Why Early Access?

“Diofru is a tower built by a solo developer. The core loop — climb floor by floor, awaken into an elemental archmage at level five, beat each floor's clock — is playable and stable today. But a tower this tall is balanced by data from real players, not by promises: which schools feel weak, where the difficulty curve breaks, which builds go dead in the later floors. Early Access lets those answers come from actual runs while the upper tower is still being built. We would rather grow the tower in public, one zone at a time, than disappear for years and guess.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Roughly 12 months. That is our working estimate for reaching the finished 1.0 climb, and we would rather give you a number we are steering toward than refuse to answer.

Here is how that time is spent. The tower is released in blocks of floors, each block bringing its own monsters, epic monsters and boss, so you get a substantial update every few months rather than one silent year. Every block has to clear the same gates before it ships — a difficulty curve that holds up, schools that stay worth picking, progression that never stalls.

Two promises about that number. If a block needs more time to be worth yours, we will take the time and say so here rather than ship a broken stretch of the tower on schedule. And if the work goes faster than expected, we will not sit on a finished game — 1.0 arrives when the climb is complete, early or not.”

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

“The goal of 1.0 is the finished climb to the tower's summit. Between here and there, updates add new zones of the tower (each with its own monsters, epic monsters, and boss), deepen the nine elemental schools so every awakening stays worth taking into the later floors, and expand meta progression — including checkpoint starts unlocked by defeating bosses, so a deep run does not always begin at floor one. We do not attach floor counts or dates to individual updates; scope is announced when it ships.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Early Access version contains the lower tower: 3 zones, each floor ending in an epic monster on a timer, with a boss guarding the top of each zone. All nine elemental schools are playable, with their awakening cinematics. The run-time pool is fully open: 27 weapons with 22 evolutions, 27 passives, 35 active spells, and 19 relics, gated by the element you awaken into. Every level-up can be rerolled or banished. Death ends the run; soulstones persist into permanent upgrades. Single-player, keyboard & mouse or controller, interface in 7 languages, no voice acting.”

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

“Yes. The Early Access price is lower than what the finished game will cost. We plan to raise the price gradually as major zones of the tower are added, with a final increase at 1.0. Buying during Early Access is buying the whole climb at its lowest price.”

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

“The free demo stays up through Early Access, so anyone can judge the current state of the game from a real run instead of promises. Feedback runs through the Steam discussions and community hub: every update ships with notes explaining what changed and why, including balance reasoning. Before major updates we run structured playtests to check the new stretch of the tower against real sessions. Reports of floors that feel unfair, schools that feel dead, or runs that stall are treated as bugs, not opinions.”