Why Early Access?

“Spintal has a complete single-player run in it, and that is not the game I want to ship. Two large pieces are still ahead of me, and both are ones I would rather decide with players than guess at on my own.

The first is competitive multiplayer. A 1v1 mode is in development: two players run their own board side by side, race to a target, and every few rounds both are offered a choice of upgrade cards. A match is a short build made against somebody else's. It runs as a prototype and it is not in this build. How many modes it ends up carrying, and what they are, is deliberately undecided, because that is a far better question to ask with an audience than without one.

The second is the skill tree, which is the spine of the single-player game and is meant to keep growing. Which upgrades are worth adding, and which of the ones already in it are dull to buy, is not something the person who designed them can judge on his own.

I am one developer and this is my first game. Early Access is how those two get decided with the people playing, and I intend to keep working on it until both are done.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“Six months, and I would rather overstate that than name a short date and walk it back later.

What ends Early Access is not the calendar: it is multiplayer being finished and properly played rather than merely working, with the modes that came out of the discussion in it, and the skill tree grown past what one person's opinion can carry. If I get there sooner I will leave Early Access sooner.”

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

“The full version is planned to add:

- Competitive multiplayer. A 1v1 mode where both players run their own board, race to a money target, and pick from a draft of two upgrade cards every few rounds, with Steam lobbies and invites.
- More multiplayer modes. Which ones is genuinely open, and collecting those suggestions is one of the reasons for being in Early Access at all.
- More upgrades in the skill tree, chosen from what players say is missing rather than from what I assume is.
- Human-checked translations. Six of the eight languages are machine made today.
- Balance across the middle of the run, which is the part that six hours of play finds and twenty minutes does not.

Nothing already in the game is planned to be removed, and nothing is planned to move behind a second purchase.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The single-player game is playable from start to finish, at roughly four to eight hours to own everything depending on how you play: 68 skills across eight branches, seven material grades, four kinds of placeable object, five active abilities, a roaming charge, a full sound set and a generative soundtrack, eight interface languages, controller and Steam Deck support, and autosave. There is no content gate and no placeholder mechanic in it.

What is not in it yet is multiplayer of any kind, the modes that come with it, and the upgrades the tree is still meant to grow. Six of the eight translations are machine made, the balance across the middle of the run is rough, and there are bugs.

So: a single-player game you can play through today, and roughly half of what Spintal is meant to become.”

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

“No. The price stays the same when Spintal leaves Early Access.”

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

“There are four things I actively want to hear about.

Multiplayer modes, once the first one is in. Which modes are worth building is the most open question in the project, and it is open on purpose.

The skill tree: which upgrades are missing, and which ones you bought and felt nothing from. It is meant to keep growing, and suggestions are what it grows from.

How it feels over a long session. Where the run went slack, where it felt like a wall, where a skill was bought and changed nothing.

And the translations. If you speak any language other than English or German, I would like to hear about it: six of the eight are machine made, and the game already carries a report button that mails me with your language, version and platform attached.

The discussion boards on this page are where the rest gets answered, and I read them.”