. You set a goal, plan a path, and see how far you get before the curse catches up.
Is the map different every run?
No, and that is the point. The Unknown Lands are a fixed world you get to know over many runs, closer to a metroidvania than a randomized roguelike. What changes is your build, since runes and talismans you find along the way differ each time. As you explore, you permanently unlock shortcuts and shrines, so the same map plays differently once you can skip whole sections and push into new ones.
Do you lose everything when you die?
Your build goes, but your progress does not. Permanent shrines and forges keep their upgrades between runs, expanding your power and rune slots for every future attempt, and unlocked shortcuts stay open. So while a failed run costs you the character you built, it leaves the world itself more open than you found it. That is what keeps the loop moving forward instead of spinning in place.
Can you play it solo?
Yes, it is a singleplayer game through and through. The whole structure is built around your own pace: planning routes on the map, experimenting with rune combinations, and slowly learning enemy patterns across runs. There is no team to coordinate with and no one to blame when a boss ends your streak, which is very much part of the deal here.
