Brány Skeldalu 4: The cult Czech game returns to Startovač

Jindřich Skeldal, the creator of one of the most famous Czech games of the nineties, launched a campaign for Brány Skeldalu 4 at the beginning of November 2026. The fourth installment is set to be a first-person grid-based dungeon crawler with turn-based combat and hand-drawn graphics. He needs to raise 600,000 CZK on Startovač, and the campaign is successfully nearing its goal. The game is scheduled for release on Windows in about a year, available in Czech, Slovak, and English.

Brány Skeldalu: A Czech classic from 1998

The first Brány Skeldalu was released in November 1998 for MS-DOS. It was created by the studio Napoleon Games, published by JRC Interactive, programmed by Ondřej Novák, and written by Jindřich Rohlík, now known as Skeldal. In the game, you travel to the island of Rovenland, where a group of apprentices attempts to open a dimension where gods once imprisoned demons and dragons.

The game became a cult classic and remains alive today. In 2005, it received a Windows port, two years later it became freeware, and in 2008, the authors released its source code. In 2014, a version for iOS and Android was released, which fans supported on Startovač. Since 2025, you can also find it on Steam, now with an English translation.

Who is Jindřich Skeldal

Jindřich Skeldal was previously known as Jindřich Rohlík, and older players remember him from gaming magazines like Excalibur, Score, and Level, or as the host of the Game Page show on Czech Television. He founded the studio Napoleon Games and later changed his surname to Skeldal, so today he is linked to his series by name as well. He describes himself as a full-time independent developer.

He also expands the world of Brány Skeldalu in books. Between 2016 and 2021, he published the fantasy tetralogy Legenda o Rovenu, Bílá věž, Led, oheň a fůra větru, and Skeldal, which he narrated himself as audiobooks. In addition, he created the VR actor simulator Actors for Meta Quest and the music quiz Blow Fish Music Quiz.

He returns to the series ten years after the third installment. He explained it simply to the Indian website: "For the entire ten years since the third part, I've felt that I haven't said the last word in Skeldal yet."

Brány Skeldalu 4: What the fourth part is about

The fourth part is a standalone adventure, so you don't need to know the previous games. The author promises an authentic grid-based dungeon crawler with a first-person perspective, turn-based combat, and a party that you can split into groups.

A ring, a traitor, and the chosen one

The game takes place once again on the island of Rovenland, this time deep underground as well. After his father's death, young King Sointuril inherits a library and a book called Valtahautor within it. Scholars read from it that the ring of the ruler Istimaran is buried on Rovenland, where the Skeldal tower later stood. The king sends a four-member party to retrieve it. One of its members is a traitor, and another is the chosen one. The ending of the game changes based on how you uncover their identities.

What we know about the gameplay

• A party of four adventurers who are part of the story.
• Trén, an accompanying group that handles musical magic and takes care of food, drink, and healing. You don't have to manage this for every character individually.
• Logic puzzles with hints from the Valtahautor book and more secret rooms.
• Biomes that change the game rules, not just the graphics.
• A skill tree without classes, so a character can eventually become anything.
• Multiple endings and, according to the author, a solid 10 hours of gameplay in the base version.

Hand-drawn graphics without AI

Artist and animator Jorma Rysky from Helsinki paints the textures with watercolors and ink, then applies them to 3D models. The animations are created by hand, without tweening. The result is meant to resemble the hand-animated graphics of the first Brány Skeldalu. The author has also pledged not to use artificial intelligence for creative work, such as graphics, music, sounds, texts, and the story.

Watch the trailer:

Startovač campaign: rewards and goals

The 600,000 CZK goal, according to the author, covers only a small part of the costs; he plans to pay the rest himself. Furthermore, the game will not have the usual launch discount, and supporters will receive keys at least 24 hours before everyone else.

More expensive rewards offer things like a name on a tombstone in the game or the design of your own character or item. The campaign runs until the beginning of December. If he raises 900,000 CZK, the game will expand by about 5 more hours of gameplay, new monsters, levels with puzzles, and a longer story. Further goals are currently encrypted in "Halkandorian," and the author will reveal them gradually.

Grid-based dungeon crawlers at the table too

If you are drawn to dungeons and turn-based combat, check out our article on Underkeep, another Czech dungeon crawler that was released this November.

Underkeep: A Czech dungeon crawler from the creators of Jets'n'Guns

Underkeep from the Prague studio Rake in Grass launches on November 5. A turn-based dungeon crawler with a party of four heroes, pixel art, and Czech language support. Who is behind it? full article…

23. 10. 2026 Karel Krajča  5 min

Without a screen, you can play a similar adventure as a tabletop RPG. The Czech classic Dračí doupě belongs to the nineties just as much as the first Brány Skeldalu, and today you can play it in the new edition, Dračí doupě II.

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