Goblin Stone News

Hello everyone! This would be the first dev blog about a boss in our game! We've shown events, features, and other mechanics from past dev blogs. We'll now be talking about a huge king!

We’ll introduce the Rat King! The Rat King is believed to skulk beneath the stony pavement of the halfling capital. Anyone would be frightened to see a gigantic rat! Let’s jump right in and learn more about the King of the sewers.



[h2]The Royal Headpiece[/h2]

Let's talk about the crown of the Rat King! The crown was first conceptualized to be a group of rats gathering around the King's head while wielding forks and knives.



With the image below we gave the Rat King some accessories to make it appear as though the Rat King is actually the head of the rats; we gave him a golden band on its head with the rats and tweaked the accessories on his tail to match his crown.



[h2]Hairy Cape[/h2]

We considered using the capes to serve as the boss's fast visual identification. As you can see, we modified the color of the cape from red to gray because the lighting in the sewers made it seem different.



If you noticed, the king is now wearing a cape. We considered using the capes to serve as the boss's fast visual identification. As you can see, we modified the color of the cape from red to gray because the lighting in the sewers made it seem different.

[h2]Why is the Rat King Big?[/h2]

The Giant Rat doesn’t look as big as the Rat King. Having other rats larger than him seemed like he was inferior. So we decided to make the Rat King the biggest among all other rats to show its dominance. A king should always show superiority and strength amongst the rats.




[h2]Chamber of the Rat King[/h2]

This is an older version of where the Rat King resides. He has a lot of cheese around him all for himself, making him the big fat Rat King. The rats always make sure the room is filled with cheese to please their King.




That is all for the Rat King! With the Rat King in place, what other bosses could exist in the world of Goblin Stone? Be prepared and stay tuned for more updates about the game and see what else could be waiting for you!

Thank you for taking the time to read this dev blog, If you want to get more information about the game and communicate with our community, be sure to check out our Discord!

https://discord.gg/3VbsDVaYKm

Greetings gobbos! In today's dev blog we will be talking about map events. With this feature, we believe it will make it easier for everyone to plan out where to go. We decided to add Map Events to give a more roguelike feel! Let’s list down what map events we can come across in-game.



[h2]Enemies[/h2]

There are two types of enemies, we have Normal Enemies. They usually have smaller enemies that don’t hit as hard as the larger enemies. The other one is Powerful Enemies, we wanted to provide players with a “high-risk, high-reward” option where players can choose to fight more powerful enemies that can provide players with better loot.

Normal Enemies

Powerful Enemies

[h2]Enhance your gear[/h2]

Have you met the Smithy? If you are having a hard time with your adventure, the Smithy will be the best one to visit as he can upgrade your weapons to help you in battle! We thought of adding the smithy because we wanted to make adventures more interesting by providing players with an upgrade path.



[h2]Level up abilities[/h2]

Look, it's the Battle Guru! The Guru teaches you how to use your abilities more effectively. He is similar to the Smithy but instead of the weapons being upgraded, it will be your abilities that will be upgraded. Only class-specific abilities can be upgraded.

We wanted to make things interesting, so we added the Battle Guru to provide players with a different upgrade path in adventures. Players can decide which one is a better upgrade, ability, or weapon.



[h2]Expensive Treasure[/h2]

Let’s talk about treasures! Treasures can be seen anywhere in your adventures. Finding treasures will give you a lot of items that you can sell to the merchant for gold. They contain high-value loot that can be helpful to you other than gold. An example would be High-healing food, it can be game-changing having them.



[h2]Harvest materials[/h2]

Harvesting spree! There are a lot of harvestable in the area, it is good to collect as much as you can before you return to the lair! Who knows what you’ll find? Be careful as enemies may ambush you anytime. You’ll randomly find a room full of Harvestable materials in your adventures, this could be very valuable to some if they lack the materials they need.



We added this room to help players gain more materials than they normally would. We also added random encounters to this similar to Treasure.

[h2]Rescue captured goblins[/h2]

Oh no! You see fellow goblins being Captives! Free the goblins and you can add one of them to your team. The other goblins will also be free but will just escape. If you’re down a few goblins in your adventure, this could be a lifesaver.



Look out for the next dev blog where we’ll discuss more Map Events! Check out our discord to find out more about our game!

Discord: https://discord.gg/3VbsDVaYKm

Thank you for reading. We hope you will look forward to our next one. Please support us by adding Goblin Stone to your Steam wishlist if you haven't yet!

Hello everyone!

We’ve been away for a while but we are back with fantastic news to share. Over the past few months, the development team was hyper focused on polishing Goblin Stone and developing a whole new demo build for the general public to enjoy.

Yes, you read that right! After reading the feedback from our previous announcement about the removal of the demo version on Steam, we reconsidered bringing back the demo on STEAM. The new demo version will be shorter than the first demo, but just long enough to offer the player a general feel of how the game works, particularly in combat and adventure.

New title screen for Goblin Stone

Players can now choose to begin their game by using the Tutorial mode to learn the basics of the game or jump straight into adventure with a party of 6 goblins led by our Discord community’s favorite goblin, BellPunter.



As this is a short demo, some features will not be available in the demo like the Goblin lair but you’ll noticeably see the visual upgrades, quality of life and interface improvements that we’ve recently added to the game.



The new Goblin Stone demo is to be re-released today on STEAM. Grab your free demo copy at the store page and test your strategic skills as you lead these goblins for their survival.

If you enjoyed the demo, please let your friends know by sharing, adding it to your wish list, and subscribing to Goblin Stone on STEAM:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1521970/Goblin_Stone/

Hello everyone, we have an important announcement.

Since the demo's release the previous year, we have had a lot of comments and suggestions that have helped us make our game better. Goblin Stone has undergone more than a year of development and optimization, and as a result, we believe the present trial version will no longer fully demonstrate the quality of the game.

After discussion with the team, we made the decision to take the demo version of Goblin Stone down on June 27, 2022, at 12 a.m. (GMT+8). Players won't be able to download, install, or launch the demo version after it has been removed from Steam.

Thank you for participating in our demo and hope you'll support us when Goblin Stone launches in Early Access later this year.

[h3]Wishlist Goblin Stone on Steam[/h3]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1521970/Goblin_Stone/

Shrines, a new adventure feature that adds challenge and variety to each adventure run in which your team can benefit from incredible bonuses sometimes with negative effects attached to them.

In our previous dev blog, we discussed the direction of our game development with Goblin Stone and some notable features we recently added to the game. Today's dev blog is dedicated to the previously mentioned Shrine features, and we will go into detail about the progress and mechanics of this new feature.

[h3]What’s in development[/h3]
Since the demo, shrines have been an existing feature, but these structures were initially introduced as the 'Obelisk' and 'Oriflamme', which grant a fixed one-time-status effect to the player's party when interacted with, such as a 30% heal or a buff to combat speed.

We realized that simply gaining buffs and bonuses weren't enough to make each run unique and challenging as we iterated on the adventure system. We decided to revamp the shrine feature and added in a forced-choice mechanic to bring in a layer of randomness and provide the player with meaningful choices that affect the outcome of their adventure.

[h3]Appearance[/h3]
Starting from Chapter 2, players will be able to randomly encounter shrines during their adventures. Each shrine's appearance is designed to match the biome it will be displayed in, such as Forest, Grassland, or Underground. For variety, each biome has two different designs for its shrines.



As you may have noticed, each shrine statue has some similarities in its features, such as the trapezoid-shaped head, oval eyes, wide mouth, and sometimes accessories. We also made sure to add environmental elements to the final design, such as bushes, plant growth, splotches of moss, and even spiderwebs.

Shrines are sacred spaces dedicated to a revered figure in which they are adored.

Shrines can bestow both power and curse on anybody who comes near them. We can easily tell that these goblin-esque statues are constructed and depict an element of the monsterfolks' culture.

[h3]The new shrine mechanics[/h3]

Players will be able to encounter two different kinds of shrines in the game: The Normal Shrine and the Cursed Shrine, which is more of an experimental feature that we may or may not include in the final version.

Unlike in its early version, where the player may choose to interact with it, Normal Shrines automatically activate once your goblin party is within its vicinity. This is where the forced choices system comes into play. The shrine will ask the player to choose between two different effects. Both of these effects come with a buff and a debuff that will be applied to their current adventure party. In most cases, the benefits of the buff outweigh the drawbacks of the debuff.



Our rough mockup versus the current UI design

These effects apply immediately and will last throughout the adventure or until the goblin party returns to the lair. Depending on the player's choice, these effects can either aid or hinder your adventure party during combat. So be sure to choose wisely!

The Cursed Shrines, on the other hand, are something you want to avoid as they only bestow negative effects. These shrines come with a mini-game that begins when you get too close to them. To avoid the shrine's curse, your goblin party must stop if the shrine opens its eyes and looks at your goblins. Wait for it to go back to sleep before trying to sneak past it.

A rough illustration of a cursed shine's mechanic.

Cursed shrines in action using temporary "programmer art."

If the goblin party successfully sneaks by, no effects will trigger. Otherwise, the player will be forced to choose one or two unfavorable debuffs.

Our rough mockup versus the current UI design

While some players may use these shrine effects to gain an advantage in combat, others may use them to make the game more difficult. Some players may even opt to take on short-term handicaps in exchange for more lasting effects.

We want our players to be able to make more meaningful decisions in Goblin Stone and have a different gameplay experience each time they play. Please let us know about your ideas in the comments! Some of the best ideas come from our community, and we take them seriously.

Thank you for reading our development blog, and we hope you will look forward to our next one. Please support us by adding Goblin Stone to your Steam wishlist if you haven't yet!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1521970/Goblin_Stone/