Game developers don’t share their early working concepts of games – the prototypes – often. When they do it’s usually super interesting to see how the game changed and get a glimpse into the creation process. That’s why we would like to share the earliest prototype with collectors. 

In game development, prototypes serve many purposes but most importantly they are used to test if the core gameplay is fun. Usually, the first prototypes are not even computer games but rather tabletop games quickly put together with pieces of paper and a set of dice.Prototypes don’t have to look good either – it’s even better if they are not great looking as you can focus on how fun they are that way. 

Book of Demons’ prototype

Our prototype took a month to put together. When compared to years it took to make the finished and polished game it gives a good idea of how much work separates an idea from the finished game. 

We wanted to be very thorough when making a prototype so we made sure it’s as complete experience as possible. That’s why you will find that the prototype plays almost until the Archdemon. As a neat bonus, you can get a glimpse into how we initially imagined the cards. You will find some of them echo similarly to what ended in the finished game, while others will be… different. 

Important note: only Warrior has cards in the prototype. Both other classes are present and playable but without cards. Warrior’s set was all we needed to prove the concept. 

The Flexiscope is present in its basic form. Balance is *very* rudimentary so don’t expect the prototype to hold your hand. While the rng gods might time at you there is a considerable chance you will get killed. A lot. 

Unless you like to experiment that is. There are developer shortcuts in the prototype that grant superpowers.

There are possibly also bugs, some of them exploitable, waiting to be discovered. The boss fight at the end of the game is metaphorical: the game crashes. We like to think it conveys the futility of eternal fight of light versus darkness. Also, we had no use for the boss fight in the demo.

Ah, and one more thing. There is no duck in the prototype. Really, can you believe it wasn’t a core character in the beginning? A poignant realization, it would be a sad world without it.

How can I access the prototype?

All of you who own Collector’s Content or Supporters’ Bundle will gain access to the prototype immediately. For those of you who would like to check it out but don’t own the Collector’s Content pack, we are putting it on a 50% sale now so you can grab it on the cheap. 

To run the prototype just go to the Book of Demons’ files where you can now find a new folder called Prototype. Just enter it and double click the executable file.

Here is a short step by step guide how to get to the Book of Demons’ files:

• Go to your Steam Library (list of your games)
• Select Book of Demos and make sure Steam uploaded the Collector’s Content DLC (see the image)

• RMB-click on the Book of Demons
• Select Properties
• In the window that pops-up select Local Files tab
• Press Browse Local Files button
• Go to Prototype folder and double click Prototype.exe

Where can I find more info about the game development?

Some time ago Matthew wrote a couple of blog posts and did interviews about Book of Demons’ creation process. If you are interested in how the game was made, get a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable:

• Making of the Paperverse, the art-style of Book of Demons
• A closer look at the deck-building hack-and-slash success
• Deep Dive: Flexiscope, the play-time aware dungeon generator
• 99$ – Live orchestra on an indie budget
• Designing for deck-building in video games

Official Discord Channel

And if you would like to know more we are on Discord and we are running Ask Us Anything channel for the curious.

Here is the invite link: https://discord.gg/qD4uWKu

Stay safe in the almost-paper-like-prototype dungeons!