The team that made classic indie DnD movie The Gamers are back on Kickstarter, raising funds to make the final sequel in their long-running comedy saga. “The Shadow—the nemesis of the players since the original Gamers —pulled the players into the game world itself” at the end of the last movie, and ‘The Gamers 4: Dorkness Falls’ continues that story.
The Gamers has been a cult favorite in DnD playing circles since the first flick released in 2002, and enjoyed regular convention screenings at a time before digital distribution (and official DnD movies!) existed. It follows a group of tabletop RPG players and their dungeon master as they play an unnamed (but recognisable) fantasy game – and shows the antics of their characters within the game world.
The third movie, Dorkness Falls, ended with the player characters drawn into the world that their characters had been part of. It’s been ten years since that film was made, and the new movie plot picks up ten years later as well. We’ll see what the players have been up to during their decade-long stint in a fantasy realm, and how they fare on a new quest against their characters’ nemesis, The Shadow.
Unlike the kids in the classic ‘80s DnD cartoon, the players haven’t magically received DnD Class levels – but they do have player knowledge. Can meta gaming defeat the BBEG? The Gamers series always been on the nose with its parodies of game logic and player behavior, so it’ll be interesting to see how far they take this – anyone who remembers the ‘peasant railgun’ from DnD 3rd edition knows just how far power gamers can bend the rules of a game.
The Kickstarter Campaign to fund the new production is seeking $500,000 USD (£391,500 GBP), and runs until 9pm PT / midnight ET on June 29 (5am BST June 30). You can get a digital download copy of the movie and your name in the end credits for $25 (£20).
Dorkness Rising reassembles the original cast, writer, director, and crew who have worked on other entries in the series. There are some new additions to the team, including award-winning comics author Scott Kurtz, and as-yet unnamed “others”.
The Gamers’ schtick may seem commonplace now, but the masses of fourth-wall breaking DnD-adjacent media we get online nowadays is following in a trail that it blazed.
We assume you’re a DnD player if you’ve found this article – have you seen the sale that’s on at DnD Beyond at the moment? We’ve picked out some bargain DnD books that are worth your money. Or if you’re here for the cinema, we absolutely insist you check out SF short film anthology A Thousand Suns – it’s beyond brilliant.