Time to Mine
Grab your pickaxe or six-shooter, it’s time to delve into an abandoned gold mine infested with monsters, cultists, and folkloric creatures to gain gold, build up a thriving town to unlock characters and upgrades, and ultimately rid the mine of the evil within.
Risk & Riches releases today at 12:00 p.m. Eastern. I want to thank everyone who has supported the game during development and to this point. Whether you were a playtester, gave feedback on the demo, or simply wishlisted the game, it all helped to get Risk & Riches to where it is today. It’s a great first entry for the Growlery Games catalog, and it is the first of many to come!
Be sure to buy Risk & Riches today!
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2990670/Risk__Riches/
It’s Almost Time
It’s been a long and eventful journey, but Risk & Riches is only two weeks away from its 1.0 release. Well, today, I am releasing the 1.0 version of the demo, which is, as you might imagine, in line with the 1.0 full release. So, the demo is an exact reflection of the upcoming release other than the content locked within the demo. Thank you to everyone that’s been a part of the journey so far in any capacity.
Changes in v1.0 Demo:
The mouse line (yellow/red indicator line when moving a card around) is no longer affected by shading, so it appears brighter
Changed the collision shape of the cards in hand to a rectangle instead of an ellipse (I set it to an ellipse at one point, and I’m not sure why), this means more of the visible card area is selectable
Changed the save/load system for settings to a human-readable config file, this was done to more easily implement key rebinds (edit manually at your own risk)
Updated the Settings Menu so that it is only two tabs
Added the ability to rebind keys (finally, right?)
Added a border to the energy indicator that now displays yellow when the player has energy left and red when energy hits 0 for the turn
Added a yellow highlight to the pocketed icon above cards when they’re pocketed so that it stands out better
Removed the “[Space]” text from the End Turn button since it can now be rebound
Removed the “Feedback” text from the Bug Report button so that it now just says “Bug Report” in the Pause Menu
Replaced the Bug Report button on the Main Menu with a Credits button
Added a Credits Menu accessible through the Main Menu
Bug Fixes:
Added the “Banish” keyword to the “War Shield” card (thank you to whoever submitted this bug during Next Fest)
Fixed the layering of the Pause Menu and Events so that the Pause Menu no longer appears behind Events
Increased the Z Index of highlighted cards because when there were a lot of cards in hand, it was possible that cards to the right of the highlighted card could obscure part of the highlighted card
Made it so that unpausing would no longer retrigger the effect from the ore vein in the Treasure Room
Fixed a crash that could occur if there was not enough available equipment to fill the slots in the Hardware Store and an empty slot was selected
Reduced the description text for the “Cursed Doll” so that the “+1 to effects” text added after playing the “Worth More” card wouldn’t go outside of the card description area
I have a few ideas for a post-launch update already, but there are no game-breaking bugs that I am aware of at this time, and everything intended for March 27 is implemented and ready to go, including Steam Achievements. Thank you again to all of you who have been part of this journey, and I hope you enjoy the full game when it is released on March 27!
Life Isn'It Fair, but Games Should Be
For the last regular update ahead of Steam Next Fest I’ve focused on balancing the Gunslinger. It was possible to complete the first Circle of Hell with her in the Demo, but she started to fall off a bit in later Circles so she got beefed up. Regular updates will go on pause until after March 3rd so that the Demo remains stable during Next Fest. At this point, there isn’t much more to do for the Demo anyway (maybe a rewrite of the Tutorial to reduce the amount of text). I’m continuing development on the rest of the game, and even that is almost done with the exception of Steam Achievements and a little bit of polish here and there. There is one known bug that I’ll be fixing, but it does not interfere with gameplay.
Changes in v0.9.7 Demo:
Status icon added under player character when Sore Spot is active
Lighting was adjusted for shorter characters so that it better illuminated the sprite
Removed the status icons for Aimed Shots and Increased Healing since the increase is reflected on the affected cards already
Changed the size of the Key Terms/Tooltips boxes so that they don’t take up as much vertical space
Made it so cards being selected using Roulette display the current modifiers applied to them instead of the base values
Adjusted the positions of the player character and enemies to more evenly spread them out
Increased Single Shot damage to 2
Increased Triage healing to 2
Increased the fortify buff for the Flask to 2
Increased the status effect increase from Like Magic to 2
Reduced the energy cost of Explosive Rounds from 3 to 2
Reduced the energy cost of Line of Fire from 2 to 1
Reduced the energy cost of Return Fire from 2 to 1
Increased the healing bonus from Bounce Back to 2
Added status icons under the player character for Paralyzing Agent, Poisoned Tipped, and Explosive Rounds
Increased the number of Quick Draw cards to 2
Sort of a bug, but a new card for the Gunslinger called “Shotgun” is available (it was in the game but never pulled as an option)
Bug Fixes:
Fixed Key Terms/Tooltips remaining on screen while using Roulette
Fixed Explosive Shot not evenly hitting all enemies
Realigned some text boxes for events that weren’t properly positioned behind the text
Rewrote key terms and descriptions to abbreviate them or make them clearer
Fixed Like Magic not being applied to all enemies if it was used in combination with an attack that hit all enemies
After all of the work to fix the Key Term/Tooltips bugs, the one known bug that remains is related to the fixes. Now in the Inventory or Card Selection menus that have a scroll bar, it’s possible to highlight a card that’s barely visible at the top and the key term will display above the scroll window. It doesn’t affect gameplay and most people won’t notice it, but I am going to fix it.
Several Small but Meaningful Changes
Build 0.8.5
If you’ve been following along with development and noticed that the version number system has changed, yes, yes it did. I will be using 0.x.x as we get closer to the 1.0 build from now on, but that’s the least this new build has to offer.
Below is a list of the changes to the demo in 0.8.5:
New animation for the Dire Wolf’s summon
New animation for the Death Worm’s burrow
Improved some enemy animations (e.i. Coyote, Nimerigar, Fire Elemental, Kanontsistontie)
Added some simple lighting when inside the mine to give the feel of being in a dark hole in the ground
As you build up the town additional buildings and roads will now populate
Changed the way the bosses are selected (they now alternate based on how many times you’ve entered the mine instead of being completely random)
Added a pocket indicator to cards that are (get this) pocketed
The number of remaining energy for the player now turns red when it’s at zero
Circles of Hell that have not yet been unlocked can be selected and previewed in the Mine Entrance menu, but they cannot be entered
Changed the basic font to Liberation Sans Bold so that paragraph text is easier to read (it used to be Marlboro which was a bit more stylized), but titles and buttons remain or have been changed to Saddlebag
Added an option under “Video” in the settings to change the cursor back to your system cursor
Changed the default volume for the music to be at 0.25
The Peddler has come to town message now includes a dismiss button
Bug fixes:
A few spelling errors were fixed
Key term/tooltip pop-ups should no longer remain on screen during the tutorial or on top of menus (the key terms in general have been an issue, but all known issues have been fixed *crosses fingers*)
The yellow selection highlight now shows when a card is selected using the Gunslinger’s Roulette
Character stats and game state are now fully reset when switching between save files, there were a couple of stats that were not being properly overwritten
Status update on the full-game:
I just had the last beta test for the game and made a few tweaks based on feedback. The largest piece of feedback was the game difficulty. I’ve done a few things to rebalance the game to make it easier yet still challenging. Further balancing is taking place for the Gunslinger and Gambler because players had trouble completing a run in the later stages of the game with them. This rebalancing and some graphics polishing are the bulk of development for the next month. The only outstanding feature is adding Steam Achievements (for the Steam build, the game will also be available on Itch).
I am announcing that the game will be released on March 27.
Introducing the Gunslinger
To start things off in January, the demo is getting a few major updates. A new playable character has been added, a tutorial has been added, an intro scene has been added to provide some story, a new multi-slot save system has been implemented (which wasn’t originally planned for the demo), and many of the cards have been adjusted slightly for balancing, most notably, almost all of the Utility cards have had their energy costs adjusted.
Below is more information on the major updates, BUT there is one piece of bad news. Due to some of the updates to the core game and the new save slot system, old saves will not work and will be overwritten in version Beta 1.6. This is the only time I foresee this being the case, but I hope you can agree the additional content is worth the inconvenience.
Gunslinger
To start things off in January, along with many other improvements, the Gunslinger is being added to the demo for Risk & Riches. This means there are now two playable characters, the Prospector, who you start with, and the Gunslinger, who you must unlock.
The Gunslinger brings with her another 40 cards and 5 pieces of equipment. She’s far more offensively focused than the Prospector with a combination of low-energy attacks that can be altered and used in rapid succession, and high-energy attacks that sometimes require more planning to afford. Her defensive capabilities are low, but luckily she knows how to treat a wound and keep going.
Tutorial
Another major update is the addition of an optional tutorial at the beginning of a new game. For those familiar with deckbuilders it probably won’t blow your mind, but it does show off a few of the mechanics that are more unique to Risk & Riches, and a few detail items that could be overlooked. It’s worth playing through once, even if you are a veteran of the genre.
Intro Scene
There’s always been a story behind Risk & Riches, but now there’s an intro scene that conveys it. While it doesn’t add much to the gameplay, at least you’ll understand why you’re fighting creatures in an old gold mine. It’s not much, but I’m proud of it.
Multi-Slot Save System
If you share a computer or just want to restart without losing all of your progress, three save slots can now be utilized. Each save slot can be overwritten and renamed by selecting it and then selecting a new game. The same warning that has existed about overwriting your save will alert you still to prevent accidents from happening.
Balancing
Many cards have been tweaked so that nothing is too overpowered or obsolete. Depending on how you play, some cards will seem more valuable than others, but I can say from playtesting that the more optimal styles of play change throughout the game. The most notable change is that the energy cost of most Utility cards has been reduced. Utility cards can play a major role in the beginning of the game, but they outlive their usefulness later on. This energy cost change extends the time in the game where you may find it worthwhile to purchase them. It’s also a balancing move that was necessary for the Gambler, another playable character who will be in the released game.
Major Bug Fixes
The energy indication highlight around cards now updates if you spend your last energy on pocketing a card
Pocketed cards now clear their status appropriately between encounters, so they don’t add to available pockets when discarded anymore
The key term tooltips from status icons are cleared from the screen when the associated enemy dies, so they no longer get stuck on the screen
Ending your turn quickly before the last enemy finishes its death phase no longer triggers status effects like poison and burn
Not major, but I fixed some more spelling errors :) (Hey, there’s a lot of text)
I hope you enjoy the new updates, and remember to wishlist Risk & Riches if you haven’t already done so!
Risk & Riches is Coming Round the Mountain
I hope you’re having a terrific holiday season and end of the year! I’m here to tell you that Risk & Riches has entered its final phase of development and it’s all about polishing for the next couple of months. You can look forward to an updated demo early next year and the full release in March 2025!
I hope you’re having a terrific holiday season and end of the year! I’m here to tell you that Risk & Riches has entered its final phase of development and it’s all about polishing for the next couple of months. You can look forward to an updated demo early next year and the full release in March 2025!
Here’s a quick rundown on the current status of the game:
Done
Core game-loop
Basic save system
All 40 enemies and bosses
All 4 playable characters
All 30 town buildings and the ability to construct them
All 192 cards
All 30 pieces of equipment
All 25 events
All 4 floors of the mine
All 9 Circles of Hell
Shops for purchasing cards and equipment
Opening cutscene
In-Progress
(Expected Finish Date)
Tutorial (12/28/24)
Save slots (1/4/24 - In full release, not demo)
Ending cutscene (1/4/25)
New Game+ (1/4/25)
To-Do
(Before 2/16/25)
Bug Test
Bug Fixes (Nothing major atm, *knocks on wood*)
Improve Misc Textures
Improve Misc Animations
Improve Misc FX
Improve Misc Audio
Improve Accessibility (A list of things I want to address)
Steam Achievements (Steam Build)
It feels like a lot left, and it is, but after 1/4/25 all of the heavy lifting is done and many of the polish tasks will go quickly. The one thing that I wish I had addressed sooner is the accessibility options. I’ll do what I can, but this is something that will receive more focus starting with the initial design going forward at Growlery Games; to the best of our ability.
I’ll see you in the new year!