Throne of bone has journeyed through development for 2 years before Early Access, getting initial feedback from a private Steam playtest, and an invaluable Discord Server. ToB then the past year in Early Access, kicking off right after PAX East 2024. The Early Access Roadmap shows all the ground we've covered.
Going Forward
Throne of Bone is available at the special Early Access price of $16.99 for release week. Following this promotional period, the game will be available at its regular price of $19.99. Future updates are still to come, and I'll be active in the Discord as always, responding to bug reports and emoting at OP rosters :).
Thank you
This has been an incredible journey, and I want to thank every player for their feedback and suggestions! Seriously, I am eternally grateful for every Player.log sent, feedbackbot bug report, screen shot shared, and discussion in the Discord. Design is really a process of curation, and this game could not be made without you! I intend to keep reading suggestions, and improving usability/UX whenever appropriate. Stay tuned for more formal news about upcoming updates and content.
Gameplay Updates
Bone Butler has sadly eaten a nerf. It needed to be done. He now rewards rerolls in place of skulls.
A Third Boss has arrived in Area 5...
Beta update: The Dark Tower Opens
Greetings!
The Dark Tower is now available on the Beta Realm!
This new mode allows you to import rosters from your friends or yourself and battle their directly!
Let me know in the discord how you would like to use this feature, and what else can be done to improve its functionality!
Achievements and the Catacomb arriving in the Main Branch
After some testing in the beta branch, achievements are touching down in the main branch, ahead of the 1.0 release!
Additionally, the Grand Catacomb is open for you to browse your previous wins, and pit them against other winning rosters from other players!
You might also see some UI improvements to the client, as we round out Early Access.
Bug Fixes
Enemy Avatar speech bubbles correctly speed up
#701 Hexed+ achievement doesn't proc, even after recompleting it on the latest patch.
Seed label can be copied from the settings menu
REDACTED remembering added types from a previous Fleshsmith run.
Beta Update: Achievements!
Achievements have been added to the beta branch and will be touching down in the main branch shortly!
As ToB is still in Early Access, these are still subject to change, but I wanted to get some feedback/testing on them before the 1.0 milestone! Happy Hunting!
Bug Fixes:
Rivals were not being correctly recorded to disk
Summoning a Buried as necroforager was not correctly adding the stats
Skill now correctly increases huntsman's multihit
huntsman's multi hit description now correct
poison challenge in the spire correctly calculates the poison stacks
Beta Branch Update: A New Mode, localization updates, and more
The Grand Catacomb
Deep beneath the mountains lies the final* resting place of all necromantic lords: The Grand Catacomb! Here you can browse your previous winning runs, as well as send them into the Gauntlet to battle against other end-game rosters from other players. Strive for the almighty ten victories, or just play some Gauntlet games to unlock new 3 new spells! *final until they simply wish to live again...
Localization Updates
Localization for the content added in the past month has been updated, no longer using the WIP strings.
Content Changes
Everseer now reads: Combat Start: I gain Health and Attack equal to the greatest among Related minions, except other Ever Seers. Chaining Ever Seers has been too easy and too reliable way to get extremely high stats, and this is a modest adjustment to see if this lets other strategies breath a bit.
Bug Fixes
A few fixes went into this build, but I expect to deliver a larger bug-fix related build within the next week or so. -Ressurrecting opposing Will of the Wisps in combat no longer grant the player more XP. -Additional Elder minions cannot be taken from the shop if you've already chosen one but managed to get two in the shop at the same time.
Bug Fixes
Thunderous Applause no longer locks the game.
Cruel Roulette's correctly retriggers
Encore no longer infinitely resummons
Beta Update: Experimental New Mode
Greeting necromancers,
The Storm Spire is now available on the beta branch!
This mode is all about engineering your roster for the daily challenge. Brainstorm a way to maximize the desired stat by the final turn, and see how far you can take. Share your strategies with you friends, and see what you can achieve. Completing challenges in this mode will also earn progress to unlock 3 additional spells!
Feedback on Storm Spire
I expect to do a fair bit of iteration on this mode (adding new target stats to maximize, adding special starting conditions and modifiers, etc), but I wanted to share the initial iteration out to see how folks feel about the idea of a 'stat maximizer' mode. It's inspired by player behavior I've seen in the feedback on discord, and I'm very interested in your feedback on what you'd like to see out of this mode, so let me know!
Main Branch Update: The Coliseum and The Far Grounds
Greetings Necromancers!
The main branch has been updated with a number of new features and bug fixes from the beta branch!
New ways to play
As originally described here, there are two new modes are available to try in the main branch: The Far Grounds - This gambler's delight is a welcome holiday for you necromancers looking for a day off all the summoning and spellcasting. The Coliseum - For those looking for a PvP feeling, test your mettle against rosters of other real necromancers. New modes will be showing up on the beta as well, where they will get their initial testing before arriving in the main branch.
Gameplay Changes
Improving a minion now rewards a spell choice in place of another minion. Additional details outlined here from the beta.
Additionally, minion merge rewards have improved based on player feedback to allow for more ability multiplying for improved and perfected minions.
Progression
Necromancers can now reach Level 6, but you'll need to take opportunities outside of combat to get enough XP. As outlined here on the beta, there are new spells to learn, as well as a few other things...
Beta Update: Unlockable spells from The Far Grounds
Beta Reminder:
If you are interested in the Beta, and are okay opting into a slightly more buggy experience, come check out the beta branch
Unlock spells from The Far Grounds
The Gamble mode now gains progress based on the number of bones you've collected. There are 3 new spells to unlock from playing in the Far Grounds gamble mode, and progress is tracked in the collection, similar to necromancers and their unlocks. Don't be afraid to "cash out" and concede if you're worried you might bottom out. I'm curious from folks on what thresholds for these gamble unlocks feel reasonable. As stated before, there'll soon be unlocks for other modes as well!
The Kingdom Map
The Kingdom Map of gameplay modes is accessed through the New Game option in the main menu, once it's unlocked by winning a normal run or unlock the Fargrounds from gamble wins. One minor update: I've removed curses from the "PvP" mode, as it didn't feel in the spirit of the experience.
Upcoming this Month
Bringing these modes out of beta and into the main branch
Enabling one more mode for the Kingdom Map in the Beta Branch.
Initial drafts of Achievements in the Beta Branch!
Beta Branch Update: The Far Grounds is available!
A new mode comes to the Kingdom Map:
The Far Grounds' Gambler Resort
In this off-the-wall mode, each turn is a Gamble between two rosters. Pick your side, wager Bones, and see how big a purse you can pocket! Safer than gambling on meme coins, and sooner than gambling on the Super Bowl (go Eagles).
Gamble Updates
Which side goes first during Gambling is now randomly determined.
The Future of the Kingdom Map
Sites around the Kingdom Map are still under development, but the Coliseum and Far Grounds now unlocked similar to Necromancers. Additionally, there's now a subsection in the collection book dedicated to these sites. As we continue through Early Access, these modes will be one of my major focuses, and soon will have their own earnable rewards like the necromancers!
