Hello everyone!

Today we're releasing one of the biggest updates Broken Crown has received so far.

Over the last few updates we've been steadily expanding the game, but 0.8.5 is a much larger step forward. It brings new campaign missions, new maps, new strategic mechanics, a completely guided tutorial, new army formations and, most importantly, the first version of the Map Studio with Steam Workshop support.

There's a lot to cover, so let's get into it.

Create Your Own Maps — Map Studio

One of the biggest additions in this update is the Map Studio.

You can now create your own skirmish maps directly from the game: shape the terrain, create paths and hills, place forests, rocks, mines and starting positions, choose the number of players and give your map its own name, description and cover.

Maps can be saved locally, imported and exported as .toonmap files, and the full version of Broken Crown also supports Steam Workshop, allowing maps to be published, downloaded and updated directly through Steam.

Enabled custom maps can then be selected and played in Skirmish.

This is only the beginning for Map Studio, and we plan to keep expanding what can be done with custom maps in future updates.

Five New Campaign Missions

The Human Campaign has received three new missions.

These missions introduce larger battlefields and more varied objectives, including enemy commanders, scheduled attacks, multiple attack routes, convoy escort missions and assaults against multiple enemy camps.

The Orc Campaign has also received two new missions, each built around a different environment and tactical situation.

One takes place around a river valley and farming settlement, while the other moves the fighting into a rocky mountain pass dominated by canyons and mining territory.

Diplomacy & Neutral Villages

The new Orc missions also introduce a completely new mechanic to Broken Crown: neutral settlements.

Neutral villages have their own economy and will continue developing independently while the battle unfolds.

Rather than destroying them, you may be able to bring your King to their settlement and form an alliance. Once allied, their units, workers and buildings join your faction.

This adds another choice to the battlefield: not everything you encounter has to become an enemy.

New Army Formations

Army control has also been expanded with four new formations:

• Square

• Wedge

• Circle

• Wide Formation

Large armies are automatically divided into organised groups while maintaining spacing between units and different troop types.

You can reform your selected army at any time without having to issue a completely new movement order.

New Skirmish & Endless Maps

Three additional battlefields are now available:

Birch Pass
A new 2-player Skirmish map.

Four Crowns
A larger 4-player Skirmish battlefield.

Bastion of the Three Valleys
A new Endless map built around three different attack directions.

All three maps include their own terrain layout, resource distribution, vegetation, mines and strategic routes.

A Completely Guided Tutorial

The tutorial has been rebuilt into a much more structured introduction to Broken Crown.

It now contains 20 guided steps, with highlighted interface elements, contextual targets and instructions that progress according to the actions actually performed by the player.

The beginning of the Human Campaign has also received additional progressive hints to help new players learn the game without interrupting experienced players who prefer to discover things themselves.

Better Maps & More Detail

Several campaign maps received another visual and gameplay pass.

Terrain has been reshaped with clearer routes, hills and terraces, while vegetation, forests, rocks, mines and environmental details have been expanded.

Camera behaviour and navigation have also been adjusted to better support the increased terrain variation.

A Cleaner, More Functional Interface

Broken Crown has also received a significant visual overhaul to its in-game interface.

The new UI is cleaner, less intrusive and more functional, leaving much more of the screen available for the battlefield itself.

Several elements have been reorganized and streamlined to reduce unnecessary visual clutter while keeping the most important commands and information easy to reach.

The goal was simple: more space for the game, less space occupied by the interface.

This makes battles easier to read and gives Broken Crown a cleaner, more modern presentation without sacrificing the information and controls needed during gameplay.

Localization & General Improvements

All of the new campaign missions, maps, tutorial content, objectives, Map Studio features and interface additions have been integrated into all currently supported languages:

• English

• Italian

• French

• German

• Spanish

• Simplified Chinese

Alongside the larger additions, this update also contains numerous smaller fixes and improvements across AI behaviour, workers, maps, UI, saving and general gameplay.

What's Next?

With 0.8.5, Broken Crown is getting much closer to the structure we originally wanted for the game.

The core systems are now largely in place, and upcoming updates can increasingly focus on expanding the campaigns, adding more battlefields and continuing to improve the existing experience.

Map Studio also opens the door to something we've wanted for Broken Crown for a long time: letting the community create its own battlefields and keep the game growing beyond the maps we create ourselves.

Thank you to everyone who has played the game, tried the demo, sent feedback or simply followed development.

We hope you enjoy the update.

See you on the battlefield.

— Broken Crown