- Demo v.0.2.0 is live! - 18 September 2026
The demo just crossed 1,100 installs, and I am still refreshing the stats page like a madman! Hey, everyone! It's been a crazy week for me as I finally got to the first major milestone - giving the demo to the public. I am overjoyed with all the reactions, the kind words and feedback I've received over the last four days. Naturally, I waited the entire week to patch the game on a Friday night, with my late evening coffee almost gone as I am typing this. After 8 years of releasing games you'd think I'd have learned better! Feedback, feedback Speaking of feedback - this version is the very first one out in the wild, so I cherish and value your opinion and any hardships you have with it! This first obligatory post-release patch focuses heavily on usability, user experience and flow. I will continue to improve and iterate on the game so it can be pleasant and satisfying to play. A heartfelt…
- The Blood Sword demo is OUT NOW! - 14 September 2026
Hey everyone! I am super excited to bring you the first major milestone for Blood Sword! The Blood Sword demo is live on Steam, and it arrives on the first day of the Party-Based RPG Fest, which runs from September 14 to 21. You get the opening of The Kingdom of Wyrd with all four heroes, from the first campfire in the forest to the shores of Wyrd, and you can download it right now from the store page! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3645170/Blood_Sword/ The first line of code of this project is from April 2023. The last build, 0.1.14, was done at a quarter past eleven last night, after 26 days of a small group of playtesters breaking it and me fixing it. Between those two dates are almost three and a half years of my life, and honestly, I am a bit nervous :) The version number in the corner of the main menu went from 0.1.0 to 0.1.14 in the 17 days before the fest, and August closed…
- Mini Devlog #6: Four heroes, one plan - 8 August 2026
Hey everyone, I shoved a werewolf into a field of caltrops last month and nothing happened. It padded across the spikes without a scratch and went straight for my Sage on the other side. I sat there for a good while wondering which half of the plan was broken, the push or the caltrops, or whether I had invented the whole combination in my head. It turned out that knockback places a unit on a tile, while hazards only fire when something walks onto one. Two systems, both behaving correctly, politely ignoring each other. The fix took only a single line. The part worth writing about is that I found it at all. I only found it because I had stopped testing abilities one at a time, like a programmer, and started playing all four heroes as a group with an actual plan, like a player. That shift is what this devlog is about. What a fight is on the page Credit where it is due. In 1987 Blood Sword…
- Mini Devlog #5: Rewriting the rules of magic - 14 July 2026
Hey everyone! Last time, I signed off saying I was drafting out how the Enchanter's spells from the books would work on the grid. Well, the past month has been almost entirely devoted to that - and to building out the full skill system for all four classes. Today I want to talk about one of the biggest deviations from the source material I've made so far: changing the books' spell system. I know some of you gamebook veterans will have opinions on this, so let me walk you through exactly what I changed and why. How magic works in the books If you've played the original Blood Sword books, you'll remember the Enchanter's magic is brutal. You "call to mind" spells before you need them, and every spell held in memory drains your Psychic Ability. To actually cast, you roll 2d6 + Spell Complexity against your current PA. And here's where it gets rough: If you fail the roll, your turn is wasted…
- Mini Devlog #4: Translating the tabletop grid to a screen - 9 June 2026
Hey everyone, If you've been following the game here on Steam, you've mostly seen static screenshots of hex grids and character models. But lately, I’ve been spending almost all of my time deep in the combat engine, trying to answer one big question: how do I make a classic paper-and-pencil gamebook feel good as a digital PC game? In the original Blood Sword books, your imagination does all the heavy lifting. You roll the dice, do the math, and picture the sword strike in your head. In the early drafts of the combat, having characters just stand there while numbers changed in a log felt incredibly flat. I needed the game to visually communicate the weight of those dice rolls. I recently spent a good chunk of time just working on the physical feel of the hits. Now, when a character takes damage, they flash red - and that flash actually scales in intensity depending on how devastating the…
- Mini Devlog #3: Chickenpox, Curses, and Adapting Paper to Code - 11 April 2026
I know it’s been a while since my last update, and honestly, the silence wasn't part of any master marketing plan. Over the last month, half my family came down with Chickenpox. Balancing the roles of a dad, a makeshift nurse, and an indie developer meant something had to give. Naturally, I couldn't stop the development train, so I just put my head down, drank too much coffee, and kept grinding out code in the quiet hours. Writing posts on my socials had to take a back seat. But the silence was productive! Here is a look at the heavy lifting going on behind the scenes to make Blood Sword tick. Usables and Avoiding Insta Deaths Loot in Blood Sword is rarely just a +1 sword. It’s a Vial of Black Liquid, an Emerald Scarab, or a mysterious Birch Bark Scroll. I’ve introduced a unified UsableComponent that handles items you can pop both in combat and during exploration. We've got the Maeve Po…
- Blood Sword joins Turn-Based Thursday Fest 2026! - 9 March 2026
Folks, I have some massive news to share! Blood Sword has been hand-selected to participate in the Turn-Based Thursday Fest 2026, running from March 9th to March 16th! It is an absolute honor to see the game featured alongside genre-defining titans like Darkest Dungeon, Battle Brothers, Pathfinder, Vagrus, dotAge, and many, many others! I am especially proud to be featured in the "Promising Unknowns" section - a dedicated spotlight for the most exciting upcoming titles in the turn-based world. Turn-Based Thursday Fest is a curated celebration of strategy, tactical combat, and RPG depth. Being "hand-picked" means the organizers see the potential in Blood Sword to stand tall among the greats. Support the Journey: Wishlist Now! As I am still forging the blades and balancing the spells for the demo release, your support is more important than ever. If you haven’t already, please add Blood S…
- 5,000 Wishlists Reached! + A Small Tease - 7 February 2026
We’ve crossed the 5,000 wishlist mark! When I celebrated reaching 3,000 back in late September, I was already thrilled. But hitting 5,000 before the demo is even live? I am beyond humbled yet excited to see where Blood Sword can go! To everyone who has joined the community recently: thank you. Every wishlist boosts the visibility of Blood Sword and helps this indie project gain traction against the giants of the genre. A Small Sneak Peek: Mystery in the Loot I’m currently putting together a development update for two weeks from now (it’s a chunky one, stay tuned), but I didn’t want to let this milestone pass without sharing a little something new. I’ve been refining the inventory system, specifically implementing Unidentified Items. In Blood Sword, not every treasure you find will reveal its secrets immediately. That "Rusted Old Blade" you found in a crypt? It might just be junk... or i…
- Mini Devlog #2: Refining Passive Skills - 24 January 2026
Folks, it's been over a month since the Italian and Bulgarian localization announcement, so here's what's been happening in my indie dev world.The past few weeks focused on core RPG systems - specifically how character skills interact with spells, equipment, items, and inventory management. Less flashy than combat or story, but these are the systems you'll interact with constantly.Spellcasting & MemorizationThe spellcasting system received significant work this month. Spell memorization now functions correctly (yes, it was entirely broken - caught it before you did), and passive skill effects now properly modify how it works.Depending on your skill investments, you can reduce the cost of memorizing spells, improve casting reliability when using magic inside and outside of combat, or at higher tiers, achieve near-guaranteed success on certain spells. The goal is to make your passive choi…
- End of Year Update - Blood Sword in Italian and Bulgarian - 18 December 2025
Blood Sword was never just an English series. From the very beginning, it travelled across borders and languages, finding devoted readers in different countries, each with their own editions, terminology, and memories tied to these books. That multicultural life is part of what kept the series alive long after its original release, and it’s something I want to preserve in the digital adaptation. The end of the year felt like the right moment to pause and refocus. I released a new Fabled Lands expansion on November 27th, and with that milestone behind me, I can now dedicate more time and attention back to Blood Sword, with the clear goal of getting the demo out and doing justice to the foundations being laid. With that in mind, I want to share an important localisation update. The first two official languages supported beyond English will be Italian and Bulgarian. Italian will use the au…
- The Sage Class Spotlight - 18 October 2025
Some adventurers master steel, others the arcane. The Sage seeks mastery of both body and spirit.Sages are not bound to one place alone. Some hail from the Monastery of Illumination on Kaxos, where spartan training hardens both mind and flesh. These are island ascetics, pale-robed monks who endure silence and hardship to wield the staff as both weapon and discipline. Others walk from the deserts of Opalar, where mystics temper philosophy with survival and zeal. They are guardians and visionaries, heirs to southern traditions of astronomy, poetry, and holy law, yet as quick to raise a quarterstaff as a prayer.In Blood Sword, the Sage walks two traditions:The Warrior-Monk Trained in endurance and combat, these Sages master the quarterstaff, break nerve points with trained strikes, and shield allies with chants and mantras. They embody strength through discipline, turning willpower into ar…
- New Milestone - 3000 Wishlists Reached! - 30 September 2025
We did it - 3,000 wishlists gathered! That’s one of the big milestones on this long road, and I’m grateful for every single one. Thank you to everyone who’s already signed up to follow the journey - it makes all the difference for a solo dev project like this. What’s Next? The Demo The next milestone is clear: a playable demo. Right now, the plan is to squeeze in around 8–10 combat encounters, spread across several alternative story paths. These will culminate in a tough enemy encounter - something like a boss fight - designed to reward replayability as you uncover its secrets. Of course, it wouldn’t be Blood Sword without some hidden corners... so the most diligent explorers will find a few surprises tucked away in the demo too. Under the Hood From a development standpoint, most of my time is going into fleshing out the combat engine. I started with the Fabled Lands system, but I’m ref…
- To Trick by the Blade - Trickster Class Spotlight - 30 August 2025
Are you a roguish knave, crouched in a tavern corner with dice palmed and a purse already half-emptied of its coin? Or an assassin in the night, dagger ready, poison gleaming on the blade as you wait for your mark to pass beneath the window?The Trickster can be either - Assassin or Knave - and many things besides. A tomb-robber, a troubleshooter, an explorer, a thief, a gambler, even a hero when necessity demands. Where the Warrior trusts in armour and warhorse, and the Enchanter in spellbook and wand, the Trickster accomplishes his deeds by guile.Assassins are feared and despised for their cowardly ways. Stealth, trickery, and poison are their trade. They slip into guilds and secret brotherhoods, learning to strike where the foe is weakest. To knights they are dishonourable, yet to princes and guildmasters they are a necessary evil. Few adventurers follow this path - barely one in a hu…
- Blood Sword – Mini-Devlog #1 - 14 July 2025
I'm writing this on a hot (34 C° / 93.2 °F) July day, sipping a cup of slightly overbrewed coffee at my desk. In just a day, I'm off on a short vacation with my family - the kind of trip where you need another day or two to recover once you're back. But before I disappear into the dungeons beneath our mountains (and offline), I wanted to share a few thoughts and updates on how Blood Sword is coming along.The Grind BeginsWith the Warrior and Enchanter class spotlights out in the wild, I was tempted to finally unveil the curtain on the grind phase toward the release. What is my short-term goal? A playable demo.But not just a short demo - a complete vertical slice. A condensed, honest taste of the full experience. It’s got it all: story, tactical combat, choices that matter, and world exploration. It’ll let you see where this is all headed - and more importantly, give me feedback while the…
- To Live by the Sword - Warrior Class Spotlight - 19 June 2025
In the world of Legend, warriors walk many paths.Some are Knights, heirs to a shattered code of chivalry, trained in the civilised realms of Albion, Chaubrette, or the war-torn reaches of Kurland. Clad in chain and bound by oaths - or merely the memory of them - they stride into battle like avatars of the old world.Others are Barbarians, sons and daughters of the Eastern Steppes, the icy coasts of Thuland, or the burning sands of distant deserts. They owe fealty to no liege, but fight with the raw ferocity of a storm made flesh.And yet others wear no banner at all - only blood and dust - veterans of mercenary campaigns, tavern brawls, and a dozen wars no bard ever sang of.In Blood Sword, the Warrior can be any of them.You begin not with spells, but with steel. No illusions, no tricks - only muscle, training, and the refusal to fall.You wear chainmail from the start, with an Armour Ratin…
- Blood Sword Joins the Turn-Based Thursday Fest - 2 June 2025
Hey adventurers, Big news — Blood Sword has been officially selected to take part in the Turn-Based Thursday Festival 2025, running June 2nd to June 9th! And that’s not all — the fest has been given front-page visibility on Steam as part of a curated spotlight for the event. That kind of opportunity is rare for an upcoming indie RPG like this, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to see Blood Sword standing among the best of the genre like Baldur's Gate 3, Wildermyth and many, many more. If you're discovering the game for the first time: Blood Sword is a party-based, story-rich tactical RPG set in a brutal fantasy world of duels, dark gods, ancient tournaments, and branching destiny. Based on the legendary gamebook series by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson, it’s a faithful but modern reimagining — built for both returning fans and new explorers. ✨ Wishlisting now means everything. https://sto…
- Class Spotlight – The Enchanter - 7 May 2025
In the north, along the savage coasts of Mercania and Thuland, magic is primal and raw. The shamans and rune-mages there call themselves Elementalists, harnessing fire, wind, water, and darkness through sheer force of will. They are respected - or feared - as tricksters, spirit-binders, and storm-callers. Those who dare to wield darkness are reviled, cursed with spiritual penalties known as geases for walking forbidden paths. But not all magicians are wild sorcerers of the north. Across the civilized lands of Legend, magic is studied, codified, and bound into parchment. These magicians are Sorcerers - learned, methodical, and always left-handed by tradition. They master scrollcraft, alchemy, enchanted items, and attuned wands. A seasoned Sorcerer may enter battle with a belt of potions, a book of spells, and a wand humming with latent power. Skill Trees and New Design Philosophy In Bloo…
- Blood Sword: A Thousand Wishes and One Dream - 23 April 2025
Over 1000 Wishlists in One Week - Thank You! Blood Sword has only just been announced, and already it has passed 1026 wishlists in our first week. To put that into perspective: when I launched Fabled Lands, it had 430 wishlists in the same amount of time. I'm floored. Whether you're here as a long-time fan of the books, a tactical RPG enjoyer, or just someone curious about a gritty new fantasy world - thank you. This early support means everything. It gives the project momentum, and more importantly, the energy it needs to reach its full potential. A Long Road Ahead Blood Sword is still relatively early in development. It's a big project, and one that I'm taking very seriously. But it's also a passion project. One that I've been quietly building toward for years. In the weeks ahead, I'll start sharing a mini dev-log series, giving you a peek behind the curtain: How I'm adapting narrativ…
