Salt and Sanctuary is a 2D action role-playing game developed by Ska Studios, the independent studio founded by the artist and designer James Silva, and released in 2016. It began life on PlayStation 4 before spreading to other platforms. Its hand-drawn world is bleak and oppressive: drowned shores, ruined fortresses, and a pantheon that offers little comfort to the faithful.

Players guide a shipwrecked sailor across the island in search of a lost princess, and the game is known for its punishing combat and labyrinth of branching paths, which reward patience and a careful reading of every shadow. Salt is what the dead leave behind, and what you spend to grow stronger; sanctuaries are the few safe places to rest and to choose a creed. Its atmosphere, its cruelty and its devotion to player discovery made it a touchstone for the genre.