The more you cast down the hotter it gets... until it's SUPERHOT!




We created Superhot inspired challenges and a contest for you (more info further down)! To celebrate that, this week we are doing a bundle with awesome guys from SUPERHOT ːarchduckː




All of the challenges will have one thing in common - the iconic time mechanic from Superhot. Time moves only when you move. This element will add to the strategic part of the game, as you will be able to see clearly what's happening even in the most chaotic situations. The rest... come and see! We can't spoil the whole fun now, can we? ːpaperdeathː

The first one-day long pilot challenge will start today at 10 AM PST /7 PM CEST. The rest will change as usual 3 times a week (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday), there will be 7 of them in total. The last challenge will END on October 24th at 10 AM PST / 7 PM CEST.

But that's not all! You can also try Superhot mode in the regular game too! Just open the Options and mark the "Superhot mode" checkbox there. Don't forget to drop us a slow-mo of your best in-game actions!




Of course, the dungeons got redecorated for the duration of the event challenges with white, red and black being the key colors.



Don't have Book of Demons or SUPERHOT yet or want to gift a copy of them to a friend? Now is the opportunity to get both of these for free!

To celebrate this fun with Superhot event, we prepared a contest for you. We know that you appreciate the bosses' names in Book of Demons, with names such as Gym Spirit, Usain Goat, Piece of Stone or Glu Glu. We figured - why not give you a chance to be creative too? Hence:

What to do:

• Join our Discord server discord.gg/bookofdemons
  
• Come up with a Superhot-themed name for a boss in Book of Demons!
  
• Write your answer on the #giveaways channel on our Discord server.
  
• Don't forget to explain why you chose that name!

The contest starts now and we'll pick 3 lucky winners on October 24th.

Rules: https://thingtrunk.com/book-of-demons-x-superhot-contest-rules/




Version 1.03.19343, 10th October

• SUPERHOT event
  
• SUPERHOT game mode
  
• Fixed a few legendary cards' icons
  
• Fixed a bug in the tutorial window which could have lead to a crash

Stay safe in Superhot paper dungeons!

Agnes ːpaperheartː

Cunning rogues! Mighty mages! Hardened warriors! The time has come for a new (mini)challenge! Behold: The Mini-challenge Mode!


This mode is aimed for anyone who seeks some more challenging gameplay, competition, is willing to prove themselves in unusual circumstances and, well, enjoys a challenge ːarchduckː (pun intended). Your goal is simple: gain as many points as you can and gain fame among other brave souls!


Mini-challenges are short levels in which the players compete in the same conditions for the best score. They will take place in predefined dungeons, you will play with a premade character, cards, and a certain set of rules. TL:DR: we give you a character, rules, a set of cards and a dungeon and send you on your way for the best score.



Each challenge will have a set of rules modifiers. For example, spells cooldown will be getting longer with each use. Or monsters moving with super speed., etc. Scoring will also vary between challenges. Sometimes the gold will be most important and sometimes the speed will be of the essence. And sometimes there will be no light in the dungeons at all. Good luck with that one! ːpaperdeathː



Please note that everything in the challenges will be predefined, including the character. In order to participate in the challenges, you have to reach the 10th level with the featured one. So if a challenge is made for mages, but you played only with a warrior so far - you need to reach the 10th level with a mage in the normal game mode in order to be able to try that challenge. This ensures that participants know the basic gameplay with said character.



From now on new challenges will be switched 3 times per week - every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (this means that weekend challenge lasts 3 days while weekday challenges last 2 days).



Oh, one more thing: while playing a challenge, cards, HP/mana/scrolls do not drop in the dungeons, the cauldron is always empty, and Death Rage is disabled. ːarchduckː


The challenges will have their own leaderboards. The higher the score, the higher your position on it.



Following scoring applies, unless changed by modifiers:

• 1 pt for every coin looted
  
• 10 pt for every heart of the enemy that you destroy
  
• 250 pt for every boss stage completed
  
• 500 pt for every boss killed
  
• -20 pt for each second spent in the dungeon
  
• -750pt for every death (unless death cancels the challenge)

Spending gold or selling runes does not decrease the score already awarded for picking that gold, so sometimes it may be worth to hop to town for quick heal and card upgrading.

To finish a challenge and send your score to the leaderboard you have to click on the Complete button. The button becomes clickable when you click on the stairs down in the last level of the challenge - no need to clear all the levels! You can always abandon the challenge via a menu that opens after pressing ESC or with the X button next to button Complete. However, abandoning or failing the challenge (some modifiers add special fail conditions) does not save your score on the leaderboard. You can retry challenge for a better score as many times as you want for as long as it’s available.


Hit us up on Discord or simply come to hang out! (Write us there if you have any issues with the game tooːarchduckː)




Version 1.03.18721 24th July 2019

• Challenge mode!
  
• Updated translations
  
• Fixed pad support in card variant selection window
  
• Improved pad performance on low framerates
  
• Modified supporter registration window
  
• Changed Whetstone charge cost from 1000/3000/5000 to reasonable 750/1200/1500

Stay safe in paper dungeons ːarchduckː

Agnesːpaperheartː

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could swap your hand for another build in the middle of a fight? Ever wished to be able to have two builds and quickly swap between them? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this update is for you. Introducing: Card Sets!




From now on you can have two hands of cards. Only one is equipped at a time but you can switch between them quickly without opening inventory.

This means you can now have two specialized builds and adapt faster. Passive vs aggressive build. Fire vs ice. Ranged vs. Close And Personal™! It all depends on your play style and creativity, so don't be afraid to experiment!




You can use them from the very beginning of the game. The feature is accessible starting from level one on all game modes. In order to swap your cards use the button to the left from mana orb, press G (default) on your keyboard or hold D-pad up on your controller. The number on the button shows which set is active. There is no cooldown.




Come join our Discord channel and let's chat!
https://discord.gg/bookofdemons

• Card sets
  
• Fixed disenchantment granting unidentified card that cannot be identified
  
• Fixed showing incorrect progress of "Bronze division" achievement in Awards window
  
• Added supporters to to credits
  
• Updated translations

Stay safe in paper dungeons! ːarchduckː
Agnes ːpaperheartː

Game developers don't share their early working concepts of games - the prototypes - often. When they do it's usually super interesting to see how the game changed and get a glimpse into the creation process. That's why we would like to share the earliest prototype with collectors.

In game development, prototypes serve many purposes but most importantly they are used to test if the core gameplay is fun. Usually, the first prototypes are not even computer games but rather tabletop games quickly put together with pieces of paper and a set of dice. Prototypes don't have to look good either - it's even better if they are not great looking as you can focus on how fun they are that way.




Our prototype took a month to put together. When compared to years it took to make the finished and polished game it gives a good idea of how much work separates an idea from the finished game.

We wanted to be very thorough when making a prototype so we made sure it's as complete experience as possible. That's why you will find that the prototype plays almost until the Archdemon. As a neat bonus, you can get a glimpse into how we initially imagined the cards. You will find some of them echo similarly to what ended in the finished game, while others will be... different.

Important note: only Warrior has cards in the prototype. Both other classes are present and playable but without cards. Warrior's set was all we needed to prove the concept.

The Flexiscope is present in its basic form. Balance is *very* rudimentary so don't expect the prototype to hold your hand. While the rng gods might time at you there is a considerable chance you will get killed. A lot.

Unless you like to experiment that is. There are developer shortcuts in the prototype that grant superpowers.



There are possibly also bugs, some of them exploitable, waiting to be discovered. The boss fight at the end of the game is metaphorical: the game crashes. We like to think it conveys the futility of eternal fight of light versus darkness. Also, we had no use for the boss fight in the demo :archduck:

Ah, and one more thing. There is no duck in the prototype. Really, can you believe it wasn't a core character in the beginning? A poignant realization, it would be a sad world without it :archduck:



All of you who own Collector's Content or Supporters' Bundle will gain access to the prototype immediately. For those of you who would like to check it out but don't own the Collector's Content pack, we are putting it on a 50% sale now so you can grab it on the cheap.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/991890

To run the prototype just go to the Book of Demons' files where you can now find a new folder called Prototype. Just enter it and double click the executable file.

Here is a short step by step guide how to get to the Book of Demons' files:

• Go to your Steam Library (list of your games)
  
• Select Book of Demos and make sure Steam uploaded the Collector's Content DLC (see the image)
  
  
• RMB-click on the Book of Demons
  
• Select Properties
  
• In the window that pops-up select Local Files tab
  
• Press Browse Local Files button
  
• Go to Prototype folder and double click Prototype.exe

Some time ago Matthew wrote a couple of blog posts and did interviews about Book of Demons' creation process. If you are interested in how the game was made, get a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable:

• Making of the Paperverse, the art-style of Book of Demons
  
  
• A closer look at the deck-building hack-and-slash success
  
  
• Deep Dive: Flexiscope, the play-time aware dungeon generator
  
  
• 99$ - Live orchestra on an indie budget
  
  
• Designing for deck-building in video games

And if you would like to know more we are on Discord and we are running Ask Us Anything channel for the curious :archduck:

Here is the invite link: https://discord.gg/qD4uWKu

Stay safe in the almost-paper-like-prototype dungeons! :archduck:

Margaret :paperheart:

Those of you who have been waiting for more opportunities to compete with other players will be happy to read that today's update introduces Speedrun to the Cook!



Everyone is invited. All of you who will start a new game in the Normal mode are now eligible to enter speedrun leaderboards. The clock starts right after you enter the Town for the first time and stops when you defeat the Cook. But be warned - the timer does not stop during the visits in the Town so cut your shopping sprees short!

All you have to do is find the optimal card build per class, decide the best length of the quests and fight your way down as fast as you can!



If you remember the Book of Demons' roadmap update, we mentioned that we would like to show you the Book of Demons original prototype. It was left for quite long and grow some mold on it so first we will have to dust it off a bit. However once ready, it will be added to Collectors' Content pack.



We are also thrilled to announce that Book of Demons got nominated for a prestigious Digital Dragons 2018 award not in one but in three categories! Including "The best Polish game of 2018" alongside Frostpunk and Thronebreaker! Whaaaat!

ːrarestoneː Best Polish Game
ːrarestoneː Best Polish Game Design
ːrarestoneː Best Polish Game Art

We will know the winner at the end of May, but even being nominated is an awesome honor! Fingers crossed!



As we mentioned in previous posts we are preparing to move to larger offices since our old building is being demolished sometime soon. Our search was fruitful. As you can see in the picture above, the new space is aaaalmost ready ːarchduckː

As usual, the update brings a bunch of fixes and changes, and here is the full list:

Changelog for Version 1.01.18203 (15th April 2019)

• Speedrun to Cook
  
• Fixed portal still being active after closing a game
  
• Made the achievement "Tis' but a scratch" unlock automatically for players who have had already met requirements before they changed in the previous update
  
• Added more supporters to credits
  
• Updated translations
  
• Fixed a few typos

If you don't feel like posting on the steam community but would still get in touch with us or other players we have an official Disord channel for you. We are trying to hang out in there as often as possible ːarchduckː

Anyway, without a further ado, here is the invite link: https://discord.gg/qD4uWKu

Speedrun safe through the paper dungeons! ːarchduckː
Margaret ːpaperheartː

Today is the day we go public with a piece of super exciting news! We are thrilled to announce that Book of Demons is getting Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing expansion! Tell your friends and join the adventure in an ever-changing World of Dungeoncraft.

We know you always wanted to continue your adventure in the Paperverse in a more crowded manner. One recurring request during Early Access was to add multiplayer to the game. After some research, it became obvious that it would require rewriting all the 353,241 lines of code from scratch.



Luckily, our crack team of engineers figured out that we can save a lot of time by using CTRL+H and changing all instances of "singleplayer" to "multiplayer". And while we were at it we added "massively" and here we are!


One of the issues raised by the community in the context of multiplayer was how to fit all the heroes on a single path? Our crack team of designers yet again came up with a brilliant solution! MMO games are all about players' agency and emergent gameplay and other buzzwords so we will let players figure out how to move (also because the crack team of designers is still stuck on the first level trying to open the first chest).

https://youtu.be/2yiVEp8kJ1Y

• Discover countless paths to greatness
  
• Share your path with your friends
  
• Form powerful guilds and build guild highways
  
• Become a businessman and gather toll from other players
  
• Embark on epic quests to slay world bosses - confront the Cook, Antipope, and Archdemon with others
  
• Inventory shared with all other players in what we call Inventory Royale mode
  
• Stay in exciting lines in order to attack a world boss
  
• Join impressive queues in an attempt to farm & craft
  
• Vigorously block your enemies' path in Battle Royale areas
  
• Enjoy our novel PvB (player vs bug) mode in selected areas
  
• No subscription plan required
  
• In planned expansion choose the opposing faction; become the Archdemon and build the dungeons for other players (only one copy of the expansion available since there can be only one Archdemon, first come first served).

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback!

Stay safe in paper dungeons this April Fools' Day :archduck:
Margaret

They say that "Archdemon never sleeps"... and neither do we! It appears that recent storms over the Paperverse electrified some things. Today's update introduces new enemies you haven't the opportunity to meet before:

They might seem quite harmless at distance, but don't give them a chance to come close. Every time an electric boss is hit the damage you deal them converts to ball lightning that flies your way.




Better have your Boots card polished and shiny as it might be a good idea to be well grounded in the near future!




As usual, the update also introduces a bunch of fixes. You will find the full changelog below. Those of you who enjoy hunting for achievements will be happy to hear that "I'm Invincible" achievement requirements were lowered from 10 deaths to 8 in Roguelike mode.

Another noteworthy change: Legendary Chaotic Ring effect got significantly buffed.



Besides that, we are busy planning future updates for Book of Demons and production of the next games. We are also expanding the team and switching offices (our lovely current spot is scheduled for demolition so it makes sense to plan ahead and not to be blindsided by a wrecking ball :paperdeath:). All this in hands of just seven people so it's busy as usual :archduck:

• Added bosses with a new tag Electric
  
• Fixed a crash occurring when Twitch viewers type a dungeon command during a legendary card voting
  
• Changed incorrect text on a death screen after death during quest mastering
  
• Reduced number of resurrections needed to unlock the 3rd level of achievement "Tis' but a scratch"
  
• Fixed Evil warrior, Evil rogue and Evil mage taunting with an empty text
  
• Adjusted a change of light intensity during a Meteor fall in a dungeon
  
• Changed Instigator's (legendary Chaotic Ring) effect's trigger chance from incorrect 0.1-2% to 3/5/7%
  
• Removed the "Online Battle" button from Selection Screen - the feature may come back sometime in the future
  
• Fixed game freezing when trying to load corrupted save file
  
• Minor UI corrections
  
• Added new supporters to credits

As always,
Stay safe in the dungeons :archduck:
Margaret

Online Battles timed event has ended on schedule and we would like to take a moment to sum it up.

First of all: it worked! This was not granted as it was a very experimental networking code, something we never did before. Besides some matchmaking issues, the mode ran smoothly, which we count as a success. We also gathered a lot of useful data on network loads and general multiplayer design. Both will come in handy when working on future games in the Return 2 Games series.

While the scoring, like the whole event, was experimental and should be taken with a pinch of salt the results are in!

Over 1000 players competed with three players getting ahead of the pack:

• kenzos75 with 15 won matches and only one match lost,
  
• Lokken with 10 matches won and
  
• our teammate Wiedźma Danaien who, to our surprise, played the mode a lot and won 7 battles.

Congratulations everyone, it was fun! And in case you were wondering why so many hearts for the header animation for this news: Happy Valentine's Day everyone! :paperheart: :paperheart: :paperheart:

Stay safe in paper dungeons :archduck:
Konstanty

One recurring request during Early Access was to add multiplayer to the game. We researched that and experimented but in the end, it became obvious we can't do it without rewriting the game from scratch. However, while experimenting we came up with a multiplayer competitive mode that works and we had a surprising amount of fun playing it.

We decided to share this experiment with you. So, without further ado, we present...



What are Online Battles? It's a timed event that will run for a week starting now. Two players are matched together. Both competing heroes share the same class, same random cards, and the same dungeon.

After initial 20 seconds for picking a hand out of random cards, the battle begins. Each time a player slays a monster, a shadow of this monster will spawn in opponent's dungeon. Shadows are tinted red and while they can deal damage and be killed they don't count against total monsters count. Whoever kills all the enemies (excluding shadows spawned by the opponent) wins! There is no way to interact with the other player besides throwing your defeated enemies at him. Watch your opponents moves, time your kills well to throw a wrench in his plans. Two men enter, one man leaves :paperdeath:



It's very important to stress that this is not a completely finished product. It's more of an experiment we put together and are sharing after hewing the roughest of edges. This is our first attempt at multiplayer so we hope it will work reasonably well and you will have fun with it.

We would love to include multiplayer in all future games and we are looking forward to learning a lot from this experiment.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback.

• Experimental Online Battles mode
  
• Fixed walking in the dungeon using WASD keys not working when mouse cursor was over the lower bar
  
• Fixed issue when the player could walk in the dungeon with stats window open
  
• Fixed card Relic of Rage showing incorrect initial trigger value
  
• Disenchanting currently not equipped card variant won't switch the current variant to common while resetting charges to zero anymore
  
• Fixed issue when crosscut was scrolling simultaneously with opened frame scrollbar
  
• Fixed typos in multiple translations

As always,
Stay safe in the paper dungeons (and slay faster than the other guy) :paperheart:
Konstanty

Don't think the work on the game slowed down. A new pack of bugfixes and translation updates is here.

Among the changes we made in this version more notable are:

• Roguelike enthusiasts don't have to die in order to see their results in Roguelike Deepest Death leaderboard (effective from next month's season)
  
• The first usage of Golem card after leaving and reentering the dungeon with the other staircase will work correctly instead of just wasting your mana and putting the card on cooldown
  
• Ghosts will no longer get stuck in walls when low on health and the player levels up. Ghosts currently stuck in walls will come out
  
• Gargoyles in stone form are no longer selectable when you play with a controller

Version 1.00.18019 24th January 2019

• Fixed an issue where upgrade card window showing the wrong cost just after downgrading card in slot
  
• Fixed an issue where card lost on higher difficulty would become unavailable and variant change was not possible
  
• Fixed typos in multiple translations
  
• Fixed golem card not going on cooldown after leaving the dungeon with golem and reentering it
  
• Fixed Quest Mastering tutorial displaying the wrong amount of keys
  
• Fixed fear aura not resuming after the card is disabled
  
• Fixed achievement "The first Riddle" not being granted after identifying all unidentified cards at once
  
• Fixed heal spell timing issues
  
• Fixed ghost sometimes getting stuck in walls if the hero leveled up on that level
  
• Fountains no longer change the cursor to "use" when the hold key is held down
  
• Fixed miscounting cards for Full Deck achievements (Full Armory, Full Stash, Full Library)
  
• Deprecated card Helmet can no longer be found in the dungeon
  
• Fixed particle effect on the lost card
  
• Fixed an issue where disenchanting a card could prevent it from dropping ever again
  
• Fixed a crash occurring during card disenchantment sequence
  
• Allow alive character in roguelike final death leaderboard
  
• Fixed Cold Nova not spawning icicle on the position of a killed monster
  
• Gargoyles in stone form are no longer selectable when using the controller
  
• Updated translations
  
• Supporters added to credits

As always,
Stay safe in paper dungeon :paperheart:
Margaret