Demo/Beta Launched on Steam

The demo is now playable here on Steam!

When the game announced last week, I only had the itch.io demo and it wasn't up on Steam.

My original plan was to stick with itch for the demo and development and then use the finished first episode as the Steam demo. This was mostly because I'd seen "marketing advice" from the gamedev-youtube-sphere that convinced me that I only had one shot to put a demo on steam.

Then game was announced in the Indie Quest event! I'm really happy with how it went, and comments on the trailer were positive.

but... did I even release a demo at all?

Let's just say: people don't want to go to itch to download a demo, not when the Steam demos are so frictionless.

So I learned my lesson and sucked it up, and I put the demo up on Steam. Now it should be more accessible to players.

(Also, honestly I'd have preferred to stay on itch, if only because this site's comfy and it's my home as an indie guy, but Steam's gravitational pull is too strong)

• State of the Demo/Beta

It's a Demo AND an "open Beta" because:

It's a demo for the systems, visuals, world, tone, etc- I'm confident with it as a true demo vertical slice that represents the final game. It's about 20 minutes long, showcasing the core loop and systems: with a dungeon, combat, and a few character scenes.

The part that's open-beta (and specifically why I am desperate to see players play): to gauge the baseline difficulty for the combat and balance.

It's the classic dev trap: I'm too familiar with the game and can't judge its difficulty on my own.

• Now/next:

I've spent the past year building the engine and systems, this demo release is the culmination of this phase of dev.

Moving into the content phase of the project (which is what I've been looking forward to this whole time: the fun part for me is in working with the details in the environment (both in the flow-design and in the pixel art), and finding moments in the story to express character personality)

(and tbh: making weird one-off npcs and jokes is a great joy of making these kinds of games)

Over the next few months I'll be building out that side of the game's content with the environments and story for the first two episodes.

During this period, I'll be able to share the demo and gauge player's experience with it, so that I can revisiting the balance across the chapters with a clearer sense of player expectation.

Lastly:

With the updated Steam demo I made a simple change but it's a big QOL improvement: if you die during the boss fight with Ulrich, the cutscene will now be skipped after you respawn.