Halls of Torment

Halls of Torment on PC is a dark-fantasy horde survival roguelite with manual aiming, class-driven builds, quest progression, and a pre-rendered retro RPG look. The current PC storefront name remains Halls of Torment, with no separate rebrand or replacement edition identified. It is developed and published by Chasing Carrots as a single-player game built around repeated combat runs, permanent unlocks, and increasingly demanding build experiments.

Its strongest appeal is the way it combines the immediate readability of a top-down survival game with the deliberate character identity of an action RPG. You do not simply wait for automatic weapons to clear the screen. Movement, targeting, positioning, enemy priority, and the interaction between traits and equipment all matter.

How a Halls of Torment run works

Each run begins by choosing one hero and entering a dangerous underground stage. Your character attacks while you steer through expanding enemy formations, collect experience, and choose upgrades whenever a new level is reached. Depending on the hero and control setup, you can aim manually or rely on auto-aim and auto-attack options.

The basic loop is easy to understand: survive enemy waves, gather experience, improve your combat tools, complete objectives, and prepare for a boss encounter. The difficulty comes from deciding which threats deserve attention while keeping enough space to avoid projectiles, charging enemies, area attacks, and encirclement.

Bosses are not passive health checks. They use distinct attack patterns and can force you to reposition, change your target priority, or abandon a promising damage setup for better defense. Defeating them also contributes to the game's broader progression structure rather than ending the experience after a single successful run.

Buildcrafting through traits, abilities, and gear

Traits are central to character development during a run. They can improve offensive statistics, movement, survivability, ability behavior, or class-specific strengths. Because the available choices change as you level, a good build is shaped by both your intended plan and the options the run actually presents.

Abilities provide additional sources of damage and utility, while upgrades can push them toward different tactical roles. Some choices reward close-range pressure, others improve projectiles, summons, elemental effects, area control, or single-target damage. The practical goal is not to collect everything, but to create a small group of effects that reinforce one another.

Equipment adds another layer. Unique items can be recovered and unlocked for future use, while higher-rarity variants provide more ambitious long-term goals. The Wellkeeper helps turn discoveries from individual runs into a persistent equipment pool, giving exploration and boss rewards value beyond the immediate attempt.

Players who enjoy comparing layered build interactions may also appreciate the dark survival-action approach of Vampiress: Eternal Duet's form-switching combat and relentless enemy pressure, although Halls of Torment is more focused on arena survival and run-based optimization.

Quest progression and long-term mastery

Halls of Torment uses a quest-based meta progression system instead of relying only on currency upgrades. Quests can ask you to defeat specific enemies, complete objectives with a certain hero, use particular abilities, survive under restrictions, or overcome a boss under defined conditions.

Completing these challenges can unlock characters, traits, equipment, abilities, and other progression tools. This gives failed runs a clear purpose. Even when a character falls short of a final objective, the attempt may reveal a useful item, advance a quest, or show which part of a build needs to change.

Permanent bonuses called Blessings improve future attempts across the roster. They support fundamentals such as movement, experience collection, health, damage, and other run-wide advantages. The system makes early failures less punishing without removing the need to understand enemy patterns and build priorities.

More advanced players can experiment with character marks, which allow class-related strengths to influence heroes outside their normal role. This creates additional build paths and gives familiar characters new purposes once the basic progression systems are understood.

Stages, bosses, and late-game modifiers

The base game includes multiple underground worlds with different environments, monster groups, bosses, and tactical pressures. Stages are not merely visual changes. Enemy composition, arena space, hazards, and boss behavior can alter which heroes and abilities feel reliable.

Alongside standard progression, Agony Mode and artifact-based modifiers add more demanding versions of the game's survival challenges. Artifacts can change the conditions of a run, creating restrictions or complications for players who have already mastered the basic encounters.

The late-game Shrine of Torment provides an additional test for optimized builds. It is aimed at players who want more than routine clears and are willing to refine equipment choices, trait selection, class combinations, and movement discipline.

The scale of the current package is substantial for a focused single-player roguelite. The Steam listing identifies 11 playable characters, six stages, 25 Blessings, 60 unique items, 240 higher-rarity item variants, 74 abilities and upgrades, 30 artifacts, more than 35 unique bosses, more than 70 unique monsters, 500 quests, and over 1,000 traits.

Base game, Boglands, and optional content

Halls of Torment is a paid base game, not a free-to-play title. Its core character roster, stages, quests, equipment systems, Blessings, artifacts, and progression loop are part of the main purchase.

The current storefront also lists The Boglands as a separate paid gameplay expansion. It adds a swamp-themed stage, additional heroes, quests, abilities, traits, equipment, and related progression content. Players interested only in the core experience can start with the base game, while completionists have a clearly defined expansion path.

The other listed add-ons are a Supporter Pack and a soundtrack rather than additional gameplay campaigns. This makes the commercial structure relatively straightforward: one substantial base game, one gameplay expansion, and optional non-core extras.

For another PC game built around dark fantasy, survival pressure, and character growth, V Rising's gothic survival sandbox with real-time combat and progression offers a broader exploration and crafting format, while Halls of Torment stays compact and run-focused.

Who should play Halls of Torment?

Halls of Torment is a strong fit for players who like short repeatable runs, visible build decisions, arcade-style enemy density, and permanent unlocks that make each attempt productive. It is especially appealing if you want more direct aiming and positioning than a purely passive bullet-heaven design provides.

It also suits players who enjoy checklists with mechanical purpose. The quest board does not merely provide cosmetic milestones; it can direct you toward new heroes, traits, items, and strategic options. That structure gives the game a stronger sense of direction than an endless score chase.

It may be less suitable for players seeking a traditional story campaign, party management, online co-op, or a fully open world. The game is deliberately solitary and repeatable. Its narrative premise supplies atmosphere, but the main progression comes from mastery, experimentation, and completion rather than dialogue-heavy storytelling.

PC features, controls, and localization

The PC version is distributed through Steam and supports keyboard and mouse, standard gamepads, and touchscreen input. Controllers use the expected movement and aiming layout, while auto-aim options can reduce the need for constant manual targeting during hectic encounters.

The Steam listing includes Steam Cloud, achievements, trading cards, and Family Sharing. The game is also available for Windows and Linux, including SteamOS-compatible play. No separate publisher launcher or online multiplayer requirement is presented in the current storefront information.

Controller users should be aware that unusual extra input devices or conflicting Steam Input profiles have been associated with aiming and movement problems in community reports. Enabling Steam Input and disconnecting unused gamepads, wheels, pedals, or virtual controller software is a concrete remedy when the game detects unintended inputs.

Localization is broad. The current listing supports English plus 16 additional interface and subtitle languages, including French, Italian, German, Spanish variants, Portuguese variants, Czech, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese variants, and Vietnamese. English is the listed full-audio language, while the other supported languages focus on interface and subtitles.

Halls of Torment FAQ

Is Halls of Torment still called Halls of Torment on PC?

Yes. The current PC storefront continues to use Halls of Torment as the official product name. No separate rebrand or replacement PC edition needs to be used when searching for the game.

Is Halls of Torment multiplayer or co-op?

No. The PC version is presented as a single-player horde survival roguelite. Its progression, quests, character unlocks, and build experimentation are designed for solo play rather than online or split-screen co-op.

Does Halls of Torment support controllers?

Yes. The game supports standard controllers with two-stick movement and aiming, along with keyboard, mouse, and touchscreen input. Auto-aim and auto-attack options are available for players who prefer less manual targeting.

What is the main progression system?

Progression combines quests, Blessings, unlocked heroes, traits, abilities, equipment, artifacts, and character marks. Individual runs improve your current build, while completed objectives and recovered items expand the options available in later attempts.

What does The Boglands add?

The Boglands is the listed gameplay expansion. It adds a swamp-themed environment along with additional characters, quests, abilities, traits, equipment, and progression content. It is separate from the base game purchase.

Is Halls of Torment similar to Vampire Survivors?

Both games belong to the broader horde survival roguelite family, but Halls of Torment places more emphasis on manual aiming, class identity, quest objectives, equipment retrieval, and Diablo-inspired character building. It is not simply an automatic-attack clone.