Evolving the Adventure: Demo Updates & New Languages!

Welcome, bem-vindo, willkommen, bienvenue!

As you may have noticed, we have been updating the Hand of Fate: Hordes demo with a few tweaks here and there over the past week. As always, you can find patch notes over in this thread.

First up, we wanted to extend a warm welcome to French, German, and Brazilian Portuguese players, who are now able to play the demo in their native language, with localised subtitles for Dealer voice lines.

Merci, danke, and obrigado for your patience. We hope you enjoy the game!

Iterating on the demo

Taking a step back to look at how this demo compares to the demo we released in 2025, we've refined and reworked some aspects of the game to fit better the broader scope of this version. We've also made many changes in response to feedback we received last year.

Tokens

• Tokens are a core part of Hand of Fate: Hordes'progression.

• The current demo puts these front and center, improving visibility and adding tooltips for hints on how to unlock them.

Balance and Pacing

• Early feedback for the 2025 demo indicated it was too easy. This time, we've upped the ante and presented a greater challenge across the demo, while still allowing the game to be enjoyed with a variety of playstyles.

• More shards mean more persistent upgrades; both stage and final bosses award much bigger rewards, making progression smoother and easier.

• High-powered enchantments and encounters are gated behind later demo unlocks making OP builds possible, but earned.

New Hero New Equipment

• The Warrior makes his debut armed with new equipment; Dual Blades and Berserker's Helm.

• Both inflict Physical damage out of the gate, which offers a bunch of clear synergies with other equipment. Additionally their platinum enchantments can change things further. Frenzy adds the ability for rapid succession of strikes, while Hunting Knives changes the blades to throwables.

• The Warrior requires careful positioning and a little more care to master (especially in tight spaces), but his loadout changes the game and is a great contrast to ranged spellcasting Trickster.

Enemies

• The Dead King's Hall introduces the crypts environment and the Skeleton King himself. Wielding an enchanted shield and gigantic sword, and with his ability to summon more minions, he's a force to be reckoned with.

• The Goblin Witch joins the ranks of the Goblin horde, conjuring area-effect spells and causing general havoc.

• A spicy treat in the form of the Lava Golem, a late demo unlock, will test every player's metal should they wake him from his slumber!

• Also, be careful in the crypts when searching for treasure, not every chest is quite what it seems!

Encounters

• A Hand of Fate game would not be complete without Encounters.

• More variety of encounters is added to the mix with more options, situational options and possibilities, such as unique story and outcomes in Fabled Beast for The Warrior, or in Heart of the North when confronting the Witch.

• Healing Potions can be earned and stored for future use from some encounter outcomes which can be useful throughout your adventure.

• A few hidden secrets are scattered throughout the encounter that unlock powerful enchantments… and creatures!

Visuals

• We’ve really pushed the game visuals while striving to maintain an optimised and performant game experience,

• New environments are used in each of the adventures, from the forests of Crossroads, the crypts of Dead King’s Hall, to the caves on the Road to Goblin Town,

• We’ve overhauled the platinum cards and added new artwork throughout the demo,

It's still early days for Hordes of Fate, but we hope that this post and the updated demo gives some insight into the direction we're taking the game in as we get closer to Early Access.

Thanks to everybody who's played the demo so far, especially those who've taken time to stream the game and/or share feedback. We've found that very helpful! Keep it coming - we may not respond to everything, but we're reading.

P.S. If there's something specific you're keen to have answered, leave a question in the comments on the Demo Q&A post.