Dev diary #1 - Gameplay Overview

Welcome!

I’m Guillaume Lauer, aka WillGreen, the solo developer behind Knightstones. I started working on the game in late 2022 in my free time, and I have been developing it full time since September 2023.

First of all, I invite you to join me on social media to follow this adventure. Subscribe to support my work and help me figure out the best way to share all the details of the development with you. Youtube Instagram Tiktok X Threads

Now, let’s talk about the game!

GAMEPLAY

Tactical Battler

Knightstones is a tactical battler. In my view, it is still an underexplored genre, full of gameplay depth and really fun mechanics to play with. Very few games mix tactical gameplay with auto battler elements. So let’s take a look at what Athare has to offer.

You play in first person and move around the environment. You can access the war table, where you make strategic decisions. From there, you move the Athare army and choose which battles to fight. Battles are a mix of turn based and real time combat.

Steam post image

During the turn based phase, you position the Order’s fighters, represented as pawns. The formation you choose is important to make the most of their potential and maximize group synergy.

When you are ready, you end your turn and the real time phase begins. The fighters move forward into battle, facing the enemy pawns. Battles resolve dynamically and only end when one side has lost all its pawns.

During combat, you can use iconic items to tip the balance in your favor. You are not just watching the battle unfold, you have an active role to play.

Managing the Order

Winning battles is great. And spending the resources you earn to expand your fortress is great too. The beating heart of the Order is its Adepts. You must recruit as many as possible to improve resource production and, more importantly, to strengthen the Order’s fighters. Steam post image

Fighters start at level 1, and you can upgrade them to increase their stats and their effects on the battlefield. Steam post image

The difficulty ramps up quickly, but by investing your resources wisely, you can unlock some truly powerful effects for the battles ahead.

Roguelite

The game is built around roguelite elements. I think you and I both know what that means, so I will not go into too much detail. You will face steep difficulty spikes, and only your growing knowledge of the game and its mechanics will lead you to victory. Until then, each defeat is punishing. So expect intense runs. Steam post image

Temple Exploration

Remember when I told you that you play in first person? You will gradually unlock access to new rooms in the game area, where you will find many useful abilities such as new fighter pawns and construction plans.

These upgrades are unlocked for the current run, but also for future runs.

That covers what Knightstones has to offer! It is a gameplay rich game that I want to make truly original. I chose to make this game on my own, without the pressure of a big company looming over me, so I can explore paths that only small, unknown adventurers can venture into.

If you want to follow this journey, add Knightstones to your wishlist and take part in the demo coming in the next few months.

Until then, I will take the time to write more dev diaries.

Thanks, WillGreen