After over 15 years of updates, just over nine of which were spent on Steam Early Access, the top-rated old school fantasy RPG Caves of Qud has entered 1.0. In other words, the full release is here and the game is officially out of beta.
That might be hard for some of you to believe, since it seemed like Freehold Games would simply be updating the roguelike game in early access forever. Alas, the day of 1.0 has come, bringing a wealth of tweaks to Caves of Qud for players new and old.
Of course, the overall excitement here is hard to quantify – the RPG has been stable and growing steadily for years now, with a firmly established and enthusiastic playerbase. Like when Minecraft and battle royale game PUBG released properly, the transition here is partially symbolic, but it’s also about encouraging anyone curious to give it a go.
Among the new additions is a tutorial, to better teach would-be adventurers the ropes of this epic quest. Caves of Qud is willfully byzantine and esoteric; the layout and vibe are that of classic adventure games, charming pixel art in tow.
You explore and solve puzzles using your ingenuity and abilities, channeling the approach of tabletop RPGs where almost anything is possible, if you find the right combination of items or spells. Prior to this, the whole thing was open-ended since there was no final questline.
That’s now been altered too, with a closing mission if you like your time-sinks to have a beginning, middle, and end. There is no better time to start exploring the open-world game, especially since you have the Dromad Deluxe Edition that includes the game, the soundtrack, and the Harvest Dawn DLC, giving you in-universe pets, a feature previously locked to Patreon supporters.
It’s a momentous occasion. “We’ve been making it for almost 20 years now, and the success it has already, has felt like a fever dream,” Jason Grinblat, founder of Freehold Games, say in a press release. “It’s so easy to imagine we’re still in Brian’s converted garage working on the game for our three friends. The prospect of it finally arriving at 1.0 is thrilling, dizzying… exhausting. We’re looking forward to Kitfox’s support after launch so we can crawl under our desks and sleep for a few months.”
Caves of Qud 1.0 is out now on Steam. You can check out the game’s page here. We have a list of the best action-adventure games for similar misadventures, too.
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