Game: Danger in Pompeii
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer | Publisher: DNA Studios
Controller Support: Partial
Price: US $4.99 | UK £4.49 | EU €4,99
Release Date: July 25, 2025
A review code was provided, many thanks to DNA Studios.
Disco Elysium and Obsidian’s beautifully unique adventure Pentiment, woke something in gamers looking for thoughtful explorations of stories, mostly but not quite similar to the lives we know. Pentiment, in particular, is almost adult edutainment, teaching us things we never knew about the history of the Church, the fall of old religions, and the rise of literacy. It’s a loving trek through illustrated manuscripts suggested a revitalized way to get people to learn something new.
Edutainment is a loaded term for most gamers; short of fond memories of Oregon Trail, most such games end up being dry stuff. Yet here’s Danger in Pompeii, looking to catch a little magic of both its derided forebears, by adding the worldly wizardry of Pentiment. Set on the last day of doomed Pompeii, a Roman city marked by the coming shadow of Mt. Vesuvius’ deadliest eruption, it’s up to you to see if you can heed the warnings of the Gods and survive tomorrow.
Danger in Pompeii — A Quick History
I could wax on about the last day of Pompeii, the mythology and history of the Mediterranean to northern Egypt is a hobby of mine. The facts are tragic: in the fall of AD 79 (probably late October), after years of earthquakes so consistent and often minor as to have become part of a Roman’s background life, Mount Vesuvius roared into a violent eruption equivalent to thousands of Hiroshimas. The cities closest to, and downwind of the volcano had almost no chance to escape, as the volcano would be heralded with another massive earthquake, shattering buildings in Pompeii, and in Herculaneum, along the coast of the gulf of Naples.
The tragedy was so massive, so abrupt as to be frozen in time. Today, Pompeii is an UNESCO heritage site, with ruins cared for and curated, and where hundreds of ashen bodies lie at rest. The exact number remains unknown. The lives the Gods saved, whether by fortune of being away for travel, or who had some sense of danger coming, are also unknown, save for the letters of Pliny the Elder and Younger.
It’s one of humanity’s most fascinating and harrowing true stories, and an almost perfect hook to get the mind interested in the daily lives of Ancient Rome. That’s part of the goal of Danger in Pompeii, which takes the above and casts you as the young heir to a well-off Roman family. On the last day, your character (you may choose a boy or a girl) is granted a vision from Mercury, the Messenger God. Follow it, collect more visions, and it may be that your friends and family will become some of Pompeii’s few survivors.
Navigating a Tough Story
Intended for anyone roughly 9 and up and created with the help of one of the world’s most acclaimed private schools, Switzerland’s Institut Le Rosey, Danger In Pompeii attempts to balance the upcoming tragedy with fascination and hope. The youngest players will benefit from a parent or teacher’s assistance, as Mercury’s visions are frightening in their deadly implication, even if no actual bodily harm is depicted. The game is also refreshingly up front about relevant topics, from the history of Roman ritual sacrifices (which some kids will find grossly neat) and the lure of the amphitheatre and its public games.
Changing your character’s fate isn’t pressured, fortunately. There’s no timer, and the game encourages you to engage in moments of daily life. These are often speckled with relatively easy puzzles to solve. The morning earthquake bungs the pipes under the communal bathhouse, and you’re small enough to fix it. Quizzes pop up here and there, with no punishment for fumbling your way to the right answer. An artist needs help fixing the city’s mosaics, allowing a little bit of puzzle block gaming.
They’re all fun distractions, and it all allows you to be a kid on what should have been, for them, an ordinary day, fussing around before Dad has to go hang out with his boss. But your family’s protector deity is in your pocket (literally) to help guide you towards the next vision you need to find so that you can have many more ordinary days to come.
Playing Through Pompeii
A little bit like The Root Trees Are Dead but vastly less involved, Danger in Pompeii is played like traditional adventure games of yore. Bright, parchment-cartoon characters run along a mostly side-to-side track (with the occasional stairway and offshoot door), with fast transport available for a couple sestertius. Coins are awarded for solving puzzles and for cracking golden pottery. They’re used for transport, for cosmetics that you can freely swap around when bought, or for buying hints. It’s not difficult to have a bulging pocket of coins, so have fun.
Controls are simple; there’s some controller support, which is useful for puzzles and for quickly moving along, but the menus are typically best for mouse controls to handle. For Steam Deck players, it works together just fine, if occasionally a little fumbly. But there’s no need for quick reflexes at any point, so it’s hardly any concern.
Within the menus are a world of information to refer to as you unlock it, quest references, tips, and a detailed map of Pompeii to help plan where you’re going next. It’s all in the same lightly cartoony yet Roman art style, creating a cohesive world to enjoy where you can, temporarily, forget it’s all going to go terribly, terribly wrong.
Conclusion
Danger in Pompeii attempts to revitalize edutainment with an adventure game that puts you in the shoes of a kid both frightened and fascinated by what’s to come. Without obsessing over the horrors of the tragedy, the game allows players of any age to learn something new about Rome through what we’ve learned from one of the most unfortunate and most well-preserved historical sites in the region.
Perky enough to avoid feeling dry and pacing its educational aspects well, it’s a plain ol’ just nice game for anyone who’d enjoy an adventure through a world they’ve never experienced. For younger gamers, especially those with educational assistance from an adult, it’s a fun way to feel genuinely invested in history, learning without feeling condescended to. A bit on the short side (understandable for its niche and price point), and with a tough job ahead of it, navigating a historical tragedy, Danger in Pompeii is a nice surprise that does a great job of not feeling like the usual homework.
Final Verdict: I Like It A Lot
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