Why Early Access?

“American Gold Rush is made by a small family studio: a dad and his kids in Georgia. The core of the game is complete and fully playable, and we want to build the rest of it together with the people who play it.

Early Access lets us do two things:

• Share the game with our community now, instead of making everyone wait until every feature is finished.
• Shape what comes next based on real player feedback. We want to know what you love, what frustrates you, and what you want to see more of.

The biggest area we'll be growing is the story and the people of Dahlonega. Conversations with the town's residents are limited today, and we want player feedback to guide how relationships, characters and the path to winning develop.

We already stream development regularly and read every piece of feedback we get through our Discord and the in-game bug report tool. Early Access lets us keep doing that with a much bigger community, so the finished game is shaped by the people who play it.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“1 year”

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

“WHAT'S NOT FINISHED YET
• Story and characters: conversations with the people of the town are still limited and will grow throughout Early Access.
• How you win: the win condition will change as we build out relationships with the town's residents.
• Planned additions:
- Tool upgrades and new tools
- New buildings
- Health and visiting a medic
- Controller support
- A Linux version”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“MINING
• A large, persistent mine that remembers every tile you dig, day after day
• Tools to buy and upgrade: Shovel, Pick, Hand Drill and Dynamite
• Tool wear and repairs at the Blacksmith
• Six depth licenses that open deeper, richer ground as you can afford them
• Silver, gold, gems, diamonds and rare finds, plus fool's gold
• Ore seams that can run across the hill if you follow a hunch
• Underground hazards like water and hard granite

GETTING AROUND UNDERGROUND
• Ropes, ladders and elevator segments that you place and that stay in the mine
• A lantern, a bucket, pocket watches, a four-leaf clover and food for longer days

EARNING AND SPENDING
• Sell your finds at the Assayer before it closes for the day
• Buy gear, food and supplies at the General Store
• Sleep at the Hotel, or risk sleeping rough

WINNING THE GAME
• In this Early Access version, you win by buying every business in town

OTHER FEATURES
• Save and load
• Settings for audio and controls
• Keyboard play, with mouse support in menus
• An in-game bug report and feedback tool, so players can send us issues directly
”

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

“We're not planning on changing the price when we leave early access”

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

“We want players involved in shaping American Gold Rush from day one. Here's how:

• Live development streams: We stream regularly on Steam, Twitch, YouTube and Kick, where you can watch us play and build the game, ask questions in chat, and tell us what you think in real time. We've also held live AMAs and plan to do more.

• Discord: Our Discord is the best place to share ideas, report issues and talk directly with us and other players.

• In-game bug and feedback reporting: Press F8 to report a bug or F9 to send feedback without leaving the game. Reports include the details we need to track down problems quickly.

• Steam Community: We read the discussion boards and reviews, and we'll post regular news updates here on Steam so you always know what we're working on and what's coming next.

• Your ideas in the game: Feedback from our streams, Next Fest demo players and our community has already changed the game. Throughout Early Access, player feedback will help decide what we build next, from new tools and buildings to how relationships with the people of Dahlonega develop.”