«Fellowship»: The MMO that consists only of dungeons

Luca Fontana

5.11.2025

Translation: machine translated

Early Access or not: "Fellowship" knows exactly what it wants – no world, no quests, no ballast. Only four players, one dungeon and the next "one more way". But does that really motivate?

I'm sitting in front of the screen, the medieval music is playing softly in the background, metal is clinking somewhere. Four characters stand in a circle, each different, but all with the same goal: to survive, to become faster, to play better together. No village, no quest giver, no collection order. Just us – and the next dungeon. This is how "Fellowship" begins.

And that's how it stays.

Four heroes, one dungeon, no ballast

«Fellowship» is not a classic online role-playing game. The creators call it a MODA, the first of its kind, a multiplayer online dungeon adventure where you do exactly what the name says: you play dungeons. And only dungeons. So it takes what usually takes dozens of hours in MMOs – the endgame – and turns it into the whole game.

In plain language: Four players divide three roles: tank, healer and damage dealer. The «holy trinity» of the role-playing game, as publisher Arc Games calls it, but with a lot of weight. Because without consultation, without timing and without mutual rescue operations, nothing works on the higher difficulty levels.

Each dungeon is a short, intense rush that reminds me more of «Overwatch» with swords and fantasy armor than a role-playing game. You log in, choose a hero, and join the queue via a group finder. After a few minutes, you jump into the dungeon, fight, loot, improve - and queue up for the next dungeon.

If you complete a dungeon within the allotted time, your rank will increase – and with it the difficulty. Better rewards beckon for this. This is fun and strongly reminiscent of the «Mythic Plus» system from «World of Warcraft».

That's it. There's not much more to say.

Reward without detours

In general, «Fellowship" feels like an homage to Blizzard's classic, only a little more elegant, a little more polished, a bit like the nicer version of the original.

However, the progression system works differently. You don't earn any experience points, and there's no classic level-up that rewards you with new skills or talent points for your skill tree. Instead, your hero grows with each dungeon run. Each completed adventure directly unlocks new talents, abilities, or upgrades.

This is surprisingly motivating: I don't improve my hero or heroine indirectly through experience points that I have to grind, but every dungeon completion rewards me immediately – with new talents, skills or upgrades. And of course loot.

Of course, there is also a rather complex equipment system around loot, gems and item upgrades - everything that makes the character stronger outside of dungeons. But it remains in the background. The heart of the gameplay is the moment after the boss fight: that little twitch in the finger, that thought "one more way". And before you know it, hours have passed again.

Not an epic – yet?

What «Fellowship» is definitely not: a role-playing game. Let alone a real MMO. There is no world to explore, no cities and villages, no living environment that lives on when you log out, no quests that tell big and small stories. And currently no raids, i.e. larger dungeons that require more than four people to master.

Only at the beginning, in a nicely animated intro, is it briefly explained that a dark force threatens the land – the minimum of story needed to wield a sword. After that, the stage remains empty and the game leaves the rest to you.

This is not an omission, but a conscious decision. "Fellowship" does not want to be an epic. It wants to be short, precise and demanding. A game for evenings when you don't want to save the world, but just put in some good runs. This is precisely its strength – and its limit.

Because if you love MMOs, as I do, because they swallow me up and I live in them, you will only find the adrenaline here, not the security. "Fellowship" is not a place to return to. It's a leap into the deep end, every time anew. A damn refreshing one, for sure. Nevertheless, I ask myself whether this is enough motivation for me in the long term.

Probably not.

But don't forget: «Fellowship» is still in Early Access. And you can tell. Some menus are still raw, the balancing is not always right, and some comfort functions – such as damage meters or detailed statistics – also need some fine-tuning.

To this end, the developers react quickly to feedback and continuously incorporate features that are demanded by the community. You can feel that the game is growing, constantly changing and becoming a bit more mature with each patch. But yes, something good comes together.

Conclusion: perfect for in between – and that's okay

At the end of my first evening, I sit there, my hands sweating, my heart racing. No level-up, no quest completion, no story beat. Only four figures standing at the mission table, exhausted but satisfied. And I realize that this is exactly the moment when «Fellowship" is at its strongest, when the next adrenaline rush is just a click away.

Will this also motivate in the long term? Not me. Without a living world full of stories and lives, I hardly identify with my character if he can't turn into the greatest dragon slayer on the continent in my imagination. I'm also not your typical «Overwatch» or «» player. Most of the time, I play such turn-based or dungeon-based games for an hour or two at a time and then watch it for a while.

"Fellowship" falls into this category for me. That doesn't make it bad at all. On the contrary, it's amazingly well-rounded, especially for an Early Access game. If you're looking for short, digestible action in a chic fantasy setting, you'll be happy here.

Fellowship has been available in Early Access since October 16 via Steam. In the current episode of the Tech-telmechtel podcast, we also talk about the topic.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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