- A bundle with Decktamer - 26 June 2026
Old familiar chthonic weirdnessOn the occasion of the sale, we’ve decided to relaunch our bundle with Decktamer. We all love deckbuilders, roguelikes, and awesome artwork, right? Decktamer is still a very original project with crazy — in a good, wild way — art. And they have a great demo you can try out yourself, without relying on someone else’s opinion.If you liked Knock on the Coffin Lid, give Decktamer a try. And vice versa.
- KOTCL Dev Diaries: Sunny City - 20 March 2026
Knock, knock, travelers!Today we’re finishing our journey across Midian, and not in any old blind alley, but in the majestic Sunny City, the capital of the elves. Calling it the capital of the elven state would me a misnomer, as the Sunny City is the elven state. (Naturally, you’ll ask: what is the Frontier, then? And I’ll make sure to talk about it later.)Sunny City: Big CityImagine Ancient Rome built from wood and among the woods themselves. High-rise buildings intertwined with tall trees in a one-of-a-kind composition, drowning in lush green and flowers. It’s big—I mean really BIG. If you pass it on the left side, you’ll end up in the Rotten Bog, if you go on the right side, you’ll have to traverse the Crimson Steppes. That means that size-wise the city is roughly equal to one of the biomes in Knock on the Coffin Lid. For comparison: even the Northern Gate takes up less than a half o…
- KOTCL Dev Diaries: Walking with Monsters, Summary - 10 March 2026
Knock, knock, travelers! While I’ve been keeping the diaries going, we’ve covered quite a distance across the expanses of Midian—traveling not only through space, but through time as well. Today we’ll have sort of a compilation of that journey. For some reason,I feel like looking back on it.Journey Through TimeFirst we ran through the chronology of Midian, starting from the creation of the world and going all the way up to the events of KOTCL. And quite a lot happened there: the First Agreement, the primeval period; the Age of Champions, which nearly led to the end of the world and was resolved by the New Agreement. Do you remember? (If you’ve forgotten, it might be time to reread previous entries.)Then we peeked into the future and saw the sprouting of the Shoots and their rise, and made it all the way to the Ninth Era, which I refused to tell you about, because it hides the main secre…
- Bundle with Deck of Haunts - 6 March 2026
You wanted a game with Russian language support in the bundle — here it is.As always: dark, atmospheric, roguelike, and deck-building — we don’t keep any others, we’re like that ourselves.And it’s original, too. Ever wanted to play as a haunted house? Interesting how you’re going to associate yourself with the main character when the main character is… a house. Ha-ha, pretty funny, right? It reminded me a little of the good old Dungeon Keeper, though few people remember it now.By the way, expect a new diary entry with the results of our journey through the back alleys of Midian. Coming very soon!
- KOTCL Dev Diaries: Return to Midian - 27 February 2026
NEWS?We’re working on three projects at the same time:1) the director’s cut of KOTCL2) a script for the new game set in Midian. This second one is only my job for now because I’m your script-writer and because I have time left for it. The script is very intricate and complicated; I’ve never taken on such a task before.3) a project I’m not allowed to talk about, but it’s about Midian as well.The time for building up anticipation hasn’t come yet, so please don’t wait for new announcements any time soon. Just know that we are working on our game universe. But today, let’s continue our stroll across Midian. Borders of the EmpireExploring the continent, we’ve reached the boundaries of the Empire, beyond which nothing has been outlined yet. We’re gradually approaching the visible limits of Midian. Beyond them, there must be lots of interesting and unknown things, but that has nothing to do wi…
- A bundle with Decktamer - 23 February 2026
Another dose of chthonic weirdness.Our new bundle is somewhat similar to the previous ones — once again, it’s all about cards and atmosphere — but we’re trying to collaborate with more original projects. If you don’t like deckbuilders and roguelikes, then why are you reading this? And if you do, take a look at Decktamer and this bundle.
- KOTCL Dev Diaries: Diving deeper into narrative design. - 20 February 2026
Knock, knock, travellers!As I promised, today we’ll be venturing into the tangled jungle of game development.Last time, I talked about the exotic and rarely understood profession of the narrative game designer—myself being a scriptwriter, ha-ha! Yes, I’m not a narrative designer but a humble scriptwriter, although after spending half my life in the game industry, I’ve learned so much about the ways of the wise that I could just as easily work as a narrative designer. Still, my biggest priority is texts, and I don’t always have time for narrative design duties (and there’s plenty of work there).If you want to understand the difference between a scriptwriter and a narrative designer, just read the previous diary entry. In this one, we’ll figure out what exactly narrative game designers do and what kinds of problems they run into.By the way! There are narrative designers among our readers.…
- A bundle with Roots Devour - 16 February 2026
Check out the stylish bundle with Roots DevourIf I were making a game about a divine mite, it would probably look a lot like Roots Devour: an incredibly dense atmosphere, a deliberately muted color palette (as if you’re seeing the world through non-human eyes), chthonic artwork, and meditative music. Gameplay from another reality, absolute gloom everywhere. And of course—cards.And we’ll do our best to keep delighting you with new themed bundles — we already have a couple of interesting ideas lined up.
- KOTCL Dev Diaries: narrative design - 13 February 2026
Knock, knock!Today I’d like to take a little break from KOTCL and from Midian to talk about game development in general and game design in particular. But not just game design—narrative game design.So What Kind of Beast Is It?Don’t change the channel—it’s going to get interesting here! A narrative game designer is the most exotic profession in the gaming industry. Sometimes even those who are directly involved in game-building (not to mention everyone else) have only a very general and quite incomplete understanding of what narrative game design actually is.You don’t have to look far for an example: I was hired at Redboon as a scriptwriter, but it was also “assumed” that I would take on the functions of a narrative designer. The quotation marks are there because no one really understood what that meant at the time. If Only We Knew What It Was—But We Didn’t Know What It WasEverything is…
- KOTCL Dev Diaries: New Agreement, pt2. The Undercity - 6 February 2026
Knock-knock, travelers! You read the previous diary log, right? Last time I talked about the above-ground part of New Agreement. Today it’s the under-ground part’s turn. It’s going to be fun and dark. A City Under a CityJust to remind you—New Agreement is a huge city built by the gods. There’s another city, built by the demons, under that one. Which one of them would you choose to live?If you’re not a goblin, you probably wouldn’t want to live your whole life underground. But the undercity gives you a chance to live a second life. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?Above the ground you can be a pious, wealthy resident of New Agreement. But going down below the ground level, you may immediately turn into a serial killer, a death servant, a demon worshipper, or even something much worse.Do you like that possibility? I hope not. The underground New Agreement is a devious design made by demons t…
- KOTCL Dev Diaries: The New Agreement - 30 January 2026
Knock-knock, travelers!Today’s diary is a themed one, dedicated entirely to the New Agreement. I’d like to tell you more about this most epic and significant location of Midian. But first, a small poll.Some of our users had their DLC disappear, and we fixed that bug, or so we thought, but isolated complaints keep coming in. We have to assess the scale of the problem. For that, we’ll need as many players as possible whose DLC keeps disappearing, strange as that may sound. If you’re having this issue, please write about it in the comments. If you had this issue before but no longer do, please don’t give in to laziness and leave a comment as well. Thanks in advance, and let’s go. The New Agreement is a Big DealIf you’re familiar with the chronology of Midian and/or have read Vanadis’ autobiography, you already have a general idea of the New Agreement, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg…
- KOTCL Dev Diaries: an absolutely ordinary entry. - 23 January 2026
Knock, knock, travelers!Today, for a change, we’ll have an absolutely ordinary journal entry. Let’s start with feedback.FeedbackApparently you want to learn more about what we’re up to right now. I’ll tell you everything I can, which is not much, for reasons you’ll see below. But all in due course.First, let’s see what we’ve got on Bjorn’s re-balance—things that are finished and not yet finished.What’s finished:New core gameplayClass perks re-worked according to the new core gameplayWhat needs to be finished:Starting cardsStarting itemsClass itemsClass cardsCommon items for BjornCommon cards for BjornCommon consumables for BjornThe Lunar Druid setRe-working/elimination of controversial mechanics (scarring, ferocious cards, etc.)I’ve been flat-out refused any timeline, as there are higher-priority tasks. Long story short: it will be done when it’s done.As for the “higher-priority tasks”,…
- New Year - New Beginnings - 16 January 2026
Happy New Year, travelers! Did you miss us?How did you spend your holidays? As for me, I met with my friends and relatives, had guests over and was a guest myself, went to a theater, etc. I had a very busy schedule, even too busy—as per usual.The start of a new year is a time for new beginnings. I, for example, started writing a script for a new game set in the Midian universe.This is a cause for joy, but don’t throw your hats in the air yet… and hold your ‘hooray’s for two reasons.Firstly, my script can easily be cut off at the root or sent back for a complete re-write. Secondly, the script is the lowest priority for me right now. I have enough things to keep me busy, but whenever I get a free minute or hour, I happily fill that time with working on the new story.I wonder what I could tell you about it. I don’t want to spoil it, plus the end result can turn out very different from what…
- KOTCL Dev Diaries - the 2025 Wrap-Up! - 26 December 2025
Knock, Knock, It’s the 2025 Wrap-Up!Have you ever done this?—I mean, wrapping up the year isn’t simply an excuse for another post—it’s a good opportunity to reflect on everything you’ve done, and commit all of it to memory. We’re all great at making plans, but really bad at taking stock. At least, I definitely am.Console ReleasePersonally, I played our game on a PlayStation with a huge TV and was blown away by the quality of the artwork. Our artists are simply the best. And in general, I feel like playing with a game controller, while sprawled on the couch, is somehow nicer than hunching over a computer. Otherwise, everything felt familiar—I don’t recall any other impressions from the console version… Oh wait, I do remember one more: our game is on consoles… wow! DLCThe full story of Mortis & Co is KOTCL + Nightmares of Millenis, so releasing the DLC was a matter of principle for us. Ev…
- Winter sale - 20 December 2025
Have you already figured out how you’ll be celebrating New Year and Christmas? Personally, I’m going to a rock concert. Just kidding. I traditionally celebrate New Year at home with my family, and on Christmas I go visit my cousin. By the way, he has such powerful audio equipment at home that the sound is better than at a rock concert.This time we decided not to hold back on discounts and went straight for 50% — jump in while you can. And be sure to check out the new bundle.I haven’t played Commander Quest yet, and this is a good excuse to do so. Mixing a card-based roguelike with real-time strategy — is that even legal?
- KOTCL Dev Diaries - The Bjorn domestication - 19 December 2025
At the last meeting Misha announced that he’d be reducing Bjorn’s eight basic mechanics to three. I got very curious and thought you might be interested too, so I decided to grill Misha a bit. Misha ExplainsMisha: Hi! So see for yourself. To describe Bjorn’s current gameplay, you need to consider the following:In the elf form, card costs are doubledIn the elf form, playing cards uses healthThere are also notchesThese notches increase when dealing damage with attacksThey also increase when taking damage from attacksWhen the notches fill up, Bjorn transforms into a lycanIn the lycan form, playing cards uses notchesNow those notches refill at the start of a turnIf the notches run out, Bjorn returns to the elf formIf the notches don’t run out, a Scourge of a Lycan card is added to the discard pileIf a Scourge of a Lycan comes to hand while Bjorn is in the lycan form, a Curse of a Lycan card…
- KOTCL Dev Diaries - Let's do a little trolling today - 12 December 2025
Knock, knock!First off, thank you for your kind words in the comments. That’s quite a rare sight. The way human psyches work, when we like content, we simply press “Like” and leave; but when we’re dissatisfied with something, we’ll write a negative comment about that (by the way, we’re always open to constructive criticism). So seeing friendly commentaries is always unexpected and pleasant.Now, moving on. Not Much NewsWe pushed the update to the main branch; I posted the patch notes on Wednesday. There were many complaints about event notes showing up incorrectly or not at all. Ah, those pesky notes, they take so long to adjust, not to mention simply checking them. But still we took up the task.A hefty load of bug reports concerning localization was sent in by a single caring player, for which I say thank you (I try to avoid emojis, but there should be an emoji here). As soon as I finis…
- 1.3.20.0 is ready (the main branch) - 10 December 2025
Pay attention to the “glossary note acquisition” items.We are currently double-checking how event notes are added to the Knowledge Book, and if anything doesn’t behave the way it should, we fix it.Reworked character SFX and music.Added more variation to character sound effects. Fixed glossary note acquisition for Persival in the Keeper of the Cult event.Fixed glossary note acquisition for Bjorn in the Simeon the Curse Collector event.Fixed glossary note acquisition for Bjorn in the Peace Pipe event.Fixed glossary note acquisition for Bjorn in the Anthony event.Fixed glossary note acquisition for Bjorn in the Caravan event. Fixed a combat freeze when playing as Persival the Knight.Fixed missing visuals in the post-battle event after the Golden Buffalo fight.Fixed missing visuals in the post-battle event after the Mosquito fight. Fixed an issue where an injured troll ally could skip turns…
- KOTCL Dev Diaries - The Bjorn Rebalance - 5 December 2025
Bjorn's Rebalance Will Be Happening!It’s official! Unofficially, we started working on Bjorn’s rebalance quite a while ago, but it’s still in the documentation stage. Want me to tell you what “documentation” means? The Bjorn DocumentationOn a separate sheet, we write out all of Bjorn’s mechanics, his cards, his items, event rewards, and so on and so on. All of this is done so we can overhaul him from the ground up without forgetting anything.If you think you can just grab Bjorn’s documentation from somewhere — sadly, no. As I’ve said before, Bjorn’s development turned out quite complicated: one game designer came up with him, another one developed him, and a third one finished the job. Poor Bjorn got passed from hand to hand with words like: “Bro, I couldn’t do it. This son of a gun just won’t get playable for me, you try.” Add to that countless corrections, including situational ones r…
- Patch 1.3.18.0_R is ready (public_beta only) - 4 December 2025
We’ve pushed the first polishing update for the recent rebalance — based directly on player feedback.This patch is available only on the public_beta branch, but don’t worry: the main branch isn’t being neglected.A fresh update for the live version is also on the way and will arrive next week.Class & Inventory CardsDraining Lunge – Removed Ethereal from level 1. Pay cost reduced to 1.Pickpocket – Level 2 reworked. Ethereal removed. Damage reduced to 8. Gold gained increased to 16.Resistance – Play cost increased to 1. Number of transferable status cards reduced to 3 on level 2.Penetrating Lunge – Breach removed. Now applies Shattered when dealing damage.Luck– Enemy buff on play reduced. Drawing Cards – Cost increased to 1. Ethereal added. Burn effect for Rare and Legendary cards strengthened.Moxie – Level 2 damage increased to 8.Self-Purification – Level 2 now has Ethereal.Mark of the Do…
