Hello Reapers,
Grimslair is officially part of Steam’s Deckbuilder Festival, and I wanted to celebrate by putting together one of the biggest updates I have made for the game so far!
This update brings a full game-wide visual overhaul, a major Battle Mode overhaul, 3 brand-new starter decks, new battle cards, a new Sneak Attack Dice system, new Grim Omen cards, improved Soulword presentation, new boss updates, and a big pile of bug fixes.
I have gone through every single asset in the game and refreshed everything with a darker, better, and more fitting art style for Grimslair.
And I mean pretty much every... single... thing.
Cards, UI, icons, effects, objects, visuals, battle elements, menus, panels, and a ton of other pieces throughout the game have been updated to better match the darker fantasy style I always wanted Grimslair to have. The game should now feel much more cohesive, atmospheric, and polished overall.
Anyways... ONWARD!
MAJOR VISUAL UPDATE:
FULL GAME-WIDE ART REFRESH Every single asset in Grimslair has been refreshed with a darker and more polished visual style.
This should make the entire game feel much more consistent, moody, and fitting for Grimslair’s world.
I’ll be showing before and after screenshots below so you can see just how much the game has changed visually.
MAIN MENU REWORK The main menu has been completely redone with this new art direction.
It now feels much darker, cleaner, and does a far better job of setting the tone for Grimslair right away.
CHAMBER OF TIME REWORK The Chamber of Time has been completely redone with better lighting, decals, fireflies, fog/steam, and a lot more atmosphere overall.
I also added a weird monster-like creature that crawls through the area, which helps make the Chamber feel more unsettling and alive.
STEAM PAGE OVERHAUL The Steam page has also been updated with better visuals, better descriptions, and a stronger overall presentation for the Deckbuilder Festival.
GAME-WIDE TEXT READABILITY UPDATE Text across Grimslair has been updated to be much easier to read.
Before, a lot of the game used ALL CAPS, which could make certain cards, descriptions, UI panels, and tutorials harder to read than they needed to be.
Now, ALL CAPS is mostly reserved for titles, headers, and very specific moments where it makes sense. Most other text now uses cleaner lower-case formatting, making the entire game feel more readable and polished overall.
HEALTH POTION + TIME WARP CARD VISUAL UPDATE The Health Potion and Time Warp cards have both been refreshed visually.
They now look much cleaner, more polished, and far more appealing to the eye while fitting Grimslair’s darker style much better.
SMONKEY VISUAL UPDATE Smonkey has a new little visual detail in the Chamber of Time: an axe sticking out of his skull.
This does not change gameplay. I just thought it was funny.
MAJOR BATTLE MODE UPDATE:
BATTLE MODE OVERHAUL Battle Mode has received a major overhaul to make combat feel much faster, smoother, and more fluid overall.
Playing cards, drawing cards, discarding cards, enemy turns, Grim’s card flow, and general battle pacing should all feel much better.
Battles should now move quicker, feel less clunky, and have a much better rhythm while still keeping the strategy and chaos that Grimslair is built around.
GRIM CARD VISUAL UPDATE Grim’s cards have been updated visually so they are easier to read during battle.
They now have a cleaner look with less clutter, making it easier to quickly understand what Grim is about to do.
ENEMY PREVIEW UI UPDATE Enemy card hover previews have been visually updated.
When hovering over enemy cards, the preview UI now does a much better job of showing which enemies you are about to fight and the stats they bring into battle.
This should make it easier to understand what kind of fight you are walking into before the battle begins.
CHAIN BREAKER UI REWORK The Chain Breaker UI in Battle Mode has been completely redone.
It now looks much cooler, cleaner, and more fitting for Grimslair’s darker battle style.
DRAW + DISCARD PILE VISUAL UPDATE The draw piles and discard piles in Battle Mode have been visually reworked to better reflect Grimslair’s darker style.
This helps battles feel more cohesive overall and makes these parts of the battlefield look much more polished.
EXECUTE PANEL REWORK The Execute Panel has been visually updated.
It now looks better in its normal state and also has new animations to make it feel more alive and easier to notice during battle.
END TURN BUTTON UPDATE The End Turn button has been updated with a much cooler visual effect, helping it stand out more and feel more satisfying to use.
SPECIAL UI UPDATE When Specials activate, they now showcase an updated Special UI.
This has been improved visually so Special attacks and abilities feel more dramatic, more clear, and more impactful when they happen.
BATTLE CARD VALUE VISIBILITY IMPROVEMENTS Improved Attack, Block, and Heal value visibility when temporary changes or level boosts happen, making it easier to tell when a card has been powered up.
COMBAT VISUAL CLARITY UPDATE Battle visuals have been updated so important effects are easier to see no matter where an enemy is positioned.
Health, Block, blood/gore, and other combat effects should now appear much more clearly and consistently, making battles easier to read and more satisfying overall.
DICE + SNEAK ATTACK UPDATE:
DICE PHYSICS UPDATE Dice physics have been updated to feel more natural.
Dice should now roll, bounce, and settle in a way that feels smoother and less awkward overall.
NEW SNEAK ATTACK DICE SYSTEM Sneak Attack Dice have been completely updated with new face values, new outcomes, and a new reroll feature.
Before a battle begins, you now have a chance to roll for different starting advantages. Depending on what you roll, you might start first, draw an extra card, break Grim’s Chains before the fight begins, or fail the Sneak Attack completely.
The new Sneak Attack Dice faces are:
Favor - You successfully ambush the enemy and start the battle first
Gift - You start the battle first and draw an extra card on your first turn
Sever - You start the battle first and break 1 of Grim’s Chains before the battle begins
Ruin - You start the battle first and break 2 of Grim’s Chains before the battle begins
Misstep - The Sneak Attack fails and Grim starts the battle first
Doom - The Sneak Attack critically fails, Grim starts first, and you cannot reroll the result
If you roll a bad result, you can now spend Blood Money to reroll the Sneak Attack Dice.
However, if you roll Doom, you are stuck with it. Grim gets the upper hand, and no bargain can save you.
This should make the start of battles feel much more exciting, risky, and unpredictable.
SNEAK ATTACK DICE RESULT PANEL Sneak Attack Dice results now have their own panel during Battle Mode.
This lets you see which Sneak Attack dice results you rolled, making it much easier to understand what bonuses or penalties carried into the fight.
SNEAK ATTACK CHAIN BREAKER FIXES Made more adjustments to Sneak Attack rewards that break Grim’s Chains so they trigger more consistently at the start of battle.
NEW STARTER DECKS:
3 NEW STARTER DECKS!
Grimslair now has 3 brand-new starter decks, bringing the total to 6 different ways to begin a run.
The new starter decks are:
Arcanist - A dice-based elemental deck focused on Fire, Cold, Lightning, and Death magic
Trickster - A chaotic deck built around scrambling Grim’s cards, disrupting his plans, and turning awkward situations into advantages
Punisher - A brutal deck focused on pressure, pain, and hitting back hard when things get ugly
These new starter decks should give players a lot more variety in how they begin a run.
NEW BATTLE CARDS:
NEW ELEMENTAL + TRICKSTER BATTLE CARDS A new set of Battle Cards have been added to Grimslair, including elemental dice cards and a new Trickster-style attack card.
The elemental cards roll physical dice and trigger different effects depending on the results, while Cheap Shot rewards players for using Scramble before attacking.
CinderHex A Fire-based Battle Card that rolls 3 Fire Dice.
Each successful roll burns a random enemy for 10% of its Max Health, dealing damage over time for 3 Grim turns.
This makes CinderHex great for softening up stronger enemies while you deal with everything else Grim is throwing at you.
ColdSnap A Cold-based Battle Card that rolls 1 Cold Die.
On a successful roll, ColdSnap moves Grim’s rightmost card all the way to the leftmost position, disrupting the order of his next actions.
This can completely throw off Grim’s battle flow if used at the right time.
StormCall A Lightning-based Battle Card that rolls 3 Lightning Dice.
Each successful roll deals 25% of the targeted enemy’s Max Health in damage.
If you roll well, StormCall can hit extremely hard and tear through high-health enemies.
Death Clock A Death-based Battle Card that rolls 1 Death Die.
On a successful roll, a deadly countdown is placed on a random enemy. After 5 Grim turns, the Death Clock triggers and deals 50 damage.
This card is all about surviving long enough for the enemy’s time to run out.
Cheap Shot A new Battle Card that comes with the Low Blow Soulword.
If Scramble was used earlier this turn, Cheap Shot gains +2 Attack and breaks 1 Grim Chain on the targeted enemy.
This makes Cheap Shot a great follow-up card for Trickster-style builds, letting you scramble Grim’s plans and then punish him while his cards are out of place.
NEW GRIM SYSTEMS:
NEW GRIM OMEN SYSTEM Grim now has a new type of card called Grim Omens.
These are special cards that create dangerous effects while they are chained. Grim Omens do not work like normal enemy cards. Instead, they act more like powerful curse cards that can block certain actions and change the rules of battle while they are active.
The good news is that they can be stopped.
If you break the chains connected to a Grim Omen, that Omen becomes silenced and will no longer affect you.
NEW OMEN BLOCKED SOUND When a Grim Omen blocks one of your actions, it now has its own unique sound effect.
This should make it much clearer when Grim’s Omen is the reason your action was stopped.
EXPLORATION + WEATHER UPDATES:
NEW SKULL SCANNER SYSTEM Search Cards now use a new Skull Scanner system. This scanner helps warn you when danger may be hiding on the table.
Search Cards no longer shake.
FOG NOW DISABLES THE SKULL SCANNER When the weather is Foggy, the Skull Scanner will no longer function correctly.
It will stay in its safe-looking green state, even if enemies are actually hiding on the table.
So if it is foggy... be careful. The scanner might be lying to you.
ENEMY / BOSS UPDATES:
SPIDER BOSS SPECIAL ATTACK The Spider Boss now has a new special attack.
When this special triggers, Adam becomes Poisoned for 3 turns, losing 5 HP at the end of each turn.
To make things worse, the Spider Boss also adds 3 Curse Cards to Adam’s hand, making the fight much more dangerous if you cannot recover quickly.
Basically... the Spider Boss is now a lot nastier.
SOULWORD + PROGRESSION UPDATES:
SOULWORD TUTORIAL REWORK The Soulword tutorial has been completely redone to better explain what Soulwords are, what they do, and how to use them.
Since Soulwords are one of the biggest parts of Grimslair’s card-building system, I wanted this tutorial to do a much better job of teaching players how they can modify their cards and create stronger builds.
SOULWORD CHOICE REWORK The 3 Soulwords that appear after consuming a soul have been completely overhauled.
This screen now does a much better job of showcasing each Soulword, explaining what it does, and helping players understand which one they want to choose.
Since Soulwords are such a huge part of building stronger and stranger cards, I wanted this choice to feel more exciting, more readable, and much easier to understand.
SOUL UPGRADE PANEL REWORK The Soul Upgrade panel in Roguelite mode has been completely redone visually.
It now features a better-looking animated background, and all upgrade stat icons have been reworked to look much more polished and much more fitting for Grimslair’s darker style.
SOUL OFFERING UI REWORK The drag-and-drop area where you offer souls to Grim or claim them for yourself has been completely redesigned.
It now has a new skull-themed visual style that better matches Grimslair’s darker tone and makes the whole soul-offering system feel much more thematic and polished.
GRIM’S QUOTA VISUAL UPDATE Grim’s Quota sphere and 3D text have been visually updated to be much more eye-catching and easier to understand.
You can also now hover over the sphere to get more information about what Grim’s Quota means.
UI + QUALITY OF LIFE UPDATES:
HEALTH, AGILITY, + DOG HEALTH GLOBE REWORK The Health, Agility, and Dog Health globes have all been completely reworked.
They now have better visuals, clearer text, and new wave-like animations that make them look much more polished and much more appealing during gameplay.
LOCATION VENDOR UI REWORK I completely redid the layout and visuals for the Location Vendor UI panels.
They now have a cleaner layout, better presentation, and a much stronger overall look that better matches Grimslair’s updated art style.
DOG ANIMATION UPDATE The dog animation has been updated so it feels much less awkward and more natural overall.
INTRO + CHAMBER DIALOGUE UPDATE Dialogue in the intro and in the Chamber of Time has also been updated so it flows better and sounds stronger overall.
NEW GRIM DEATH ANIMATION If Grim kills you, there is now a brand-new death animation for that moment.
It adds a lot more impact and helps make Grim’s presence feel even more threatening.
NIGHT TEXT VISIBILITY IMPROVEMENTS Enemy world text should now be easier to read at night.
TIME WARP CLOCK CLEANUP The Time Warp Clock now hides before the Battle Card reward UI appears after battle so the screen feels less cluttered.
MOVEMENT INPUT UPDATE Players can now use either W or the Up Arrow key during the beginning of the game when moving forward.
BUG FIXES:
SoulSplit / SoulConsume Fix SoulSplit and SoulConsume cards should now properly deal their displayed Attack value if the enemy is above the instant-kill threshold.
If the enemy is 5 HP or lower, the card should still instantly kill the enemy and grant the correct souls.
VELOX Perk Fix VELOX should no longer gain progress from cards being discarded or removed in ways that should not count as actually playing a card.
Perk Trigger Fixes I cleaned up a few related perk triggers so certain perks should no longer activate from the wrong actions.
Battle Card Text Color Fix Some altered card values were turning black, which was obviously hard to read on darker cards.
These values should now remain much more visible.
Keyword Text Flicker Fix Keyword text was sometimes briefly showing in ALL CAPS when cards appeared or refreshed.
This should now be cleaned up.
Pause Menu Fixes ESC should now properly open and close the pause menu again, and the main menu button should continue working correctly.
Pause Menu Reliability Fix Fixed an issue where the pause menu could stop working correctly during gameplay.
Resource Card Slot Count Fix Resource cards in shop slots should no longer show a card count when only one card is being purchased.
Morning Vendor Fixes Made more adjustments so the morning vendor appears more reliably and no longer gets blocked as easily by other game events.
Card Animation Fix Fixed an issue where certain card animations could cause an error if the card was removed while the animation was still trying to play.
That is all for today!
This update ended up being a huge mix of visual improvements, battle improvements, new starter decks, new cards, new systems, and bug fixes. I am really happy with how much darker, faster, and more polished Grimslair is starting to feel now.
Thank you again to everyone playing, testing, and reporting bugs. It helps a lot.
Thank you, Reapers!
Austin Williams