- v0.11.6 Alpha Development Update - Wilderness System & Company Mode - 7 September 2026
Greetings, Merchants! I hope everyone has been well! We have another big update, so without further ado:Wilderness Events & Encounter SystemWe have made a long-overdue big update to the wilderness events & encounter system.In our old system, we had a pool of random encounters that players could trigger in any wilderness section, including some special encounters based on events that may be occurring in a wilderness section.In our new system from this build onwards, each wilderness will have a random event occurring, and that event will dictate the type of encounters in that wilderness.For example, the Nobilea Forest wilderness section could have the Busy Route event, meaning a lot of encounters with travellers, merchants, pilgrims, etc, while the Milegrove section could have the Hunting Ground event, a section teeming with dangerous wild beasts, but there may also be wreckages to loot f…
- Tiny Teams 2026! Steam Demo Page! - 7 August 2026
Greetings, Merchants!Tiny Teams 2026From today until Thursday, 13th August, Ten Thousand Coins: The Golden Merchant is a part of the Tiny Teams 2026 festival here on Steam! Thank you to the Yogcast Games team for this amazing opportunity!Limited Demo & Steam Demo PageAs of August 2026, our demo now officially has its own Steam Page! Check it out, and feel free to leave a review for our demo!And for a limited time, the first section of our Company Mode is now available in our demo!Since the initial release of our demo many years ago, it has gone through many iterations and changes thanks to valuable feedback from players like you. I want to express a big thank you to our fans and followers for your continued feedback and support as development continues, and a warm welcome to any new players finding our game for the first time!Until next time,Cynthia (Founder/Developer)Wishlist & Follow…
- v0.11.5 Alpha Development Update - Environment Art, Story Mode Improvements - 18 July 2026
Greetings, Merchants! I hope everyone has been well! Here in NZ, it is now winter, and it's starting to get pretty chilly (though probably quite warm compared to winters in other parts of the world). Another month has passed by so quickly, and here is our v0.11.5 development update that was completed in June:Big Environment Art UpdateWe have made overall improvements to the environmental art of our game, especially for settlements that haven't been updated for a long time. A lot of work has been put into each building and settlement, with some settlements having been almost redone entirely to bring them up to standard with the rest.Some of these improvements have also made their way to our public demo, such as the wilderness art, which you may have noticed in our demo. More art updates will be seen in future builds as we progress closer to how our final completed game will look.Story Mo…
- v0.11.4 Alpha Development Update - Art & Animation, Localisation, and Polishing - 20 June 2026
Greetings, Merchants! It has been an extremely busy month for us since BitSummit 2026! Here are the development updates leading up to the event:Title ScreenOur title screen was long overdue for an improvement! As seen in our latest demo, both Story Mode and Company Mode title screens have been revamped, and we have also removed the extra click needed for the main menu to appear.Combat UpdatesWe've made some major updates to the art and animation in combat, these include:New background art, both for day and night cyclesEnemy animation and sprite improvementsAnimation of Pige receiving goods for you when playing as Viia in Story ModeText System Results and Limited DemoThe result of updating our text system in the past months meant we could finally support localising our game in other languages, as seen in our first iteration for our Japanese demo for BitSummit 2026!This next week will be…
- We're at BitSummit PUNCH 2026! - 22 May 2026
Greetings Merchants,We are currently exhibiting at BitSummit 14 PUNCH 2026 in Kyoto, Japan!For any fellow merchants attending, come check out our booth along with other great NZ games organised by NZ CODE! I'd love to say hi or chat about the game!For everyone else in the world, we have a special limited BitSummit demo ready to play on Steam now, with the option to play in Japanese as well! This is our first localisation iteration, so it's still a work-in-progress, but this shall pave the way for future localisation possibilities!Pige is with us here as well 🐷 though definitely still grumpy about being stuffed inside a luggage bag.Also, a quick thank you to Two and a Half Studios for our participation in The Storyteller's Festival Steam event earlier this month!Stay tuned for more updates next month!Cynthia (Founder/Developer)If you're interested in joining alpha/beta tests and haven't…
- v0.11.3 Alpha Development Update - Boosts & Text - 28 April 2026
Greetings, Merchants! I hope everyone has been well! Here in NZ, the weather is starting to get cold again, so this update is written to you from underneath a warm blanket with some hot tea:Trading BoostsFor our barter system, we have added some extra incentives to make smart offers to your traders by adding barter boosts that you can gain by meeting the right conditions, with the first one being:Needed goods boost - if you offer multiple goods needed by the trader, a bonus is added to your entire barter offer value, such as: 2 needed goods on offer = +10% offer value boostThis will allow players to strategise on whether to keep multiple types of goods for a big trade at a settlement, or make room for smaller, quicker trades when needed.More types of boosts will be added as we implement more content.More UI and Text System UpdatesWe have made significant progress in updating our text an…
- v0.11.2 Alpha Development Update, Demo, & Even More Events! - 7 March 2026
Greetings, Merchants! I hope everyone has been well! Here are more updates with our new build!Coin System and BalancingAs we create and implement more content, one design that wasn't implemented earlier (but we feel the need to now) was a 3-tier coin system, a change from our previous 2-tier coin system.The change will involve the introduction of Copper coins as the lowest valued coin, with Silver being in the middle, and Gold at the top, like in many other fantasy economies and some historical ones alike. Our coins will be called the Fyon Copper, Silver Tower, and Gold Empress.The change means the player will initially be dealing with Copper and Silver coins, while earning Gold coins will become a big achievement and an important milestone for later game content.UI and Text System UpdatesWe've made meaningful updates to the way we display text, now with more ways to highlight important…
- v0.11.1 New Year, Alpha Development Update & More Events - 31 January 2026
Greetings, Merchants! Happy New Year 2026! I hope everyone has had a great start to the year, wherever you are in the world. Our first development update of the new year is here:Company ModeContinued content update to our Company Mode:Rooms - The upgrade systems have been implemented, and half of the rooms are usable.Functions - First iteration of each function for the usable rooms has been implemented. These will continue to be worked on and balanced in future builds.Job Haul Inventory - A temporary inventory has been added to store goods earned from each merchant job, but this inventory must be emptied before embarking on another job, with the goods either stored in the company, used for upgrades, or sold for coins. UI UpdateUpdates to the item description UI, trading inventory UI, and a few other UI elements have been made and refined from the previous build, and the ability for loca…
- v0.11.0 Alpha Development Update & Events - 30 November 2025
Greetings, Merchants! Here is the second part of our big v0.11.0 update, along with other news and updates!Big UI and Design ImprovementsWe have more UI quality of life and better design improvements:Selling Goods for Coins - We have updated the sell goods for coins UI to be an inventory window where you can place as many goods as you wish to sell into, allowing you to preview how many coins you will receive before committing to the sale.Trading Goods Value UI - We have adjusted the value charts of needed goods seen on the world map to be simpler and easier to grasp when looking over them quickly, changing it from a more detailed graph. The graph system will still be unlockable during gameplay (WIP).Roguelite UI - New UI art and descriptions for our roguelite power-ups from the Merchants Guild and Ravenn Company.Difficulty Adjustments - We have adjusted gameplay difficulty, such as play…
- We're at PAX AUS 2025! - 9 October 2025
Greetings Merchants,Quick news: we are exhibiting at PAX AUS 2025!For anyone attending, come check out our booth along with other great NZ game booths organised by NZ CODE! I'd love to meet any merchants dropping by to say hi or chat about the game!For everyone else, fear not - we have an updated demo ready to play on Steam, the very same one showcased at PAX AUS!Stay tuned for more updates soon!Cynthia (Founder/Developer)If you're interested in joining alpha/beta tests and haven't signed up, sign up here to our mailing list for the latest news and a chance to be an Alpha/Beta tester for future builds!
- ANZ Indie Showcase is now Live - 5 September 2025
Hi Merchants!The ANZ Indie Showcase is now live! Check out our latest demo, as well as other great Australian and New Zealand indie games on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ANZIndieFest2025We have been working hard behind the scenes on development, refining mechanics and assets based on feedback, and implementing numerous significant improvements over the years. Now, much of our focus will be on building and implementing the remaining game content towards the v1.0 release. I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who has been following our game over the years, and your continued support and patience mean a great deal to us as we push towards the finish line!Stay tuned, as development updates will be more frequent moving forward!Until next time, Cynthia (Founder/Developer)If you're interested in joining alpha/beta tests and haven't signed up, sign up to our mailing list for t…
- Upcoming Events and Announcement! - 1 September 2025
Hey merchants!We've been hard at work on our latest build, which we will showcase in our new demo coming shortly!We are participating in multiple upcoming Steam events this month (September), where our new demo will go live!One of these events is the ANZ Indie Showcase by The Indie Brew, showcasing awesome upcoming indie games in Australia and New Zealand. The event will go live on the 5th of September!Watch this space as we'll have an announcement once the event goes live!Until next time, Cynthia (Founder/Developer)If you're interested in joining alpha/beta tests and haven't signed up, sign up to our mailing list for the latest news and a chance to be an alpha/beta tester for future builds! Wishlist & Follow us on Steam and our social media channels!
- v0.11.0 Alpha Development Update - Part 1 - 30 June 2025
Hello, merchants! We have an even bigger development update this time around with our v0.11.0 build, which we will be splitting into 2 update posts. Here is part 1:Combat System - Boost/AfflictionOur combat boost/affliction (renaming WIP) system has always been a WIP with more features on the to-do list, and now it has finally gone through the big update it was waiting for. Different Effects - we have changed and balanced the effects of each boost and affliction compared to our older builds, and also increased the amount.Tier and Combination - boosts and afflictions can now be combined to higher tiers. We have introduced lower-tiered B/A for basic trading goods, which can also be combined into higher-tiered effects, allowing more strategising during combat and having access to more varied B/A with fewer goods.Duration - Duration of most B/A now also lasts longer, with the average being…
- v0.10.11 Alpha Development Update - Systems and Quality of Life - 6 May 2025
Heya merchants! We have a bigger update this time due to a longer dev cycle for this build, so enjoy! Settlement & Environment The following gameplay improvements have been made to the interactive elements in settlements and environments. Many other improvements have been made according to player feedback to help with gameplay elements and quality of life, such as: Randomly Encountered Merchants - random merchants and traders met in settlements now are more full-fledged, meaning a better system at managing goods available for trading, and also retain their data in save games and are not just one-time randomly generated NPCs. Trader Types - These merchants are also split into two types: local traders and travelling traders. The main difference is that local traders are local settlers who will have the same needs at the settlement itself (e.g. the settlement itself is short on tools), whi…
- v0.10.10 Alpha Development Update - New Year & Progress - 17 February 2025
Hey all, we hope everyone has had a great start to 2025! Here at Thousand Tonic, we've been so busy lately that I've been pushing back from writing a development update, but enough procrastination, here's how things have been progressing along! v0.10.10 is the build we worked on post-PAX Aus, and it features: Gameplay & Quality of Life The rogue-lite system now operates on what's called Merchant Exp, allowing various actions and successes (such as good bartering or overcoming hostiles) to gain exp for the player. Once enough exp is accumulated, a rogue-lite boost or Merchant Focus is granted. This applies to both Story and Company game modes. Many other improvements have been made according to player feedback to help with gameplay elements and quality of life, such as: Moving and automatically entering buildings / interacting with NPCs when clicked on Rumours giving specific discoveries…
- v0.10.9 Alpha Development Update - Progress & PAX Aus - 3 November 2024
Another busy month for us here at Thousand Tonic, and we've got updates for you on what's been happening: New Art Assets Our new artists have produced more amazing assets, both environment and character. Here is a preview of the new Bouch's Retreat settlement (still to be improved further): Rogue-lite Elements With our new build and demo, we have implemented our first iteration of rogue-lite elements into our Story Mode gameplay. Our rogue-lite elements were previously only in the Company Mode of our game, but we have since decided to include some of these features in the Story Mode as well to further enhance the gameplay experience. PAX Aus 2024 Thanks to NZ CODE again (who helped us with development funding earlier this year), we were also given the opportunity to attend PAX Aus 2024 this year for the first time and exhibited Ten Thousand Coins alongside other great NZ indie games. It…
- Demo & Upcoming Events - 30 September 2024
Upcoming Events Ten Thousand Coins: The Golden Merchant will be participating in various upcoming events in October (including events on Steam): https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fsteamworks_docs%2Fenglish%2FRPG_Fest_Doc_Banner.jpg Steam Turn-based RPG Fest (starting tomorrow) PAX Aus 2024 (including a Steam event) Games Made in NZ We have been working hard to improve our game demo experience to give a polished and up-to-date taste of what Ten Thousand Coins: The Golden Merchant has to offer. Game Demo Availability In the past, we have only made our demo available briefly during events like the ones listed above. From this point onwards, we believe we have reached a stage of development and polish that can allow us to keep our demo always available on our Steam page for the foreseeable future. The demo will of course still be regularly updated with the latest featu…
- v0.10.8 Alpha Development Update - Progress & Gamescom - 31 August 2024
Heya all, it's been a hectic few months for us here at Thousand Tonic, and we've got nice updates for you on what's been happening: Wilderness System Update We are currently working on improving the wilderness gameplay system as well. Some feedback received includes: It’s unnecessarily slow, slowing the pace of the game Events are repetitive Some changes we are working on or have already implemented are: Reducing the time needed to travel in each wilderness section Events will be balanced as fewer events will be encountered this way Allowing more choices and actions in each event More event varieties (this will continue to be added as it is part of the game content) QoL Improvements From recent playtesting feedback gathered, we have made more quality-of-life improvements to the game. This includes changes to selling goods for coins, which now feature a pop-up inventory for easier sellin…
- Gamescom 2024 - Event & Progress! - 31 July 2024
Hello all! Over the past months, there has been a lot of progress behind the scenes: Gamescom 2024 - Indie Arena Booth One of these updates we'd like to announce is our participation in this year's Indie Arena Booth at Gamescom! With the help of CODE NZ, we're able to travel to Gamescom in Germany for the first time! We will have our latest demo (build v0.10.8) at this event, and worry not for the majority of you who cannot attend in person, as there will also be an Indie Arena Booth Steam event featuring our latest demo online! Our Artists Hard at Work Our two new artists, Bella and Shei, have been hard at work producing new art assets for our new build and promotional material. One such piece of artwork is our new promotional splash art, which you may have already noticed on our Steam page. An extra announcement will be made here for when the Indie Arena Booth event goes live, and als…
- LudoNarraCon 2024 Begins & Developer Stream - 9 May 2024
LudoNarraCon 2024 officially begins! Check out our demo, as well as all of the other awesome narrative-driven games in this event! Developer Stream Our developer stream will broadcast at 3 PM on Saturday 11th of May PDT. We will pre-record the stream a day before to avoid any technical difficulties. If you have any questions you'd like to ask us, Ask your question here and we'll hopefully be able to answer on the stream (subject to time left). New Trailer We have also updated our gameplay trailer to reflect our latest progress!
