Pawnbarian cover
Pawnbarian screenshot
Linux PC Mac Android iOS Switch Steam
Genre: Puzzle, Strategy, Tactical, Indie, Card & Board Game

Pawnbarian

1.2.11

new: Latin-American Spanish localization (thanks Diego Hernández!)
new: Ukrainian localization (thanks Lacki23!)
change: small update to the French localization (thanks Wok!)
change: small update to the Finnish localization (thanks Minilammas!)

On another note, Pawnbarian is now available at a discount in the Chess-like Rogue-like Bundle alongside The Ouroboros King, which released today. It's a very interesting take on the genre, and I'd say it has a bigger focus on the "chess" part than Pawnbarian - you get to feel more like a strategist guiding an army, and planning multiple moves ahead plays a bigger role. Check it out here.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/30724/Chesslike_Roguelike_Bundle/
Visit j4nw.com for my twitter, discord, newsletter, and so on

Cheers,
Jan

1.2.10

Yo!

The demo version is available again. It didn't sit right with me that the game's mobile version has a free demo available and the Steam one doesn't, so I spent some time tweaking the game to create an updated demo without any of the mobile-specific stuff.

Other than that, there are two minor gameplay changes in this version. One is a small tweak that removes pointless randomness, and the other is there for those of you who enjoy digging deep into the Gauntlet, especially as the Capyzerker.

change: The Golem Fortress boss now alternates between the two different spawns, instead of picking at random
change; there's now a full heal after each Gauntlet floor, instead of single heart heal

Visit j4nw.com for my twitter, discord, newsletter, and so on

Cheers,
Jan

Pawnbarian is one year old

...and I'm holding a record low 50% off sale to celebrate!

I have no surprise patches prepared, but as a small treat, check out this lovely piece I comissioned from my buddy SquareAnon. It's sized exactly to potentially serve as a 16:9 4K wallpaper.


open full size

Pawnbarian matured and expanded a lot over the past year, got localized into 15 languages thanks to your generous contributions, and goes a long way towards letting me and my co-creators support ourselves and letting us pursue new creative endeavors. As always - thank you!

As I've consistently said, there are no more major content updates planned, but I'm never saying never. In the meantime, I hope Pawnbarian will continue to make you launch one more run™ once in a while, and be enjoyed by some new arrivals as well. It's a game I'm immensely proud of.

I'm slowly working towards some new turn-based, boardgame-inspired thingy, possibly even smaller in scale than Pawnbarian. There's a good chance I'll initially launch it as a work-in-progress, browser-playable demo, much like I did with Pawnbarian.

If you'd like to keep an eye out, there are a bunch of ways you can do that:


Cheers!
j4

1.2.9 - Housekeeping

change: updated JP localization (thanks Lunalia!)
change: adjusted compression settings for some assets, let me know if anything looks funny
fix: Nomad shot now properly affected by SFX volume settings

Cheers,
Jan

1.2.8 - Getting too hard to word this blurb differently than the image

The game has a brand new Finnish localization by Minilammas. Thank you!

Again, there were some mobile-specific QoL tweaks that should be invisible on desktop, but let me know if anything behaves weirdly.

new: Finnish localization
change: other tiny localization updates
change: main menu homepage button replacing the gaudier mobile-specific ones
fix: End Turn and Shogun action keyboard shortcuts no longer broken (oops)

Follow me on Twitter to see what I'm up to, not always strictly game-related
Join my Discord to talk with me and other players
Follow my Steam dev page to simply get notified when I have something new out without any fluff
Subscribe to my newsletter likewise for a very rare message about substantial stuff only

Cheers,
Jan

1.2.7 - Language stuff as usual

Yo!

The game has a brand new Bulgarian localization by Christiyan Zhechev. The Japanese localization was overhauled by Lunalia. Thank you so much!

There were also some quality of life tweaks, but they mostly relate to other platforms and should be invisible on desktop.

new: Bulgarian localization
change: Japanese localization updated
change: some other small localization tweaks, thanks to everyone who contributed! sorry, I lost my list this time around
change: another new button in the main menu, I wonder where it goes

Follow me on Twitter to see what I'm up to, not always strictly game-related
Join my Discord to talk with me and other players
Follow my Steam dev page to simply get notified when I have something new out without any fluff

Cheers,
Jan

1.2.6 - Language updates

Yo! Just a few changes for a few languages this time around.

- change: updated PL localization (thanks Agata & fri!)
- change: updated IT localization (thanks BRino!)
- change: updated PT-BR localization (thanks ivanilos!)

Cheers,
Jan

1.2.5 - ...and more!

Yo!

The three weaker characters are getting buffed.

The Pawnbarian is getting a pretty significant buff of two extra upgrades in his starting deck. He wasn't necessarily the weakest of the bunch, but he's the face of and the introduction to the game, so the power level was less than ideal - especially given that you need to win with him to unlock all the other fun stuff.

The Knight Templar is getting a single extra upgrade.

The Capyzerker is getting a smaller nudge - his two Knights are retired and replaced with the strictly better Bears.

There was something else... it felt important, but I seem to have forgotten. Something to do with... humanoid robots? Huh? No idea.

change: a new button in the main menu, I wonder what it does
change: Pawnbarian starts with an extra Cardinal Splash on a Pawn
change: Pawnbarian starts with an extra Shield on a Pawn
change: Knight Templar starts with an extra Shield on a Knight
change: Capyzerker's Knights are now Bears
change: on first launch try to set the game's language to system language
change: on first launch "New Game" goes directly to dungeon select with the tutorial selected
change: social buttons now follow brand guidelines so I don't have lawyers out for my blood

Follow me on Twitter to see what I'm up to, not always strictly game-related!
Join my Discord to talk with me and other players!
Follow my Steam dev page to simply get notified when I have something new out without any fluff!

Cheers,
Jan

1.2.4 - Language cornucopia

Yo! You know the drill by now.

Danish by Thomas Brøcker. Tak!

Hungarian by Roland Kalászi and Richard Nagy. Kösz!

Korean by Kim Pilra. Gamsahaeyo!

Russian by kivy0. Spasibo!

The community translation effort is ongoing. Do you want to help translate into another language, or suggest some changes? Check out this thread.

new: Danish localization
new: Hungarian localization
new: Korean localization
new: Russian localization
change: changed localization font location (see thread)
change: CJK font is now pre-baked, which means a 50MB smaller game size (but: see thread)
change: Spark Imp now has a persistent sparking particle to remind you that it does scary stuff
change: updated minor stuff in some languages
change/fix: game now runs in background again
change/fix: Goblin Tinkerer now shoots a lighting bolt... again? I feel like I've changed this before

Follow me on Twitter to see what I'm up to, not always strictly game-related!
Join my Discord to talk with me and other players!
Follow my Steam dev page to simply get notified when I have something new out without any fluff!

Android version is this 🤏 close!

Cheers,
Jan

1.2.3 - Even more languages

Yo! Pawnbarian has been translated into Japanese by my wonderful girlfriend Agata Stasiak, and into Italian by a wonderful community member Robin Bernardinis. Thank you so much!

The community translation effort is ongoing. Do you want to help translate into another language, or suggest some changes? Check out this thread.

new: Japanese localization
new: Italian localization
new: social buttons in the main menu
change: Traditional Chinese localization slightly updated
change: Simplified Chinese localization slightly updated
change: globally scaled down the font used for Japanese and Chinese by a bit to fix some typographical issues
change: lots of little optimizations and tweaks that should be mostly invisible, but let me know if something breaks

Work on the mobile port is nearing completion and the Android version should be out very soon!

Cheers,
Jan