The Brewmaster Closed Alpha ran from 23rd November - 29th November 2021 🍺

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The Brewmaster alpha is no longer live.

What is Brewmaster?
Brew your perfect beer in this relaxing home brewing sim. In Brewmaster you will use a realistic chemistry simulation to brew hoppy IPAs to creamy stouts. Customise your brewing space, create recipes and label your beer, unlock new equipment and enter competitions. Learn to brew, refine your craft, and become a Brewmaster!

Check out our Brewmaster closed alpha trailer for more:

What will the Brewmaster closed alpha include? 🍺
The Brewmaster alpha is a small sample of the game which will let you play around with some equipment and ingredients and brew a beer recipe from start to finish. You’ll be able to:

  • Explore the kitchen and tasting room

  • Follow a recipe as part of the alpha and try making a beer

  • After making your beer you can simply experiment with the chemical simulation

  • Test out a range of equipment including pots, pans, burners, mash tuns, barrels, and more

  • Experiment with a range of ingredients

  • Use the tasting sequence to see what kind of beer you have made

📢 Please note: The Brewmaster Alpha is an early sample of the full game and is still in development. 📢

The alpha is only a small snapshot of the game so we can get early feedback to help us improve it. As the game is still in active development you may well see things go wrong during your playthrough, or things might not work quite as nicely as we’d like - which is exactly why we do these kinds of playtests!

Some examples of things that will change before the game is out include (but are not limited to);

  • The UI (the in-game menus), the alpha UI are placeholders currently.

  • A more extensive tutorial will be included.

  • This alpha contains only a fraction of the ingredients and equipment that will be in the full game.

  • The final game will have story elements and a campaign

  • Many other features, such as decorating the space, competitions, and creating beer labels are absent.

The full game is coming to PC, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch™ in 2022

  • Step 1: Sign up to the closed alpha here

  • Step 2: We'll send you a Brewmaster Alpha code and email with instructions near the Alpha date

  • Step 3: Log into Steam and redeem your code

  • Step 4: Join our Discord which we’ll be running during the alpha for help, support, and questions

  • Step 5: Play the Brewmaster closed alpha

  • Step 6: We’ll send a survey to players once it’s over

  • Step 7: Fill in the survey and help us improve our game

Please Wishlist Brewmaster on Steam!

We are a small developer and wishlisting a game helps loads to get our game in front of more players on Steam. 

We've written a blog post with more details about why wishlisting is important, but in short, it helps us show Steam that people are interested in our game and helps us get in front of new audiences. It also means you’ll get notifications for important events, like when the game is released or on sale.

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

We’re on the main stage for Steam Digital Tabletop Fest: RPG Edition happening October 21 - 25 🎲🎮

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Auroch Digital are part of Steam Digital Tabletop Fest | RPG Edition running from October 21st October 25th - check out the event page and schedule which is now live!

Steam Digital Tabletop Fest | RPG Edition is a multi-day celebration of tabletop gaming, with featured discounts, a main stage of streaming content, and more. This is the second year we have done this event, last year was a big success so we are running it again, but this year with a special focus on Role-Playing Games.

During the fest there is a main stage of streaming content curated and hosted by us. The main schedule of content starts on the 22nd October and the full schedule can be found on the events page

Make sure to sign up to watch some of the great talks and panels we've organised. Highlights include an hour-long chat with Disco Elysium designer and writer Robert Kurvitz, a Baldur's Gate 3 show with Larian Studios, a Paradox Interactive talk called World of Darkness Goes Digital, and loads of panels covering everything from D&D to a tavern panel discussing drinking and games.

Check below for the talks and livestreams we are a part of!

The Tavern - A panel on drinking & gaming 🍺 (Featuring our upcoming game Brewmaster)

Ah, the tavern! The quintessential space for tall tales, spending some hard-won GP, and the starting point of many an adventure. But focus your attention away from the raucous customers for a moment, and to the bottles and barrels sat neatly behind the owner of the inn. There you’ll find the subject of this panel: the role and presentation of beer, wine, and spirits in gaming.

Disco Elysium - Chat with Robert Kurvitz, lead writer and designer on Disco Elysium 🎤

Join Auroch Digital’s Tomas Rawlings as he gets to know Robert Kurvitz, the lead designer and writer behind the critically acclaimed RPG, Disco Elysium. Discover how Disco Elysium evolved out of physical role-playing games, what inspires Robert in his game design, and just how expansive the dialogue trees in the game are!

The RPG Discovery Club - Auroch Digital share some of their favourites 🥰

Join Auroch Digital’s Allie Liguori & Tomas Rawlings as they roll 2d6 to explore some interesting RPG titles you might have missed. Allie will be exploring the digital plane while Tomas takes a look into the physical realm. You won’t want to miss what you might have missed!

Digital Games

Physical Games

Sci-Fi RPG Settings & Environments Panel 🔫

When we think of an RPG we often think of a fantasy setting with dragons, elves, magic swords and trolls. However there is a huge amount of titles that opt to be set not in fantasy but in sci-fi settings; with technology, dystopias, space, spaces that feel contemporary, inhospitable planets or a setting that re recognise some and yet other aspects of fantastical. This panel explores the attraction of the sci-fi (or non-fantasy) setting for RPGs and how it approaches world-building.

Narrative in Wargaming Panel 💣

Wargaming is arguably the precursor to RPGs, via games like Chainmail, yet while RPGs and Wargames do largely differ, there are areas that share concepts; one key one is narrative. Just as in an RPG the players create the story, so in a Wargame there is a story about why the belligerents are fighting. We’re also seeing more and more wargames leaning into the idea of why more story in a wargame is a good idea! This panel will roll 6d6 to discuss!

The Myths of King Arthur Roundtable 🏹

Swirling up from the mists of time are the enduring stories of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. In many ways these stories of adventure epitomize many key elements of RPGs; a band of heroes, questing, the search for glory, advancement and magical artifacts plus the mix of a spiritual and physical conflict. In this session we explore all this and more!

Join our Discord

If you want to talk to like minded people about board games and video games you can join the Auroch Digital Discord and you'll have lots of people to chat to.

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

How much does it cost to make a game?

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As game developers we sometimes get asked how much it costs to make a game. This is not an easy question to answer because we have to explore what we mean by a ‘game’ and what it is to ‘make’ one. If you wanted a really short answer, it would be somewhere between $0 and $265 million. Yes, that’s a wide range of answers, so our CEO, Dr.Tomas Rawlings digs into the details.

Anyone can download some free gamedev tools and create a game for the fun of it. That could be seen as a game being made for $0 (though, of course, there are other costs to consider - time, powering a computer, access to the internet, not to mention the hours of labour). 

At the other end of the spectrum it cost around $265 million to make Grand Theft Auto V. That equates to teams of hundreds of developers working for many years, all of whom need paying, plus the costs of the office, software, taxes, support staff, outsourcing, and so on. But given GTA V has made over $6 billion in revenue, this particular game has seen a very good return on investment (though developer Rockstar has been spending money on the game since release pretty much continuously.)  

Types of game - from indie to AAA 

As seen in the two examples above, what constitutes a game and the costs developing them can incur includes a huge spectrum. For our purposes, it's best to explore that spectrum by breaking down the different tiers of games and the costs that they usually incur at each tier. 

Below you can see the spectrum of game development split into three distinct tiers.

  • Indie game - This is a game made by a solo developer (or small team) and released onto Steam (or similar storefront). Good examples of this type are our games (so far!) such as Mars Horizon and Dark Future: Blood Red States.

  • AAA game - This is the major publisher release that most people think of when they think of a ‘game’, so your FIFA and Battlefield titles, for example.

  • Triple ‘i’ game - This is a game between the two types above, so a bigger project than a small indie, but not the size of a major AAA game. Examples here include Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

How do you make a game? Development costs and beyond

Part of the marketing for Mars Horizon involved getting astronaut Tim Peake to play our game on the official Xbox Twitch Channel.

Part of the marketing for Mars Horizon involved getting astronaut Tim Peake to play our game on the official Xbox Twitch Channel.

Before we put some numbers on the costs of developing games in each of those three tiers, let’s get into more of what we mean by ‘make’ too. There is the making of the actual game - the design, code, art, sound, etc - that’s what we think of as the development. But there may have been costs even before the development started.

Perhaps you want to make a demo, or before that you may spend money putting together a pitch to publishers, which might also mean attending trade shows like GDC. All of these cost money that may exist outside of the game's development. 

Then there is everything geared towards getting a game into the hands of players. This includes testing, marketing, making a trailer, localisation, advertising, and (if this is being done) the cost of making physical copies and then distributing them. 

To fully work out the cost of making a game, you really need to consider all of the above, though some games you play might not have spent money on all of these aspects.

The Colonists, was originally made by a one person team - Codebyfire

The Colonists, was originally made by a one person team - Codebyfire

How much does it cost to make an indie game?

You’re looking at a range from about $50,000 to $750,000 to make an indie game. The lower $50k amount is the total cost for a solo developer, on average, to work for a year on a game (at least in our experience). As you add more people, the cost goes up. 

Most indie publishers expect games to come in around $250k to $500k for development costs; so think of that upper amount as a team of 5 people working for 2 years on a game. Then the publisher may add another $250k (to a total of $750k) as they spend money on what they feel is necessary to make the game a success (testing, marketing, PR, etc). That publisher cost will vary depending on the number of platforms they're putting the game on, if it has multiplayer, what the marketing plan is, and so on.

How much does it cost to make a AAA game?

When it comes to AAA game development you are generally talking in the tens of millions of dollars. Most AAA games are made by teams of a few hundred people working for two or more years.

You can most clearly see this with the Call of Duty games series, which has three large studios making a new installment simultaneously so that, collectively, the series is able to have a new title every year. Each of those studios will cost many, many millions of dollars to run per year. Then, as these games are still sold as boxed products, there is the cost of manufacturing and distribution, cross-country marketing and promotional budgets, and many more costs adding more than the cost of development again to the overall bill. 

How much does it cost to make a ‘triple i’ game?

Typically these are games costing more than $1 million, but less than $10 million - which puts the example game in this category of  Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice firmly in this costing.

As above, expect there to be another similar cost added for the marketing and promotion of the game - though how much will vary depending on if it is self-published or via a publisher.

Why does it cost so much to make games?

Most of the cost of making the game will end up as wages for people - be they developers, testers, or marketers. Making and selling games is a high-skill endeavour that takes a lot of people, a lot of time, and a huge amount of creativity and problem solving. But we like to think, they are worth the money and effort. So that is, in essence, how much it costs to make a game.

With all this in mind, please do support your favourite game creators with a review of their work, so they know you care! (Plus, if you’re a game developer and looking to join a team to advance your skills in this area, please see our Jobs page!)

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

How to get free game codes for streaming 🎮

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If you’re a Twitch streamer, or a YouTube creator, you’ll most likely want to cover a whole host of different games, but that costs! If you’re looking at how to get free game codes as a streamer, you’re probably already visiting sites like Keymailer and Woovit, signing up to PR lists, and reaching out to devs directly. But how do you know if you're doing a good job?

If you’re a new streamer, a veteran creator, or somewhere in the middle, it’s good to know the best practice on how to get free game codes via email.

Here, at Auroch Digital, we deal with a lot of our own game code requests, sometimes our publishers do too, but otherwise we do it all in house. You’ll be emailing Jem, Alice, or Ladell, signing up to our main influencer list, or various game specific ones.

If you’ve never emailed anyone for a game code before, we have some top tips on how to get free game codes as a streamer.

Before we start: make sure you’ve streamed in the last month, if you haven’t, please let us know when you’re planning on returning - we’re all human and we understand the way the world works! 

📧 Email us from the address that’s listed in your bio 📧

If your email isn’t listed in your Twitch bio or on your YouTube channel, we can’t verify your email address against the email that comes into our inbox. Bigger creators often have people pretending to be them, with masked email addresses, or addresses that are a few letters different. We need to fact check to see that you are who you say you are, and if you don’t have your bio in your Twitch, Twitter, or YouTube bio (and not behind the CAPTCHA), it makes our job a lot more difficult. 

This is also helpful with us reaching out to new people we’ve not worked with before. If we have noticed your content lines up with a game we have coming out soon or a game we already have out, we may want to reach out to you. We can’t do this if you have your DMs closed and no email listed. It’s also a lot easier for us to keep on top of emails rather than Twitter DMs. 

Sure, you may get a little bit more spam to your email address, but if you set your filter up properly you should be able to avoid most of it. That being said, sometimes emails that we send out with game codes in can get flagged as spam - this is because they often look the same to each creator (with the game codes changed). Check your spam regularly, confirm what’s spam and what’s not, and get on top of inbox management.

😇 Be polite 😇

We are people too! Remember that when you’re about to send your email. Write the email like you’re writing to any professional. If you’ve not worked in a job that requires you to send emails you may find this a little bit more difficult at first, but making sure you’re polite and helpful is often enough. 

If we have to come back to you and ask for more information, remember we’re doing it so we can get you a free game code, so be your best self. We want the best types of people to represent our games, so make sure that comes across in the email.

You’ll be emailing or receiving emails from Simon, Ladell, and Alice.

💡 Top Tip: Community mangers talk to each other from different studios. Being polite can go a long way, and being rude to someone can affect your relationship elsewhere in the industry.

📝 Give as much (important) information as necessary 📝

We don’t need to know why you got into gaming, what you got in your GCSEs, or what kind of background you come from. What we do need to know is a fair amount of other information from you.

  • Let us know your pronouns - only so we don’t misgender you in any socials or emails

  • Your various socials - any extra ways we can verify your information/email is important!

  • Average 30 or 90 day viewership - be honest, we’ll check! We aren’t focussed on follower count but it’s great for us to get an idea of how many eyes you can bring to our games.

  • Your preferred platforms - We sometimes get limited game codes for specific platforms, so if you let us know you can stream on Nintendo Switch AND Xbox (for example), you’ll be more likely to receive a game code. But please don’t ask us for a PC game code for a game we’re porting to console (we don’t have them!)

  • Your region - Whereabouts in the world do you live? Some game codes are locked to regions, so we need to know this to allocate you the right game code

And finally, not as important, but always useful:

  • What your schedule looks like or when we can expect to see content 

    • We can then keep an eye on our socials if you tag us in your posts

    • We can swing by to a stream, or watch one of your videos

    • We’ll know if you’re not going to be able to get round to making content for a while

Be honest with all the information you give, we will be able to check all of what you send us, and we often watch videos or VODs before we give out game codes, so we can get an idea of who you are and what you’re about. We only want to give game codes to people who are the best of the best, so put your best self forward. 

💡 Top Tip: Have your social media linked, your pronouns, and your 90 day average CCV (Concurrent Viewership if you’re a streamer) in your email signature. It’s really helpful and saves a lot of time when creating a new email with all of the information in. 

💬 Keep your socials up to date 💬

Your social media is the best way to market yourself as a streamer - don’t just use them to post go-live links. This will make your page look spammy and insincere. Even retweeting the occasional meme or posting the odd thought will make your social media look even more legitimate. 

💡 Top Tip: Having a pinned tweet is a great way for us to see your most proud achievement, most recent achievement, or your channel trailer. We can learn a lot about you in a quick glance, and it’s really helpful for us to see if you’re someone we want to work with!

💕 Keep up a great relationship with the studio even after you’ve got the game code 💕

If you decide that you’ve got everything you want from us after you’ve received your game code, that’s fine. But what’s better is for you to keep up a good relationship with the studio. When we have more new games come out our first port of call are streamers or YouTubers we’ve worked with before as we know them and already have a good relationship. You can do this in a few ways:

  • Reply to emails 

    • If we send around emails seeing if you’re interested in covering any of our other games, please reply to us even if you’re not interested in it! It helps us a lot and makes us see you respect our time

  • Reply to tweets

    • Becoming active on Twitter with us really makes you stand out from the crowd of other creators we work with

  • Become active in our Discord

    • We have a whole room on Discord dedicated to creator coverage, where you’re free to share your go-live links and videos!

💡 Top Tip: Another great thing you can do, as shown by the wonderful Hannskini, is call out the studio a lot in your content. This support from a streamer means a lot to us and builds strong relationships so we want to work with you again in future.

🌟 We hope these tips will help you when contacting studios and help you conduct yourselves professionally when you do! 🌟

You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, like our Facebook page, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our Discord to ask us any questions you may have.

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

Fight the Secret War in Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics 🐙 On sale now!

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Back in 2018 we launched Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics - this was a collaboration between us, MODIPHIUS (the creator of the Achtung! Cthulhu tabletop game) and Ripstone (the publisher).

The game is set in an alternative World War II where the Nazis have allied with the Mythos powers in their goal to take over the world.

The allied forces are having to now fight two wars; the one we all know about on land, sea and in the air - and now another, the ‘Secret War’ where agents use forbidden technologies and mysterious powers to counter the Nazi-Mythos threat! 

The game is a blended hybrid of a few choice concepts;

  • A turn-based strategy; where the player is controlling a team of agents, XCOM style. However we added our own take on this using the facing and ‘awareness’ of the unit as key parts of the game.

  • The Achtung! Cthulhu Tabletop RPG, Inspired by this the player’s agents have skills that the player can select how and where they develop.

  • The Achtung! Cthulhu skirmish wargame; We added some of the amazing characters and enemy units of this game. 

Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is currently on sale on Steam and Switch so you can join the fight against the Nazi-Mythos evil now for an amazing price!

 
 

🐙More on Achtung! Cthulhu 🐙

🎲 Tabletop of Achtung! Cthulhu 🎲

While we’re on the topic, the Tabletop of Achtung! Cthulhu now uses the excellent 2d20 system, which you can find out about here. 

📺 Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics at Digital Tabletop Fest 📺

We also recommend this panel from Digital Tabletop Fest 2020 where we explored what Lovecraft’s work means in a 2020 world.

🎤 Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics podcasts 🎤

We also did a bunch of podcasts about the game and the Mythos:

Keep up the fight!

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

Two of Auroch Digital’s games are coming to Gameboard!

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After its huge success on Kickstarter, we’re pleased to announce that Auroch Digital will have two titles coming to Gameboard. Keep reading to find out more about Gameboard, and which games of ours you’ll be able to play on it!

What is Gameboard?

Gameboard is the next dimension in tabletop, a complete gaming system that you’ll be able to play with anyone, anywhere, and with any game piece you have on hand! It’s a 16” x 16” square screen, with 3D touch, network play, and will turn your game nights into a whole new experience. 

With technology that is so sensitive it can detect real hand movements and physical pieces on (and above!) the board, it’s not to be confused with just any other tablet. It also comes with stereo speakers and two microphones so that anything happening in the Gameboard feels like it’s right there with you. Talk about immersion. 

We are working hard to bring two of our games Gameboard, Ogre and Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF!

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Steve Jackson’s Ogre

Ogre is the official adaptation of the legendary wargame from Steve Jackson games, where you engage in futuristic warfare with hovercrafts with armour, infantry, super heavy tanks, and cybernetic war machines called Ogres. 

Set in the near future, there’s one type of unit that inspires such fear in warfare that even allies want to keep a safe distance, the Ogre. They’re AI powered tanks that are so powerful they’re the equivalent of a battalion of tanks and infantry. 

You take command and fight for power on the irradiated battlefield of the future.

Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF

In Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF your aim is to be the first crewed mission to Mars by running your own space agency, making all the important decisions including which rockets to build, what missions to run, and where to spend your resources. 

Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF was Created with the support of the European Space Agency. Read our blog to learn how the game came about: Prototype to Kickstarter - The story of Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF! The card game shares some similarities with our recent video game Mars Horizon, but they are each their own game.

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How is development going?

Progress is coming along well with porting our titles to Gameboard. We’ve been working hard capturing the feel of playing Ogre and Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF! so it's just as fun digitally as physically. We’ve created rocket animations, card flipping, tanks driving, and all sorts.

We’re using Gameboard's unique features to create a completely original experience and way to play. We’ve been thinking hard about what makes physical games fun and ensuring those moments are translated to our board game / videogame hybrid experience.

We've also done a lot of work to make sure it's accessible for as many players as possible, with considerations made to colour blindness, fine tactile and eye sight limitations.

We can’t wait for you to get your hands on your very own Gameboard. Stay up to date with Gameboard by signing up here, and stay up to date with Auroch Digital by signing up to our monthly newsletter, or staying in touch with us on our Twitter or Discord.

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

Expanded Horizons is out NOW!

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The biggest ever FREE Mars Horizon update is OUT NOW! 

Expanded Horizons, our huge new free update for Mars Horizon is available now on all platforms! 

Bringing you a new mission, new payloads, a reusable vehicle, vehicle packs, Sandbox Mode, Iron Core Mode, and improvements to gameplay. 

Also keep an eye out for Mars Horizon appearing on the Epic Game Store from today - with Expanded Horizons included too!

BUY MARS HORIZON HERE:

To give you a taste of what you’ll be seeing, you’ll see the Perserverance Rover, the Ingenuity Helicopter, a reusable Wyvern Upper, Iron Core Mode which saves after EVERY turn whether you like it or not (soz save scummers), and did we mention SANDBOX MODE?!

This update also comes with the previous two updates, The Distant Observations Vehicle Pack and the Early Observations Vehicle Pack, so console players will have access to all those vehicles too.

Check out our announcement blog post for the full list of what’s included in the update:

Questions about Expanded Horizons or Mars Horizon?

Check out our FAQ here! If we still don’t answer your questions, please get in touch with us on Twitter or in our Discord!

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We’re also adding a free demo to the Nintendo Switch on June 28th - if you’ve had your eyes on Mars Horizon for a while but have been unsure, now’s your chance to take it for a test launch! From 28th June you can get the Mars Horizon Free Switch Demo.

Catch up with our livestream of the new update here, where you’ll see streamer eirawave, Principal Programmer, Stefan Richings, and Allie, our Community and Marketing Executive.

Eirawave worked on designing our new logo, and is an art and variety streamer. They’re a big space fan and have appeared on our channels in the past, so you might recognise them! Stefan worked on Mars Horizon since before the alpha, some of his biggest work was coding the tooltips system, the tutorial system, the research tree, and the narrative events. Catch up with the stream below!

Watch the Mars Horizon: Expanded Horizons Sneak Peek Livestream!

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

Mars Horizon: Expanded Horizons - our biggest ever free update coming to PC and console

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Expanded Horizons is our biggest update ever and it's landing soon! 🚀

Expanded Horizons is our new free update for Mars Horizon. It's our biggest one ever and includes new vehicles and payloads, improvements to gameplay, a new mission, reusable vehicles, Sandbox Mode, Iron Core Mode, and our new logo for use with your own agency.

Also keep an eye out for Mars Horizon appearing on the Epic Game Store on the 22nd June as well - with Expanded Horizons included too!

Read on to find out exactly what’s included in our latest update 👩‍🚀

Expanded Horizons is coming to PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch on 22nd June 2021!

New Mission and Payloads: Mars Perseverance 

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We’ve added a new mission which includes the Perseverance Rover and the Ingenuity Helicopter, y’know, that mission that NASA recently sent to Mars? You can now play that mission yourself in Mars Horizon!

New Spacepedia entries exist for this new mission, you’ll be able to find out all about the Rover and helicopter as well as viewing their models at your leisure. Alongside this there are new narrative events for the mission where important decisions will have to be made. And finally, There are new unique cinematics for these payloads meaning you’ll get to see the little helicopter making its way across its new home!

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Reusable Vehicles

We’ve also added a reusable Wyvern Upper. This is an awesome addition to the game because we’ve been able to demonstrate some of the new reusable vehicle tech which is moving into the mainstream in real life space exploration. If you do well enough to unlock the Wyvern Upper, you’ll be able to re-use it which will save you both time and money! Keep an eye out for the brand new cinematic for this too, we’re really proud of it.

New game modes - Sandbox and Iron Core

Sandbox Mode - The ultimate customisable Mars Horizon experience 👩‍🚀

HIGHLY requested by the community, we’re now offering a Sandbox Mode for Mars Horizon players! You’ll be able to access Sandbox Mode from ‘Customise Experience’ in the main menu, meaning you really can experience Mars Horizon however you want.

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What Sandbox Mode opens up for you:

  • Unlocks ALL upgrades

  • Launches NEVER fail

  • Unlimited mission gameplay battery

  • FREE building moving

  • Removing obstructions is FREE

  • Starting funds 

  • Starting support tier

  • A save icon to identify these sandbox saves at a glance

Iron Core Mode - The toughest way to play Mars Horizon 💪

We’ve added a new special game mode where you can’t cheat by save-scumming. Iron Core mode will save after EVERY SINGLE TURN whether you want it to or not. Like with Sandbox Mode, a save icon will identify these Iron Core saves to help differentiate it. This is the toughest way to play Mars Horizon to date, there’s no going back!

New Custom Agency logo option - Our lovely Aurochs! 🐮

Recently we redesigned our studio logo, we absolutely love our new Aurochs logo. Check out our blog post to read about how and why we redesigned. We are so proud of our logo we want you to be able to take it to Mars with you so check it out in the custom agencies screen. Please send us your screenshots if you use it.

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Improvements to gameplay

As well as all those lovely new additions we’ve made a lot of improvements to gameplay, take a look at the following list to find out what’s new and what’s changed!

  • The menu header highlights now loop, as per community requests, so now you can cycle through headers more easily

  • In-progress missions are better highlighted in the UI - we’ve added a pulse, a clipboard, and a research icon which are displayed when appropriate, so it’s always clear what missions are underway in your list 

  • Made the ‘Complete Task’ button in mission gameplay more obvious when it appears - now it’s highlighted and pulses slightly - it will be ghosted when it’s not applicable so it will be much more clear when you can finish a mission early

  • Catch Up Mechanic - when you fail a mission the previously used parts will become cheaper and also build faster. A game changer! It makes catching up after a failed launch feel more manageable and it can lead to some great last minute changes in your fortune

  • The agency icon size for the solar system screen is now on a slider for accessibility 

  • Bonus reward communication now improved, there is now an animated font and more ceremony in the results screen when these are achieved - this makes getting a Mission Bonus more rewarding!

  • We’ve made your rivals’ failures more obvious - they are now going to pop up red, pulse, and they’ll have a unique icon next to them in the Solar System screen in the News Ticker. Now you can get a feeling of smug satisfaction when you notice a rival experiencing a setback!

  • Improved the drift icon - in response to community feedback, we’ve made it more clear to know if it will swing to the left or right by the addition of indicator arrows

  • China’s space shuttle now has an arm-based deployment cinematic, so now you can watch Chinese payloads being plucked from the cargo bay and positioned in space

  • And last - but by no means least - there’s a new agency logo! It’s our new company logo, the Auroch Aurochs! We love it.

Vehicle packs coming to console

Mars Horizon: Expanded Horizons is coming to PC and consoles and so will also bring our previous vehicle updates to consoles as well.

This includes the Distant Observations Vehicle Pack from April which had:

And also the Early Observations Vehicle Pack from March, which had:

Check out the update early!

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The dream team are back - Eira and Allie will give you an early look at Expanded Horizons showing you sandbox mode over on the Mars Horizon Steam page. They will be joined by Stefan, one of the devs on the Mars Horizon team. He will be advising and mocking them in equal measure as well as sharing his experiences making the game.

Expanded Horizons Sneak Peek Livestream

  • Date: Friday 11th June

  • Time: 3.00pm UK Time

Mars Horizon Free Nintendo Switch Demo!

If you’re yet to pick up Mars Horizon on Switch and want to give it a test launch - you’ll be able to very soon. Alongside the update there will soon be a free Mars Horizon demo available for everyone on Nintendo Switch! 

Switch Up gave Mars Horizon on Switch a score of 84%. Check out their in-depth review here. This is the best way to run your space agency on the go - keep an eye on the store page, it will be up soon.

Phew, we told you it was our biggest update ever!

We can’t wait to see what you come up with in your Sandbox and Iron Core saves, and to see people exploring the universe with our Aurochs logo. Please make sure you share with us the chaos or the precision over on our Twitter or in our Discord! And if you have any questions, be sure to check out our Mars Horizon FAQ, which covers Expanded Horizons too. As ever, if we don’t answer your questions there, feel free to contact us on social media or Discord for an answer!

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

The Colonists FAQ - and other helpful advice

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We’ve written up a guide to some of the most common questions we get asked about The Colonists. A lot more goes into making an efficient settlement of happy bots than you might think.

Haven’t answered your question below? Let us know in our Discord or on our socials.

How to set set transport rules via boat:

  1. Select the boat using A on Xbox & Switch or X on PS4

  2. Using the analogue stick, select which harbour you would like to set a rule for from the menu

  3. Press A (or X on PS4) to highlight your chosen harbour, and bring forward the option to Add Transport Rules

  4. Press X on Xbox, Y on Switch or SQUARE on PS4 to open Transport rules for your selected Harbour

  5. Toggle between Allow/Deny using X, Y or SQUARE 

  6. Navigate to the resource you would like to Allow/Deny using the analogue stick

  7. Press A (or X on PS4) once to Allow/Deny, or twice to Allow/Deny except for storage. The presses will deselect the resource

  8. Once you have set all the required rules, hold B or CIRCLE to return to gameplay

How to set import and export rules via Harbours:

  1. Select the desired Harbour using A or X

  2. Use right or left shoulder buttons to tab to go to Import rules or Export rules

  3. Toggle between Allow/Deny using X, Y or SQUARE 

  4. Navigate to the resource you would like to allow/deny using the analogue stick

  5. Press A once to Allow/Deny, or twice to Allow/Deny except for storage. The presses will deselect the resource

  6. Once you have set all the required rules, hold B (or CIRCLE) to return to gameplay

How to set transport rules via road post:

  1. Select the desired road post using A or X 

  2. Use right or left shoulder button to tab to Transport Rules

  3. Toggle between Allow/Deny using X, Y or SQUARE 

  4. Navigate to the resource you would like to Allow/Deny using the analogue stick

  5. Press A once to Allow/Deny, or twice to Allow/Deny except for storage. The presses will deselect the resource

  6. Once you have set all the required rules, hold B (or CIRCLE) to return to gameplay

How to set import and export rules via buildings:

  1. Select the building you would like to set rules for using A or X

  2. Use right or left shoulder buttons to tab to Resources

  3. Use right and left trigger to tab between Import/Export buildings

  4. Use the analogue stick to navigate to the type of building you would like to set a rule for

  5. Press A or X to open the drop down menu 

  6. Use the analogue stick to select which building you want to set the rule for from this list

  7. Press A or X to select the building (the blue highlight shows it has been selected)

How to check the location of en route resources:

  1. Select the building that you are expecting resources to be delivered to

  2. Use right shoulder button to tab to the resource statistics tab

  3. Use the analogue stick to select which resource you would like to find the location of

  4. Press A or X to be shown the exact location of that resource, along with the route it is taking.

  5. Press B or CIRCLE to leave this menu, and the selected resource will have a tag on it, so that you can keep track of it

How to begin an expedition and place a harbour on the other side of the water:

  1. Select a Harbour using A or X

  2. Use the right shoulder button to navigate to the Expedition tab

  3. Press A or X to Collect Resources in order to begin an Expedition

  4. Hold B to come out of this menu 

  5. Navigate the camera to your idle boat

  6. Select it using A or X

  7. Select the harbour which says Expedition Ready from the menu

  8. Your boat will travel to the selected Harbour and load the resources for its expedition

  9. Select the boat again using A or X, and use A or X to enter Sailing Mode

  10. Use the Cursor and A or X to move the boat

  11. When you arrive at a new island, press B to return to the previous menu

  12. Use X, Y or SQUARE to enter Build Harbour mode

  13. Position and place your harbour with A or X

  14. Your boat will now drop off the resources required to build the harbour and set up a transport route between the original and new harbours

Tips for Trains:

  1. Select Train station from the Build Menu

  2. Place the building using A or X

  3. Find a second location for the next train station

  4. Select Train station from Build Menu and place the building using A or X

  5. Select the track with A or X to enter Track Placement mode

  6. Use the analogue stick to change the direction or shape of your track. Left & right shoulder button will raise & lower the height of the track and A or X will place a piece of track down.

  7. Once your two stations are connected by tracks, your trains will work. Select the train station with A or X and press A or X again to create a train

  8. Like with boats & harbours, your train will carry resources from the original station to the new one which is under construction

How to find gold in PANNING FOR GOLD:

Hidden deep in the Archipelago - you will need to use a train to access the gold on this map!

Efficiency tips:

  • Build a building that requires energy

  • Build enough residences to power the building, next to it

  • Connect the buildings together with a path

  • Deny energy from passing through the road post which connects to the path

  • This will ensure that the energy from local residences can only be delivered to the local building

To add to colony efficiency, you may wish to add a storage yard nearby containing food & water for the residence. To ensure this food is only being used for the buildings near by, you should connect this storage yard to the buildings with a path, and then use the Deny Except Storage function, on food and water on the nearest road post.

If we still haven’t answered your questions, let us know in our Discord or on our socials.

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

Chainsaw Warrior - The End of an Era

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Written by Tomas Rawlings, Auroch Digital CEO.

All good things must come to an end, and so this blog post notes that Auroch Digital’s publishing rights for Chainsaw Warrior will be expiring on 31st May 2021. This means that from that date onwards you’ll not be able to buy a copy of either Chainsaw Warrior or Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night on any platform. Though if you own it already, you’ll still be able to play it in your Steam library or, if it is on your mobile drive now, on there. For those who want any support on the game, we’ll keep the game pages up here and here on our site with information on them to help out.

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Chainsaw Warrior is a game that does, and will, forever hold a special place in my heart. The original was published by Games Workshop in 1987 and as a young gamer I loved it then. It is a solo board game where the player has to race against the clock to save New York from destruction at the hands of a strange entity called ‘Darkness’. While solo games (or versions of games) are quite common now in board games, back in 1987 this was a rare thing! It was also really, really hard - which is a good thing if it costs weeks of pocket money to buy; you got your money’s worth without doubt!

I loved the game and its aesthetic so much that many years later when I got the amazing opportunity to work with Games Workshop on a digital title, I asked if we could bring Chainsaw Warrior to digital screens and GW kindly said yes! So it was in September 2013, 26 years after the original release, that we brought it to mobile to some rave reviews. 148apps described it as "a brutally awesome good time" while Gamercast wrote it was an accurate adaptation of the original, saying it has "everything you want in a digitised version of the Games Workshop classic". As part of this, I was honoured to get to interview the games original creator, Stephen Hand. A month later in October of 2013 we released it on Steam too. This was our first Steam release and opened the doors to that key gaming platform to us.

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Just under two years later, in 2015, we released a sequel game, Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night, which saw the eponymous Chainsaw Warrior headed to the jungles of South America. Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night sees the player fighting against hordes of Aztec Zombies, and the clock, to save reality itself from Darkness. We have more rave reviews for the sequel, including “Overall, Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of Night is a really nice surprise. It’s straightforward fun and it really works.” (8/10 – Retro 101) and “Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night has a hugely addictive gameplay and that’s where its key strength lies.” (8.5/10 – Game Debate). 

I’m hugely proud of both games and it was a real privilege to be allowed to work with a bit of gaming history which has both a personal and professional connection to me. Chainsaw Warrior opened a path to working with Games Workshop for Auroch Digital and fulfilled a life-long wish to work on Games Workshop titles.

While this chapter of gaming has ended, we’re happy to say our relationship with Games Workshop has not; you can grab the other 80s classic, Dark Future here. There will be more to say too in the future…

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Auroch Digital