This small hotfix contains an update to the save backup system to further mitigate the risk of data loss after an unexpected power outage.
This small hotfix contains an update to the save backup system to further mitigate the risk of data loss after an unexpected power outage.
Fixed a crash that would occur if the Explorer Dude attempted to heal a Zombie Dude who just exploded. The Killipede now has a per-Dude cooldown on how frequently it can throw Dudes with its lightning shocks.
The Spray n' Pray relic for Trooper Dudes now properly respects its internal cooldown. Warlock Dudes will now properly transfer damage via Unholy Grail. The Family Dude achievement will now count for the Sci-Fi and Undead families as intended. Explorer Dudes no longer sometimes f
Updated the game's save backup system to more purposefully compensate for a Windows OS issue that can result in corrupted save data in the event of a power outage or Blue Screen of Death. This change should substantially reduce the likelihood that your save data is lost in those
Updated the game's save backup system to more purposefully compensate for a Windows OS issue that can result in corrupted save data in the event of a power outage or Blue Screen of Death. This change should substantially reduce the likelihood that your save data is lost in those scenarios.
It's been almost 1 week since the launch of How Many Dudes, and what a launch it's been! We're still triaging bugs, fixing up crashes, and otherwise hotfixing these Dudes into a more stable shape. But now that the dust is juuuust starting to settle, I'd like to share what we've g
It's been almost 1 week since the launch of How Many Dudes, and what a launch it's been!
We're still triaging bugs, fixing up crashes, and otherwise hotfixing these Dudes into a more stable shape. But now that the dust is juuuust starting to settle, I'd like to share what we've got planned for HMD:
Y'all showed up and made this our most successful launch ever, so as a big thank you (and because we've got a few more ideas...) we'll be putting together a sizeable, free update.
What'll be in it? Well, without spoiling too much:
Quality of life improvements based on your feedback over the coming weeks, including new settings & keybinds
More ways to visualize your personal Dude journey
And of course... new Dudes 😎
As for when it will be done - we're aiming to have it out within a couple of months. Our team needs time to process and learn from the launch, squash some more bugs, get some well-deserved rest, and then cook on the new content. Gotta make sure our Dev Dudes don't get knocked out!
To those of you who have already left reviews, feedback and bug tickets in Steam Discussions, or just hung out with us in the Discord and shared your enthusiasm, thank you! This has been the most fun we've had working on a game, and it's been great to see our positive community keep it that way as we head into the post-launch era for HMD.
Thank you all for being such good dudes 💖
Until next time!
Edit: August 5, 2026, 2:40PM CST Based on mixed-to-negative player feedback about this experiment we've decided to not make this change at this time. Edit: August 4, 2026, 11:17AM CST Based on player feedback, we are adjusting this experiment to land in a middle ground (still cur
Edit: August 5, 2026, 2:40PM CST
Based on mixed-to-negative player feedback about this experiment we've decided to not make this change at this time.
Edit: August 4, 2026, 11:17AM CST
Based on player feedback, we are adjusting this experiment to land in a middle ground (still currently only on the beta branch). We will be opening up Tier 2 at the outset, but still requiring a Gold Star on a Dude in either Tier 1 or Tier 2 before unlocking that Dude in Tier 3. Let us know how it is!
Original post below.
We looked over all the feedback from the last 5 days and noticed one primary sticking point among a subset of players: the Tier 2 & 3 Unlocks requiring Gold Stars on Dudes in previous tiers.
It turns out that for some players, Tier 1 is just too dang easy, and so it feels like a tedious grind to get to the difficulty they'd like.
So we want to try something.
There is now an experimental beta build available on Steam that allows you to choose whatever difficulty you'd like from the outset. No gold-starring of Dudes required.
Note that this does not remove the metaprogression unlocks - you will still need to earn those Gold and Silver Stars to get all that bonus starting cash, ensemble slots, dice, and consumables. It just makes it possible for you to try out Tier 3 immediately, if you're up for the challenge. Earning stars in higher Tiers will still cascade into lower Tiers, so a Tier 3 Gold Star win would also provide progress toward your T2 and T1 rewards.
Our goal is to give players more agency over the difficulty of their run without impacting how most players (I mean 92% positive AIN'T BAD) are enjoying tier 1 and the overall balance of the game.
This IS an experiment, which means if we find that it negatively impacts most people's experience then we obviously won't be integrating it into the main game.
So we'd like to ask your feedback on this change once you play it, to see if it manages to solve this problem while not messing with what's currently working.
To opt into the beta, simply right-click the game in your Steam library, select Properties, then Game Versions & Betas, and then the Beta checkbox. Then drop your feedback over in the Steam Discussion or our Discord.
Thanks for playing and for all the feedback!
Reduced the CPU load of the Medical License without affecting its throughput. Fixed an issue that could cause locked runs in your Best Runs page to still get pushed off the board.
Added a Tier indicator above the Victory UI to make it more understandable that there are higher difficulties.
DUDES. dudes... DUUUuuuUuuUuuUDES!!! In just 50 hours you Dudes made How Many Dudes our most successful launch ever with 100,000 sales! But that's not all - we've also: Nabbed a lovely 90%+ positive review score! Just hit a new peak of 9,636 concurrent Player Dudes! And deployed
DUDES. dudes...DUUUuuuUuuUuuUDES!!!
In just 50 hours you Dudes made How Many Dudes our most successful launch ever with 100,000 sales!
But that's not all - we've also:
Nabbed a lovely 90%+ positive review score!
Just hit a new peak of 9,636 concurrent Player Dudes!
And deployed multiple hotfixing and bug squashing updates!
This has blown our expectations out of the water and has truly been the experience of a lifetime. So THANK YOU to all of you lovely Dudes for showing up, and a big congrats to our little crew at Butterscotch Shenanigans and our launch partners who made this possible! 💖
And for those of you who have already left a review, helped us track down a weird bug, told your favorite streamer about us, or dropped your ideas in the Discord and Steam discussions, thank you! You're helping us make this goofy game that much better 🤩
If you're yet to play How Many Dudes, don't forget that the steep 35% launch discount is available on Steam for a little while longer - so tell a friend and spread the Dude Gospel!
Next week we'll be making our post-launch plan, so stay tuned for what's coming next for HMD.
😎Until next time, DUDES!
Fixed an issue that caused the Rumpus sign-in prompt on the main menu to appear multiple times for the same player. The Tier indicator in the top-right corner of the game's UI is now shown in Tier 1. The Trench Coat Relic now shows a dynamic timer at the start of battle.
The Time Dude's Fossilizer Relic now properly gives him Toughness.
We have seen reports of launch error with the above prompt for non-English users. The solution is to turn off Windows 11 Smart App Control. You can follow these steps: Open Windows Settings Go to "Privacy & Security". Click "Windows Security". Select "App & browser contro
We have seen reports of launch error with the above prompt for non-English users. The solution is to turn off Windows 11 Smart App Control.
You can follow these steps:
Open Windows Settings
Go to "Privacy & Security".
Click "Windows Security".
Select "App & browser control".
Click "Smart App Control settings".
Choose "Off".
Can you handle 42 Dudes? How Many Dudes is out now and 35% off to celebrate the launch , so I'd say it's time to find out! View game page Making How Many Dudes (a.k.a. "HMD") has been some of the most fun we've had making games since the three of us brothers started making games
How Many Dudes is out now and 35% off to celebrate the launch, so I'd say it's time to find out!
Making How Many Dudes (a.k.a. "HMD") has been some of the most fun we've had making games since the three of us brothers started making games together 14 years ago. A lot has changed since then - but HMD represents everything we've always loved about making games together. It's weird, it's funny, it's dumb... but it's also surprisingly deep.
As with our other games, you can expect a wave of improvements and quality of life features over the next few weeks while we take in all your feedback and draw up plans for what's next for HMD. What exactly that is, we don't yet know! It'll depend on what we hear from you and everyone else who plays the game. Once we get out from under the launch chaos we'll start making plans, and we'll share those with you as they solidify.
In the meantime, you can join other Player Dudes in our friendly Discord to talk strats and share your best runs, or just to share some ❤️ with the Dev Dudes. To report a bug or get an answer to common questions, check the FAQ.
And with that we sign off so we can get back to working on How Many Dudes and so you can get back to playing it: those Toddlers aren't going to punch themselves, after all!
Adam, Seth, Sam, and the rest of the team at Butterscotch Shenanigans
Sup DUDES 😎 How Many Dudes? is launching in ONE WEEK on July 30th @ 10AM PT (5PM UTC) ! And I've got a PAIR OF SURPRISES for ya: HMD will launch with a hefty 35% DISCOUNT! We've updated the Demo! To our 500,000+ demo players : ❤️THANK YOU!❤️ The feedback and enthusiasm we’ve see
How Many Dudes? is launching in ONE WEEK on July 30th @ 10AM PT (5PM UTC)! And I've got a PAIR OF SURPRISES for ya:
HMD will launch with a hefty 35% DISCOUNT!
We've updated the Demo!
To our 500,000+ demo players: ❤️THANK YOU!❤️ The feedback and enthusiasm we’ve seen while working on HMD has been truly amazing. We've had more fun making this game than, well, pretty much any game we've ever made, and that's in large part from hearing how much fun all of you have been having just playing the old demo!
The updated Demo reflects just how much the game has changed for its full launch. It includes all the same Dudes as the old Demo (you'll have to wait for the full game to get all 42 Dudes!), many which have been dramatically reworked, plus a glimpse of the mountains of new systems and content that await you in the full game.
And, of course, your progress from the Demo will still carry into the full game.
From here until launch we’ll be cookin’, so if you want to get extra insights from the Dev Dudes or hang with your fellow Player Dudes, join us over on the discord.
OKBACKTOWORKBYE
HEY, DUDES! Are you looking to get a bunch of Dudes all up in your Deck? We've got some info for you! "How Many Dudes?" was originally designed around mouse input. It's all about clickable interfaces: you can click on just about anything on the UI to drill deeper into stats and d
HEY, DUDES! Are you looking to get a bunch of Dudes all up in your Deck? We've got some info for you!
"How Many Dudes?" was originally designed around mouse input. It's all about clickable interfaces: you can click on just about anything on the UI to drill deeper into stats and details, which turned out to be a little tricky when it comes to full controller support.
However, through the power of friendship and thinking with our brains, we've put together an official input profile through Steam Input that lets you fully engage with the game using a controller (and the Steam Deck). You'll still have a cursor on screen, but we've configured the inputs so you can click stuff with the "A" button, go back with the "B" button, and so forth.
So even though the controller support isn't baked into the UIs, you'll be able to fully play the game on your Steam Deck without any issues.
Or, if you're feeling touchy and haven't been slamming too many cheetos, you can just use the touchscreen. It works both ways!
And don't worry about your save data -- by launch, we'll have both Steam Cloud Saves and our own cloud save service ("Rumpus"), so you'll be able to pick up where you left off as you bounce between your Steam Deck and your other devices. Have fun!
BUCKLE UP, DUDES! How Many Dudes? will be launching on Thursday, July 30th at 10AM PST / 5PM UTC! The demo for HMD has been downloaded by more than 475,000 people, which is, y’know, a LOT. More than we ever expected! Since y’all gave us more than we expected, we’ve been cooking u
BUCKLE UP, DUDES! How Many Dudes? will be launching on Thursday, July 30th at 10AM PST / 5PM UTC!
The demo for HMD has been downloaded by more than 475,000 people, which is, y’know, a LOT. More than we ever expected!
Since y’all gave us more than we expected, we’ve been cooking up a whole lotta game to balance things out. FAIR IS FAIR. Here’s what you can expect from the full release (screenshots aren't translated, but everything will be for the launch!):
42 Dudes across 6 Dude Families. New Dudes include Mummy Dude, Druid Dude, Alien Dude, Pirate Dude, Cowboy Dude & more, plus reworks to a handful of the Dudes in the demo.
With 5 Dudes in a Team, that’s 850,668 possible team comps to play with - more than 137x the comps possible in the Demo. For those of you who played the demo for a few dozen hours and were wondering “how will there be more game than this?” Well, this is how!
“Should I give my Wizard Dudes a Medical License? Or let my General Dudes have Therapy?”
You can look forward to asking and debating questions like these thanks to the new Trinkets system. Defeating Act Bosses now rewards Trinkets - equippable items that amplify an entire Dude Type on your team. You decide which Dude type gets these bonuses, granting each run a whole new dimension of strategic chaos.
The Trinkets include things like the Baseball Bat, Face Tattoo, and Taser, and can add new synergies to just about anything, letting you break the game in totally new ways.
“Should I give my Spartan dudes a Chili Dog or a Baguette?”
Wandering Dudes already come by your ranch in the Demo - the Merchant Dude, Dude Whisperer, Business Dude, and Scavenger Dude. For the launch, we’ll be adding a handful of new Wandering Dudes who add more unique choices and strategic depth to each run.
The Food Dude grants a choice of delicacies to empower a chosen dude type, each granting significant stat boosts. The Promoter Dude offers a wager in an underground fight, and the Smuggler Dude will let you nab relics from Dude Families not on your Roster.
Once you’ve taken your Dudes all the way to the G.O.A.T. in Tier 1, new levels of challenge unlock. Tier 2 and Tier 3 introduce increasingly unhinged Final Bosses, enhanced difficulty, new enemies to fight, and new metaprogression unlocks.
And of course Endless Mode remains after defeating any final boss, which lets you keep on fighting to see just how far your team can go.
We’ve updated the Metaprogression system with more unlocks, including starting cash & consumables, those wonderful Pocket Dice, and access to the new Ensemble Mode.
Ensemble Mode lets you pre-select Dudes to take on your run, much like how the Daily Dude works. As you earn Silver and Gold Stars across the challenge Tiers you’ll gradually unlock all 5 slots, letting you assemble your dream team without alt-F4ing a dozen times and praying to the gods of RNG.
And you don’t have to fill all the slots - any Dudes left open will have a random flyer selection during the run, just like in Classic Mode. It’s a great way to play when you’ve got a theory about a few Dudes who would work well together, or are pushing for a new record to brag to your friends about.
From 475k demo downloads to earning a spot in the Top Demos of Steam Next Fest, How Many Dudes? has been full of surprises for our small team. Thanks to all of you who have played, wishlisted, and popped into the discord to say hello - it’s made working on the game an absolute blast.
Now I gotta get back to cookin’ so we can finally answer the question: How many dudes does it take to make How Many Dudes?
Misc. Improvements When the Ranch Shop opens, your pocket dice appear in the "Restock" row of the shop to make it more obvious you can use them to reroll the shop. If you had your combat speed set to 1.5x and it was reset to 1x at the start of a boss round, it will now automatica
When the Ranch Shop opens, your pocket dice appear in the "Restock" row of the shop to make it more obvious you can use them to reroll the shop.
If you had your combat speed set to 1.5x and it was reset to 1x at the start of a boss round, it will now automatically reset back to 1.5x after the boss round.
When in Dark Mode, rounds 1-19 will now use the green arena background instead of the white one.
When in Windowed mode (Bordered or Borderless), changing the Resolution now also changes the size of the window. If you change back to Fullscreen or Borderless Maximized from a Windowed mode, the Resolution will auto-reset back to Automatic for best visuals.
Updated to a custom GameMaker runtime that fixes the issue on Windows that caused the game to crash silently with no error message.
Regular Dudes can no longer occupy a Flyer slot in the Daily Dude.
If you have acquired all of the Dude-specific relics available to you, the Scavenger Dude will now fall back on offering Family and Universal relics, instead of simply not appearing.
If you love games that are a bit on the stupid side, the auto-battling roguelike How Many Dudes? may answer a few of your dumbest questions. Read the full article here:
If you love games that are a bit on the stupid side, the auto-battling roguelike How Many Dudes? may answer a few of your dumbest questions.
Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/02/how-many-dudes-does-it-take-to-beat-1-horse-sized-duck-and-75-duck-sized-horses-this-game-answers-your-dumb-questions/
This is a minor update for bug fixing purposes: Fixed an issue that could cause your Relic Stash to crash if you purchased relics from the Merchant Dude, played a round, and then abandoned the round before it ended and then replayed it. Fixed a launch crash issue for players that
This is a minor update for bug fixing purposes:
Fixed an issue that could cause your Relic Stash to crash if you purchased relics from the Merchant Dude, played a round, and then abandoned the round before it ended and then replayed it.
Fixed a launch crash issue for players that use peripherals such as AURA LED Controller (Big thanks to player Gambit for helping us tracking this one down)
The game now creates a minidump file at the saves folder to help us diagnose silent crashes better. Please Make sure to include those files when you submit bug reports to us.
HELLO, MY DUDES! We've been cooking up a TURBO UPDATE for the How Many Dudes demo, and we're ready to toss it into your lap like a hot potato before we dive into our Dev Cave to go full throttle on developing the full game. Highlights: Added support for 8 new languages: Korean, J
HELLO, MY DUDES!
We've been cooking up a TURBO UPDATE for the How Many Dudes demo, and we're ready to toss it into your lap like a hot potato before we dive into our Dev Cave to go full throttle on developing the full game.
Highlights:
Added support for 8 new languages: Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, LATAM Spanish, German, French, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian.
Several UI improvements, including DARK MODE!
A new 1.5x speed option during gameplay
New meta-progression via unlockable Pocket Dice through the Collections system
A new game mode: The "DAILY DUDE!" Every day, a random team of Dudes is assembled for you to put to the test. You can replay each day's Daily Dude as many times as you want! ... That day.
Ghost Dude, Ninja Dude, and Wizard Dude have been reworked. They're good now!
The "Scavenger Dude" now appears several times throughout each run to borrow your relics in exchange for a bonus relic later down the line!
Several new enemies you'll encounter and get wrecked by
A reworked endgame (round 100 and beyond)
A whole bunch of bug fixes and optimizations
Would you like to know more? The full patch notes are available here. Have fun, and we'll see you at launch!