Scrabdackle – Hand-Drawn Adventure Full of Personality

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• DEVELOPER: jakefriend
• PUBLISHER: Fellow Traveller, jakefriend
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Adventure / Soulslike
• RELEASE DATE: December 2, 2025
• STARTING PRICE: 14,99 €
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

Scrabdackle is a very creative and unique action-adventure, soulslike and Metroidvania game that feels like stepping into a child’s sketchbook, yet it manages to deliver more depth and emotion than its playful art style first suggests. The game places you in the role of a young wizard who wakes up after a long sleep, only to discover that the world has fallen into ruin and confusion. From this point on, you begin a journey that mixes humor with a surprising sense of mystery as you explore hand-drawn lands filled with various characters, strange enemies, and secrets waiting to be uncovered.

When I say the game is an action-adventure, a soulslike, and a metroidvania, I really mean it. The progression follows both metroidvania and soulslike ideas. After you beat bosses, explore new areas, or reach certain towns, you unlock new skills and abilities that let you move deeper into the world. It’s also a true action-adventure game because it’s full of challenges, enemies, NPCs to talk to, and collectibles like stickers. The world is open and fun to explore, with some limits, but it’s still easy to move around and enjoy everything it offers.

Hand-Drawn Adventure Full of Personality

The first thing that stands out about Scrabdackle is its art style. Everything looks as if it was drawn with simple markers, colored pencils, and rough pencil outlines, but instead of feeling cheap or unfinished, the result is full of personality. The shaky lines, uneven colors, and playful doodles give the game a strong identity. This look is supported by lively animations that blend cuteness with odd, dreamlike movement. It gives the world a sense of energy that carries you forward as you explore forests, snowy fields, ruined buildings, and magical dungeons.

You start with basic spells and abilities, and as you explore, you gain new magic that lets you fight tougher enemies and travel through new areas. The game never feels like it wants to overwhelm you, instead, it teaches you slowly and allows you to experiment with your powers at your own pace. The enemies come with surprising attack patterns that keep combat interesting.

Boss battles are also memorable because each one reflects the personality and theme of the area it belongs to. They are challenging in a fair way, requiring patience and observation rather than fast reflexes. You are also given control over the challenge, with multiple difficulty settings available to match your preferred play style.

As mentioned, the world is open and encourages exploration, with paths that loop around, hidden corners tucked behind small details, and secrets that reward those who take the time to look closely. Characters speak in light, humorous dialogue that never tries too hard to be funny, but still makes the world feel unique. You meet friendly villagers, wandering spirits, confused creatures, and strange beings who each add small pieces to the story. Their conversations slowly reveal what happened during your long sleep and why the world changed so drastically.

Unique Enemies and Fair Soulslike Combat

There’s just something about this game that, despite its small scale, it leaves a strong impression through its creativity and emotional honesty. Every area looks like it came from someone’s imagination without being filtered through big studio polish. To be honest, I was so tired of all the big, expensive games. This small game felt just right and showed me again how special indie games are. The exploration feels more personal, like you are walking through the developer’s own thoughts and drawings.

I really liked everything this game offered. It is coming out in Early Access right now, and only the first part (Act 1) is ready. But even Act 1 has a lot of stuff: 10 areas, 9 bosses, 6 magic spells, about 60 special items you can find in secret places or from challenges, around 130 notebook pages, and over 80,000 words of story text. So, the game is very big in terms of content. The full game will be finished and leave Early Access when Act 3 is done. I felt this game is the type that seems simple at first but slowly shows a surprising amount of depth in its story and how it uses its simple look to build a special world.

What really stuck with me is how every area brings something new and fresh. Each enemy reacts to you and attacks you differently. The world is full of small, talking peanut characters, ducks that attack, and tiny, dusty furballs that rush at you, there is just so much life to everything. But, I do want to make sure you know that this is a true soulslike game. It’s mostly a lighter one, but it will challenge you with difficult bosses, forcing you to learn their attack patterns. You need to save the game often too, as there are save spots placed around the world.

You will also rarely feel lost. There is a log that records everything, and you can always check what main quests are left open, what small side jobs still need to be finished, how well you are doing at collecting everything, and what parts of the map you have opened up so far. However, I do wish the map was more detailed about what you have found and where the save spots are. This would make it easier to move around the map.

Made With Love

In the end, Scrabdackle is a wonderful and easy-to-remember adventure. It perfectly captures the fun of creating things, the comfort of exploring huge worlds, and the feeling of going back to a place that changed while you were away. Its hand-drawn look, simple but fun combat, humorous writing, and warm atmosphere make it stand out from other action-adventure games. Anyone who loves creative worlds, funny stories, and games that feel like they were made with heart will find something special here.

Review copy provided by the publisher