- Second Playtest launches September 15 - 2 September 2026
Venerable Knights,Version 0.5 is about to be released and was just presented at Gamescom. This was the largest live audience for the game yet, and it was great speaking to many new folks interested in playing it and connecting with content creators.We had already seen it at the Comics & Games event in Lucca earlier this year, but it was confirmed again: young players really enjoy Knights of Frontier Valley, although they were not the original target group.I was able to chat with German content creator Steinwallen at Gamescom, who has a very interesting channel about history, strategy games, and RPGs. Here's his take on Knights of Frontier Valley.Dr Proof and I were also able to meet again and catch up, and another great talk was with Filipe from the Portuguese digital mag Cafe Mais Geek.Back to the upcoming release, which is packed with new features and content.The Playtest earlier this…
- Updates on the demo! - 16 May 2026
Venerable Knights,I am half-way through the dev cycle towards the next version, and this time things will get ultra-exciting: for one, that version will be the official demo, available for free to everyone, which means a lot of new players will get their hands on the game. What's more, this might just be the biggest update yet, and I cannot wait to hear what you think about the long list of new features and improvements.We had a few thousand players registering for the Playtest. Feedback was fantastic and included many improvement suggestions. While not every suggestion can become reality, many of them did meet the criteria, which are: (1) will the change make the game more fun, (2) does it fit to the overall vision, and (3) are effort and benefit in a healthy relation?Feedback becomes realityInventory stacking was the #1 request in the Playtest - this QoL feature has become quite commo…
- The Playtest was a success - now on to the public Demo - 4 March 2026
Honorable Knights,The Playtest concluded successfully - my thanks go out to everyone who participated and provided feedback. Aside from the obvious bugs, many good ideas were submitted and some have already been implemented while the Playtest was still running (for a full list see the last update).At the end we had about 2700 registered playtesters, many of who sent friend invites to spread the word. Some players really got into the game, building up 100+ playing hours within the few weeks. They also pushed the boundaries of what can be accomplished in the Playtest far beyond my expectation. It is really exciting to see this level of engagement and joy.Some pointed out QoL issues as their main problem with the game, which just shows how playable it already is - it might easily be mistaken for something that is near completion, but that is actually not the case. A lot more is to come...…
- Updates on the Playtest - 16 February 2026
Venerable Knights,The Playtest has been running for a month and will continue until the end of February - if you'd still like to participate, this is the time.I wanted to share a few insights. Since this is the first time a larger number of players tried the game, it is really motivating to read the positive feedback and thoughful suggestions. Like every game ever made, of course this one cannot be for everyone either, but most players enjoy it quite a bit, and some really a lot.Here the top 5 points of positive feedback:Deep mechanicsChoices really matterTowns feel aliveGood humorGreat playtime for a Playtest (~10 hours)And here the negative ones:No distinct saves (will change)Tactical combat does not require acting very tactical (will change)Enemies run away too often (will change)Too hard to get out of prison (will not be a problem in the next version anymore)Too hard to complete cha…
- Playtest unlocked! - 16 January 2026
Most venerable Knights,Yesterday afternoon the Knights of Frontier Valley Playtest was unlocked. Some playtesters had already been waiting at their PCs and immediately got on it, and I enjoyed watching live-streamers succeed and fail in their first steps through the game.This is a solodev project with a custom engine written from scratch, and it took many years to get to this point. Yet, no time for big celebrations. Work continues relentlessly and three hotfixes have already been posted since the Playtest was unlocked.Please keep in mind:This is Alpha and of course there are issues, but most players were able to go for hours without running into anything serious. If you find a bug and would like to help solve it, please hop on the Discord server and check out the pinned message in the "bugs" channel for more info.Balancing is not 100% ideal in all places. Making this better is the whol…
- Playtest release candidate available! - 19 December 2025
Most Honorable Knights,it is with great pleasure that I can announce the completion of the Playtest release candiate. The first version of the game that will go out to everyone is finally ready!A series of all-nighter coding sessions made it possible to stick to the dev schedule, and testing is now in progress to make sure you will have a smooth experience.Should you have been among those who participated in the closed testing round for Alpha 3.fun, you can find a list of changes below.Looking forward to your feedback when the Playtest unlocks on January 15.Until then,MartinNew FeaturesQuickdemo mode ("Aldhelm's Path"), including a new quest and new cutscenesCrafting of itemsPrison mechanicsTreasure mapsReadable booksInteractive tutorial & quick hintsSteam AchievementsSteam Cloud SavesNew contentAdded new NPC typesAdded new objectsAdded new itemsAdded a new map locationAdded a new dunge…
- Steam Playtest now open for sign-up! - 12 December 2025
Venerable Knights,Six months after Alpha 3.fun went out to a closed group of testers, the next big Alpha milestone is almost ready for release - but this time, everyone gets to play it. Including you. For free.You can join the Steam Playtest by clicking the button here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1085830/Knights_of_Frontier_Valley/ The game will unlock mid-January for everyone. Some of you waited for years to try out this unique RPG inspired by classic tiles, and now we are just a month away!Mind this is not yet Early Access, but you will get a fully playable version that is quite representative of the final experience, although a lot more will be added before the game is officially finished.Get to know many of the deep features of "Knights of Frontier Valley" in the tutorial adventure "Aldhelm's Path". Help unlucky thief Aldhelm out of trouble by crafting items, using your pers…
- Combat in Knights of Frontier Valley - 11 September 2025
Most honorable Knights,in this update, I'll talk about combat. But first, I want to thank everyone who wishlisted the game after hearing about it at this year's GamesCom... it was quite a few people, which made this great event even better.Here Frazer from MicroProse and I are chatting about news on the game:There's also a 60-second pitch recorded at GamesCom by German influencer Dr. Proof (in German), andanother great clip about KoFV, also by him (and also in German).GamesCom is now over, but as they say, "after the event is before the event". The Comic & Games festival is coming up in Lucca, Italy in October - hope to meet you there.Now on to combat!Quick vs Tactical combatWhile characters like mages and thieves might frequently try to avoid a direct confrontation, it will be hard to not ever get involved in combat. And that is just fine, since tactical combat is one of the key featur…
- Coming soon: the Playtest - 6 August 2025
Most venerable Knights,The public demo is coming soon! Everyone (read: You) will be able to download it for free and enjoy hours of gameplay. Mind that this is not Early Access, and it will not yet be what I have in my mind as the full vision of this game. For example, you will not be able to join factions yet or play past the third chapter. But it is going to be a very representative demo, and if you like it, it is safe to say you will like the finished game even more.I am about halfway through the development cycle for this version and can now share the scope. The list is still subject to (minor) changes, but in general, this is what you can expect:QuickdemoSo many demos to try, so little time. The quickdemo is a separate adventure called "Aldhelm's Path" which showcases some of the game's highlights. You will play a premade character named Aldhelm Sanderford who got himself in troubl…
- Making a Game Engine from scratch - 8 July 2025
Venerable Knights,When riding through Frontier Valley in search for adventure and glory, you travel across a dynamic world that goes through constant change. You will see the sun setting in the distance, trees swaying in the wind, and snowflakes painting the land white. When moving around, your path will be set up automatically to lead around obstacles in an efficient way.Those features, and many more, are driven by the custom engine developed for Knights of Frontier Valley. To stay with above examples: the time when the sun should be setting is managed by the "Time Manager", a component that controls and keeps track of game time and ambient light. Precipitation and trees swaying in the wind rely on the "Weather Manager", and snowflakes are drawn by the map renderer using particle effects. Characters moving across the map use the custom Pathfinder algorithm.If you are interested in how…
- Procedural map generation (+ Alpha 3.fun testing) - 4 June 2025
Honorable Knights, Let's talk about maps today. Maps are fascinating. They can be decorative and inspirational, making us dream of faraway places and the spots that haven't been explored. There may be tigers here. But before diving into the topic of how maps are made in Knights of Frontier Valley, I'd like to share how the Alpha 3.fun release is going which went out to testers a week ago. The amount of feedback is absolutely fantastic. I am reading all of it and try to address issues quickly, and it is amazing how much the game has improved in just in a few days. First, of course, there were bug fixes. The game seemed stable before the release, but players have a knack for finding weaknesses in the code right away. Many of them were reported by Alpha tester Eric Hensel - I appreciate his contribution. 64 bugs have been addressed since the release, with a few more on my radar. If anyone…
- Alpha 3.fun release: latest info - 28 April 2025
Today I have some more info about the upcoming release "Alpha 3.fun". The plan is that this will be the last closed release, followed by a free demo available to everyone. After the demo, I will start the "Beta" branch as the game moves forward towards the public release. It is not yet decided if there will be an Early Access... it depends on the feedback from the demo. The February update already went into detail about Alpha 3.fun, but today I have some new info, including a release date. But first things first. Here's what I have been working on recently: The main character's first set of voice output is now in the game, including matching portrait lip animations. I already have a lot more recordings from the hero's voice actor Alan, so this feature will continue to grow over time. Read my lips! What do you think he is saying? Leave a comment below! New items have been added. Adding i…
- Knights of Frontier Valley will be published by MicroProse - 18 March 2025
Honorable Knights, We are thrilled to announce a publishing partnership with the legendary publisher MicroProse! Watch our new trailer: This partnership will help the game in many ways, the first of which is the involvement of someone significant for role players worldwide... In fact... In a major development for the RPG community, tabletop gaming legend Rob Kuntz — one of the founding pioneers of Dungeons & Dragons — joins the project to bring his unparalleled experience and creative vision to the game. Rob’s influence on tabletop fantasy gaming is immeasurable. This extraordinary collaboration marks a rare moment where the origins of fantasy role-playing meet the cutting edge of indie game development. As a close friend and collaborator of Gary Gygax, Kuntz co-created the iconic Greyhawk setting, penned some of the earliest D&D modules, and helped lay the foundation for modern RPG sto…
- Version "Alpha3.fun" is shaping up nicely! - 14 February 2025
Honorable Knights, Today I have an update for you on the progress of the upcoming version "Alpha 3.fun". If you've been following, you might remember that this version was named after its purpose, which is to make the game even more fun. To recap: while version Alpha 1 was a demo of the homebrew engine, Alpha 2 was a demo of the gameplay, though still very limited. Alpha 3 then extended the gameplay significantly, but many things were still missing. Up to then, it was mostly about making the game "run"; now it is about making it "fun". Although "3.fun" still has the previous version's number in its name, it is the biggest update yet and it is well on track to accomplish its goal. We are about halfway through the dev cycle, the scope is now finalized, and I'm ready to share it. So - what's in there? 1) Character progression Making your character grow and improve is a core feature of any…
- The influence of tabletop RPGs - plus a big announcement! - 22 January 2025
Venerable Knights of the Valley, Today I have an exciting announcement to make about a new partnership with a legendary tabletop game designer who will be working on Knights of Frontier Valley. But before I go into detail here, it is important to explain the massive influence tabletop RPGs had on the game, which is what makes this partnership so important. In the 1980s, countless hours of my lifetime went towards playing tabletop RPGs with my friends. When I wasn't playing, and I was alone in my room, I read pre-made adventure modules (or made my own) and dreamt of playing them. We started off with playing "The Dark Eye", a German tabletop system inspired by Dungeons & Dragons™ (*). Then we switched over to D&D itself and stuck with it for years. Later we also tried other games including MERP, Midgard, Cyberpunk, and Call of Cthulu. I loved all of them, but D&D will always hold a specia…
- Alpha 3 test cycle concluded - onwards to "Alpha 3.fun"! - 26 October 2024
Venerable Knights of the Valley, The testing cycle for the recently released version Alpha 3 has been running for about three weeks and concluded today. It was a great success! Testers from all over the world gave this version a hard look and discovered dozens of bugs, which are all fixed now. They also provided valuable feeback on gameplay and balancing, I will always be listening to players, and if their feedback doesn't conflict with the vision of the game, even core features can be changed. As one example, permadeath has been made optional for now and I am planning more nuanced options around this feature in the next version. Thanks to everyone who sent feedback! There are also some members of the Beta test team that I would like to specifically mention: Many thanks go to Shin Noah, a Patron from Korea who already provided valuable feedback for Alpha 2. She did it again during this…
- Announcing version "Alpha 3.fun" - 21 August 2024
Venerable Knights of the Valley, We're close to the Alpha 3 release and I'd like to keep you updated about the latest developments. I'm now finishing up the last changes to the completely overhauled tactical combat system, and will then focus on adding new quests and recording a new trailer for the remaining few weeks. The Alpha 3 change list is long (see below), and the game is a massive step up from Alpha 2. Still, I am not quite satisfied. There's just something missing before it's ready for a wider release, and that something is simply more content. The game mechanics are really mature at this point, and the NPC behavior is already quite complex and is getting more and more refined. The game is also pretty stable and performs well. But those things are not all that important... the one question that really matters is: "Is it fun?" Yes, sort of. It's mostly fun. But it's not yet the…
- Alpha 3 half-time update (plus other exciting news!) - 27 June 2024
Most venerable Knights of the Valley, I've been working on the Alpha 3 release for three out of the planned six months of development now. Half-time is always a good moment to take a look and assess progress (any association with the ongoing European soccer championship is purely coincidential), so if you're wondering what has been accomplished so far, this update is for you! Trading and money We already had stores and market vendors in Alpha 2, but they could not be interacted with for trading purposes. This is no longer the case. Alpha 3 now contains a system for trading items, and all stores and market stalls have been unlocked. This includes general traders, tailors, jewelers, blacksmiths, weapon smiths, horse breeders, herbalists, bakers, grocers, toolmakers, and potters! In this context I also implemented the concept of item ownership - a crucial component for the handling of some…
- Alpha 3 Kickoff - Today! - 26 March 2024
Honorable Knights of the Valley, While testing of the latest Alpha 2 build will continue, work on version Alpha 3 started today! This means barring any game-breaking bugs still found (very unlikely at this stage), there will be no further Alpha 2 updates. Thanks to everyone who tested Alpha 2 and provided me with feedback, the game is now really stable and completely playable, and all reported bugs, unless they are related to Alpha 3 features, have been fixed. Some really great improvement ideas and suggestions also came in, and it's just fun and exciting to read through all of it. There's no lack of good ideas here, it's about execution now. Speaking of which: the first thing I started working on for Alpha 3 today is Trading. You will be able to puchase items from store owners, market sellers, tavern staff, and a number of other characters. You will also be able to sell your extra loot…
- Alpha 2 Release Schedule - 11 December 2023
Honorable Knights of the Valley, The Alpha 2 schedule is set and I wanted to share the plan with you! The release build will be triggered on December 22nd, so the first recipients will get Alpha 2 still this year. With the amount of new features added, I want to make sure things go smoothly for the majority of testers though, so it will be a slow rollout this time. The complexity of some of the new things is high, and it is likely that you, the players, will come up with ideas that I didn't even think of, breaking the logic. Those things need to be fixed before the build goes to a larger number of testers to avoid frustration on your side and a flood of identical bug reports on mine. The criminal record page of the Journal Assuming no major issues come up during those initial tests, all playtesters should get their keys during the first weeks of 2024, up to the end of February (or later…
