Beyond the Grove News

Hello Future Grove Keepers!

In Beyond the Grove, one of the core elements of the game is our Golem Crafting system. We’ll have over 50 unique golems to make for launch. This update will cover how it works.

[h2]7 Elements to Mix With[/h2]


There are 7 elements to work with in the game: air, earth, fire, water, light, dark, nature. Every golem has a unique recipe that is some combination of those elements.

[h2]Element Slots[/h2]


The other aspect are Element Slots, which tell you how many elements you can combine at once. To start with, you’ll get 2. Once you get 3 slots, you can combine more elements to make more powerful golems. At 4 Element Slots, you can create Omega golems, which have incredible destructive power and/or utility.

[h2]Glyphstones[/h2]


Finally, there are Glyphstones. Glyphstones are the currency which tell you how many golems you can create at a time. They are earned easily, and can come from upgrades between runs, in the shop, or during battle.

[h2]Examples[/h2]

Let’s say you have 6 Glyphstones and 3 Element Slots. You have fire, nature, light, and earth elements available.

You spend 1 Glyphstone to make fire/nothing/nothing. You make a Cinder Golem. A fragile ranged unit that hurls fireballs.


[You spend 2 Glyphstones to make fire/nature/nothing. You make a Charcoal Golem. A tanky melee unit that smacks units with its branches.


You spend 3 Glyphstones to make fire/earth/light. You make a Volcano Golem. A beefy mountainous unit that randomly throws globs of lava around itself.


All 3 golems are summoned to the map and start overtaking your enemies!


We can’t wait to see what everyone’s favorite golems are!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3516420/Beyond_the_Grove/

Hello Future Grove Keepers!

Today, I want to share why we decided to make Beyond the Grove's game a hybrid of real-time tactics, turn-based strategy, and auto-battling. In short: we love strategy games and the challenges they bring—but we don’t always have the time (or brainpower) for the really hardcore ones.

Over the years, I’ve logged thousands of hours in League of Legends, Starcraft (1 & 2), Warcraft 3, the Total War series, XCOM (1 & 2), and countless other strategy titles. But as I got older and my family grew, my time for gaming shrank. These days, I rarely get the chance to sit down and really sink into a deep strategy game. And when I do, I either get crushed by players with way more time... or I just don’t have the same energy and reflexes I used to.

Don’t get me wrong—there are some amazing games out there (especially from indie devs!) that scratch some of the strategy itch. But nothing quite hit all the marks I was looking for. I wanted something that was:

• Strategic and tactical
  
• Included crafting and discovery
  
• Had roguelite elements
  
• Told a charming story
  
• Not real-time!
  

So, we decided to build it.

The original spark came from my wife, who has fond memories of a game called Golem Wars (or Golem Madness, depending on who you ask). She pitched the idea of a modern, single-player take on it. With some creative theming from my brother-in-law and a few additions based on everything I mentioned above, Beyond the Grove was born.

[h3]But why not make it a traditional real-time tactics with pause?
[/h3]
You might wonder why we decided to have auto-battler-esque sequences instead of making a real-time tactics game with pause? For us, it came down to one thing: we didn’t want the game to matter whether or not you had fast reflexes. There have been countless times I’ve been playing Total War or Crying Suns on 2x or 3x speed, only to pause at the wrong time and lose the match because I barely missed the chance to pause the game at the right time. You might say: "well, get gud" or "play the game on half speed", and then I will say: "give me a break, I only have 15 minutes to play I got 4 hours of sleep last night because my toddler had a nightmare."

This is all subject to change though - we want the game to be fun, and we're willing to make changes to reach that goal.

We hope it becomes something truly special—something that scratches that strategy itch while still being approachable and fun. Thanks so much for reading!

[h3]Hello Future Grove Keepers![/h3]

Welcome to the first dev update for our upcoming game, Beyond the Grove. We’ve been building this game for over a year now and can’t wait for people to start playing it! I spent a lot of time thinking about what our first post should be about, and eventually, the answer became clear: we should talk about the game.

[h3]So, what is Beyond the Grove?[/h3]

Beyond the Grove is the game we’ve always wanted to play—but it didn’t exist, so we’re making it. It’s a blend of Real-Time Tactics, Turn-Based Strategy, Auto-Battler, Roguelite, and Unit Creator elements. That might sound like a lot, but it all comes together in a simple, satisfying loop.

[h3]Here’s what a typical match looks like:[/h3]

• The map starts in planning mode, and you survey the battlefield.
  
• You place rally points for your auto-spawned units to move toward.
  
• When you start the battle, your units head out and fight over key areas of the map.
  
• Defeating enemy units or capturing points of interest earns you buffs and Glyphstones, which are used to create bigger, better units.
  
• After a set amount of time, the game pauses. You can issue new rally points and spend Glyphstones to combine elements and summon golems.
  
• Start the battle again and watch the chaos unfold—until victory!
  
• Then it’s off to the “shop” to grab upgrades and new abilities for you and your units before the next battle.
  

Each step has something exciting to offer. Some players will love the tactical aspect—flanking enemies or capturing their base while they’re out of position. Others will gravitate toward golem crafting—experimenting with recipes and building the perfect army. Roguelite fans will enjoy the progression, unlocking powerful builds as they go. There's something for everyone.

We’ve also tried to pour a lot of heart into the game. Every unit and map is hand-drawn by our artist, Linda, and all of the music is original, composed by our audio wizard, Gregg. It’s definitely extended our development time (and stretched our wallets), but we believe it’s worth it.

That’s enough reading for now! Next time, we’ll introduce the team and talk about why we’re making this game. Thanks for joining us on this journey—we’re so glad you’re here.