It's time to announce the results of the mutation contest we held to give humanity false hope for survival let you help us add more cool abilities to the game. We have to say; you blew our minds with how many ideas you came up with: two hundred and fifty! We almost died getting them all into a spreadsheet and assessing them. Holy smokes, hums. You're legit savages!

Okay, so now let's get to the point and announce the winner. Or rather—the WINNERS. There were too many awesome ideas to limit this thing to only one. So, without further ado, let's hear the names of the puny humans who will be immortalized in the greatest game of all time.

WINNER 1: The real GOW

Mutation Name

Impostor

Class

Tricksters

Description

At the start of combat, one of your humans teleports to the backline of the enemy's army and disguises themselves as an enemy unit. Their target are ranged damage dealers. Enemies can't detect the imposter until they attack. +50% on the first attack.

WINNER 2: Knifehunter

Mutation Name

Newbie's Luck

Class

Newbies

Description

Some people say idiots have all the luck, not newbies... That's not the case here.
Feature: The first time a newbie visits a room, they have a 30% chance of finding 5 food and a 10% chance (+10% for each subsequent newbie) to find a random item and obtain a class (independently).

Technical note: 1 newbie = 10%; 5 newbies = 50% and so on, up to 100%. When you have 10+ newbies, all subsequent ones are counted the same. Only one item can be obtained per room. Items that newbies can find do not depend on the store upgrade level.

WINNER 3: spudiiman

Mutation Name

Token Bonus

Class

Multi-class mutation

Description

Adds a timer that starts/continues to count during every battle. After you clear an entire floor, grants a number of tokens based on the amount on the timer (the lower, the better).

Congratulations! We'll be adding your mutations to Despot's Game in the near future—sometime around the start of King of the Hill season 3 or 4 this winter.

Choosing the best mutations was really tough. Some of those were impossible to implement the way they had been described, but the concept itself was really neat. Some ideas were similar to things we've already been planning. And some were just too simple to have their authors announced as the overall winner, but we've still put them in the pipeline. So, if you pay close attention, you'll notice this contest's influence on the game's new mutations for a long time to come. A huge thanks to everyone who entered!


The list of in-game mutations can be found either in the main game menu or in this community-made spreadsheet.

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• Fixed problems caused by quest units (Chattersword, Rat, Zombie) being revived with a button
  
• Fixed the game getting stuck on loading screen instead of displaying a message when there is no connection to Steam API
  
• The bugged flute sound in the Rat quest should hopefully be fixed as well

Y'all love mutations, right? You know, those passive skills with cool names like "Hungering Fury" and "Hail Satan!" that let you not die in the Despot's maze.

CONTEST RULES

1. Come up with an idea for an awesome mutation: name, description, purpose, class;
   
2. Share it with us in the comments down below ↓. Multiple submissions from one contestant are allowed. You can also go to our Discord server and share it there if you wish;
   
3. You can add an icon to your mutation if you can draw. Just upload it to Imgur and share the link in your comment. Rough drafts are accepted;
   
4. Wait until we select the winner;
   
5. The best community-made mutation will end up in the game!

Yeah, you've read it right: we will add that mutation to the game. It's not often that the Despot is willing to bother himself by doing extra balancing only to indulge puny humans, you know.

You have a week, hums. The contest ends on Friday, October 14th at 4 pm UTC / 6 pm CET / 9 am PDT / 12 pm EDT, so hurry up and get creative to be immortalized by the Despot.


The list of currently available mutations can be found either in the main game menu or in this community-made spreadsheet.

• New medals can now be picked in settings
  
• Fixed a bug where Crazy mode saved games could not be loaded
  
• Fixed unit's health not being restored after a Brawl fight if the unit is already being revived by a regular Resurrection skill
  
• Units should not become stuck anymore when flying during the Thrower quest
  
• Fixed several other minor bugs

In case you don't know what the hell "Q&A" is, puny human: it means "questions and answers". You ask a question, and if it makes sense, we—the devs—answer it.

Ask away, but keep it short and sweet, we ain't got all day to babysit a bunch of pink puny hums. We will be with you until 10 pm CEDT / 1 pm PDT / 4 pm EDT.

Here's another Discord server invite.

• Fixed a softlock caused by Rain of Bullets not working correctly after resurrection;
  
• Fixed saved games (including Deja Vu) not loading when the Rain of Bullets mutation is active;
  
• Fixed a softlock which happened when a Tier 5 Medic died from knockback damage;
  
• Fixed a bug where Octopus's Claws couldn't be equipped after loading a save.

In Version 1.0, we added three new enemies! Better late than never, as them puny humans say. Check the new monsters out:

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Join the community to share your feedback with the devs and chat with other puny humans like you:

DESPOT'S GAME LEAVES EARLY ACCESS

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1227280/Despots_Game_Dystopian_Army_Builder/



We kept the game in the dark and deep dungeon of Early Access for almost a year. All this time, we were working on the balance and posting GIFs on Twitter adding new stuff to the game. The “Brawl” mode, buttons (consumable items used between battles), the new mutation tree, new enemies and whatnot—it was a busy couple of months for us. And it’s all for you, puny humans. Now come on and pat yourselves on the back: you’ve been honored by the Despot.

But enough compliments, let’s get straight to the point. The final version is now LIVE, so let’s see what we have in store for you.

• 6 new quests in addition to the existing 4!
  Tired of looking for the T-virus? Start an epic adventure of distributing flyers on the level! 📄
  

  

• Unique abilities for the Tier 5 weapons!
  A banana-bomb for every skilled thrower! 🍌💣
  

  

• 9 new killer musical tracks—3 for each of the 3 biomes!
  It’s a pure banger, the best album of the 3000s! 🎸
  

  

• Free buttons to start a run with!
  Issued for reaching level 4 in your previous run. No more restarting runs over and over again—better get that bonus and take advantage of it, puny human!
  
• The ability to select what medals are showcased on the online "King of the Hill" leaderboards!
  Besides that, we added a couple of new medals. The Despot loves those things!
  
• Reworked balance!
  Huge thanks to puny humans in our Discord server: a lot of the changes have been made based on their amazing feedback! #NotSoPuny

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CHALLENGES DLC IS OUT

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2089800/Despots_Game__Challenges/

The first Despot’s Game DLC is set on the freaking moon and features 20 non-random challenges. The add-on is paid, but the first three challenges are available for free to everyone, so you can check them out and see if it’s your thing before giving money to the Despot!

The DLC is automatically added to your library if you purchased the game while it was in Early Access.

Challenges DLC represents what the game would look like if it was an arcade title with puzzle-based missions rather than a permadeath roguelike.

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Congratulations to the winners. All three will receive a special final season prize: Steam keys for any game of their choosing from the tinyBuild catalog. Please contact George Kulko via Steam to claim your prizes.

Can't wait for the release? Same here. The Despot is eager for fresh meat—horrifying experiments won't conduct themselves, you know. But anyway, we're here to share some important release info with you before we press the button this Thursday, hums.


Important note: if you purchase the game before it leaves Early Access, you get the Challenges DLC for free.

• 6 new quests in addition to the existing 4
  
• Unique abilities for the Tier 5 weapons
  
• 9 new killer musical tracks—3 for each of the 3 biomes
  
• Free buttons to start a run with
  
• The ability to select what medals are showcased on the online "King of the Hill" leaderboards
  
• Reworked balance

PC (obviously), Xbox Series X|S/One (including Game Pass), Android/iOS. PlayStation 5/4 and Nintendo Switch versions are planned for release later in the year.

The Despot wants you to be good at his game. He really does: the further you get, the more experiments he can conduct! So he's prepared a couple of useful tips for you, humans. Check them out:

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Join the community to share your feedback with the devs and chat with other puny humans like you:

As you probably already know, the 1.0 release has been rescheduled for September 29th due to "technical reasons" >_>. Therefore, we decided with a great sense of urgency to release a small balance update and organize one more additional Season 17, which is going to be pretty short—lasting from September 15th to 29th.


👆 This is a complimentary gift from the Despot—the reason being that release delay announcement we did a couple of days ago. By the way, in Version 1.0, you will have the ability to select what medals are showcased on the "King of the Hill" leaderboards next to your name.

1. "Panic": provocation radius of that mutation has been reduced a one-third;
   
2. "Shield": the amount of damage blocked has been reduced—500->400;
   
3. "Brawl" mode: magic resistance bonus increased. New values:
   1. Costs: [10, 10, 10, 15];
   2. Bonuses: [30, 50, 70, 90].
   
4. On floors 2 and 3, the number of rooms is now invariable: nine rooms are generated;
   
5. The "Dodge" ability of Tricksters: cooldown time increased—4 sec -> 5 sec;
   
6. Item parameters for the Fighters class have been slightly tweaked. Big, big "Thank you" to spudiiman, a member of our Discord server, for constantly reminding us of the need to balance them.

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1. 🥇 Puny Izard
   
2. 🥈 La cucaracha
   
3. 🥉 Дранiк

One of our most dedicated content creators, Puny Izard, seems to be in his prime right now, with a couple of solid wins in the last few seasons. Check out his YouTube channel where he uploads lots of cool Despot's Game content and support him with a follow or two.

Congratulations to the winners. All three will receive Steam keys for Cartel Tycoon. Please contact George Kulko via Steam to claim your prizes.

Note: after there release of Version 1.0, prizes for winning "King of the Hill" will be limited to in-game leaderboard medals.

Season 17, the last season of the Early Access phase (this time it's 100% the last!), starts now and ends on September 29th at 6 PM CEST. Will the seasons still change and will updates still come out after we release Despot's Game 1.0? The Despot has already answered this question and he will not do it again, puny humans.

Okay, fine: the answer is "yes, they will". Now go and get that limited-time medal in "King of the Hill".

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Join the community to share your feedback with the devs and chat with other puny humans like you:

He would like to announce that the game will be leaving Early Access juuuust a little bit later.

We are still aiming for this month: September 29th is the new release date for the 1.0 version.

As per the Despot’s initial plan, it will come out on PC, PlayStation 5 & 4 and Xbox Series X/S & One. The Nintendo Switch version will be launched later in the year.

The reason for the delay is quite simple: Despot’s Game needs more polishing before being shipped in its final state to you all. Currently, we are working on some finishing touches and the game is shaping up to be something we can be really proud of.

Hold on puny humans, this is not all. Exciting news: apart from PC and next/older generation consoles, Despot’s Game 1.0 will be released on mobile devices for iOS and Android as well—on the same day as the rest of the platforms! In addition, we want to note that the game is currently fully playable on Steam Deck, and the desired checkmark is coming soon.

Now kneel and thank the Despot for this. You are grateful and he knows that.

Just a quick reminder for the humans who own the Early Access version: on launch day, you will receive the Challanges DLC for free.