Why Early Access?

“This game is built around a story I want to tell properly.

Early Access lets me finish telling that story with players feedback and support rather than in isolation. I have spent the run-up running a public playtest and listening to feedback, and Early Access is the natural next step: allowing players to pay for a game they want to see in the world.

As a result, that in turn supports me working on something I love to do, Game development!

So whilst I have a vision, I don't want this vision to be created in isolation, whilst it's fun to create, It's more fun to creative with a bunch of people!

I want the game to be shaped by the people actually playing it!

I would rather build this game alongside a community than hand it over finished and hope it landed.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“I am planning for roughly 10 to 12 months, though I care more about getting it right than hitting a fixed date. Early Access ends when the core story is complete and the game feels finished from start to finish. If feedback tells me something needs more time, I will take that time and keep players posted rather than rush a full release.”

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

“The full version is where the story reaches its ending.

Compared to the Early Access build, the full release is planned to include the complete story from beginning to conclusion, more floors and enemies on the way up, additional weapons, armour, titles to unlock, new mechanics, and a wave of balance and polish shaped by Early Access feedback. Beyond the story's completion, I can also see myself continuing to add content after.

One larger possibility I am genuinely excited about, if the game does well, I'm open to working on a co-op/multiplayer mode, though I want to be upfront that this is an aspiration rather than a promise at this stage.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“At Early Access launch you can expect to have 2 Floors of the story, the core one-life combat loop, a roster of enemies including boss fights, and a range of weapons, armour and titles to earn and equip. A lot of later story content, floors and features are still in development and will arrive through Early Access updates. You may also run into rough edges and bugs that I will be fixing as we go, which is exactly the kind of thing your feedback helps me catch.

My aim is that through community feedback, for the Early access release, I can also have the permanent permadeath mode released for this also! At the same time, this is a feature that needs to be implemented properly, so this will depend on how well it works at the time of early access release!”

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

“The price will rise modestly as the game grows into its complete form and more content is added. I'm likely to increase the price of the game as more floors are added.”

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

“I genuinely would love to hear from you about your feedback and thoughts on the game.

There's a reason why I've linked all my different social media accounts on the steam page. Please reach out, I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether that's on a discussion thread, social media comments, discord, etc!

Community feedback is central to how this game is being built. I have already been running a public playtest and acting on what players report, and that carries straight into Early Access. I plan to read and respond to feedback in the Steam discussion forums, post regular update notes on what is changing and why, take bug reports and balance suggestions seriously, and let player input influence my thoughts and decisions on floors, combat feel and story pacing.

If there is enough demand at some point around bigger ideas like co-op, I'd look to the community for support in feedback for that also as that is built. I genuinely think this game would work really well co-op/multiplayer, but it for sure needs to proven as a worthy single player game first!”