Over the Alps

Stave Studios · Tributary Games

Released: Mar 31, 2020
Platforms
Last updated: 15 Sep 2026, 11:37 GMT

Updates & announcements

15 posts

18 Jun 2026Developer post
The final chapter, a new update and Tributary Games.
Welcome back to the Alps, agent! I’m Sam - Studio Lead of Tributary Games. I was the same role at Stave Studios, where I made Over the Alps in 2019 with a superb little team. Harry (a Stave writer) and I went on to co-found Tributary with Owen, and our editor Nick also joined us,
Welcome back to the Alps, agent!
I’m Sam - Studio Lead of Tributary Games.
I was the same role at Stave Studios, where I made Over the Alps in 2019 with a superb little team.
Harry (a Stave writer) and I went on to co-found Tributary with Owen, and our editor Nick also joined us, where we all made King of the Castle with another superb little team.
Check that out here:
View game page
Stave is sadly no more which meant Over the Alps was about to disappear forever.
None of us wanted that, so we’ve come to a happy solution - Tributary Games is now acting as custodian for Over the Alps!
We're listed as the publishers though we're more like co-developers.
And the first thing we did when we got the reins was kick off the first update to the game in 6 years! This includes:
Updating Unity to cover security issues in the old version and ensure the game can run for longer
Fixing a number of bugs with saves and progression
Making impossible achievements now possible - Namely Iron Maiden and Left To The Wolves.
But that's not enough...
Closing the third and final chapter
The original game was also planned with three stories - Case of the Chateau Vercoli (by Jon Ingold of Inkle fame), King of the Mountain (our very own Harry Tuffs) and a third that was never released, The Devil's Quill.
When Stave closed The Devil's Quill was incomplete. After reviewing the files, there simply weren't enough animations, artwork or translations to turn into a full story.
But that's just not good enough! Some people have waited 6 years for the conclusion of the Over the Alps story! So we've found a rather clever solution.
Introducing...
A custom built, web version of Over the Alps, where you can play The Devil's Quill for absolutely free!
This is the original story painstakingly reconstructed and designed to work on all browsers, including phones.
It's missing translations, animations, maps and some portraits compared to the Steam chapters, but we had all the beautiful Location art to work with.
We also had a never seen before thrilling conclusion written by the extremely talented Harry Tuffs, with an absolutely wild 42,000 words and 1,100 choices now yours for free forever!
It (finally) finishes the game, answers key outstanding questions and is great fun from start to end.
Play The Devil's Quill on itch.io for free here!
Support your local indie, at a great price
I started work on Over the Alps back in 2013. It grew into a team effort, my first studio and founded my whole entire career, so it's very near and dear to my heart.
Closing the book on this one is honestly emotional.
But, being a realist, it's an older title so we've decided to update the pricing to reflect this. The new non-sale price will be $7.99/£6.69/€7.79 or your regional equivalent.
To celebrate this news and the release of The Devil's Quill we're doing a 50% off re-release sale until the 9th of July!
Every cent or penny you spend on this game will go straight to us at Tributary and help us make more titles like King of the Castle, Over the Alps and Occlude.
We're a small studio making games we love and buying a copy of Over the Alps is a real, direct way to back what we do.
Cheers to you, the fans
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who's reading and playing our games. Especially to those hardcore OTA players holding out for this update!
It's been a trying year so far for the studio and we're so happy to be here today posting something as fun as this.
Don't forget to sign up to our "What's Next" email list, join our Discord and keep being the best fanbase an indie could ask for.
I'll see you in the Alps!
Pröschtli,
Sam
Original post
23 Dec 2020Developer post
Dive into Over The Alps: 50% Off in the Steam Winter Sale!
Attention, Agents! As the Holidays hit, it’s time to switch off from work and school, and relax into some well-deserved time-off playing great video games! The Steam Winter Sale is on from the 22nd of December through to the 5th of January, and here at Stave Studios, we want to h
Attention, Agents! As the Holidays hit, it’s time to switch off from work and school, and relax into some well-deserved time-off playing great video games! The Steam Winter Sale is on from the 22nd of December through to the 5th of January, and here at Stave Studios, we want to help celebrate the season with you, which is why Over The Alps will be 50% off during the sale; our largest discount yet!
Players looking to dive into a world of espionage in Over The Alps will find plenty to love, as we’ve worked diligently over 2020 to bring new content and updates to the game!

In June, we added King of the Mountain, a free update that doubles the length of the game with an intriguing second story, set a year before the events of the core experience. In King of the Mountain, players will take the role of Annie Taylor, a British spy called away from Paris to attend the Swiss Grand Prix to help tackle enemy Nazi agents and other shady happenings.
A Test of Character, a major technical update included with Over The Alps free of charge, includes more than 10,000 words of original written content, an updated Clues system, and the brand new Complications feature; short stories that will test which stamps you’ve opted for throughout the game, and add additional story branches to the game.
With already so much to look forward to and at its best price ever, Over The Alps is an absorbing experience that’s only going to get better from here on out. With new content due next year and two enveloping stories to lose yourself in, it’s time to get yourself to Switzerland this winter, agent, and enjoy journeys that’ll transport you to one of the world’s wintriest and intriguing locations this Holiday!
Original post
27 Nov 2020Developer post
Our major technical update, A Test Of Character, is out now!
Discover new stories, fight new threats and do your best to stay undercover in this, our first free technical update! A Test Of Character includes over 10,000 words of written content, a brand new game feature and a significant overhaul to the way the game works. We've overhauled
05 Nov 2020Developer post
A Test of Character - Out 27th November!
Greetings, agents. First off, apologies are in order. The A Test of Character update was originally announced for August, but we encountered some unexpected issues in development that pushed the release date back, and back, and back again. In the unpredictable world of game devel
28 Aug 2020Developer post
Live: FuzzyFreaks Streams Over The Alps!
Join FuzzyFreaks on her full playthrough of Over The Alps, including the new King of the Mountain free expansion. Ask questions in chat, and we'll do our best to respond! Reach out to us via Discord any time - Discord Here . Watch the Stream on our Steam page! Over The Alps is a
28 Aug 2020Developer post
Live: FuzzyFreaks Streams Over The Alps!
Join FuzzyFreaks on her full playthrough of Over The Alps, including the new King of the Mountain free expansion. Ask questions in chat, and we'll do our best to respond! Reach out to us via Discord any time - Discord Here . Watch the Stream on our Steam page! Over The Alps is a
28 Aug 2020Developer post
Live: FuzzyFreaks Streams Over The Alps!
Join FuzzyFreaks on her full playthrough of Over The Alps, including the new King of the Mountain free expansion. Ask questions in chat, and we'll do our best to respond! Reach out to us via Discord any time - Discord Here . Watch the Stream on our Steam page! Over The Alps is a
25 Aug 2020Developer post
Over the Alps is Exhibiting at Indie Arena Booth!
Exciting developments, agents! Starting from the 27th of August, Over the Alps will be exhibiting at the Indie Arena Booth as part of Gamescom 2020. We will be streaming alongside 184 other amazing indie games, all in one online booth! Browse the full lineup here. As part of the
03 Jul 2020Developer post
Last Days of the Summer Sale
Just a quick post this time, agents, to let you know that the Summer Sale is coming to an end! As we showed you in the last update, we at Stave Studios have a veritable feast of upcoming content scheduled, all completely free for those who already own the game. Here’s the roadmap
26 Jun 2020Developer post
Upcoming Technical Update: A Test of Character
We at Stave Studios are pleased to announce that our next major update to Over the Alps , titled A TEST OF CHARACTER , will be a total overhaul of the existing “police pursuit” mechanic. As with our last major update, King of the Mountain , this patch will be totally free for eve
We at Stave Studios are pleased to announce that our next major update to Over the Alps, titled A TEST OF CHARACTER, will be a total overhaul of the existing “police pursuit” mechanic. As with our last major update, King of the Mountain, this patch will be totally free for everyone who owns the game.
We’ll go through our in-depth reasoning for making these changes at the end of this update, but first of all, here’s a quick preview of what you can expect!
OVERCOME UNEXPECTED CHALLENGES THAT TEST YOUR CHARACTER

As you travel the Routes in Over the Alps, you now have the chance to encounter COMPLICATIONS which impede your progress!
These obstacles must be overcome using one of the character traits that you’ve been building up over the course of the game. It’s time to start paying attention to your Stamps!
The higher the Risk Level of your chosen Route, the more likely you are to find yourself in a spot of bother.
Failure in the Complication means leaving a Footprint. The Police will start closing in!
KEEP TRACK OF THE CLUES YOU LEAVE BEHIND

The Footprints in Over the Alps are an abstraction of the clues you’re leaving, which the police can use to track you down.
In A TEST OF CHARACTER, each of the Footprints is now tracked individually, so you always know exactly how you messed up. Oops.
PEEK AT THE NOTES OF THE POLICEMAN ON YOUR TAIL
You can now take a peek at the Police Notes to see exactly how close they are to catching you, and what they think of this English spy who’s been causing havoc in the peaceful Swiss countryside.
Why are we making these changes?
(Obligatory note of caution: Everything here is subject to change! We’re still in the process of implementing the new system, and there is extensive playtesting ahead of us. Take the following with a hefty grain of salt.)
After receiving feedback from our players on Steam and Apple Arcade, we felt that the previous implementation of the police pursuit had room for improvement.
Here’s a screenshot of the older system in action:
We found that players struggled to follow what was happening here. The Field Report pops up on screen and vanishes much too quickly, often resulting in a player not having time to process it.
Even seasoned players still had trouble parsing the relationship between the Route Risk Level, the Footprints, and the police’s position on the tracker.
Our solution is to introduce clarity by expanding on each of these elements, giving the player more information and (importantly) more time to process what was happening!
Tracking the Footprints individually makes it super-clear what clues you left for the Police, and showing the Police Notes makes it obvious how close they are to catching you. The latter also provides an interesting third-person perspective on the player’s in-game decisions.
By far the greatest gameplay change is the addition of the Complications to Routes. We chose to add these for several reasons:

Most importantly, it’s just fun! It adds a nice element of role-playing - your Spy may be better-equipped to deal with some Complications than others, depending on your choices and playstyle. You’ll always know beforehand which Routes test which characteristics, so choosing your Routes now requires some tactical thinking.
It makes the Risk Level more relevant to gameplay. Only riskier Routes threaten to block your progress with a Complication.
It increases the game’s replayability and adds something even for seasoned players to discover. Now there is even more optional content hidden behind many of the different Routes in the game.
Here’s a fancy flowchart of what the Spy’s journey down a particularly dangerous Route might look like after the Test of Character update:
Good luck, agents! It looks like your job just got a little more… complicated.
Roadmap
The Test of Character update is just one step in our dastardly long-term plan to provide you with more of the game you’ve already bought. Here’s a roadmap showing our planned upcoming content, and remember, all of this is free:
What’s behind those intriguing redactions, you ask? Well, that’s a top-secret matter of national security, and a topic for another post. But I can assure you, the gears are turning. Ink is being spilled.
Over the Alps is not over yet.
PS: Over the Alps is in the Steam summer sale! You can grab yourself a copy now for 20% off.
Original post
12 Jun 2020Developer post
King of the Mountain: Free Full-length Story Update to Over the Alps, Out Now!
The time has come, agent. King of the Mountain, our new free full-length story update to Over the Alps, is being released today. Yes, you’re hearing that correctly, agent. It’s completely free for anyone who owns the original game, whether that be on Steam or on Apple Arcade. Kin
29 May 2020Developer post
King of the Mountain: Free Update Coming 12th of June!
Greetings agents, This is a brief communiqué to all our most trusted operatives. Usually we tell you to burn this kind of thing after reading, but on this one instance, we'd like you to spread the word as wide as possible: King of the Mountain is releasing 12th June! King of the
24 Apr 2020Developer post
King of the Mountain, coming this Summer!
Welcome back, agent. It’s been too long. This is a brief communiqué to let all our most trusted operatives know that the story of Over the Alps is not over yet. This major free update will release over the summer and consist of an entire new self-contained story set in the same c
Welcome back, agent. It’s been too long.
This is a brief communiqué to let all our most trusted operatives know that the story of Over the Alps is not over yet.
Watch on YouTube
This major free update will release over the summer and consist of an entire new self-contained story set in the same continuity as Over the Alps, featuring a whole new character!

The story takes place a year earlier than Over the Alps, in August 1938. Some say war is on the horizon…
Play as Annie Taylor, a British spy who has been called away from the comforts of Paris to deal with an urgent matter in Bern.
Attempt to infiltrate the Swiss Grand Prix!
Tangle with Nazis!
Get shot at! Sometimes for good reason!
Fall into a lake. Push other people into lakes. The lakes are off the charts.
You may even encounter some familiar faces along the way…
Watch this space - a release date is forthcoming.
LudoNarraCon
LudoNarraCon starts today, and we have some exciting events planned!

Until May 1st, we’re offering a free demo on Steam, allowing new players to test-drive the game before deciding whether to buy. All saves from the demo will carry over to the game on purchase.
We are offering the game as part of the Choice and Consequence bundle on Steam, alongside fellow indie narrative-’em-ups Death and Taxes, Yes Your Grace and Not Tonight.
We have an exciting schedule of streaming planned:
A stream by the amazing FuzzyFreaks - 6PM BST, Friday 24th.
A developer stream - 5PM BST, Saturday 25th.
A behind the scenes stream - 8PM BST, Sunday 26th.
A Q&A stream with writers Jon Ingold and Harry Tuffs - 6PM BST, Monday 27th.
Original post
15 Apr 2020Developer post
We're at LudoNarraCon 2020 - April 24th to 27th!
Attention agents! The team is working hard on our first update to Over the Alps, which we are aiming to put out in the following week. In the meantime, some exciting news; We're coming to LudoNarraCon! This online narrative games festival will have 40 game exhibitors, panels from
03 Apr 2020Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Over The Alps, a WWII spy adventure, is out today
It’s World War II, the sequel nobody wanted, and the Swiss police are on your tail. That’s likely no good even in 2020, but in 1939 it’s especially inadvisable as you’re a spy trying very hard to stay undercover. Over The Alps is out today, taking you back to a colorful version o

Over the Alps

Updates & announcements

The final chapter, a new update and Tributary Games.

Welcome back to the Alps, agent!

Closing the third and final chapter

Support your local indie, at a great price

Cheers to you, the fans

Dive into Over The Alps: 50% Off in the Steam Winter Sale!

Our major technical update, A Test Of Character, is out now!

A Test of Character - Out 27th November!

What's Next?

Live: FuzzyFreaks Streams Over The Alps!

Live: FuzzyFreaks Streams Over The Alps!

Live: FuzzyFreaks Streams Over The Alps!

Over the Alps is Exhibiting at Indie Arena Booth!

Exciting developments, agents!

Nintendo Switch Version Launches Today

A Test of Character Update Delay

Last Days of the Summer Sale

Upcoming Technical Update: A Test of Character

OVERCOME UNEXPECTED CHALLENGES THAT TEST YOUR CHARACTER

KEEP TRACK OF THE CLUES YOU LEAVE BEHIND

PEEK AT THE NOTES OF THE POLICEMAN ON YOUR TAIL

Why are we making these changes?

Roadmap

King of the Mountain: Free Full-length Story Update to Over the Alps, Out Now!

King of the Mountain: Free Update Coming 12th of June!

Spread the word!

King of the Mountain, coming this Summer!

LudoNarraCon

We're at LudoNarraCon 2020 - April 24th to 27th!

Over The Alps, a WWII spy adventure, is out today