Thank you all for participating in the closed beta test of Crown Trick and providing valuable feedback to us! As you probably noticed we have already revoked the beta keys from steam to conclude this session of playtesting.

If you didn't get a chance to play the beta, then not to worry! We will be preparing a free demo for the Steam Game Festival in June. Stay tuned for further announcements from us and don't forget to wishlist the game on steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000010/Crown_Trick/


We all know that the Nightmare Realm is like a roller coaster of instant ups and downs. The difficulty of this beta challenged many new players who played the game for the first time. And only a handful amount of players were able to finish the run and defeat The Three Witches. It's definitely an achievement if you beat the final boss in this beta!




We received a tremendous amount of feedback and bug reports during the beta. And we quickly realized that the slot machine was probably the most OP game mechanic. So we are definitely going to nerf this first :D And then optimize some issues like lengthy loading screens and overall game performance. We are also keeping track of some of the major bugs (especially the one when the witch disappears in the final boss battle). Sorry if it ruined your most successful run <3


#profit

For the first time, we ran a community event for creating some fan-art on our Discord server. And to our surprise, we received a lot of great fan-art submissions from our talented players. It really inspired us and gave us more power to work all night long on fixing the bugs!


Congrats to the winners!

1st Place - leo#3149 (https://www.artstation.com/twotimesthedime)
2nd Place - Doth_bot#4249 (https://www.instagram.com/doth_bot/)
3rd Place - KuroKairin#2507 (https://twitter.com/KuroKairin)

So we've been already pretty busy with fixing some bugs and tweaking balance-related mechanics that were mentioned during the beta test. We also plan to improve the English localization and add more languages like French, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese.

Here is the list of game content that we plan to have by the full release:
- 40+ active skills, 60+ passive abilities, 30+ usable items, and 170+ special relics;
- 100+ different monsters;
- 9 unique types of weapons or up to 120+ individual weapons in total;
- more than 10+ powerful bosses;
- 60+ mysterious challenges and puzzles;

And last but not least, many more Familiars to come!

Gotta catch them all!


Thanks for reading. Talk to you all soonːsteamhappyː

When exploring the Nightmare Realm, Elle sometimes will encounter various travelers who got trapped in there. If you happen to rescue them, they will express their gratitude by assisting Elle back in the Reincarnation Hall and help her become stronger by providing some of their services, but of course at a small price. (Note: the Reincarnation Hall and NPCs were not included in the beta demo version of the game)

First things first, each time you die you will wake up in the Hall of Reincarnation where you can interact with the NPCs and prepare for the next run. Soul Shards are the main currency for buying the upgrades here. Rumor says that the green shade in these transparent crystals is actually the wandering consciousness of the nightmare itself. In this side of the world, it is only by gathering enough consciousness that the physical form of dreams can be changed drastically. So the more shards you gather in the Nightmare Realm, the better upgrades you can have in the Hall of Reincarnation.

But remember each time you enter the Nightmare Realm, the consciousness in these soul crystals may disappear entirely, and it will lose its value. So make sure that you spend it all before going for another dungeon run.

Now let us introduce to you some of the NPCs that you can encounter during your adventure.

Back in the real world, Barbara is famous for refining all kinds of elixirs and magic potions. Once you rescue her, she can help with various upgrade options for Elixir's capacity and more.


Barbara's Potion Distiller:



1. Increase the number of Elixir uses
2. Increase MP/HP capacity of the Elixir
3. Increase the effect of healing items
4. Open the ability to add Blinks after using Elixir
5. Start to drop food items during the run, food can restore HP
6. Have a merchant appear before the boss battle


The Vault of Souls run by the stingy Stein provides Gold and Soul Shard related services. As long as Elle has enough Soul Shards, she can upgrade her efficiency to gain even more Gold and Soul Shards. One time investment, life-long benefit, as the banker so oftenly declares himself.


Stein's Banking Services:



1. Increase the amount of gold coins that Elle can earn in the Nightmare Realm
2. When defeated, Elle can keep some gold coins as a safe deposit
3. Allow Elle to keep a certain amount of soul shards when coming back to Hall of Reincarnation
4. Increase the number of soul shards gained after defeating a boss
5. Additional drops are generated after defeating some elite enemies
6. Learn the ability to sell weapons and relics that are not needed during the run


This guy doesn't talk much, but he is sure the master of his craft. With his help Elle can use soul shards to research new weapon enhancements and get better equipment in the Nightmare Realm.


Brock's services:



1. Upon entering the Nightmare Realm, Elle will have more initial weapon options
2. There will be a higher chance to get a better quality initial weapon at the beginning
3. Increase the chance of getting rare weapon drops in the Nightmare Realm
4. Carry a dream key when entering the Nightmare Realm
5. Extend the break combo status for +1 turn


Amanda's Emporium is cramped from floor to ceiling with curious little gadgets from all corners of the realm. Grandma Amanda will tell you all about them for hours if you show any sign of interest. Here, Elle can upgrade her newly obtained items in various ways.


Amanda's Emporium:



1. Get a starter chest upon entering the Nightmare Realm
2. Increase the number of items that Elle can carry
3. Unlock more item slots for carrying different types of items
4. Increase the probability of encountering the black market merchant
5. Increase the overall effect of the items
6. Get a membership card for merchant discounts
7. Increase the probability of receiving an extra dream key upon getting one


That's it for today's post. Let us know what you think about the NPCs and this character progression system in the comments! We are very open to any kind of feedback and constructive criticismːsteamsaltyː

And one more thing... don't forget to wishlist the game on steam!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000010/Crown_Trick/

As we are approaching the last stages of developing the game, we are excited to start the sign-ups for the upcoming closed beta test of Crown Trick!

It's been a while since the last playtest on our Discord server and LOTS of things have changed in the game since then. So don't be too excited about jumping recklessly into the battle and slaying the monsters right and left. Just keep in mind that the game requires a more strategic approach now and some of the old tricks might not work anymore.

For more info about the major changes in this beta read this article:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1000010/partnerevents/view/1715246257046801034

#Discussions_QuoteBlock_Author

Sign up for the closed beta here: https://ct.thenextstudio.net/crowntrickbeta

We will start sending out the keys through email on April 15.
Make sure to check your spam box if you didn't receive the key. Join our Discord community if you have any questions: https://discord.gg/FbaXFNm

Hey everyone!

After the Alpha test last September we decided to add a new Break Mechanic into the game. Now you can see a small shield icon above each enemy with a certain number. We call them Shield Points, and players can break these points down to zero by attacking and casting different spells. This new game mechanic will encourage the players to engage more in closed combat. In the previous Alpha test, we noticed that the ranged combat turned out to be pretty overpowered and more preferred compared to the closed one. This means that now players will be able to benefit more from approaching the enemies with closed combat weapons. So let's talk about how it actually works.


As you probably noticed, each enemy now has a shield icon with a certain number of points. Stronger enemies usually have more Shield Points. Like Fire Jeter, for example, has 5 Shield Points:



Basically hitting with a normal attack will reduce 1 Shield Point from any enemy. But here is when things get more interesting. A player can reduce another 1 extra Shield Point in two cases:
1. A player is standing right next to the enemy and successfully lands an attack/spell (in one of the surrounding tiles around the enemy);
2. An enemy is in state of charging an attack or casting a spell and gets hit by a player during this particular turn.



If you hit both of the conditions above at the same time, then you can reduce 2 additional Shield Points and get 3 points in total. That's actually a lot!



Also, don't forget! Some certain weapons have a skill buff for combo attacks. Which also gives you a chance to reduce an extra shield point in one turn.


So why all this hustle with Shield Points? The thing is, once you break enemy Shield Points to 0, the enemy will get stunned for several turns and you get a juicy damage buff for the following 5 turns. And that's when the Combo Meter kicks in.



You will have exactly 5 turns before the Level 1 Combo Meter and damage buff disappear entirely. But you can continue the combo chain by breaking another enemy shield and increase the Combo Meter to Level 2. By doing this, you will be able to get an even bigger damage buff. And on top of that, you will get additional Blinks recovery in the same room.

The Break and Combo Mechanics really matter because it redefines your combat strategy in a very different way. It encourages players to use more skills and close combat attacks to break the Shield Points as quickly as possible. It will definitely make you think twice before doing your next turn!



These are basically new core gameplay mechanics, and combined with other aspects of the game it offers a totally unique battle experience. So according to this, we also made a couple of adjustments on MP and Blink usage.

We made MP in Crown Trick somewhat unique compared to traditional RPG games. Rather than saving MP for later during your typical dungeon crawl, we encourage players to use it as much as possible in the early game. The MP system now is not merely about spending and recovering, but more about the strategical use of skills.

1. Now your MP is fully refilled every time you enter a new room.
2. During a boss battle, you can recover some of the MP when you reduce the boss's HP to a certain level.
3. MP cost for skills is now much higher than before.




In previous versions of Crown Trick, Blink ability required some MP and you could only teleport in one of the four directions that the main character was facing. But now:

• You can blink to any spot of an area around the character;
  
• Blink doesn't count as a turn itself anymore, which means you can blink right next to the enemy and attack right after the blink in the same turn;
  
• You can see a new bar directly beneath the character with 3 standard and 4 additional slots. This shows how many blinks you still have.
  
• You will have a basic of 3 blinks each time you enter a new room. And every time you perform a combo chain, you can get 1 extra blink (the maximum amount is 7).

This way the blinking ability will now become a very precious trick in your pocket that will help you significantly if used properly.

That's it for today. We hope we didn't overwhelm you guys with so many balancing changes in the game. Let us know your thoughts about all of this in the comments below!ːsteamhappyː


Previous week Dev Blog:
https://steamcommunity.com/gid/103582791463802400/announcements/detail/1715246257044096883

Wishlist Crown Trick on steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000010/Crown_Trick/

And don't forget to follow us on social media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrownTrickGame
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowntrickgame/
Discord: https://discord.gg/FbaXFNm

Hello everyone!

It's been a while since the last time we updated our development blog. We recently finished the closed BETA test for Crown Trick in China and began working on optimizing the game and working out a few bugs. Since we finally have some free time on our hands, we will start sharing insights about the development progress more frequently. So be sure to keep your eyes open for the upcoming posts!

Once again, we're sorry for not being able to provide English translation in the latest BETA test version. But we will do our best to make sure that future playtests are available in English. Stay tuned for further announcements about what's next on our Discord server.

So, when talking about new and exciting changes in the game, we would like to start with introducing the brand new Slot Machine. If you have played any of the previous versions of Crown Trick, then you probably encountered at least one of these in the labyrinth. Previously, the machine was only able to reward players with a random set of items. But now, we made it even more worthwhile.



It's pretty straightforward and works like a regular slot machine. Six out of all possible combinations of the slots can give you a score, and when you have enough, you will be able to unlock the rewards below the score requirement.




You can claim the rewards you got any time and continue exploring the labyrinth. But when you do so, your score will reset to zero, and you will need to start all over again if you come back. You will always be able to have another try if you feel lucky and, more importantly, have enough coin.



You can quickly spend coins and try your luck to accumulate a higher score. So if you get one of the six combinations right, congratulations! You will receive much better items. However, if you don't get any of the combinations, you will get nothing out of the previous attempts.

The higher the risk, the higher the reward!



A Weapon Gashapon Machine has also been updated and added to the game. And similar to the slot machine, it only requires coins to get a weapon of various types and quality.


*Gashapon, also called gachapon, is a variety of vending machine-dispensed capsule toys popular in Japan and elsewhere.

After playing the game for some time, you will eventually find your favorite type of weapon. If you'd like to speed up the process and increase your chances of getting your hands on your favorite weapon, you can ban a specific type of weapon in the prize pool! It costs a lot of additional coins to better your odds of landing your weapon of choice but it's totally worth it.



If you feel confident about your luck, then you can just go ahead and pull the lever until you get something interesting. You may save some coin this way.



That's it for today's post. Encountering these machines in the labyrinth can provide you a different way to get weapons, relics, or soul crystals. Try your luck and see what you win!


If you like our game, then don't forget to add Crown Trick into your wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000010/Crown_Trick/

And follow us on social media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrownTrickGame
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowntrickgame/
Discord: https://discord.gg/FbaXFNm

We wish you a happy, healthy, and wealthy lunar New Year!

We would like to mention all the play testers who joined our Discord server for the Alpha test last September. We appreciate the feedback you provided, and bug reports mentioned during the play test. Your insights and feedback are helping make Crown Trick a much better and more polished game before its full release in 2020.

Now, let's look at some of the recent updates that we have been working on. As English localization is still in the progress, the monster names you see here may change in the future.

Gaea's Dragon
It has been thousands of years since anyone last saw this Earth elemental Dragon. While history may have forgotten, this creature was mounted by Gaea herself, the mighty goddess of Earth. Its hideous appearance and brute nature makes you wonder why Gaea would even ride such a monster. But don't let its appearance deceive you and don't let your guard down when you encounter this enemy for the first time!


Spear and Shield Warrior
One of the first warrior clans in the Nightmare Land, their steel-made shield can withstand even the strongest blows. A once well-trained army now wanders aimlessly around the Nightmare Land, as if looking for something they once lost....


Silence Owl
They are not actual owls, but owl-like mysterious monsters. This cunning flying enemy is hard to kill by spells because it can silence your abilities easily and then blink away from your range. A very sneaky monster...


Hope you guys liked these animations!

By the way, the Chinese Lunar New Year is almost here, meaning we will take a break from the dungeon crawl to refuel as we dine with our loved ones. Anyone up for some seafood?


Or how about a good old-fashioned BBQ? Hot enough to keep everyone warm this cold winter!


Last, but not least, here is a sneak peek of the new upcoming boss in Crown Trick! This guy looks a bit scary.



As always, don't forget to add Crown Trick to your Wishlist! <3
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000010/Crown_Trick/

Thanks for reading. See you guys next year, in the year of Rat!🐀

Last update:
Crown Trick Dev Blog: Relics

Hey guys, we are running the next wave of Chinese client Beta testing real soon. Unfortunately, we had little time to get the English translation up to a standard that we were satisfied with, so instead we will be focusing on only the Chinese client for now. We will give you an update once the English client is ready for testing, so stay tuned!

Follow us on social for further announcements:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrownTrickGame
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowntrickgame/
Discord: https://discord.gg/FbaXFNm

1. Soul Crystals
Soul Crystals will be reset to 0 every time the player enters a dungeon.

2. Blink
a. The use of Blink doesn't consume MP, and is limited to 3 uses in a room. It will recharge when the player enters the next room.
b. The target area of Blink is larger than before.
c. The use of Blink doesn't consume turns.
d. Blink will recharge if you deal a certain amount of damage to the boss. (Giving you more than the standard 3 Blinks)

3. Skills
a. MP will refill to the maximum when the players enter the room.
b. MP will refill if you deal a certain amount of damage to the boss.
c. Most of the skills have been adjusted in order to make them easier to use.

4. Break Mechanics
a. All enemies now have points called "Break", which doesn't give enemies extra HP or defense.
b. Every time the player lands an attack on the enemy, its Break will be reduced by 1 point.
c. Every time the player lands an attack on the enemy while charging, its Break will be reduced by 1 point.
d. If the player stands in any one of the 8 squares that surround the enemy, its Break will get reduced by 1 point if it receives an attack.
(c and d are not exclusive with each other, making it possible to reduce the enemy's Break by 2 points in some cases.)

e. When its Break becomes 0, the enemy will be stunned for 2 turns. At the same time, you will obtain a 5-turn Break period during which your attack will increase by a certain percentage.
f. If another enemy's Break becomes 0 during the 5-turn Break period, the Break period will be reset to 5 turns and your attack will increase further.
g. Every time an enemy's Break becomes 0, you will get an additional Blink.
h. The more enemy's Break you reduce to 0 within the renewable 5-turn Break period, the higher the percentage your attack will increase by.


5. Others
a. Now you can play up to 3 chapters.
b. The balance and data have been optimized.
c. New Familiars, relics, items, and weapons.
d. UI and controls have been optimized.
e. Lots of bugs reported from the Alpha test have been repaired.

Halloween is upon us and that means spooky familiars are coming out of Crown Trick to hang out. How many familiars from #CrownTrick can you count on the poster below? Only true long-term players will count the right amount!

Relics are strong and useful items in Crown Trick. If you can collect some of them and build a deck from proper relics, you will deal amazing combo damage to your enemies.

Here are some of examples:



Crit Ring
Increases critical chance by 5% whenever a normal attack scores a non-critical hit. This effect stacks until an attack successfully crits.



This relic helps guarantee a critical hit once in the upcoming attacks. Combining it with other relics whose effect can be triggered by a critical hit is a great idea so your character could deliver to its enemies an awesome burst of critical and high damage output.

Cold Intelligence
+1 enemy Freeze duration



Heart of Frost
+100% Critical Damage against frozen enemies



If you hold two relics at the same time, your ice spells will get overwhelmingly strengthened. Before casting a spell, all you need to do is collect as many frost scrolls as you can.

White Orb
Max HP is set at 1. All HP is converted to Shield, and Shield effects no longer have turn limit.



This is a core relic for the shield-based combat style, and it was one of the most popular relics based on the feedback from our recent Alpha test. The relics can change the overall gameplay. You can’t live long without a shield if you choose this playstyle, but as a trade-off, you are equipped with many strong shield-related effects as you carry a relic of this kind. High risk, high reward!

Above are just three examples of the smart ways you could utilize relics, and there are still a lot more for you to explore in the full game. Of course, we will keep adding new relics in the future updates, offering you increasingly diverse gameplay over time.

You are more than welcome to add the game to your wishlist.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000010/Crown_Trick/

Our hero needs to crawl the dungeons to rescue various characters. After they survive, they will help upgrade weapons and familiars, but it’s not free. So... where do they come from?

Barbara
Age: 22
Height: 168cm
Personality: Smart, lively
From: Butland



About:
Barbara is an alchemist and a trader. She used to be a doctor and helped the villagers at Butland suffering from the plague. But the medical conditions were too dire to rival against the plague.

When the Nightmare Land was created, she was standing near the center of it, and failed to escape from being swallowed with everything else around her. But at a mercy of the dark magic she kept her human physique.

After that, she was stranded in the Hall of Circle. She tried to find a way out together with other three who suffered the same faith, but not succeed yet. She is now trapped in the first nightmare called: Sinner’s Tower.


Amanda
Age: 72
Height: 155cm
Personality: Tender, wise
From: Frank’s house



About:
Amanda is an experienced trader for items and bags. She used to be a house keeper for Frank. When Frank was not at home, it was Amanda who looked after the sick Aileen and understood her best.

When the Nightmare Land was created, she was right standing near the center (Frank’s home) and failed to escape away from being swallowed. She also kept her physical features intact to this day.

After that, she has been sent to the Hall of Circle as well. She tried to find a way out together with other three who suffered the same faith, but with no luck so far. She is now trapped in the first nightmare called Sinner’s Tower.

Broker
Age: 48
Height: 150cm
Personality: Upright, strong
From: A fishing island



About:
Broker was the only blacksmith at this fishing village. He made tools for people to catch fish at the sea and also forged weapons for the people. He earned his reputation by finding the first ocean animal for the village.

Unfortunately, again, when the Nightmare Land was created, he also failed to escape from it (Unknown location). Trapped in the Hall of Circle, he stayed in the second nightmare called Steam City.

Scrooge
Age: unknown
Height: 180cm
Personality: Stingy, greedy
From: Duke Vlad’s Castle



About:
Living up to his name, Scrooge was the finance minister for Duke Vlad’s Castle and kept his eye wide open for every single coin in the vault.

When the Nightmare Land was created, he was right near it (Duke Vlad and his crown’s location) and was swallowed whole. He got his body undistorted too, but apparently he wouldn’t hesitate to leave his body behind if he could get out to reclaim all his fortune. He is now at the second nightmare called Steam City.

Before Devlog：
Devlog: The Birth of The Big Eye Crown - Weapons