King Of The Castle News

[p][/p][p]Hello again Nobles! Nice to see you again.[/p][p]We're pleased to announce King of the Castle 1.3.2 "ShinyQuarks"! What's inside?[/p][p][/p][h2]Fixing Save Files[/h2][p]Our last update, 1.3 "Morgrim", sadly introduced a bug to some player's save files. [/p][p]We had to change serialization to get Twitch Mode re-working and this caused issues with continuing and importing game saves. If you had this issue, you'd have seen a map had no events or a mid-turn screen (i.e. Taxes) that was blank.[/p][p]Rather annoyingly, this was also not easily reproducible as only a small number of players had this issue.[/p][p]We've now narrowed down the bugs causing this and this update means:[/p]

• [p]If you have a broken save you will now be able to open that game and find it magically fixed![/p]
• [p]Creating and playing with existing saves are both working as normal[/p]
• [p]Exporting and Importing saves are also both working as normal[/p]
• [p]And finally, we've made sure this works with exporting/importing saves to and from Windows 10 and 11, which caused a fair bit of the bugs.[/p]

[p]Of course if you do still have any issues please leave a comment below. Just make sure you've updated first![/p][p]This wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the following members of our community pitching in to help us. The following deserve huge kudos for this update:[/p]

• [p]Tony Hawk's Alpha Centauri[/p]
• [p]Morgrim Moon[/p]
• [p]Alx[/p]
• [p]Bonkoul[/p]
• [p]PhoenixRising3[/p]
• [p]And the incredible Shinyquarks, whose original discoveries on the Discord were invaluable in tracking down this error[/p]

[p]Thanks to each of them. We're very blessed to have them and all of our wonderful fans.[/p][p][/p][h2]A request from us[/h2][p]We'd first like to apologize for the save bug. It's a pain, but updating an older game like King of the Castle while supporting multiple Windows platforms was always risky.[/p][p]We've responded as quickly as humanely possible while making sure it was tested to high heaven, so I hope this goes some way to alleviating the disappointment some players had. [/p][p]A few did let us know about that disappointment by leaving negative reviews - To be clear, this 100% fine with us and totally their right to do so.[/p][p]However, we also know that, though reviewers say they'll re-review once a problem is solved, in reality that doesn't always happen.[/p][p]We'd love to be wrong! And again, to be very clear, this is also 100% fine with us and totally their right to do.[/p][p]However, King of the Castle got knocked into "mixed" recent reviews on Steam as a result. [/p][p]As a games studio, you're judged nearly entirely on this somewhat arbitrary value and, not to give too much away, we recently missed out on an opportunity because of it.[/p][p]We want to make more weird, cool games like King of the Castle - If you want us to too then a review of King of the Castle would go a long way right now.[/p][p]Want to leave a negative review instead? This is also 100% fine with us and totally your right to do![/p][p]Also, please don't pester negative reviewers to change their review or generally berate them. Not everyone likes KOTC and that's OK.[/p][p]We wouldn't ask if it wasn't so (annoyingly) important for us at the moment.[/p][p]And sorry to ask this so forwardly! It's probably not 'the done thing' but you taking 2 mins to write a review would really, really help us.[/p][p][/p][h2]A word on the Unity update[/h2][p]You might have seen we updated earlier to resolve a security issue in Unity. [/p][p]For the avoidance of doubt, this update includes all the changes from that fix. Updating straight to this version will include those changes.[/p][p][/p][p]That's all for now! Enjoy committing regicide against your mates, and hopefully we'll be back with some exciting news by the end of the year. [/p][p]See you all soon,[/p][p]S[/p]

We want to let you know about an important update.

A recently identified security vulnerability within Unity has been spotted, and while there is currently no evidence of impact on users, we’re taking all relevant steps to ensure you’re on the latest and safest version of the game.

To keep you safe, we’ve released a new patch that addresses the issue. Please update your game as soon as possible to stay protected.

You can read more about it here:

https://unity.com/security/sept-2025-01

As always, our priority will be on keeping our games as safe and enjoyable for everyone.

[p][/p][p]Oh hello, beloved Nobles. How are you? It's so, so nice to be back here.[/p][p]As some of you may have already seen a change to Twitch's backend recently took down Twitch Mode for King of the Castle. We've knuckled down, fixed the issue and were ready to update the game with that fixed.[/p][p]As we promised in our "future of" blog post we're very much committed to supporting the game for as long as possible.[/p][p]And for the past for the past year and a bit our lovely community in the Discord have been faithfully spotting and reporting bugs in KOTC.[/p][p]This necessary update turned into a great excuse to come back, work through that list of bugs. As a result, we're happy to present a Proper Update filled with fixes galore![/p][p]We couldn't spare infinite time as we're currently also working on an update to Occlude, our newest release, as well as tinkering on Other Secret Things, but we're hoping these fixes mean you can all enjoy King of the Castle for many more year and bits to come.[/p][p]All this to say - welcome to the MORGRIM update. So named after a much loved community member who faithfully collected and recorded all the little bugs that cropped up with King of the Castle. Thanks Morgrim, you deserve this.[/p][p]Right, enough waffle from me. Let's get into it![/p][p] [/p][h2]The important fixes[/h2]

• [p]Twitch Mode is now back up and working as intended.[/p]
• [p]You can no longer get invited to the Lord's Hunt if you've banned hunting. If no fun is allowed for your Nobles, well, no fun allowed for you.[/p]
• [p]Speaking of which, the game also didn't recognize when you banned hunting in the Lord's Hunt invite event. We've fixed that, so the 'No Fun Allowed' Achievement should be easier to get![/p]
• [p]Fixed a pronoun typo in the Boat Race which (fascinatingly) caused a softlock.[/p]
• [p]Hiring mercenaries to defend your roads can now lead to an event where they extort you for more money. We're trying to teach you the dangers of privately owned critical infrastructure, but this also caused locking issues in games.[/p]
• [p]If you fail the second stage of becoming a tyrant, the game entered an endless loop of telling you this rather than moving the story on. Funny, but fixed.[/p]
• [p]If any of the Regions needed to choose a new Scheme for whatever reason, the Sorcery option was missing from a few - This sometimes caused softlocks. That's also fixed.[/p]
• [p]In addition to the above, the Counts also had some bad syntax in their choosing new Schemes event. We've also also fixed that.[/p]
• [p]The Chiefs Prophecy scheme was nearly impossible as it was secretly looking for Kingdom's entire Faith to be down to 2. It's now just the Chief's Faith.[/p]
• [p]The Baron's Doppelganger scheme would try and read the Chief's Stat Goal and compare the Baron's Defiance level against it. Why? Great question. Anyway, this would cause soft locks if the Barons weren't in the game. Fixed.[/p]
• [p]We've stopped the Count's Intimidation scheme checking if the game is in Rebellion. I hilariously have the note next to this issue that "Intimidation is peaceful" which I wanted to share.[/p]
• [p]Meanwhile, the Baron's Intimidation scheme was actually checking for Stability and not Authority. That's resolved.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]The mildly less important fixes[/h2]

• [p]After resolving a haunted building with the Grand Inquisitor, the previously haunted Noble was nicking her line. Now, no more![/p]
• [p]Fixed a typo in the Strange Fossils event.[/p]
• [p]If your previous Monarch is drowned in a 'miraculous' flood of beer, the next Monarch's event won't just refer to them as "the (name of previous monarch)" but use their title.[/p]
• [p]Typo fixes to the Expedition to Chur event.[/p]
• [p]The offending Count is not called a "COCKRAOCH" in the Fire in the Palace event. That was a typo, not some mythical monster.[/p]
• [p]If unleashed in the palace fire events, Illarion then wanted to "ay waste" to you. He now wants to "lay waste" to you instead.[/p]
• [p]Also, letting Illarion out of his box now correctly leads to a new event.[/p]
• [p]If the Monster in the East event does kill a Noble, it will now actually count as a death. Previously they were declared as dead but were, in fact, absolutely fine. Pretty ineffectual monster all round.[/p]
• [p]If a combatant is using a spear in the Patrician's Games event, they will not randomly start using a sword instead. No dual wielding in the arena.[/p]
• [p]Also, swamp giants stop turning into sand giants halfway through the same event. No giant transfiguration in the arena.[/p]
• [p]Your Honour Guard would often steal lines from Nobles who introduce or interact with them. They're less chatty now.[/p]
• [p]A number of typos and text fixes across the Honour Guard events.[/p]
• [p]Completing the game by becoming a Saint and dying now correctly redefines your current spouse as the spouse of the previous Monarch. That one could get weird.[/p]
• [p]A swathe of typo fixes in the Rightful Heir event storylines.[/p]
• [p]Weirdly, in both the Counts and Chiefs scheme choice event, the "old ways" are actually spelt the "old wasy". Great name for a pub though, The Old Wasy.[/p]
• [p]Fixes for incorrect timers and descriptions being displayed in the Grandee's Fervour scheme.[/p]
• [p]If you had the Chiefs and they picked the Sorcery scheme, their ending text was a little funky on certain occasions. Now, the correct soul is collected by the correct wizard, as well as the correct Noble is trapped in a bubble of silence for rest of their mortal life.[/p]
• [p]Fixed typos in the Chief's Ragnarok scheme. [/p]
• [p]One of the many sorcery endings stops incorrectly trying to call your usurper a Chief. I mean, they probably were a Chief, knowing Chiefs, but that's beside the point.[/p]
• [p]Sweat no longer runs from your 'bow' when Oreid survives an assassination. It runs from your 'brow'. Very important to sweat correctly when your exiled advisor/lover with a gunship has a near death experience.[/p]
• [p]If the Mad Professor type offers to cure you of your Therianthropy for free, he now won't charge you an absolutely huge fee if you agree. Potentially good political commentary, but no, that was a mistake.[/p]
• [p]A wandering Wizard can now correctly wreck a Region's Military, build an army of spider-pirate hybrids to take over the Kingdom and animate smoke-monsters, all thanks to the power of typo fixing.[/p]
• [p]Your Useless Cousin's pronouns are respected in the Salon event. He may be useless, but that's zero excuse for being impolite to him.[/p]
• [p]Over 60 typos resolved across all five Loyalist Schemes. That took some serious time, well done to Harry.[/p]

[p]There are, as always, still other things we'd love to do for King of the Castle, but for the same reasons as we spoke about before, we can only do so much.[/p][p]We hope this update brings you a little joy regardless. Also if you haven't yet tried Occlude, why not check it out? It's really cool. [/p][p]Oh, and don't forget to join our Discord![/p][p][/p][p]And finally a big thank you to you, our players.[/p][p]On a personal note it means so much that our strange little game of "Game of Thrones meets Monty Python" is still so loved.[/p][p]The team past and present worked extremely hard and every inch is filled with love and care. To have that reciprocated by you lot makes me genuinely emotional.[/p][p]That's enough soppy nonsense. Now go on, get. Go find some friends and execute them for treason, you little scamps.[/p][p]S[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]UPDATE 28th August 2025:[/p][p]Apologies all, we've come across some issues in porting our shaders into the new version. We're trying to resolve this before we go live. We'll let you all know when it's good & ready![/p][p]Thanks again for your patience and apologies,
Sam[/p][p][/p][p]UPDATE 20th August 2025:[/p][p]Hi everyone,[/p][p]An update with a fix for Twitch Mode will be released on 27th August. There's a lot of testing to do with King of the Castle and we want to be confident in the quality of the update before we release it. Apologies that there will be a little more of a wait.
In addition to fixing Twitch Mode, the update will include over 100 fixes to events in the game, including around 10 potential soft-locks. [/p][p]Thanks again for your patience!
Owen[/p][p][/p][p]ORIGINAL POST:[/p][p]Hi all,[/p][p]High speed update here to let you that Twitch Mode is going to be out of operation for some time.[/p][p]This is due to an update made by Twitch, who decommissioned non-secure WebSocket connections to Twitch IRC servers over the weekend. If you're interested, you can read more about it here.[/p][p]We were using an older WebSocket connection to connect to Twitch IRC which sadly has been hit by this change.[/p][p]We're working on this updating King of the Castle so it'll work with the new system but that may take some time. Please bear with us![/p][p]Our Party Games are unaffected by this change - If you wanted to play in Twitch Mode, we suggest hosting a Party Game and sharing the code with your viewers.[/p][p]We'll update this post when Twitch Mode is up and running again.[/p][p]S[/p]

[p]Greetings Nobles,[/p][p]You may or may not have seen, but we at Tributary has released our second game - Occlude! It's a singleplayer narrative Solitaire puzzle cosmic horror game. It's really rather good.[/p][p]It's got all the secret lore and narrative goodness we know you loved in KOTC, with an extra spicy condiment of Solitaire puzzle on top.[/p][p]Go check it out here:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]There's even a King of the Castle reference or two if you go a-searching. We also now offer a Story Mode for players who want to dig into the narrative without the stress of Solitaire:[/p][p][/p][p]For those of you looking for a deal on every Tributary Games, we've got you covered with the brand new Cards and Kings bundle![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]This includes both our titles and is a must have for those who want to rule the world and then break the world.[/p][p]Also, we know you like Lore Drops - We're doing a whole new set of them for Occlude. If you haven't yet go visit the Discord and check them out.[/p][p]Thanks for reading and we'll see you in the Council hall.[/p][p][/p]