Why Early Access?

“AI Apocalypse is a content-heavy deckbuilder and we want the community driving what gets built next. The core systems — three classes, nine build paths, stance combat, distance management, gear synergies, meta-progression — are complete, balanced, and stable. What we can't do alone is pressure-test 100+ cards and 50+ gear pieces against the kind of creativity thousands of real players bring to a deckbuilder. Every StS/Monster Train/Inscryption release was made better by the community finding the broken interactions, the under-powered archetypes, and the builds the designers never saw. That's the feedback loop we want. Early Access lets us ship the game as a real game right now, then rapidly iterate on balance, add new content tiers, and let player data steer what we prioritize.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Approximately 6 to 9 months. Our internal target is a 1.0 release roughly two seasons after Early Access launch, with one to two major content updates in between. That timeline is aggressive but realistic — the game is already feature-complete for three classes and three acts. The window exists so we can balance properly, ship 1–2 additional weapon classes (and their associated build paths), and polish based on community feedback. We'll publish a public roadmap within the first two weeks of EA launch and commit to transparent progress updates on the dev blog.”

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

“We are planning a 1.0 release that could expand on Early Access in four directions:

New weapon classes
More content in every category
Mod support
Additional languages
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What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access build is fully playable from fresh install to full-run victory across all three acts.

Included at launch:

3 weapon classes (Vibro Blade / Arc Staff / Rail Rifle) with distinct starter decks and playstyles
9 build paths (3 per class) — Armor Stacking, Bleed, Big Hits, Shield Offense, Burn, Multi-Hit Spells, Piercing, Poison, Debuff Payoff
140+ cards with a two-tier upgrade system
50+ gear pieces across 6 slots
3 procedurally-generated acts, each with unique enemy rosters and a signature boss
25 narrative events with branching choices, including optional combat encounters and wholly-negative risk events
Full meta-progression: token-based unlocks for cards, gear, events, and build paths between runs
3 difficulty tiers (Normal / Nightmare / Hell) with progression-gated unlocks
Full save/load including mid-run saves
Complete audio (per-scene music, SFX) and original art (cards, enemies, events, gear, UI)
Keyboard + mouse input; controller support at 1.0
The systems are complete. The remaining work is content expansion and balance tuning based on player data.”

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

“Yes — we plan to increase the price modestly at Launch reflecting the additional classes, content, languages, and polish added during the EA period. Anyone who purchases during Early Access keeps the game at the EA price permanently. There are no planned DLC paywalls, microtransactions, or subscription tiers — new content added during and after EA is free to all owners.”

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

“The community is the point of Early Access for us. Concretely:

Discord is the primary channel — daily interaction with the team, patch preview builds, direct feedback loops, bug triage. Invite is in-game and on the store page.
Public roadmap — published on the official site within the first two weeks. Community votes on what's prioritized within each quarter.
Weekly patch cadence — small balance patches weekly, larger content drops bi-monthly. Patch notes cross-posted to Steam and the dev blog at our site.
In-game feedback hooks — a direct-to-dev feedback form accessible from the main menu for rapid signal on specific features or pain points.
Visible playtest sprints — we'll run scheduled community playtests for unreleased classes and major mechanics changes before they ship to the main branch.
Transparency on what we'll and won't change — not every suggestion will ship, but every high-signal suggestion gets a public response explaining the decision.
Our commitment is simple: if you're spending money and time in Early Access, you should see your feedback reflected in the game within a reasonable window. Every weekly patch should have at least one change traceable to community input.

”