D2 Survivors is a free browser game that rebuilds Diablo II as a survivors-like. You pick one of seven classes, walk into a horde, and let the skills fire on their own. It is a fan project rather than a Blizzard product, and it runs without ads or purchases. The game is unofficial and Blizzard is not involved.
Seven classes, one skill tree
The class choice comes first and shapes everything after it. Each of the seven heroes carries its own skill tree. That tree decides which abilities can appear as you level, so the same card can be useless to one class and central to another. All seven appear: Amazon, Assassin, Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Paladin and Sorceress.
Level-ups deal cards, and you keep one. Gear drops add a second layer on top of the cards, so a run is never only about ability picks. Both systems pull from Diablo II’s own skills, items and loot, which is why the game reads as a remix rather than a reskin.
Seven classes is a lot of variety for a free browser build, and it is the main reason to replay. A second run with a different hero plays differently from the first.
A run across five acts
A run covers all five Diablo II acts, then Nightmare, then Hell. Retrying is the point. Progress comes down to the class you chose, the cards you took and how cleanly you moved.
Controls are movement and menus. WASD or the arrow keys move the hero, and the skills cast without input. C brings up the character sheet, I the inventory, T the skills, Tab the automap and Esc the menu. The keyboard only reaches the game after you click once inside its frame.
That last step catches people out. The game also expects a keyboard and a computer, so phones are out. Menus are keyboard-driven, which is worth knowing before the first fight starts.
Where the art and sound come from
The browser build can read Diablo II’s art and audio in two ways. The hosted option streams them from a server, which is how the game can start on a machine that has never installed Diablo II. The developer plans to retire the hosted option.
The long-term route is to point it at a local install of Diablo II with Lord of Destruction (1.14) or at Diablo II: Resurrected. Those files are read on your machine, and what the game needs is kept in browser storage or the app folder. Nothing is uploaded.
Saves live in browser storage or in the desktop app’s folder, and the Options menu has a Transfer Save tool for moving one between the two.
Browser frame or desktop app
The game runs in any desktop browser, and it also ships as a desktop build for Windows and for Apple-silicon Macs. Beyond those local files, the browser build asks for nothing. The app opens in its own window, works offline and updates itself.
There is no Linux app yet, though the browser version does run on Linux. The desktop builds stop at Windows and Apple silicon, so the browser remains the way in on other systems.
This site does not embed D2 Survivors. The play button opens the game’s own site in a new tab, because the developer hosts the build and asks players to run it there. A strict ad blocker, a work or school filter, or a slow connection can still stop the listing from loading, so try another network before assuming the game is down.
Because the hosted option will go away, the setup worth planning for is the one that reads your own files. The game costs nothing, shows no ads and sells no content. The developer takes optional tips on Ko-fi, and a tip unlocks nothing.
