Despite the constant death Dark And Darker Gold and the slightly stodgy swordplay, I'm going to clock several more evenings of co-op with friends or randoms during Dark and Darker's alpha, which will remain open until February 13 as part of Steam Next Fest. Its prior test ran from December 16–26, so I'll have to hope that another isn't too far away in the spring. 

You can't buy Dark and Darker yet, it may not ever release, but they will sell you some coffee and a tankard

A mere 10 days ago, developer Ironmace Games announced the delay of Dark and Darker's early access release—news that was not-unexpected given its rolling legal dispute with Nexon. There is a not-insignificant chance thanks to this legal battle that, while this game is definitely a real thing (and we've played it), it may not ever see a full release.

We'll get to the details of the dispute but, shortly after it began, Ironmace started and then paused a GoFundMe campaign to help with its legal battle. "The reality of the situation is that their end goal is to bleed us dry in court fees," said the developer, and there's no doubting Nexon has the kind of serious resource that could do such a thing to a smaller studio. Ironmace needs cash wherever it can get it.

Which is probably why you can now buy a Dark and Darker themed coffee set for a game you may never play. It's a team-up with coffee brand Madrinas and comes with a wooden tankard, a tub of dark roast instant coffee, and a bag of darker roast (geddit) coffee beans for $49.99 (plus exorbitant shipping). It seems to have been a good wheeze anyway, as the box set has already sold out and now you can only buy the coffees separately. 

Dark and Darker fans roughly split into Dark And Darker Gold for sale two camps. There's the die-hards who regard Ironmace as the little guy fighting big bully Nexon, and have rushed to support this. Then there's a more fatalistic crew who wonder whether they'll ever see the game and whether Ironmace is taking this fight seriously or just making as much as it can, as fast as it can, before the wheels come off. One wag asked Ironmace if this was the same coffee served at Nexon.