The first month of early access has been so freaking cool. But we're only getting started. 9 Kings is in Early Access, which means it's continually improving with daily updates. We're working hard, and we can't wait to share everything we've got in the oven with you.
Today, let's talk about what you can expect!
9 Kings EA Roadmap
0. Where We Are
Over the month, we've tried to address your key feedback points and improve the core design of 9 Kings. Bug fixing, performance improvements, balancing, and QoL have all been central to our roadmap and will continue to be. There's much to be done, but as we move forward, we really want to expand 9 Kings with more content that will help it reach its full potential. So far, we've introduced you to a new deck of Rainbow cards, a new achievement pool, new decrees, and several QoL features. But let's talk about what's coming next.
1. Perk/meta revamp
9 Kings' meta-progression design has been one of the main feedback points we've been getting from you. And it's not going unnoticed: we've always wanted to add more depth to the game's progression and we will share the first part of this evolution soon. We're currently revamping the perk system to balance longevity with strategic decision making. In other words, we want you to have more reasons to keep playing 9 Kings without making the game too grindy. more unbalanced, or compromising our minimalistic design. Spoiler: you'll be able to level up beyond level 9.
New game modes will soon add more depth to the game, but we hope that the revamped perk system will give players more reasons to keep coming back, while still requiring you to be creative with a clear pool of resources. Expect the first version by the end of June/early July! As of June 28th, the system is already fully functional. We're working on a few balancing optimizations with our beta testers and the patch should be public in the first week of July.
2. The 8th King
You might've seen some spoilers of our dear 8th king. But we still want to keep some mystery in the air. For now, we'll tell you this: its 9 cards, perks, and play style will add a new layer to every single build you've ever explored in 9 Kings.
We created a clear canvas for the game so that we could make sure that every new card is meaningful and adds a potential synergy to everything else in the game. We hope we can achieve this here, in patch 0.8!
3. Content Patches
In between major updates (0.8, 0.9, and 1.0), we'll keep the constant content patches coming. These will not only optimize the game but also bring new content to the table such as new decrees, perks, Rainbow cards, achievements, Endless mode improvements, balancing, and more. We're always listening to the community and figuring out ways we can improve. We take EA very seriously and we want to make sure that when you come back to 9 Kings after a month you really feel the difference.
4. The 9th King
As with our 8th king, you probably know who the last one is. And by the name, you might assume it's a pretty ambitious one. And this is what we're aiming for. We can't wait to share our ideas with you and we hope we can build the best version of it together during EA.
The 9th king is coming in Q3 and, with it, the core 9 Kings experience will be concluded, so that we can then focus on the biggest and final landmark before 1.0.
5. New game modes
We're hoping this can become something very cool. We'll get into more details soon, but once the foundation of 9 Kings is set, we have plans to expand it and elevate its replayability with pretty interesting new game modes that can work very well with our scope and vision. As we make progress throughout Q3, we'll add more details to the second half of this roadmap.
We can't give you many spoilers yet, but we want you to know we're working hard and thinking about this in our sleep. It's gonna be fun. We just hope you understand that getting the foundation of 9 Kings right before taking that step is gonna be key. We don't want to disappoint you and want to make sure we get all the pieces right!
And this is it for today. We hope this first roadmap helps give you a clearer perspective on where we're at and where we're going. And if not, please don't hesitate to reach out in the forums and on Discord.
Thanks for being a part of this journey with us. We hope you stick around and help us make 9 Kings the best game it can be.
Steam Reviews: Your Feedback Matters
We've been reading through all your Steam reviews, and we appreciate the feedback we've been receiving. We'd love to continue seeing more of your thoughts! It helps us know what to focus on for each upcoming patch.
Love,
Sad Socket team