Hey fellow pilgrims!

I just wanted to reach out and let you know about Crownbreakers, the next Sharkbomb Studios video game, and it's another unique deck-building roguelike! If you loved Nowhere Prophet, enjoy tactical decisions and hate capitalism, you can just wishlist right away. Otherwise read on and let me tell you why this combination of deep, dynamic gameplay, colorful characters, and a story of anti-capitalist resistance is for you!

[dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2938540/Crownbreakers/"][/dynamiclink]

First, let's start with core of the game:

You take your crew of fellow Champions and you crash into a district controlled by a tyrant. Your goal is to beat them and take as much of their stuff as possible. The more resources you earn, the more you have to share with the communities of the city. To win your battles you need to knock enemies into each other, build up your momentum and keep rushing forward.

Check out the announcement trailer for a good look at the gameplay!

[dynamiclink href="https://youtu.be/Bypf6pKX2rI"][/dynamiclink]

The core of the game is to manipulate the battlefield. Sure, you can move your own units but you can also push obstacles and enemies around and into place. There's a lot of fun in shoving enemies into each other for some extra damage. But there's even more interesting environmental hazards to knock them into: Thorn traps, explosive barrels, and more. Figuring out how to maximize the battlefield each turn is such a rewarding puzzle! I live for the moment when I can pull off a chain reaction of barrel explosions blowing up half the screen.

But there's not just the traps and explosions. You've also got a lot of cards and attacks with specific area-of-effect shapes! So besides using the traps, you'll also want to position the battlefields just so to make the most of your cards. The synergies are not just bound in abstract status effects but in the spatial configuration on the battlefield! And man do I feel clever if I find the perfect sequence to use the battlefield as a weapon to pulverize the opposition.

But if that was everything, the battlefield would turn into a barren field of craters pretty quickly. So a core part of the game is to advance and move forward. After all, the tyrants hide behind rows of minions and you have to fight your way forward. 

To reach a district's boss, you need to build up momentum! Then at the end of your turn you can rush deeper into the district. The entire battlefield shifts to the right! It's a great moment but it also keeps the battlefield fresh: New hazards and new enemies appear giving you a totally new puzzle at the start of your turn!

But advancing also lets you find treasure chests. If you spend your attacks breaking those you can upgrade your team and deck with rewards. You'll have to balance between getting rid of enemies and breaking open treasures. After all you need to survive but you also need to grow powerful enough to beat the boss. It's a deck-builder so new and more powerful cards are the most obvious reward you can get. You can also find powerful relics that can be the motor for your synergies. 

But the most fun reward are the stickers: You can put these on your cards to modify them for the run! There are stickers that increase the damage of an attack, stickers that let you draw a card each time you play that card, stickers that reduce the cost of a card. But the most fun stickers are those that add to the area of effect of a card! Make your own weird shapes.

In the world of Crownbreakers modern technology and magic coexist, magic is made possible through the strength of one's own soul. Unfortunately the capitalistic tyrants have found a way to exploit the nature of Magic for their own ends. Who would have thought.

And if you can literally turn souls into a resource for profit, finding ways to trap the poor and downtrodden in eternal soul debt is a logical step for the capitalists. Right? Especially if all that magical power they accumulate along the way lets them hyper-charge their stranglehold on the city. Man, fuck those guys.

To fight back, you go on short randomly-generated runs to take what you can from them. Once back in the city you share your bounty with the city's communities to help and unite them. The more you give, the more powerful your champions become and the more the city rises with you. Crank up the mayhem and grow powerful enough to break the tyrants.

Be the Guillotine! Wishlist Crownbreakers on Steam now!

[dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2938540/Crownbreakers/"][/dynamiclink]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NOWHERE PROPHET!

Can you believe we've been travelling Soma and crossing the wastes for TWO WHOLE YEARS!

It really has been a journey too, with new modes, new Prophets and a whole host of console versions bringing more players than we ever could have imagined into our broken world! We cannot BELIEVE what a fantastic time these last two years have been with Nowhere Prophet - we've achieved a great deal but we couldn't have done it without YOU, our Pilgrims and Players! Thank you to everyone who has supported Nowhere Prophet and a huge thank you to everyone who has played on the preview branch and sent us feedback through the discord! You've helped shape Nowhere Prophet into the game it is today, and it's one we're immeasurably proud of!

As the game has changed SO MUCH over the last two years, we thought we'd highlight some of our favourite updates, just to see how far the game has come!



19th July 2019

Nowhere Prophet is OUT NOW!

After a successful beta run and one of the most in-depth feedback rounds we've ever seen, Nowhere Prophet launched onto PC. We watched countless streams, YouTube videos and chatted to people on Twitter, though Martin also fixed 100s of bugs that weekend (he was a warrior). People were happy, but Nowhere Prophet still had a ways to go yet!



September 11th 2019

Custom Game Update

A few months later came my favourite update, the Custom Game Update! After fixing up bugs and balancing out bosses, Martin really got to spread his wings a little and give the game something that both players and he had wanted for a long while. A Custom Mode that allowed players to play in their own style, and however they wanted with the power of modifiers!

This update also introduced the Pioneers, a brand new convoy of Unionists looking to carve out their own path in Soma. Have you guided them to the end of the world yet?



28th October 2019

The Board/Control Update

With this update, everyone had caught the new follower bug - there were OVER 40 NEW FOLLOWERS added in this update to bolster and introduce some new playstyles into the game. To go with them, two new keywords were added, including BRAWL (which is my absolute favourite) and a new mechanic that allowed you to recover some of the spoils left behind by your previous caravan if you could find them!



27th November 2019

The Big Steam Update

By now, Nowhere Prophet had seen an incredible influx of players and new playstyles, thanks to the previous updates. That gave us time to look to Steam and see what we could improve there for everyone.

Of course, it was perfect that the card game got its own trading cards, and everyone got Steam Cloud support to boot, so you'd never leave a convoy behind again!



12th December 2019

The Spider and The Seer Update

At this point Nowhere Prophet had new cards, new convoys and new ways to play, so what better Christmas present could we give players than new Prophets!

The Spider and The Seer brought with them new (and slightly sinister) ways of playing, which opened up even more doors throughout Soma!



February 17th 2020

The Big Perk Update

This update brought the older convoys in line with the newer ones, and gave them all a unique perk that was intrinsic to them! This update took a while to get spot on, but we genuinely feel it gave each convoy some real personality and rewarded players who leaned into the playstyles of each convoy hugely!

From Strength of the Pack to Fortune's Favors, each convoy now had a new, interesting twist, as well as some new perks to unlock and enjoy!



March 18th 2020

The Breaker and The Stalker Update

Since Nowhere Prophet had started development 6 years prior, Martin had envisioned a specific group of Prophets. With The Breaker and The Stalker added to the game, that team was now complete!

Both of these Prophets brought with them marking and bringing down enemies in their own ways, and so with them, new keywords and strategies. Marking quickly became a favourite, with The Breaker seeing a lot of play!



June 30th 2020

Progression Overhaul & Controller Update!

In this update, controller support arrived, which meant lots of you knew EXACTLY what was coming next! A lot of the progression in the game was also reworked, with an emphasis on phasing out some of the things players had been finding cumbersome over the previous year!

In addition to that, the RAIDERS stealthily made their way into the game!



July 31st 2020

Nowhere Prophet OUT NOW on consoles!

We were so excited to bring everyone this update! Everyone had been asking for Nowhere Prophet to be portable and playable from the couch since launch, and after a lot of hard work, it was released on all consoles across the world!



And that brings us to our latest update, which introduced DRAFTING! You can read all about it here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/NowhereProphet/announcements/detail/2996564740809894852

It's been pretty quiet for a while but I've still been working on things behind the scenes. And now that the game has almost hit its two year anniversary it's time for a surprise update! A number of smaller and mid-sized changes have finally congealed together into an update that adds things along multiple fronts:

First off, there are three modifiers that are available via Custom or Daily games now. All of these provide some interesting tweak to the core game experience:

Clairvoyance: See enemy hands
This one is a fun little addition to the game: You can see the enemy's cards now peeking in face up and you can hover them at any time to fully reveal them. That way you know what they have in hand and can plan much better.

Confiscation: Steal an enemy leader card
As a little variant you will be granted one enemy leader card after fighting an Elite or a Boss enemy. The card will be picked randomly but in exchange you'll be given an extra Focus point when you level up.

Conscription: Draft your deck at the start of the game
This is the big one! With this modifier active you still select a convoy but you don't use its convoy cards. Instead when you start the run you pick from a random selection of cards to create a unique deck each time you play.

People have consistently been asking for a Draft mode and I really wanted to include one. I was thinking to make it its own game mode at first but it felt more at home as a modifier because it would then allow you to combine it with others more freely, and it would sometimes show up in the daily challenge.

I hope you'll enjoy it!


Apart from that I've also added two pieces of equipment that help support slower, more control-focused playstyles.

Thought Disruptor
This unnerving weapon uses technopathic principles to unleash a broadband mental attack on everyone caught in its radius.

It gives access to this power:
Thought Fracture: All followers suffer -3/-3.

Ennui Engine
A small dose of detatchment in the right place can increase combat performance by reducing concern for survival. Ethically highly questionable, unfortunately still effective.

It grants the following status effect:
Unmoved: When a wounded follower joins your side: They gain Taunt and Stoic but can no longer attack.


Apart from that there have been a bunch of smaller stability and quality of life fixes as well as balancing tweaks. Also notable is that the community effort for a Portugese translation has come very far along that I decided to add it to the game. There's still some work to be done, so if you want to help polish it, https://www.localizor.com/nowhere-prophet,

Without further ado, here's the assorted smaller changes:

Balancing
• Faithful convoy: Replaced one Stalwart with a Steward
• Faithful convoy: Replaced Steadfast Ox with Shiram Crusader
• Added two new items to strengthen control builds
• Outcastes and Pioneers travel perk switched
• Zealous Frevor (Torchbearer) status effect only reduces convoy card cost by 1 (was 2)
• Torchbearer has one more trigger of Zealous Fervor on Chosen and Burdened
• Bandit Executioner has one fewer trigger of Pain is Wisdom on Doomed
• Fear Campaign now discards a convoy AND a leader card on kill

Interface
• Added Draft screen to the game
• Modifier selector buttons + text larger
• Added convoy deck size to always show in conflict prep screen
• Convoy deck size counter now turns red if deck is empty
• Added popup when trying to start combat with an empty convoy deck
• Added missing keyword tooltips to some units
• Improved VFX on Marauder to distinguish the two triggers
• Changed Loyal Canine and Recall wording to be clearer
• Experimental support for Portugese added

Bugfix
• If both leaders die in the same action, you no longer win the combat
• Hitting pause in the frame when the victory screen appears no longer locks the game
• Starting a non-draft new game directly after drafting will no longer reuse the draft
• Furious Offense buff now triggers correctly
• Peaceful convoy perk now correctly grants Stoic and not Stealth
• Pioneers now get the right perk discounting luxury items, not food
• Can no longer hover the card the enemy played during big preview
• Added Œ and œ glyphs to font
• Loyalty Shift properly removes cards from enemy deck in all cases

And that's it!

Take care and stay safe!
- Martin

Hi there, fellow pilgrim!

Today Nowhere Prophet is finally available on all current generation consoles! That means you can now grab your (hopefully) favorite dustpunk deck-builder for the Nintendo Switch, XBOX One or PS Four. And on both Nintendo and XBOX the game launches with a wonderful launch discount, so the ideal time to grab it is RIGHT NOW!



Also if you're an XBOX GamePass member, Nowhere Prophet is part of that so you can grab your complimentary copy for both Windows and XBOX One that way instead!

Here's all the store links!

• Microsoft XBOX One
  
• Microsoft Windows Store
  
• Nintendo Switch
  
• Sony Playstation 4

It's been a lot of work to get the game ready for consoles, since it has such a specific interface. I think we've managed to make the game fun to play, even providing two different control schemes for you to use: A virtual cursor or a more common button-based navigation. Let me know which one you prefer!

Anyway, that's it from me. Thank you so much for supporting the game. I hope that you're safe, wherever you are on your journey. And as always:

Stay hydrated,

- Martin

Oh. And also please note that I'm tracking all the current known issues on the new platforms over in this reddit thread. Let me know if you encounter any issues and I'll at them.

Hello fellow pilgrims,

time for another new update. Let's start with the big one:

Today I can officially announce the release date of the console version of Nowhere Prophet! You will finally be able to lean back and play with a controller on your favorite platform soon, because the game launches on the 30th of July!



In just a few weeks you can get your favorite dust-punk deck-builder on SWITCH, XBOX ONE and PLAYSTATION 4. And you can PRE-ORDER STARTING NOW!

I personally am terribly excited to finally see the game hit the consoles.


But that's not all! I've updated the PC version again and here's what's in it this time:

Thanks to the wonderful Andrés Moreno García, Nowhere Prophet is now available in Spanish! All interface texts, cards and events have been translated. With the amount of words in the game each language is a major undertaking and Andrés has been hard at work for a while now. So both of us are very happy to finally present the finished translation to you!

With the last update I changed the unlocks requirements for convoys and classes, adding an end-of-game unlock condition. This version was in testing for a while to collect feedback and seemed fine when I released it. However your feedback quickly showed me that the conditions are still a bit too opaque and confusing.

Simply put: It's too much of a feelbad to complete the game with the right prerequisites only to pick the wrong ending. This update removes the "right ending" part and adds some resource minimums instead. So here are the new end-conditions:

• The Banshee: complete the game as the Echo.
• The Breaker: complete the game as the Tower.
• The Tower: complete the game as the Spider.
• The Seer: complete the game as the Stalker.
• The Stalker: complete the game as the Banshee.
• The Spider: complete the game as the Firebrand.

• The Faithful: complete the game with the Traders and 20 Believer.
• The Forgotten: complete the game with the Horde and 50 Hope.
• The Horde: complete the game with the Nomads and 100 Food.
• The Raiders: complete the game with the Pioneers and as Slaver.
• The Swarm: complete the game with the Wanderers and 20 Scholar.
• The Traders: complete the game with the Explorers and 150 Batteries.
• The Pioneers: complete the game with the Swarm and 30 Altruism.

As always there's been some bugfixes along the way that have made it in this build. A big thank you to everyone that sent a bugreport my way. Feel free to use the Steam forums or preferably the Nowhere Prophet Discord to get in touch.

I've also put in some time to add a tiny secret to the game for the truly hardcore among you. If you find it let me know :)

And lastly, here's the changelog:

Spanish added
• Spanish translations for all texts, cards and events have been added!
• You can now select the language from the options menu
• Translator is courtesy of Andrés Moreno García (twitter: @amgtraductor)

Unlocks changed
• The unlock requirements for the end-game options are a lot simpler and clearer now
• No longer need to select a specific ending, simply complete the game with a class or convoy
• And in some cases possess a certain amount of a specific resource (like 100 or more food)
• Also added in a tiny little extra to reward the truly hardcore pilgrims out there

Balancing
• Added a new Locate card (Patient Watch) to the game and some equipment
• Tweaked enemy convoy decks to be a little softer on Chosen
• Reduced number of Robust and Charge enemies a tad on low levels and difficulties
• Reduced changes of First Strike + Rage coinciding in the enemy deck
• Reduced occurrences of Savage Sibhana on low levels and difficulties
• Optional boss locations now appear one map later to prevent frustration

Interface
• Increased warning for optional bosses on event buttons

Bugfix
• Fixed an AI issue with Helpful Hazards card
• Fixed description on Machine Guard to refer to Autogun not Autocannon
• Fixed broken mulligan after repeated "start combat" button presses
• Wanderers are no longer stuck in combat setup music
• Various minor stability fixes

And that's it for today. Take care and stay hydrated,

- Martin

Time for another update! This one features a lot of changes under the hood but a few more visible things too. Versions of it have been tested in PREVIEW for a while, but here's the rundown:

(Almost) all convoys and classes now have two different ways to unlock them. One linked to your choices at the end of the game and one linked to objectives you can complete during play, such as defeating an optional boss or uncovering the secrets of a location.

I hope that this helps those of you that struggled with the somewhat esoteric unlock conditions that were in place so far. Let me know how it goes!



Stalker was a bit too weak compared to the other classes so a number of tweaks were done to improve his power a bit. One thing is that a First Strike theme was added to his starting deck and level up cards. First Strike plays well with Stealth and Marking, two of his other themes, so it felt really appropriate.

Also some of the basic Marking cards (Mark Target & Volatile Mark) were improved. Mark Target now draws you a leader card when you play it. And Volatile Mark makes the target suffer Blackout before it is Marked.



A bit of new stuff has been added too! A brand new convoy centered around Stealth and the bandits. It should play well with the Stalker. However the downside of the Raiders is that they start out as Slavers and are unable to earn any Altruism during your playthrough.

In preparation for the upcoming console release I've added controller support to the game. You can now play it on your couch, leaning back. This brings some accessibility options with it, such as the ability to control the size of tooltip elements to make reading easier, even if you're leaned back. This also adds a more extensive hotkey suite to the game, so check that out if you want to speed up your play a bit.

Please let me know if you experience any trouble with this!

There's a host of other, smaller tweaks, as always. Take a look at the changelog for a rundown:


Controller compatible
• Updated the interface to be fully compatible with controllers
• Support for keyboard input on PC also included

Changed unlocks
• Almost all unlockable classes and convoys now have two ways to unlock them
• Either a quest-based condition that requires you to do something during a run
• Or an ending-based condition that requires a specific class or convoy and final option
• All unlock hints have been changed to be clearer and more direct
• Added a new convoy: The Raiders. Stealth-based bandits

Balancing
• Stalker starting deck and level up cards adjusted: More focus on First Strike
• Corsair gained Stealth, increased Life to 6 (was 5)
• Burning Brand cost reduced to 2 (was 3)
• Mark Target and Volatile Mark have been improved by drawing a leader card and blacking out the target respectively
• AI now properly evaluates obstacles that suffered blackout
• Added new Quartz modifier: Blessed followers don't take a wound but lose their blessing first

Interface
• While click-targeting, hitting the end turn button no longer ends the turn
• Added feedback when dismantling an item from the popup
• Displaying the intrinsic perk of convoys in the cargo stats screen now
• Added hint in the conflict prep screen if you have an empty convoy deck

Bugfix
• Explorers free row perk fixed
• Zealot no longer destroys itself
• Smoke Screeen only buffs followers
• oe glyph in french added to the font
• Pregnancy and Cannibal events cleaned up
• Ruined settlement now makes you lose Altruism on threaten
• Wrecker no longer trickers at the end of EACH turn
• Janwar Silverback now properly counts followers, not units
• Selecting a deck while click-targeting no longer throws a no-save error
• Events that deal leader damage no longer heal you up if you're very low on hp
• Cards and powers queued on dead targets no longer execute
• Added push/pull tooltips to some cards
• Automarker no longer marks itself
• Pulling a wounded or dead unit back via Gravewalking and getting it blessed no longer kills it after combat
• No cards after closing the game during combat setup for Wanderers fixed
• Loading progress more robust
• Restarting a custom game now keeps the mutators intact
• Fixed issues with some event loss numbers not being correct
• Fixed display of wounds during combat sometimes being off
• Fog of War card no longer triggers on obstacles

And that's it!

Take care and stay safe!
- Martin

If you've been paying attention to development - or just snooped around the BETAs setting on Steam - you may have noticed the PREVIEW branch. This is a way for you to try out in-progress versions. These are stable but contain some still unfinished or untested things.



The preview branch was recently updated with controller and keyboard setting. And now it also features a reworked progression system. There are now two ways to unlock most convoys or classes: Either a quest-based one that can be encountered during a run, or an ending-based one that requires you to complete the game with a specific class or convoy and to pick a specific kind of ending.

Here's a look at my internal sheet where I planned these changes:


If you have been frustrated with the speed of unlocking new content after a while this update mit help with that. As always I'd love to get some thoughts and feedback before this version is rolled out to everyone on Steam. If you have any comments, drop them in Discord or in the Steam forums!

And as always, stay hydrated and stay safe!

- Martin

If you've been paying attention to development - or just snooped around the BETAs setting on Steam - you may have noticed the PREVIEW branch. This is a way for you to try out in-progress versions. These are stable but contain some still unfinished or untested things.



Starting today you can check out a new version in PREVIEW. It contains full keyboard and controller support. As a side-effect of working on the console version support for joypads was added and this version is now available on Steam as part of the PREVIEW branch.

If you install this version and launch it, all you need to do is hit a button on your keyboard on controller to switch to the appropriate controls. You can also change between control modes: NAVIGATION and CURSOR using the options screen in the main menu.

NAVIGATION simply has you move between the different buttons, items or elements on the screen. It's what's most common on consoles. It's simpler to use, and quicker to pick up.

CURSOR instead gives you a virtual cursor that you can move with your controller. This may need some getting used to but it allows you to get hover-based information more intuitively.

And that's it. I'd love to get some thoughts and feedback before this version is rolled out to everyone on Steam. If you have any comments, drop them in Discord or in the Steam forums!

And as always, stay hydrated and stay safe!

- Martin

Another huge update! I'm excited to finally round out the classes to the full set I envisioned years ago. With the Breaker and the Stalker two brand new prophets enter the fray, so let's look at what they can do!



The Breaker is a former operative of the Union of Five Fingers. Disillusioned with their egotistical he has left them behind and found a new purpose with the fallen star.

His playstyle is generally slow and methodical, with access to defensive effects (via armor and taunt) and a few build pillars available to him:

Marking groups + AOE damage
Marked is a new keyword that increases the damage a unit takes. The breaker is good at spreading out marked on groups of enemy targets and then to follow up with area of effect damage (Blast and other cards) to capitalize on their vulnerability.

Obstacles
Putting down cover, throwing explosive barrels onto the enemy battlefield or just blocking off a column entirely. The Breaker knows how to handle and shape terrain.

Single, strong units
The Breaker is good at fortifying individual units. Giving them stat boosts and other benefits to build up true juggernauts.



The Stalker ist a child of the wild places of Soma. Living out with the hilltribes in the ranges they took good care of their clan, hiding away from the eyes of strangers.

The Stalker's playstyle is more aggressive than the Breaker. It focuses on taking out key enemy units, disrupting their means of attack and going for the kill.

Marking individuals + Double tap
The Stalker also uses Marked but specifically to target individuals, to either make them more vulnerable or to disable their defensive capabilities. This combined with a new pair of attack cards that hit a single target multiple times allows them to really capitalize on that. This also makes these cards really good against Robust targets.

Beasts
Like many members of the hilltribes, the Stalker has become a friend to beasts. They can bring them into battle to bolster their own ranks or to directly slam into the enemy. A number of cards feature strong Beast synergies.

Stealth
Staying hidden is a part of the Stalkers strategy. A number of cards grant Stealth to their followers or capitalize on the units that are already in Stealth. And to make Stealth a bit more reliable, the keyword has been changed to only pop when taking damage from a follower or unit, not from the leader. This is usually going to be retaliation damage and it helps make Stealth a more robust investment during a battle.

Positioning
With their knowledge of battlefield tactics the Stalker is an expert at pushing and pulling people around. The Stalker has a few cards that either harm or help units when they are moved around, combine this with cheap access to movement cards and interesting strategies come together.



As mentioned above there's a new keyword in town. Marked. Marked can be put on units or obstacles and it makes them vulnerable. They can now be attacked regardless of their position and they take 2 extra points of damage, whenever they are damaged.

This means you could mark a unit to get rid of it more quickly, to trade upwards or to get rid of some pesky sniper or construct that's hiding away in the back somewhere.

But not only that, with this update Marked, Taunt and Stealth are exclusive. So you can mark a unit to pop it out of Taunt. Put Stealth on a marked unit to prevent extra damage. Or put Taunt on a Stealth unit to pull it out of hiding.

Of course there's a number of additional tweaks and changes in this version. Some of the new cards related to Marking or the two new classes have been added to enemies or pieces of equipment. And there's been some balancing changes:

• Stealth is now only lost on unit or obstacle damage, not from leader-based damage
• Shadow Trail only triggers once each turn
• Bandit outfit a tad rarer
• Added a new item: The Machinepistol
• Changed the power on the Machinegun to more column damage
• Savage Sibhana was upgraded to Legendary (and is rarer in enemies now)
• Shadow Banjha was downgraded to Rare to compensate
• Coordinated Swarm status effect was changed to be more interesting
• Smoke Screen leader card upgraded to Rare
• Mercy Kill upgraded to 3-cost (was 2-cost)

And that's it! I hope you enjoy this update. Let me know which one of the new classes is your favorite!

And stay hydrated,
- Martin