Caves of Qud

Chisel Through the Ruins of 1,000-Year-Old Civilizations as a Mutant

 

Freehold Games

“If you like traditional roguelikes, this is the exact game you should add to your collection.”

– Amber Neely (MacNN)

 

 

Legendary Roguelike Caves of Qud Arrives on GOG.com & itch.io

Bonus: All versions (including Steam) updated with procedurally-generated villages
and alternate starting locations

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – July 11, 2018 – Freehold Games announced today that the acclaimed roguelike Caves of Qud is now available on GOG.com and itch.io. With more than 1,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam, Caves of Qud combines traditional roguelike features with an expansive, exotic, unmatched open-world experience rooted on the chrome steeples and rusted archways of ‘70s science fiction.

 

A New Start
If releasing on two new stores wasn’t enough, Freehold Games is also unveiling a massive update today: the Generated Villages & Alternate Starts patch, which adds fully procedurally-generated villages, fully procedurally-generated quests, and – maybe most exciting – new alternatives to the starting location of Joppa. Each village features its own faction, history, architecture, art, relationship with local resources, proverb, signature dish, signature skill, and NPCs. There has never been a better time to dive into the verdant world of Qud.

“It’s hard to overstate how big this patch is. We’ve been adding features to the game for the last several years – in both small, weekly patches and bigger feature arcs – and this is by far the largest update yet.” said Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat, co-creators of Caves of Qud and Sproggiwood. “Every aspect of these new villages is generated, including their own unique histories that are discoverable through various storytelling traditions. They also include their own generated quests as part of a fully dynamic quest generation system we’ve been building for months. Really, this patch is a culmination of all our generative systems work up until this point.”

 

About Caves of Qud
Caves of Qud is a science fantasy roguelike epic steeped in retrofuturism, deep simulation, and swathes of sentient plants. Come inhabit an exotic world and chisel through a layer cake of thousand-year-old civilizations. Decide: is this a dying earth … or are we on the verge of rebirth?

Who are you? Play the role of a mutant indigenous to the salt-spangled dunes and jungles of Qud, or play a pure-strain descendant from one of the few remaining eco-domes – the toxic arboreta of Ekuemekiyye, the Holy City; the ice-sheathed arcology of Ibul; or the crustal mortars of Yawningmoon.

You arrive at the oasis-hamlet of Joppa, along the far rim of Moghra’yi, the Great Salt Desert. All around you, moisture farmers tend to groves of viridian watervine. There are huts wrought from rock salt and brinestalk. On the horizon, Qud’s jungles strangle chrome steeples and rusted archways to the earth. Further and beyond, the fabled Spindle rises above the fray and pierces the cloud-ribboned sky. You clutch your rifle, or your vibroblade, or your tattered scroll, or your poisonous stinger, or your hypnotized goat. You approach a watervine farmer – he lifts the brim of his straw hat and says, “Live and drink, friend.”

 

Key Features

  • Assemble your character from over 70 mutations and defects, 24 castes and kits, and dozens of cybernetic implants; outfit yourself with wings, two heads, quills, four arms, flaming hands, or the power to clone yourself: It’s all the character diversity you could want.
  • Explore procedurally-generated regions with some familiar locations; each world is nearly one million maps large.
  • Dig through everything: Don’t like the wall blocking your way? Dig through it with a pickaxe, eat through it with your corrosive gas mutation – or melt it to lava. Yes, every wall has a melting point.
  • Hack the limbs off monsters: Every monster and NPC is as fully simulated as the player. That means they have levels, skills, equipment, faction allegiances, and body parts. So if you have a mutation that lets you, say, psionically dominate a spider, you can traipse through the world as a spider – laying webs and eating things.
  • Pursue allegiances with over 60 factions – apes, crabs, robots, and highly entropic beings (just to name a few).
  • Follow the plot to Barathrum the Old – a sentient cave bear who leads a sect of tinkers intent on restoring technological splendor to Qud.
  • Learn the lore: There’s a story in every nook – from legendary items with storied pasts to in-game history books written by plant historians; a novel’s worth of handwritten lore is knit into a procedurally-generated history that’s different every game.
  • Die: Caves of Qud is brutally difficult – and deaths are permanent; don’t worry, though: You can always roll a new character.

 

Pricing & Availability
Caves of Qud is now available on itch.io for $9.99 and on GOG.com for the sale price of $8.99 (10% off). The game is also on Steam Early Access (Windows, Mac, and Linux) for $9.99. A Freehold Roguelike Bundle – which includes Caves of Qud, Sproggiwood, and the Sproggiwood OST – is also available for $26.97 (10% off all products) as a Steam exclusive.

itch.io:
https://freeholdgames.itch.io/cavesofqud

GOG.com:
https://www.gog.com/game/caves_of_qud

Steam:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/333640

 

Assets

Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqz0p_kiDIQ

Screenshots & Logo
https://imgur.com/a/z0ayp5D

 

Social Media

Freehold Games
Twitter (Brian Bucklew @unormal) – https://twitter.com/unormal
Twitter (Jason Grinblat @ptychomancer) – https://twitter.com/ptychomancer
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/freeholdgames
Twitter – https://twitter.com/FreeholdGames
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPungolZLco3fhZ5M0imHjA
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/freehold-games-llc

Caves of Qud
Twitter – https://twitter.com/cavesofqud
Discord – https://discord.gg/5pHQ5U4

 

About Freehold Games
Founded in 2006 by childhood friends Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat, Freehold Games is an independent studio dedicated to building imaginative games with offbeat settings, rich prose, and a whole lot of emergence in the tradition of the roguelike genre. Some questions that have guided their work through the years are: “Why isn’t there a science fiction roguelike?” (in 2007), “Why don’t more video games feature sentient doors?,” and “This won’t take more than a decade to make, will it?” In addition to Caves of Qud, Freehold Games released Sproggiwood to critical and popular acclaim on Steam, the App Store, and Google Play. To learn more about Caves of Qud and Freehold Games, please visit http://cavesofqud.com and http://freeholdgames.com.

 

 

 

Chisel Through the Ruins of 1,000-Year-Old Civilizations as a Mutant in Caves of Qud — Now Available on Early Access

A science-fantasy roguelike epic from the creators of Sproggiwood

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — July 15, 2015 — Freehold Games, the indie studio behind the award-winning Sproggiwood, is pleased to announce the much-awaited arrival of Caves of Qud on Steam Early Access (Windows, Mac, and Linux). In development for more than 10 years, Caves of Qud combines traditional roguelike features such as white-knuckle gameplay, extensive character customization, and permadeath with an expansive, exotic, open-world experience that harkens back to ‘70s science fiction.

Caves of Qud is set thousands of years after the fall of civilization, which left behind mysterious ruins and technological wonders eventually reclaimed by nature. Since then, society has recovered somewhat — and now adventure-seekers (mutants or True Kin) see the vine-swathed ruins of Qud as Utopia . . . a long-lost Paradise on Earth.

With more than 70 mutations to choose from, Caves of Qud offers unparalleled character customization. Want to play a mutant with two heads, or four arms, or quills, or wings? You can. Want to play a psychic with mind control, or the power to stop time, or the ability to clone yourself? You can.

The game offers players a unique combination of procedural map generation and persistent set pieces. The overworld map and its cities remain consistent, while local maps and caves are procedurally-generated. The longer you survive Qud’s chrome halls (which are filled with technological treasures and many dangers), the more of the plot you’ll uncover.

Every inch of Qud is diggable, meltable, destructible, and plunderable. You have the freedom to play any way you like — whether you choose to accept quests, explore the world, or join a cult led by a sentient cave bear. The choice is yours!

Surviving more than five minutes in Qud’s wilderness will require you to master its brutal roguelike gameplay, which includes: frantic turn-based combat against Qud’s hundreds of NPCs and monsters; skill-based RPG systems; and of course, permadeath. You will also need to keep yourself fed, clothed, and hydrated if you plan to return home alive. Be careful not to consume all your water: It just so happens to be Qud’s main currency.

Caves of Qud also features an in-depth crafting system that (depending on your character’s skill levels) can have you creating everything from swords to laser rifles that may rip your enemies to shreds. As if that wasn’t enough, the game also includes a full-fledged bartering system, a complex liquid simulation, and a nested network of faction and NPC relationships. (Yes, mollusks really do dislike Mehmet for eavesdropping on their secret ceremonies.)

“We’ve been working on Caves of Qud for more than a decade. This game has been our passion for so long that we couldn’t wait any longer to finally release it on Steam,” says Brian Bucklew, co-founder of Freehold Games. “Players will never be bored — assuming they can last more than five minutes, that is. The Grue had nothing on the many beasts and wonders of Qud!”

 

Key Features

  • Assemble your character from more than 70 mutations and 24 castes and kits: Outfit yourself with wings, two heads, quills, four arms, flaming hands, or the power to clone yourself; it’s all the character diversity you could ever want.
  • Explore procedurally-generated regions with some familiar locations: Each world is nearly one million maps large. Seriously.
  • Dig through everything: Don’t like the wall blocking your way? Dig through it with a pickaxe, eat through it with your corrosive gas mutation, or melt it to lava. Yes, every wall has a melting point.
  • Hack the limbs off monsters: Every monster and NPC is as fully simulated as the player. This means they have levels, skills, equipment, faction allegiances, and body parts. So if you have a mutation that lets you psionically dominate a spider, you can traipse through the world as a spider — spinning webs and eating things.
  • Pursue allegiances with over 60 factions: Apes, crabs, robots, and highly entropic beings — just to name a few.
  • Follow the plot to Barathrum the Old: A sentient cave bear leads a sect of tinkers intent on restoring technological splendor to Qud.
  • Learn the lore: There’s a tale in every nook — from legendary items with storied pasts to in-game history books written by plant historians.
  • Die: The game is brutally difficult, and deaths are permanent. Don’t worry, though: You can always roll a new character!

 

Pricing and Availability
Caves of Qud is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux through Steam Early Access for $9.99.

Steam URL:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/333640

 

Assets

Trailer
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqz0p_kiDIQ

Download (MP4)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hpcje68d0e52h6e/CavesofQudEarlyAccess1v2.mp4?dl=0

Download (ZIP)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jkfoe1bji1rkj4c/Trailer_CavesofQudEarlyAccess1v2.zip?dl=0

Screenshots & Logos
IMGUR http://imgur.com/a/gcAxo
Download logos https://www.dropbox.com/s/c1vg3cqjsakre5x/Logos.zip?dl=0
Download screenshots https://www.dropbox.com/s/pofspgdc8qb9eie/Screenshots.zip?dl=0

 

Social Media

Facebook (Freehold Games): https://www.facebook.com/freeholdgames

Twitter (Brian Bucklew @unormal): https://twitter.com/unormal

Twitter (Jason Grinblat @ptychomancer): https://twitter.com/ptychomancer

Google+ (Freehold Games): https://plus.google.com/+Freeholdgames/videos

Forums (Freehold Games): http://forums.freeholdentertainment.com/forum.php

Forums (Caves of Qud): http://forums.freeholdentertainment.com/forumdisplay.php?7-CoQ-General

YouTube (Freehold Games): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPungolZLco3fhZ5M0imHjA

Website: http://www.freeholdgames.com/

 

About Freehold Games
Freehold Games is an independent studio dedicated to building imaginative games founded by Brian Bucklew and Jason Grinblat, who grew up playing games together. In 2012, Brian and Jason began to collaborate with artist Jaana Heiska. Freehold’s mission is to build games they want to play — usually involving offbeat settings, interesting tactical situations, and a whole lot of emergence in the tradition of the roguelike genre. For more information about Freehold Games, please visit: http://www.freeholdgames.com/

 

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