Black Forest

Released: Sep 25, 2023
Platforms: WindowsmacOSLinux
Last updated: 09 Sep 2026, 15:46 GMT

Updates & announcements

20 posts

15 Dec 2025Developer post
The Final Update
This is what I expect to be the final update for the game, version 2.5. It contains no gameplay changes, but some Quality of Life updates and improvements: updated engine/core code visual improvements to volumetric lights, general graphics, building effects removed Unity Analytic
This is what I expect to be the final update for the game, version 2.5.
It contains no gameplay changes, but some Quality of Life updates and improvements:
updated engine/core code
visual improvements to volumetric lights, general graphics, building effects
removed Unity Analytics and privacy screen.
I am officially ending support for the game with this patch. If there are serious bugs I will of course fix those, but there will be no further updates aside from that.
The game is complete and there is nothing on my wishlist that I would want to add.
It has been an interesting journey, both in its highs and lows. The game has reached a lot of players, and for a while there were a good number of streamers and YouTubers playing. I'm glad that you all enjoyed a few hours in the Black Forest and it's night terrors.
Thank you all.
Original post
06 Dec 2025Developer post
Final Update in preview for testing
I've uploaded what I expect to be the final update for the game, version 2.5. It's on the preview branch for now, so I can fix any bugs that may have crept in (though there shouldn't be any). Changes: updated engine/core code visual improvements to volumetric lights, general grap
I've uploaded what I expect to be the final update for the game, version 2.5.
It's on the preview branch for now, so I can fix any bugs that may have crept in (though there shouldn't be any).
Changes:
updated engine/core code
visual improvements to volumetric lights, general graphics, building effects
removed Unity Analytics and privacy screen.
Original post
05 Oct 2025Developer post
Bug- and Security-Fix Update
This is a small update containing a few internal updates, bugfixes and an important fix for a security issue in the Unity engine.
25 Feb 2025Developer post
Update 2.4 - bugfixes and improvements
I have uploaded an update to improve a number of issues that crept in and make some all-around improvements. It is live on preview now, if there are no issues it will go live on the main branch in a few days. Here's the list of changes: Fixed the vegetation and ground texture on
I have uploaded an update to improve a number of issues that crept in and make some all-around improvements. It is live on preview now, if there are no issues it will go live on the main branch in a few days.
Here's the list of changes:

Fixed the vegetation and ground texture on Kroburg, RefugeeCamp
Fixed a rare mouse input issue on Windows
Improved resolution of some textures (buildings, mostly)
Improved anti-aliasing should remove or at least considerably reduce the shadow "shimmering" effect
Improved positional sound effects
Slightly improved loading times
Slighly improved particle effects
Improved debug/error output to make finding bugs easier
Slightly improved memory management
Reduced texture memory usage on low quality settings for those with older computers
Improved texture and audio data handling
Lots of cleanup and minor fixes
Updated engine version
Original post
06 Dec 2024Developer post
bugfix update double-pack
Fixed the bandits quest in Children's Tales to no longer refer to the armoury. Fix for the trial in Darkest Nights. Fixed a naming issue that may in rare cases lead to the game pausing randomly. Improved vegetation and wind handling on Schramberg, Castle and Farmstead. This shoul
Fixed the bandits quest in Children's Tales to no longer refer to the armoury.
Fix for the trial in Darkest Nights.
Fixed a naming issue that may in rare cases lead to the game pausing randomly.
Improved vegetation and wind handling on Schramberg, Castle and Farmstead. This should speed up loading the levels and slightly improve performance. Let me know if you notice anything or something goes wrong.
Added a bit of animation to the loading screen. Why not?
Fixed several graphics issues
Quest and dialog windows should now follow the UI scale you set in options
Fixed a code error in the tutorial story.
Original post
17 Nov 2024Developer post
Version 2.3 is here !
This is a major behind-the-scenes update, it includes: New Spanish and Russian translations (incomplete, head to to contribute!) Visual refresh, giving the 3D scene more clarity and a hint of a stylized look Added ivy to a number of buildings for more visual variance and interest
This is a major behind-the-scenes update, it includes:

New Spanish and Russian translations (incomplete, head to https://weblate.lemuria.org/engage/black-forest/ to contribute!)
Visual refresh, giving the 3D scene more clarity and a hint of a stylized look
Added ivy to a number of buildings for more visual variance and interest.
Added sound effects to bear, orc, tree
Gave the stone gate collision detection more tolerance so it's easier to find a spot across the path where it's possible to build it.
Fixed the "hire mercenaries" part in the Children's Tales story.
Fixed: Maypole should now be properly removed when loading a game in the tutorial story.
Started to add Spanish and Russian translation - still incomplete. Head to https://weblate.lemuria.org/projects/black-forest/ if you want to help with translations.
Added some debug output to trace an elusive bug that apparently only occurs on some platforms.
Updated a few libraries.
Updated building shader (slightly improved visual clarity and less memory consumption)
Added "dissolve-in" effect when selecting a building to construct
and finally: Big engine update, to the latest Unity 6. This should solve some issues while also bringing better performance
Original post
11 Nov 2024Developer post
Update on Beta Branch
I've uploaded a new build to the testing/beta branch. This is a major behind-the-scenes update, with a new engine major version and considerable code updates. It fixes a small number of bugs as well. Please test and let me know if you run into any problems. The sooner I get some
24 Oct 2024Developer post
Community Translations Available
From time to time, players have asked if the game is available in their language. Until now, I always had to say sorry no. I speak English and German good enough. Other languages need a native or good speaker. I found one person to translate parts of the game to French, very happ
03 Oct 2024Developer post
Small Bugfix Update
Completed the "Darkest Nights" story (though it is now a bit shorter than I had hoped) Doubled the number of monster lairs that rangers will seek out before giving up for the day Night summary now shows temperature (to better understand when peasants need heating or die of frostb
Completed the "Darkest Nights" story (though it is now a bit shorter than I had hoped)
Doubled the number of monster lairs that rangers will seek out before giving up for the day
Night summary now shows temperature (to better understand when peasants need heating or die of frostbite)
Made a number of changes to handle monster collision issues better
A small number of additional translations
Fixed a small pathfinding error
Fixed a small error in construction assignment for walls
Removed outdated code related to the map editor (code that might have caused false positive exception messages)
Updated Unity engine
Fixed a small library error in the build process
Original post
26 Aug 2024Developer post
Small Bugfix Update
Fixed: Storage display now updates correctly again Fixed: Eliminated peasant "follow ghosts" (by switching anti-aliasing from temporal to FXAA) Fixed two small script errors Added 3 ultra-wide (21:9) resolutions in the options menu
Fixed: Storage display now updates correctly again
Fixed: Eliminated peasant "follow ghosts" (by switching anti-aliasing from temporal to FXAA)
Fixed two small script errors
Added 3 ultra-wide (21:9) resolutions in the options menu
Original post
20 Aug 2024Developer post
Bugfixes Update
This update should fix all but one of the known bugs and includes a number of other improvements. I recommend that you install it as quickly as possible. Note: I have changed some parts of the save game files. The game should load old saves without any issues, but new saves made
This update should fix all but one of the known bugs and includes a number of other improvements. I recommend that you install it as quickly as possible.
Note: I have changed some parts of the save game files. The game should load old saves without any issues, but new saves made with this version will not be compatible with older versions of the game.

Fixed: Market UI should be visible again
Fixed: Market UI still listed weapons as tradeable (removed)
Fixed: Death markers animation and disappearance
Fixed: Camera Shake
Fixed: A certain monster's kill text caused an error
Fixed: Story mode dialogs should now correctly appear in German if you've set your language to German
Fixed: French was not available in the options menu
Fixed: Options toggles now update immediately when you change your language
Fixed: Leaderboard for a few levels
New: German translations for level names, descriptions, history, etc. (incomplete, working on it)
Updated hitbox on kobold should solve the "phasing through walls" problem
Small adjustments to monster timings
Tents should now spawn more often inside the village and less often at the edges
Improved options dialog
Cleaned up a lot of small bugs and issues
Original post
09 Aug 2024Developer post
small bugfix update
Hot on the heels of the previous update, here are two more bugfixes: Fixed: Market UI still listed weapons as tradeable Fixed: Camera Shake
Hot on the heels of the previous update, here are two more bugfixes:

Fixed: Market UI still listed weapons as tradeable
Fixed: Camera Shake
Original post
08 Aug 2024Developer post
Bugfix and Quality-of-Life Update
ATTENTION - this is part 2 of the major walls update, this one is destructive. Old saves (by now 3 months or more old) may not work or not correctly restore any walls built. This update also fixes a number of bugs, adds French translation and more. Here's the full changelog: Remo
ATTENTION - this is part 2 of the major walls update, this one is destructive. Old saves (by now 3 months or more old) may not work or not correctly restore any walls built.
This update also fixes a number of bugs, adds French translation and more. Here's the full changelog:

Removed old wall section prefabs
French translation (partial, dialog texts still missing)
Wayposts now create paths to connect to the nearest existing path
Improved the interaction between game speed and monsters during the night (less chance for you to miss monster attacks due to high game speed)
Increased the hitbox size of small monsters (rats, kobolds, goblins) in order to reduce the "monster phasing through walls" issue.
Fixed: Work summary now scrolls when there are too many projects for the view size
Fixed: Walls should now again be enabled correctly in the tutorial mission
Fixed: Text bug (smelter/smithy mixed) in the Krobory Story mission
Fixed: Steward sent back to school to learn counting (damaged/destroyed numbers should now be correct)
Fixed: Kroburg story no longer launches the intro dialog and quest when you load a save game
Updated Unity engine and packages used
Original post
27 Jun 2024Developer post
Summertime is here !
If you've been holding off, now is the perfect time to get the game into your collection. Black Forest will be on sale during the Steam Summer Sale . It's also a great time because the game just received a major update, and another (smaller) update is on the way. Go and defend th
07 Jun 2024Developer post
Attention: Next Update is a Breaking Change
I'm working on part 2 of the major update. This will have far fewer changes, but the important part is that I will be cleaning up old, no longer used things. So if you have any quite old saves (from before the last update), now is the time to finish those game. In the next update
26 May 2024Developer post
Sale + Update
Black Forest is on sale. Steam tells me that over 10,000 of you still have it on your wishlist. Now, with the sale and the big update that just came out, is the perfect time to get Black Forest into your library.
22 May 2024Developer post
2024 Major Update
This is the first of a two-part major update to the game. I am re-focussing on the core gameplay and removing elements that distract from it. That includes the night watch option for villagers and the armoury, weapons and guard posts. The game was always meant to be unique in tha
This is the first of a two-part major update to the game. I am re-focussing on the core gameplay and removing elements that distract from it.
That includes the night watch option for villagers and the armoury, weapons and guard posts. The game was always meant to be unique in that you don't have combat as a serious option, and having these elements in the game creates the false impression that this is how you could (or should) defend your village, when it was only ever meant to be a small part of your total strategy.

New building: Barn - you can't build it but most maps come with one set up already. It serves no purpose and is only for decoration (though it does block monster attacks)
New building: Waypost - use it to guide the dynamic paths that some buildings automatically create.
New building: Harvest stuff - a decoration item showing crates, sacks, etc. full of harvested fruits, grain, vegetables. Also added some of these to several maps.
Gameplay change: When a building construction finishes and the building can have people assigned to it, the game will automatically assign workers. No longer do you have useless buildings because you forgot to assign peasants.
removed the armoury and guard post from the buildable items. They will still exist in saved games, but will be removed with the next update
removed weapons from smithy, market, storage and manual
removed archers from the tavern. Rangers and Guardians remain.
Walls have been reworked. More variety with procedural generation and reduced cost in resources and workers.
Known issue: When building a wall with the new wall builder while the game is paused, the wall will show up as if finished immediately, then begin construction when unpausing
Carpenter and Mason will now provide a construction speed bonus to wood and stone walls - 10% per Carpenter/Mason you have.
Steward will now rebuild destroyed walls when you click the "repair walls" button
updated manual and various UI texts to reflect the above changes
Added a small random bonus to wall construction speed just to break it up visually.
Removed the map editor
Small updates to most of the maps
Big update to the Schramberg (and tutorial) map, with new vegetation
Peasant visuals update: Now using tools (hammer, bucket, etc.) when building, digging a new field, harvesting wheat or carrying water
Major update to how Guardians work. They now target monsters directly, emerging from the tavern when a monster is spotted.
Slightly extended the length of the day on maps Castle, Farmstead, Friedmarkt and Ziegwald
Reworked the monster spawn timings to be more interesting and predictable
Loading screen will now show loading progress instead of just pulsating
Context menu will now stay over the building you selected
Several small UI improvements
Balance: Buildings recover their "soak" value slightly faster
Balance: No monster spawns the first two nights on easy levels, or the first night on medium levels
Balance: Increased the score for monsters
Balance: Changed some monster spawnings on some maps, just small adjustments
Balance: Slightly raised the amount of monsters on the doomed map "Calm Village"
Balance: Slightly increased the amount of starting resources on easy maps
Fixed: Kobolds attacking as orcs (damage and log texts)
Fixed: Pathfinding monsters (such as rats and kobolds) should no longer walk through walls in some instances
Fixed: Reduced volume of the chapel bell
Fixed: Smithy sound effect
Fixed: Made sure repairs can never require more resources than the initial construction cost
Fixed: Herbalist should now actually go to the herbalist hut to work
Fixed: Vegetation masks and dynamic paths now show up correctly when loading a game
Translations: Added translations for Tavern UI and option toggles
Translations: Added missing translations for monster spawns and construction completion
Also updated the Unity engine to the latest version, which might fix some bugs and give small performance improvements
Original post
16 May 2024Developer post
Short New Features Dev Stream
I'll be streaming gameplay of the new version today evening, showcasing changes and new features. Stream will be on my Twitch channel: If I can manage it I will upload a recording to YouTube afterwards. The time is 21:00 local time. Check here to convert to your time:
10 May 2024Developer post
Update Teaser #2
Still preparing for the next update. Here is a teaser of what you can expect: New building: Barn - you can't build it but most maps come with one set up already. It serves no purpose and is only for decoration (though it does block monster attacks) Walls have been reworked. More
Still preparing for the next update. Here is a teaser of what you can expect:

New building: Barn - you can't build it but most maps come with one set up already. It serves no purpose and is only for decoration (though it does block monster attacks)
Walls have been reworked. More variety with procedural generation and reduced cost in resources and workers.
Carpenter and Mason will now provide a construction speed bonus to wood and stone walls - 10% per Carpenter/Mason you have.
Added a small random bonus to wall construction speed just to break it up visually.
Removed the map editor
Small updates to most of the maps
Peasant visuals update: Now using tools (hammer, bucket, etc.) when building, digging a new field, harvesting wheat or carrying water
Major update to how Guardians work. They now target monsters directly, emerging from the tavern when a monster is spotted.
Slightly extended the length of the day on maps Castle, Farmstead, Friedmarkt and Ziegwald
Reworked the monster spawn timings to be more interesting and predictable
Loading screen will now show loading progress instead of just pulsating
Context menu will now stay over the building you selected
Fixed: Kobolds attacking as orcs (damage and log texts)
Fixed: Pathfinding monsters (such as rats and kobolds) should no longer walk through walls in some instances
Fixed: Tavern UI was lacking german translation
Fixed: Reduced volume of the chapel bell
Fixed: Smithy sound effect
Fixed: Made sure repairs can never require more resources than the initial construction cost
Fixed: Herbalist should now actually go to the herbalist hut to work
And there is more to come. This will be a major update. I am trying my best that it won't break save games, but I cannot guarantee for 100%. So if you have a running game that is very important to you, best to finish it before the update.
I estimate that it will about two weeks before the update is released, i.e. second half of May.
Original post
05 May 2024Developer post
Major Update Teaser
I've been working on a major update for the game, re-focussing on the core gameplay and removing elements that distract from it. That includes the night watch option for villagers and the armoury, weapons and guard posts. The game was always meant to be unique in that you don't h