- Beta Branch: New Mana System Now Live! - 2 August 2026
Hello everyone!It's been a while! Our beta branch is now live, and it comes with the new mana system we've been developing.🔎 Why we redesigned mana systemWe believe the current mana system has always been an issue for new players — managing it just isn't a fun part of the game. It caused frustration over fun and relied too much on randomness.🃏 How the new Mana system worksFocus cards are no longer part of your main deck. They now live in their own Support deck.Each turn, you draw 3 Support cards from that deck.As you progress, you can upgrade your Support cards individually.The new system is designed to be more user friendly. With Focus cards — your mana — turning into Support cards, there's more room for interesting decision-making, and we think you'll enjoy card synergy much more than ever in Northwind. Please jump in and give it a try! Though there will be bugs!⚠️ The beta uses a s…
- Patch #3 Non-Faction Card Rebalancing - 27 January 2026
🛠️ Non-Faction RebalancingHello everyone! The January update is here.This update focuses on the balance for non-Faction cards. With this patch, broad rebalancing is now complete. Our next update will focus on the new mana system and quality-of-life improvements. 🎉 Steam Board Game Fest 2026– 20% OffNorthwind is currently 20% off on Steam, running until February 3rd.⚖️ Non-Faction Card Rebalancing (English Only)Guard Up ATK: 9 / 12 / 15 → 10 / 13 / 16 Guard Up+ ATK: 9 / 12 / 15 → 11 / 14 / 17Reflex ATK: 5 / 7 / 9 → 7 / 9 / 11Reflex+ ATK: 5 / 7 / 9 → 8 / 10 / 12Blood Sacrifice Ability: Attack power gain increased from 3 → 4Blood Sacrifice+ Ability: Attack power gain increased from 3 → 4Jab ATK: 4 / 6 / 8 → 5 / 7 / 9Jab+ ATK: 4 / 6 / 8 → 5 / 7 / 9 Power Slam ATK: 15 / 20 / 26 → 13 / 18 / 25 Ability: Now draws 1 Energy card when usedPower Slam+ ATK: 18 / 23 / 28 → 18 / 23 / 30 Ability: No…
- Patch 3: Onboarding Improvements - 31 December 2025
🎉 Happy New Year from Northwind!Hello everyone, and Happy New Year! 🎉As we step into 2026, I want to sincerely thank all of you for the continued support, feedback, and playtime you’ve given Northwind. It genuinely helps us push the game forward in the right direction.🎉 New Year Sale – 20% OffNorthwind is currently 20% off on Steam, running until January 6th. If you’ve been on the fence, now’s a great time to jump in or to recommend the game to a friend who loves roguelite deckbuilders.🛠️ Latest Update: Onboarding Improvements & Major Rebalancing \Alongside the sale, we’ve rolled out a large gameplay update focused on two main goals.Better Onboarding for New PlayersThe Perk system is now unlockable, helping reduce information overload early on.Added a tutorial warning for Focus cards, reminding players that Focus already grants mana when drawn and may not always be the best play. Ca…
- Patch 2: Rebalancing Patch! Now LIVE V.0.2.3962 - 29 November 2025
Hello everyone!This month’s update focuses on balancing patches!To address balancing issues, we added the Duplicator subtype to solve the problem where experienced players could easily create infinite loops. Based on your win rates and performance data, we also buffed/nerfed several cards and adjusted the abilities of various Cards, Gems, and Relics. Fixed text on cards, relics, and throughout the game content for consistency. Fixed a sound effect volume issue that was incorrectly tied to the game settings.Fixes!Removed outdated icons shown in tooltips.Fixed a bug where the player could not select certain cards while the card selector was active.Added card FX and displayed a message when a card cannot be used. Rebalance List!Adapt: now has the Duplicator subtype.Barrage & Barrage+: Damage increased to 3 / 4 / 5.Focused Mind+: Cost reduced to 2.Slam Shock & Slam Shock+: Cost reduced to 1…
- Patch 1: Speed, Vsync, and Localization Fixes. - 15 October 2025
Hello everyone,Apologies for the wait! The first batch of fixes is here!There are many areas where we can improve the overall speed of the game. We’ll tackle them one by one, and this patch includes the first set of fixes.Speed and SettingsAnimation speed options are now 1x, 2x, and 3x.Resolution settings now have an “Apply” button.Settings menu now includes Screen Shake controls.Fixed: Some FX speeds were not being applied correctly.Most UI screens now support pressing “ESC” to go back.Added V-Sync setting.Bug FixesFixed: Minions spawned from The Hive were missing their sprites.Fixed: Spiral Edge card caused the game to freeze when transforming.Fixed: Using Attune while only an XCard remained in hand caused a soft lock.Update: Attune+ no longer counts XCard.Fixed: The Once keyword in Recycle+ now works correctly.Fixed: Card reward tooltips now properly wrap text when reaching the scree…
- Thank you first Supporter! and Upcoming Fixes! - 4 October 2025
Hello everyone!Tokyo Game Show has just ended, and we landed back home a few days ago. It’s been an amazing week! Looking through your reviews, and discussing everything as a team, we wanted to share our next steps.It’s hard to believe it’s already been almost two weeks since Northwind launched in Early Access! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for being among the first to support us. 🎁 Supporter PackAs a small thank you, we’ve prepared a Supporter Pack! The Supporter Pack will be available at a later date—we’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready. For now, here’s a glimpse of the design!This special skin that will be available to everyone who purchased the game in Early Access.The supporter skins will be available for all mercenaries, that includes the 3rd Mercenary.🔧 Upcoming FixesBased on your feedback and survey responses, here are our current top priorities:Game Spe…
- Northwind is now available in Early Access! - 22 September 2025
Hey everyone!Northwind is officially available in Early Access!Here’s our launch trailer:The 2025–2026 Roadmap is confirmed — and there’s more to come soon!A huge thank you for supporting us throughout this journey. If you encounter any issues, please report them — we’ll fix them as soon as possible. Your feedback has been the driving force behind many improvements in the game, and it will continue to shape its development.Join us on Discord to share your thoughts, or leave your feedback in the Steam forums! We’d also love for you to spread the word to your favorite streamers and YouTube creators. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for supporting us over the years! 💕– The Northwind Team, Barking Kitten Interactive
- Early Access in 3 Days! - 19 September 2025
Hello everyone! Only 3 days left until our EARLY ACCESS Release! 🎉 We’re super excited and so thankful for all your support along the way. Northwind’s Early Access launches on 22nd September at: 7:00 AM PT | 2:00 PM UTC | 9:00 PM ICT To celebrate, we’ve prepared a quick 1-minute recap video—our journey started back in 2020! Some of you even joined our very first playtest in 2021, and we’re so grateful you’ve been a part of our development. ❤️Early Access is just the beginning!We’re currently working on the roadmap, and here are a few things we can confirm:A 3rd MercenaryMonster Gear Engineer in Northwind TownController & Steam Deck supportMore content: relics, gems, roguelite unlocks, hazard levels, etc.Visual upgradesQoL improvementsAdditional languagesThe official roadmap will be announced after Early Access, but development is already underway! Here’s a sneak peek at the Monster Gea…
- Early Access Release Date and Beta Playtest Results - 8 September 2025
Hello everyone!This is a very special announcement. After the beta test and a lot of careful consideration, we believe Northwind is ready for Early Access. We’re thrilled to let you know that Northwind will launch in Early Access on 22nd September 2025! ːsteamhappyːHere is our Release Date Trailer! OMG! We'll be launching literally in just two weeks!!! As I’m writing this, we’re both nervous and excited at the same time. This is our debut title, and it’s been quite a journey. We first started developing Northwind back in 2019 as just ideas, then began prototyping in 2020. That’s 5 years ago! Our team has worked on games before as employees for other companies, but this is the first one that’s fully ours! Our vision of the game! At the beginning, we had no idea what the game would become. But you, our players, shaped it with us. Some of you joined us during alpha, some came for the demo,…
- EARLY ACCESS SEPTEMBER 2025 - 31 August 2025
Hello everyone!BETA is Now Closed!Thank you so much for playing Northwind over the past week. The BETA ran for 9 days (23–31 August), and your support has been incredible. Over 150 players joined the BETA, with more than 30 people playing every day! ✨ This means so much to our team! 🛠️ Your Feedback MattersYour feedback and bug reports have helped us tremendously!If you haven’t already, please share your final thoughts before we finish polishing Northwind:👉 📋 Feedback SurveyWe’ll be making a lot of changes based on your input: balancing adjustments, visual polish, and system improvements. Thanks to our BETA testers, we feel much more confident heading into Early Access!🚀 Early Access Launch in September!Speaking of Early Access… we’re excited to confirm that Northwind will launch this September! 🔥 The official release date will be announced soon.There’s still plenty of work to do,…
- 🎉 BETA TEST: 23–30 August 2025 & New Screenshots - 22 August 2025
Hello everyone!ːsteamhappyːThe beta date is confimed! See you all TOMORROW!BETA DATE: 23–29 August 2025Steam keys will be delivered via email on 23 August!🕘 9:00 PM ICT | 7:00 AM PT | 2:00 PM UTC Register for the Beta TestIf you know anyone who enjoys deckbuilders, please invite them! The Registration form closes on 22 August! Less than 24 hours before we close our registration form! Don’t forget to join our communities for the BETA Test! We’ll be sharing updates and have our discussion so see you there!Join our main community on Discord for discussions, updates, and feedback!Thai Players! We’ve created the Northwind: Thailand Community Facebook group! Make sure to join and connect with fellow Thai players.New screenshots coming soon, but here are some spoilers!The path will now show the loot you can obtain, allowing you to make more strategic choices based on the resources you want to…
- Cooking BETA! - 8 August 2025
Hello everyone!🎉 Northwind is Featured in the Debut Festival! We’re humbled and grateful to be featured in this incredible event—thank you for the support!❗Demo Removal NoticeThe Northwind demo will be removed on August 15th! We’re not sure when it will return, so be sure to try it out before it’s gone!🔥 Cooking Up the BetaThe beta test is closer than you think! Once the demo is removed, we’ll finalize everything and make an official announcement. That means the next update you see from us will be the beta launch announcement!This is your last call to register—don’t miss the chance to join the beta test! Register for the Beta Test Thank you all so much for your continued support!— The Northwind Team at Barking Kitten Interactive 🐾
- BETA TEST Confirmed for August! - 1 August 2025
Hello everyone!We have great news! 🎉Our team has officially confirmed that the Beta Test will happen in August! While the exact date is still being finalized, rest assured... it’s definitely happening this month. We'll share the official start date as soon as it's ready. ✅ Beta Test confirmed for August — you can still Register! Register Form❌ Demo will be removed before Beta starts!🔍 What’s the Purpose of This Beta Test?The goal of this Beta Test is to evaluate game balance and difficulty for both the Duelist and Pyrotech by giving you full access to their complete pool of cards and relics (depending on how much you've unlocked in their Mercenary rank, you can go as far as 100%).We're also looking to learn from your experience and feedback on the game's progression especially how certain mechanics let you manipulate your map path and how the hazard system (which increases difficulty…
- Update: The Tavern - 11 July 2025
Hello everyone! Apologies for not updating for a while ːsteamfacepalmːbut here we are, and we're super excited to share what's coming! The Tavern & New UI Update Additionally, Localization will be moved to the Beta version And lastly, our QA team is now onboard for final polishing!🍖 The Tavern with Food Update!Remember this house right here? We’d love to introduce you to our granny at the Tavern! Now, reaching the outpost no longer heals you to 100% by default. Instead granny will make you those meals! It’s your choice how much 'YOU WANT TO HEAL'. Each food item offers unique effects, some can be helpful but comes with a price. More variety of food can be unlocked through progression. Here are some samples of the food. Mmm! We absolutely love the designs, and we hope you do too!We got.. Frostfangs Steak Set, Bingsu Bird Ice Shaved, Thai Crispy Pork with Basil, Onigiri, Viper Vodka, Und…
- Northwind is in TurnBasedThursdayFest! - 2 June 2025
Hello everyone! ːsteamhappyː Northwind has been selected to be part of Turn-Based Thursday Fest & Southeastasia Games Showcase! We’re incredibly humbled to be featured and would love to give you more updates about the game. Here are 4 updates we’re excited to share: Neutral Card+ Version! Challenge Node Undead Thief Localization Neutral cards can now be Merged/Smelt! After careful consideration, we’ve decided that Neutral cards should have access to + versions of their own. This adds even more depth to the game! And yes, some relics will also support Neutral archetypes! Introducing Challenge Event We know you enjoy those town Blacksmith and Alchemist upgrades! And what’s even better? The chance to earn more of those currencies! Challenge Events give you that opportunity, but you’ll have to face a penalty! Each penalty comes in a different form, so think carefully before you pick one. Ri…
- Northwind is in the Strategems Event! - 21 April 2025
Hello everyone! We’re excited to be part of the Strategem Event, alongside our fellow deckbuilder devs. Into the Grid! Here are some updates we're thrilled to share: 🎯 Our reworked targeting system is fixed! One click = one target — whether it’s your own Mercenary or an enemy! https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExbGh3dnJvaGhzMG94em5rZmh2NGlxN3VsNHI3c3k4YWtkcXF3N2xpOSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/K5UdLJysXBxEtjlagw/giphy.gif 🛠️ New and Reworked ICON in progress... Wait, what’s Death Rattle? Of course, the Early Access version has to throw in even tougher monsters for you to fight. ːsteammockingː 🍗Food System?!? You voted! Options 3 and 4 got the most votes, so both will be in the game! More details coming soon. 🎉 Once we have a confirmed playtest date for the BETA, we’ll let you know. It’s probably going to be sometime after May… And don’t forget to check out…
- Northwind and Into the Grid Announcement! - 1 April 2025
Hello everyone! We're thrilled to share that Northwind, along with our fellow deckbuilder devs behind Into the Grid, are supporting each other as they take part in their upcoming events! Right now, Into the Grid is featured in the Earth Celebration Fest—and they've absolutely nailed the cyberpunk hacker theme. Don't miss their demo! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2576200/Into_The_Grid/ By the way, localization is happening in the Northwind Discord right now! If you're interested in helping out, please join our Discord server! — The Northwind Team at Barking Kitten Interactive 🐾
- New Demo Gameplay stats.! - 19 March 2025
Hello everyone! 👋 It's been a month since we launched our demo, and as always, we're back to share some exciting gameplay stats! But before that, let’s celebrate some awesome news about our game! 🎉 Northwind now has over 10,000 Wishlists and more than 7,000 Demo Players! OMG! ːdazed_yetiː Not to mention, 27 reviews! 🎉 This means so much to us as a small team! 💙 At first, we were a bit reluctant to share this data, but your incredible support has inspired us. We truly believe you’d enjoy celebrating this milestone with us! Without you playing our game, joining the community, and providing us with valuable feedback, we wouldn’t have come this far. So, from the bottom of our hearts... Thank you! ❤️ Demo Gameplay Stats. This time, we see some similarities with the previous stats on the most-picked cards, but what really changed is the winning deck strategy! The meta has definitely shift…
- The Days of Ramadan & Women's Day Sale - 3 March 2025
Hello everyone! We're about to collect feedback and discuss it with the team! If you haven't already, please help us by filling out this Feedback Survey Form. Thanks to Southeast Asia Game Aesthetic! Northwind is part of "The Days of Ramadan" event!🎉 Check out our game and the festival here! Big shoutout to WINGS for the amazing "Women's Day Sale" event! 🎉 Check out our game and the festival here! 🎮 Thank you so much! 🎉 We’re excited to share that over 5,000 players have played the Northwind demo! We are absolutely thrilled, and this wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing support from our community. Thank you again! ❤️ We’ll work hard to go through your feedback and make Northwind even better for the Early Access launch! 🔥 – The Northwind Team at Barking Kitten Interactive 🐾
- Northwind is part of Steam Next Fest! - 24 February 2025
Hello everyone! After extensive playtesting of our demo, we are now closer than ever to launch! So, we decided to participate in Steam Next Fest! (There’s still a lot of work to be done.) Thanks to our kind and very supportive community, we are now much more confident in our demo. It will be available on Steam Next Fest! The exact duration of the demo is still uncertain so make sure to defeat this 'Warlord' before it's not available! However once we have a removal date, we will announce it 10 days in advance. Other Important Links: Check out What's New in this Demo? Read list of changes here: Link Want us to fix something before Early Access Launch? Feedback Survey: Link Want to join our Beta Test and Play the Pyrotech? Register here: Link Thank you so much! If you like the game, please support us by wishlisting it here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1476400/Northwind/
