Why Early Access?

“Chest & Compass: Isles of Vaultara already has its core loop in place: sailing from the tavern, exploring procedural islands, fighting turn-based grid battles, collecting loot, storing equipment, unlocking classes, taking Ancient Chest quests, and returning stronger for the next expedition.

We are choosing Early Access because the game benefits from players who enjoy tactical roguelite systems helping us tune balance, pacing, clarity, difficulty, class identity, loot rewards, and the expedition loop. Community feedback is especially valuable for a game built around repeated runs, risk-versus-reward decisions, and long-term progression between voyages.
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Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We currently expect Chest & Compass: Isles of Vaultara to stay in Early Access for around 3 to 6 months.

That estimate may change depending on player feedback, testing results, and how much additional polish and content the game needs before we feel it is ready for the full release.”

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

“We plan for the full version to expand and polish the existing game rather than replace it. Our current goals include more content variety, stronger balance across classes and equipment, clearer tutorials and UI, additional story and NPC moments around the Ancient Chest and the corruption of Vaultara, more encounter variety, more polish for the tavern and expedition flow, and broader testing across the full progression path.

We also plan to keep improving the English and Polish localization, audio presentation, visual feedback, performance, and overall quality-of-life based on what players report during Early Access.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version is playable and includes the main gameplay loop. Players can start from a persistent tavern hub, choose quests, change and unlock classes, sail to procedural grid-based islands, fight turn-based tactical battles, collect treasure and equipment, use consumables and spellbooks, recruit or convert enemies, visit the trader boat during expeditions, store loot for future runs, upgrade storage, earn Ancient Chest bonus rolls, and play across multiple save profiles.

The game currently includes 7 playable classes, equipment slots for weapons, armor, and two accessories, English and Polish language support, NPC conversations, a shanty-electronic soundtrack, and a story thread about corrupted islands, ancient magic, and the vault beneath Vaultara.

As an Early Access game, some areas are still being balanced and polished. Players may encounter rough edges in progression, UI clarity, difficulty tuning, content variety, or bugs that we want to improve with community feedback.”

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

“We plan to keep the Early Access price lower than the final 1.0 price. If the game grows substantially in content, polish, and scope during Early Access, we expect to increase the price at or near the full release. We will communicate any price change in advance through Steam announcements.”

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

“We plan to use community feedback to guide balance, clarity, bug fixing, and content priorities throughout Early Access. We are especially interested in feedback about class balance, tactical combat readability, difficulty spikes, loot rewards, storage and progression pacing, quest goals, localization quality, and which parts of the expedition loop feel most satisfying or frustrating.

Players can help by reporting bugs, sharing run experiences, suggesting quality-of-life improvements, and telling us where the game feels confusing, too easy, too punishing, or especially fun. We will review feedback regularly and use it to shape updates during Early Access.”