Beat the Devil at his own game. The Killing Stone is a deckbuilding card battler wrapped in a 17th century occult horror narrative. Clean the sins of a cursed family by bargaining against a series of demons - and outwitting the Devil himself.

Sign in to add this item to your wishlist, follow it, or mark it as ignored

Early Access Game

Get instant access and start playing; get involved with this game as it develops.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Our goals are to work with Early Access players to refine both the story and the balance of the game before final release, making changes in response to their feedback to ensure the best possible final release version.

We will continue to work on the final, polished 1.0 version throughout the Early Access period with a clear path for updates, while we evaluate and incorporate critical feedback from players.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Roughly six months from the launch of the game on Early Access, depending on the scale of Early Access player feedback.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version of *The Killing Stone* currently includes the first three primary story arcs and associated decks of cards; one for each family member. All core gameplay systems are functional and are representative of the design direction for the rest of the game. Additionally, all the optional missions (called Rituals) and a total of three demon lord opponents and their decks of cards are available across critical path and optional content.

During Early Access, we hope to gain more feedback from players - especially regarding the narrative layer, pacing, and gameplay tuning. Our goal is to update the game based on this feedback so that we exit Early Access with a more clear and comprehensive experience.

We also plan to expand the game with significant, additional gameplay and story content by the end of Early Access which involves the culmination of player's choices throughout their playthrough in a grand finale currently called "The Reckoning".”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version offers approximately 6-8 hours of deep gameplay with our core deck-building mechanic. Story is used to motivate the action and reward triumph on the player’s part.

All three Family Member chapters are available in the Early Access version, and are intended for replay to refine the deck in various saved builds, and cleanse more of the “sins” or cursed cards out of each Family Member’s soul.

There are additional Optional Rituals within each chapter that the player can leverage to unlock new, special boons and cards that will eventually give them an advantage in the full 1.0 launch out of Early Access, in which we plan to include a final concluding chapter of the game.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Yes. The Early Access price is lower than what the full version price will be after Early Access concludes, to account for the remaining content.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We have an active Discord server, and Early Access customers will be invited to join us there - we have made many changes based on their feedback in the past, and intend to watch both that channel, and here on our Steam Community forums, social media, web-based e-mail, and so on.

Additionally, we plan to keep our Steam page and forum updated with improvements and bug fixes until the final game is released.”
Read more

Buy The Killing Stone

INTRODUCTORY OFFER! Offer ends March 4

-25%
$12.99
$9.74
 
See all discussions

Report bugs and leave feedback for this game on the discussion boards

About This Game

From the makers of The Blackout Club and The Magic Circle comes The Killing Stone. A card battler with beautiful stylized art, animated figurines, dazzling effects, haunted sound and music, and an original first-person narrative set in the 17th century in a remote region of the Arctic circle.

A Living Game Board

At the center of the ceremonial board is the Fanghella, the Killing Stone. A collection of magical creature figurines, spells, and incantations allows for a variety of clever tactics. The game pieces are full of life and character, giving a very tactile and responsive experience while still allowing players to deliberate their every move.

A novel Reserve System allows for more strategic plays, letting you stack units and buffing incantations above the battle line for later deployment. Creature placement, spellcasting, and bargaining to add powerful banes and boons to your deck all affect your chances of success.

Investigate the Mystery of the late Mariken Svangård

In between matches, the story plays out in first-person with a painterly stylized presentation. You are a Maven, master of the dark arts - and Mariken's final friend.  Explore the mansion and talk with family members - and animal familiars - to learn the circumstances of her final days.

The eerie tone of the game and setting are further enhanced by the game being told in two styles: a period 17th century English, and a more modern prose. Players will be allowed to switch both text and VO to enjoy the game in the version they prefer. Branching dialogues let you dive deeper into the story, learning the origin of the familial curse, and shedding light on the characters' motives and fears. 

Navigate Ritual Contracts

Battles feed into a Ritual bargain against the Devil’s minions for the soul of each family member. Like a cat with a mouse, Demons love to play with their victims. Their pride cannot resist a wager if they think they can tilt the outcome to their advantage - but you can call their bluff.

Each Svangård has their own card deck representing their souls, cursed with debts left by their Matriarch. The outcomes of a Bargain offer powerful effects which permanently affect the family member you are helping with helpful Boons or heavy Banes.

You only have a few rounds to negotiate before the Ritual is completed, and only a few Rituals to make a difference and alter a family member's fate before the final Reckoning is due. 

These bargains and the opposing demons change as you progress. No two playthroughs are identical. Replays grant you new dark miracles, and ways to change the ending.

Purge the Svangård family’s hereditary curse before the devil arrives. Hopefully, without losing your own soul.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

The game features stylized violence of magical figurines on game board, occult and dark magic themes, depictions of demons and a devil. There are some scenes of blood from humans of various ages as part of a dark magic ritual. Spiritual / religious horror is present in the story, but given a supernatural presentation - the "Faustian bargain" for souls, etc.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10 64 bit
    • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 / Intel Core i7-4770K
    • Memory: 12 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030, 2 GB / AMD Radeon R7 360, 2 GB / Intel Arc A310, 4 GB
    • DirectX: Version 12
    • Storage: 10 GB available space
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 11 64 bit
    • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X / Intel Core i7-9700K
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, 6 GB / AMD Radeon RX 580, 8 GB / Intel Arc A750, 8 GB
    • DirectX: Version 12
    • Storage: 10 GB available space

Customer reviews for The Killing Stone About user reviews Your preferences

Overall Reviews:
9 user reviews (9 reviews)






To view reviews within a date range, please click and drag a selection on a graph above or click on a specific bar.




Filter reviews by the user's playtime when the review was written:




No minimum to No maximum

Show reviews in selected display order





Learn More
Filters
Excluding Off-topic Review Activity
Playtime:
Played Mostly on Steam Deck
Operating System:
CPU:
GPU:
Device Type: