Boardlike news & patch notes

Hey everyone,

To give you a clearer view of what lies ahead, I’ve put together our Early Access roadmap! I’ve reviewed every single piece of feedback you’ve sent my way and crafted a grand plan to make the game even better.

Feel free to share any features or content you’d love to see directly over on the Community Hub. I’ll do my absolute best to reply to your thoughts as quickly as possible.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into what these upcoming updates actually mean:

v 0.8.0

• The Caravan System

  • You’ll now be able to start your journey directly from regions you’ve already cleared. This means your high-level heroes can skip the early zones and jump straight into the real action.

• The Crafting System

  • Before setting out on an adventure, you’ll be able to craft and equip starting-tier gear for your hero.

• The All-New Relic Wheel & Rewards

  • I’m reworking the Relic Wheel to make it far more rewarding. You won’t be walking away from tough boss fights empty-handed anymore.

• The New Dice Mechanics

  • To give you more control over your random movement along the board, you’ll be able to spend Action Points to roll a specific die of your choice.

• Bequeathing Gear

  • Found an awesome piece of equipment during a run? You’ll now be able to leave it behind as a family heirloom for your next hero.

• The New Potion Brews

  • Alongside crafting, you’ll be able to brew potions before your journey. Plus, you can now chug those potions outside of combat!

• Steam Achievements

  • The highly requested Steam Achievements will finally be ready for you to hunt down and collect in this version.

v 0.9.0

• Dungeon Adventures

  • You’ll encounter mysterious dungeons along the board. Stepping inside will trigger mini-adventures packed with risk and reward.

• The Hero Sign Update

  • I’m completely overhauling the existing Sign system to make it much more functional and impactful for your builds.

• The New Resource Building System

  • With this new system, your village structures will passively generate resources while you’re out adventuring. Along with this, resource gathering and spending will receive a major balance pass.

• Mysterious Visitors in Town

  • Expect to find strange travelers waiting for you upon your return to the village. They’ll bring unique requests, shady offers, and deals you might not be able to refuse.

• The Mercenary System

  • Instead of rolling a new hero from scratch, you can hire pre-made heroes hanging out at the tavern for some cold, hard gold. Note: These mercs are strictly here for the gold and glory—they won't settle down to have children.

v 1.0.0

• End-Game Content

  • The final chapter and the true ending of the game will arrive with this full-release update.

• New Collectibles & Loot

  • I'll be expanding the item pool drastically to deliver a much more diverse and exciting loot system.

• New Luck Cards

  • Expect fresh additions to the Luck Card pool, creating a much richer and more chaotic deck.

• New Event Cards

  • The number of random encounters will be increased, forcing you to make even tougher, run-defining decisions.

• New Mini-Games

  • More variety and numbers are coming to the mini-games you stumble upon during your journey.

• Full Controller Support

  • The highly anticipated controller support will be fully locked and loaded before the official 1.0 launch.

This is the battle plan for now! I truly hope it matches your expectations and delivers the best possible experience.

Until the next turn, see ya!

Bozz

Fixes

• Persistent Status Effects: Fixed an issue where status effects wouldn't disappear during combat.

• Dazing Blow: Squashed the bug caused by the "Dazing Blow" combat card.

• Legacy Typos: Fixed spelling errors in the Legacy section.

• Victory Volume: Balanced the high-volume sound effect at the end of battles (your ears are safe now!).

• Combat Tiles: Fixed an issue preventing interaction with combat tiles.

• Gold & Ink Mines: Resolved a bug where Gold and Ink Mines wouldn't function under certain conditions.

• Hero Persistence: Fixed a bug where heroes wouldn't reset properly when abandoning a run.

• Evasion Cards: Corrected text errors on Evasion-related cards.

• Runner Gene: Fixed the description text for the "Runner Gene."

• Visual Lag: Fixed a delay where status effects would only appear on enemies after one turn.

• The Vanishing Hero: Fixed a critical issue where heroes would sometimes disappear upon returning to town.

• Menu Typos: Fixed spelling errors on the Game Mode selection screen.

• Merchant Sign: Fixed a bug where characters with the "Merchant Sign" wouldn't stop at every shop.

• Psychopath Balance: Fixed the excessive HP issue caused by the "Psychopath" combat card.

• Shoplifter: The "Shoplifter" trait is now fully active. (Use it wisely!)

Balance

• Quenched Thirst: Reduced the dehydration damage in the fourth region (The Desert).

New Features

• Retirement Plan: Not happy with your current hero? You can now Retire them in the town screen and roll a brand-new hero.

• Honorable Exit: In dire situations, you can now choose to end your hero’s journey mid-adventure to return to town.

Buildings & Bonuses

I’ve listened to your feedback and overhauled how building bonuses work!

• Global Bonuses: You no longer need to pick a single building bonus during hero creation.

• Active Perks: All constructed buildings now provide active bonuses based on their level.

• Clarity: You can now clearly see all your active building bonuses on the Breeding screen.

Evasion System Overhaul

I’ve made some significant changes to the Evasion mechanics. In previous versions, Evasion points only helped with traps, and Evasion cards granted a flat percentage chance to dodge.

Here is how the new system works:

• Evasion Cap: I’ve introduced a Maximum Evasion limit. From now on, a hero's base Evasion chance is capped at 50%.

• Card Scaling: Instead of giving a flat bonus, Evasion cards now utilize a percentage of your hero's current Evasion stat.

For example:

If your hero has 20% Evasion:

• Using Basic Evasion will grant you half of your stat, resulting in a 20% + 10% chance to dodge.

• Using Flawless Evasion will allow you to use 100% of your stat, giving you 20% + 20% dodge chance.

This change makes your base stats more meaningful while keeping the combat challenging and strategic!

New Stat System

The old stat system, which led to some rather... "ridiculous" numbers and made game balancing a nightmare, has officially been retired. From now on, stat points will no longer scale exponentially. Instead, they will use fixed values to provide a more controlled, challenging, and tactical gameplay experience.

The enemy leveling system has also been overhauled to match this new balance. While there might still be some hiccups, this new foundation makes the game much easier for me to fine-tune and improve moving forward.

A quick heads-up: Since this system fundamentally changes the game's math, your old save files might feel "game-breakingly" easy. I didn’t want to force a reset on anyone, so I’m leaving it up to you. But I strongly recommend starting a new game to truly experience the intended challenge of the new system.

Updates will continue at full speed. Have fun!

Bozz

Hello everyone!

After a long development journey, the moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived: BOARDLIKE is now available in Steam Early Access!

Why Early Access?

We chose this path because we want to make BOARDLIKE the richest and most complete version of itself. Throughout the Early Access period, we will grow the game together by adding new mechanics, additional content, and story expansions. Your feedback will be our greatest guide in shaping the roadmap ahead.

A Huge Thank Thank You to Our Community

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported us since the beginning, added the game to their wishlists, and shared our excitement. As an indie developer, your support means the world to me.

Let’s Improve It Together

Since the game is still in active development, you may encounter some bugs. If you run into any issues, please don't hesitate to report them in the Steam Discussions section. I am dedicated to fixing these as quickly as possible through updates to ensure you have a smooth experience.

I will be carefully reading every single comment from you.

Enjoy the game!

Hello everyone!

I am thrilled to finally present the Next Fest Demo. Development has been moving at full speed, and it feels like we are finally approaching the finish line.

With this update, you’ll get a solid taste of what the full version of BOARDLIKE will offer. If you’ve played previous versions, you’ll immediately notice how far the game has come. For our new players, I’ve worked hard to ensure a much smoother and more polished experience. To those I’ve caused "suffering" with previous bugs... I am deeply sorry! :(

Let’s take a look at what’s new and how we’ve shaped this world together:

What’s New in This Version?

(Note: A significant portion of these are available in the current demo)

• 8 Cursed Regions: Each with its own unique mechanics (Watch out for dehydration in the desert! Those debuffs bite!).

• 52 Enemies & 8 Boss Fights: New threats with complex behaviors and grueling boss encounters.

• 45 Wearable Equipment & 48 Collectible Items: A brand-new equipment system is officially live! :)

• 21 Relics & 60 Battle Cards: Regional relics that drop from bosses and a massive library of cards to master.

I’m planning to expand these numbers even further with every future update!

New Feature: The Legacy System

You can now spend your hard-earned resources not just on your current hero, but on their Ancestry. Through a new Bonus Tree, you can upgrade the base stats of "future parents," ensuring that every new generation starts stronger than the last.

New Feature: Equipment & Cosmetics

Passive buffs from carried items are still here, but I’ve added a dedicated Equipment System. You can now buy and equip weapons, shields, and armor to see instant stat boosts. Plus, your hero's appearance will change accordingly. Little cosmetic touch goes a long way! :D

Meet the New Merchants

To support the new equipment system, 4 new trader types have entered the dungeon:

• Equipment Merchant: Sells gear that scales with your level.

• Dwarf Blacksmith: Crafts rare equipment using his own unique currency.

• Garbage Goblin: One man’s trash is a goblin’s treasure!

• Devil Dealer: Offers "tempting" deals in exchange for Black Gold.

Relics & Ancestral Cards

These legendary loots dropped from bosses are now ready. Unlike regular items, these treasures will stay with your bloodline throughout the generations.

A Quick Note on Bugs

I won't bore you with a long list of bug fixes, but please know that I am constantly monitoring the Steam Community pages to fix issues as fast as I can. There might still be some small hiccups, but we’ll crush them together!

I truly hope you enjoy this version. I’ve poured my heart into it to give you the best experience possible.

Love you all and good luck in the dungeons!

Hey everyone,

After quite a long break, we’re finally back with a new update! For those wondering why it took so long, let’s just say I stayed true to the plan. I wanted each region to have its own unique visuals, so I finished all the drawings. With 56 enemy designs and full animations, I think I managed to bring a lot of variety this time.

Here’s a little preview for those who are curious.

In the meantime, I’ve also been fixing bugs and implementing requests based on your feedback. So, what’s new in this update?

• You can now choose between three different game modes when starting a new game. For those who don’t want to be limited by breeding rights, there’s now an endless mode. And for those looking for a real challenge, there’s also a deadly mode with limited life seeds. (Reward bonuses aren’t active yet, so… don’t torture yourselves too much 😅)

• The deck-building system has finally been implemented! You can now access your deck at any time and pass your collected cards to the next generations. Moving away from random card draws and fixed deck sizes has really helped balance the game.

• The genetic perk issue is finally gone. You can no longer inherit the wrong genes from your parents.

• The shop card stacking issue with the new deck system is now mostly fixed.

• The bizarre Large Gorgot Fang bug has been fixed. (Thanks, Derkrat!)

• Fixed several calculation issues related to bleed and poison effects.

• The Sacrifice Stone values have been completely rebalanced. It now works on percentages and offers a fairer reward system overall.

• Fixed an issue where certain resources couldn’t be gathered. Now you can collect everything you find. Go wild!

• I should probably start writing notes while working, because I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few things for this changelog 😅 (noted for next time).

That’s all for now. There’s still a lot of work ahead and not much time left. Until Next Fest, I’ll keep polishing the demo while finishing the full version.

See you soon!

Alright dear friends, As you know, I’ve been actively working on updates for a while now. So with today’s patch, let’s take a quick look at what’s been changed and improved overall!

Update Highlights

• You can now hover over enemies to see detailed information about them. (Finally! :))

• Enemy count in battles now scales with your character’s level.

• New players (or anyone starting a new run) will now be greeted with a short intro/tutorial.

• Your hero now starts battles with base defense points.

• In the Family Lock section, returning characters now fill empty slots automatically. Meaning you no longer lose your upgraded character due to “aging” (rest in peace, old heroes 😢).

• Genetic Perks now expand and are easier to read when hovered over.

• Fixed an issue where settings weren’t being saved properly.

• Fixed a serious XP bug that caused experience gain problems.

• The game now auto-saves after character creation, so you can safely create a hero and close the game anytime.

• Additional fixes related to the save system stability.

• And, of course… a bunch of other improvements I forgot to write down :D

You can start a New Game to experience all these changes. Hopefully, those crazy overpowered stats you managed to reach before won’t be happening again! :)

Now, for the next update > Something I think will make everyone happy:

🃏 DECK BUILDING!

I personally love the game’s chaotic randomness, but I understand that players want a bit more control too. So with the upcoming deck-building system, I have two main goals:

Hi folks, By popular demand, I've reworked the entire UI to better support ultrawide monitors. While I can't say it's 100% perfect just yet, there should be no major issues preventing you from enjoying the game on wider screens.

If you do happen to run into any bugs or visual glitches, please let me know by posting in the Ultrawide Support thread on the community page.

Thanks for all your feedback and enjoy the extra screen space! Stay safe, and may the dice treat you well. 🎲

Hey everyone!

It’s been four days since the demo launched. and with all your feedback and support, I’ve just wrapped up the first update!

This patch mainly focuses on obvious bugs, unclear details, and general quality-of-life improvements.

Without going too deep into the details, here are the key points:

• Added a pre-battle dice roll to make early fights fairer. (No more heroes always landing the first hit and smashing everyone’s heads!)

• Updated the visuals for status effects like poison, bleed, and burn during combat.

• Those same effects now expire after 3 turns instead of lasting indefinitely.

• Added an on-screen explanation for the Karma system when you earn your first Karma point.

• Reversed the HP bars to display correctly as Current HP / Total HP

• Added an FPS cap for a smoother and more stable experience.

• Sacrifice Stone now shows how much Max HP you’ll lose with a new, clearer UI.

• Fixed inconsistencies in gene inheritance.

• Evasion cards can now stack! You can reach 100% evade chance by using two basic evasion in a row.

• Changed Action Point colors to avoid confusion.

• Fixed several tiny bugs I’m too embarrassed to list here. 😅

Huge thanks to everyone for the amazing support! The demo’s stats over these four days have already exceeded my expectations. I’m working full steam ahead to bring you the full release as soon as possible. Bozz

Hi there! The Boardlike demo is now playable!

We’re incredibly excited to finally share this project we’ve been working on with so much passion. This demo represents just a small slice of the full game. Yes it still has rough edges, missing parts, and room to grow but that’s exactly why your feedback matters so much.

We want to build this journey together with you. Your comments, impressions, and critiques will help shape the final version of Boardlike.

Thank you for playing, supporting, and being part of this adventure. May the dice roll in your favor.