- Chronicle of the Crusade #6: Equipment - 24 September 2026
In Band of Crusaders, there are no traditional classes that permanently define your characters. Instead, much of what a Crusader can do in battle comes from the equipment they carry.Weapons, armour, and shields determine not only your Crusaders’ stats, but also the skills and effects available to them. Today, we’re taking a closer look at how the equipment system works.Equipment Item TypesThere are three main types of equipment in Band of Crusaders:WeaponsArmoursShieldsEquipment occupies important slots on your Crusaders: head, torso, legs, and hands. Choosing what to equip is therefore an important part of preparing your party for battle.WeaponsWith our class-less system, weapons play an especially important role. Rather than simply increasing your damage, different weapons provide access to different skills and have their own dedicated effects.There are several weapon types, each desi…
- Chronicle of the Crusade #5: Events - 23 July 2026
The road to salvation is long, and not every challenge can be solved with a sword.While battles are at the heart of Band of Crusaders, much of your Crusade will be shaped by the decisions you make outside of combat. Today, we'd like to introduce another important system that helps create these stories: Events.EventsEvents are dynamic encounters that can occur throughout your campaign. They represent the countless situations your Order may face while travelling across the land, from disputes among your Crusaders and encounters with strangers, to opportunities, moral dilemmas, and discoveries hidden off the beaten path.While you can plan exactly when to undertake quests, Events are dynamic and react to the state of your campaign. The Crusaders in your company, your resources, your reputation, the terrain you're travelling through, the time of day, and even previous Events can all influenc…
- Sneak Peek at Emergent Storytelling during Second Wind Games Showcase - 24 April 2026
⚔️ Sneak Peek at Emergent Storytelling during Second Wind Games ShowcaseWe’re excited to be featured in Second Wind Games Showcase, where Tom - one of our game designers shares insights into how we’re expanding the narrative layer of the game bringing more depth, choice, and storytelling into your experience.If you’re curious about how the world of Band of Crusaders is taking shape, this is something you won’t want to miss.🎥 Watch HERE
- Chronicle of the Crusade #4: Level Modifiers - 15 April 2026
In Band of Crusaders, combat is a crucial element. Today, we’re unraveling another important layer you’ll face: Level Modifiers. Understanding what they are and preparing in advance will be vital to your Crusade’s victory.Level ModifiersBefore entering combat, you’ll have a chance to prepare for each encounter. You’ll be presented with key information such as the number and types of enemies, as well as details about the battlefield. These details are determined by a set of mechanics we call Level Modifiers.In a world where nothing is given, knowing your battleground is key to victory. Carefully studying and understanding Level Modifiers can give you an edge in the upcoming battle.Level Modifiers can be broken down into four categories: Time of Day, Biome, Terrain Modifiers and Weather. In the screenshot above, you can see two examples:Night TimeVillageTime of DayThere are two possible T…
- Chronicle of the Crusade #3: Bandits - 11 February 2026
In Band of Crusaders, Abominations are ravaging Europe—but they aren’t the only threat on your path. Humanity, weakened by cultists and the influence of corruption, has been pushed beyond its breaking point. Many have fallen into despair, abandoning any sense of civility.Let’s explore how Bandits work in our game.Bandits explainedBandits are an enemy NPC faction that will attack the player, trading caravans, and even militia patrols—if they deem them weak enough. This does not mean they are allied with Cultists or Abominations. On the contrary, Bandits themselves often become prey for those threats. Abominations and Cultists will attack Bandits just as readily as they attack the player.Mechanically, Bandits are similar to Crusaders. They leverage the same three base attributes that convert into combat statistics, and they use the same types of armour and weapons. Just like Crusaders, th…
- 🎉 Wrapping Up an Incredible Year — Thank You, Crusaders! ⚔️ - 31 December 2025
As the year comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to every single one of you who has supported Band of Crusaders. Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning or just joined the adventure, your passion, feedback, and encouragement mean the world to us.This year has been huge for our team:🛡️ We ran a major playtest — your feedback helped us shape key systems and improve the core gameplay loop. 🎮 We released an early demo so more of you could get hands-on with Band of Crusaders and experience the journey for yourselves. 🎥 Our trailer was featured by IGN three times! A surreal milestone for us. 🔥 We’ve surpassed 100,000 wishlists on Steam, and we couldn’t be more grateful (or amazed!) by how many of you there are. 🌍 We went to Gamescom, where we were able to showcase Band of Crusaders to top press and news outlets. 🚀 We launched our Kickstarter…
- Tactics RPG Band Of Crusaders is a zealous take on Battle Brothers, but not (yet) the religious horror story I'm hoping for - 11 December 2025
Reader, I must apologise for the intolerably wholesome nature of RPS of late. My last couple of reviews were of a laidback farming sim and a showcase of nostalgic hardware . Glancing down the news feed, I note with outrage that Oisin has recently been writing about Very Good Doggos (being thrown into pits), while Mark has been spilling ink over that least offensive of politicians, Keir Starmer . Time to consign Starmer, the doggos, and those fetching Macintosh-me-dos to the waste bin along with my lingering fondness for Dreamcast-era platformers. Let's cleanse our palates of sugar with a post about stinking murderous zealots. For you see, there is now a demo available for Band Of Crusaders, the new tactics RPG from Polish developers Virtual Alchemy and publishers NCSoft. Read more
- One Week After the Demo – Thank You! - 10 December 2025
We’re one week into the Band of Crusaders Demo on Steam, and the response has been tremendous! The community we’re building together is amazing. Thanks to you, we received over 1,000 feedback reports through the in-game forms alone. Your varied and sometimes challenging discussions on Discord, the Steam forum, and social media have been incredibly valuable. During this week, we focused on prioritizing improvements and acting fast – we’ve already uploaded 6 hotfixes to make the experience better. Your feedback is helping us shape the game every day. We’re thrilled that the demo has an overall 83% review score – thank you! It’s especially important for us that you also highlighted what you liked. This helps us stay focused and double down on features that work. Many of you praised our combat system as fresh, unique, and exciting. Of course, we also got feedback on ways to improve things l…
- Band of Crusaders – Demo Out Now! 🔥 - 3 December 2025
Today marks a major milestone for us: the Band of Crusaders early demo is officially live and ready for you to dive in!This demo is your first step into a world on the brink—where every choice, every ally, and every battle shapes the fate of the crusade. We can’t wait for you to experience the combat, meet the characters, and get a real feel for the journey ahead.To help bring the world to life, we’ve also released a brand-new cinematic trailer. If you want a better look at the story, the stakes, and the tone of the adventure, be sure to check it out!🎮 Play the demo now and let us know what you think. Your feedback truly helps us shape the final game. We’re committed to developing Band of Crusaders together with our community, which is why every piece of feedback matters. You can use the built-in feedback feature or join our Discord to chat with us directly and help shape the adventure…
- Band of Crusaders Demo is coming to Steam! - 27 November 2025
Christmas comes early this year! After years of development, a successful community playtest, and implementing valuable feedback from the playtesters, we're excited to announce that demo of Band of Crusaders will be released on December 3rd at 6am PST / 9am EST / 3pm CET / 5pm MSK / 10 pm CST / 11pm KSTWe can’t wait for you to dive in and enjoy the game. The Crusade begins!
- Chronicle of the Crusade #2: Cultists - 15 November 2025
Cultists are an important enemy family in Band of Crusaders. The world isn’t filled just with Abominations and selfish humans who have forsaken their humanity. Cultists are neither human nor Abominations, but something vile in between. Learn more about them… if you dare.Origins of the CultistsImagine a world on fire, ravaged by years of war, plundered by raiders and defiled by Abominations, that’s the place where commoners strive for survival every day. Even in good times, morality isn’t something you can take for granted, and with order fallen and lords hiding in their castles, some ordinary folk turned to a different force for help.This new way of living, based on worshiping the Abominations, pushed those who tried into a servant role, spiraling further into forsaking their humanity and fully switching sides. With rituals that seem to strengthen and summon even more Abominations, and…
- Chronicle of the Crusade #1: Abominations - 24 September 2025
We are finally ready to start lifting the veil on Band of Crusaders, sharing how the world, its enemies, and its systems take shape. To open things up, we are focusing on one of the first horrors you will face: the Abominations. These creatures are the spawn of Chaos itself, and among their ranks lurks one of our earliest designs, the Hellhound.Origins of the AbominationsThe year is 1350. Europe has been burning for decades. Villages are reduced to ash, kingdoms are shattered, and the land itself feels poisoned. From this devastation emerge the Abominations. They are not visitors from some faraway realm, but twisted growths born on our own earth.Chaos is not a single demon with a crown. It is a creeping current of corruption, an invisible tide that warps everything it touches into something foul and unnatural.Design approachAbominations are our way of exploring grotesque design to its l…
- ⚔️ New Gameplay Trailer is Here! ⚔️ - 20 August 2025
Crusaders,the latest trailer for Band of Crusaders has arrived! In the past few months, we’ve worked hard, and now we’re proud to reveal a brand-new video footage showcasing some of the new gameplay.🔥 More action👹 More abominations⚔️ More reasons to join the crusadeThis is just a glimpse of what’s to come. We know many of you are eager for more news about the playable build and release. We kindly ask for a little more patience, and we hope this new content will keep you excited as we continue developing the game and preparing further updates in the coming weeks.Steel yourself for the battles ahead. Onward, into the darkness!
- ⚔️ Band of Crusaders is Preparing for Kickstarter🤝 - 19 August 2025
Greetings, Crusaders!We’re excited to announce that Band of Crusaders is preparing for a Kickstarter campaign. This decision may come as a surprise to some of you, since the game already has a thriving community and the backing of NCSOFT as its publisher. After serious discussions within the team, we concluded that Kickstarter is the perfect way to further expand our community and open ourselves up to even more discussion and scrutiny beyond our current channels.We believe this will ultimately help us deliver the quality, depth, and experience our community deserves. With your support, we can make Band of Crusaders a truly special game.Our Kickstarter page is now live — follow it today to be notified the moment we launch! We’re also preparing some exclusives for early supporters, so you won’t want to miss out. Early momentum is key in helping Band of Crusaders reach as many players as p…
- From Poland with Love 2025 Sale showcases some of the best Polish games - 6 August 2025
Band of Crusaders is participating in the From Poland with Love 2025 event on Steam! As part of the event, you’ll find highly anticipated upcoming games as well as major discounts on games from top Polish developers and publishers — from iconic classics like The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077 to indie gems like Ghostrunner and Tower of Time — many at their lowest prices ever.We encourage you to explore the sale and discover just how many incredible games have been brought to life by Polish creators — some may truly surprise you! Band of Crusaders is participating in the From Poland with Love 2025 event on Steam! As part of the event, you’ll find major discounts on games from top Polish developers and publishers — from iconic classics like The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077 to indie gems like Ghostrunner and Tower of Time — many at their lowest prices ever.We encourage you to explo…
- Playtest Recap & What’s Ahead - 23 July 2025
We ran the community playtest between June 5th and June 15th — the very first playtest of Band of Crusaders — and we are beyond thrilled to share some highlights with you!Despite this being our very first public test, we made the adventurous decision to open access to content creators. They were not only able to preview the game, but also stream, record, and publish videos about Band of Crusaders. This creator-focused phase ended on July 6th, so it’s high time for a proper summary.First off, a huge thank you to everyone who participated:To our incredible community playtesters — thank you for sharing your first look at a playable version of the game. You’re all awesome!While Band of Crusaders is a game that fulfills our own creative fantasies (we're building it for ourselves, in a sense), we’re equally building it for you — and this playtest has shown we can build it with you.By the numb…
- Secret Sauce – Premiering Gameplay with Developer Commentary! - 19 July 2025
Secret Sauce kicks off today! Over 60 great games, including Band of Crusaders, are featured with new content, reveals, and gameplay.📅 Watch the Showcase – July 19th, 8PM CEST / 2PM ET / 11AM PT 🎮 To mark the start, we’re dropping something special:We've just launched an exclusive gameplay showcase, featuring in-depth developer commentary from our co-founder and Creative Director, Kamil Mickiewicz.🟢 Watch it now on Band of Crusaders Steam page or on Secret Sauce’s Steam page! Check out the event, watch the showcase, and dive into our gameplay preview.
- Private Playtest Coming Soon – Join Our Discord! - 15 May 2025
Crusaders, it's time for a Playtest! We’re excited to announce that we’ll soon be launching a private playtest for Band of Crusaders! This will be a closed playtest, available exclusively to members of our Discord community. Sign up for a chance to: ⚔️ Get an early look at the game 🛡️ Share feedback and help shape the experience 🏰 Stand with our growing order of strategy-and-history lovers We're inviting passionate players to test, explore, and contribute to making Band of Crusaders the best it can be. Join our Discord now and secure your spot in the playtest: ➡️ https://discord.gg/j4KQ9k9M6u ⬅️ See you on the battlefield!
- Band of Crusaders is participating in Polish Constitution Days 2025 - 28 April 2025
🔗 Steam Sale Page: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/PolishConstitutionDays2025 📅 April 26th - May 3rd We’re excited to announce that Band of Crusaders is part of the Polish Constitution Day 2025 celebration on Steam! This special event honors Poland’s rich gaming heritage and commemorates one of the country’s proudest historical milestones — the adoption of the 3rd May Constitution of 1791. It’s a perfect time to dive into an incredible selection of over 450 games made by Polish developers, many of them available at special discounts! Check out the event page to find your next favorite game!
- Band of Crusaders partners up with NCSOFT - 26 March 2025
Dear community! We’ve got some big news to share - Band of Crusaders is teaming up with NCSOFT as our global publisher! For us as developers, this is a dream come true - NCSOFT’s support gives us the chance to craft something really special for you. We owe so much to you, our community. Your wishlists, your feedback, and every bit of engagement have been our lifeline - especially in these tough times for indie devs. Knowing you’ve got our back has kept us pushing forward. Now, with NCSOFT in our corner, we’re more pumped than ever to deliver on our vision for Band of Crusaders. There’s some exciting stuff brewing and can’t wait to share with you soon! Cheers, Dominik
