- Devlog: Plans for the Fundamental Update - 2 October 2026
Hello everyone.I often use the metaphor of a garden to explain certain aspects of experimental development in complex games.Enough time has passed now. The garden has grown, and we have had enough time to observe how the mechanics develop and interact with each other. It feels like we have finally formed an image and vision of the game that, at this stage, can be called complete, if not yet final.For about a month now, we have been working on a number of new mechanics and major reworks of existing ones.Many of these new mechanics also have a major impact on balance and cannot be introduced in isolation. For example, we have almost finished the system that allows barons to develop villages, but this creates significant new sources of resources. To balance them, we also need to rework the economy, particularly trade.As a result, most of the studio is currently working on new fundamental s…
- Patch #58 (BETA). Counter-Intrigues and Map Generation Optimization - 2 October 2026
Hello everyone, Dmitry here.Here is another patch for the Beta branch. This one is not particularly large.For a while, updates will become less frequent, roughly once a month, because most of the studio is currently working on the fundamental rework of the game's mechanics, which I talk about separately here:So for now, only part of the team is working on standalone mechanics that can be released regularly. More precisely, that part of the team is called Ivan, and today's update is about 80% his work.Let's see what Ivan has prepared for us today!Counter-IntriguesRight now, when a lord is preparing an intrigue, for example seducing one of your lords to turn them into a puppet, it is not always clear what you can do about it. Now every intrigue has a way to counter it.We have added a number of improvements to give you ways to fight back.Sabotage WeaponBy sneaking into a lord's house at ni…
- Save 50% on Norland - 2 October 2026
Norland is currently 50% off during the Hooded Horse Autumn Publisher Sale. Norland is a medieval colony sim that casts you as the head of a noble family and the leader of a small kingdom. You must navigate your way through class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery – all while tending to the needs of your people, executing nefarious plots against your enemies, and uncovering the lost knowledge of a fallen empire. Hooded Horse Autumn Publisher Sale
- Beta Channel Hotfix 1 - 8 September 2026
Hi guys,Some fixes for BETA channel is here:- Increased the height of the Dynasty window - Fixed an issue where assigning an army to attack an enemy squad on the Global Map did not immediately update the interface - Fixed the Altar’s marking-rope and scaffolding assets - Fixed the “is on a different texture page” crash - Removed the invalid farm_v2_12x6.json file, which could load before the valid horizontal Farm variant and cause a crash - Fixed a potential crash when an actor moved through a deleted building - Added a safeguard that skips video files if they cannot be played for any reason. This fixes a black screen when starting the game
- Patch #57 (BETA). Optimization, Dark Politics, and Worldviews - 4 September 2026
Hi everyone,Dmitry here.It's been quite a while since the last update, so there's a lot to cover.Over the coming weeks and months, we'll be focusing on expanding the feudal system and villages, adding new buildings, continuing to develop combat (which we plan to keep improving for many months to come), working on the story generator, and reworking the knowledge system.By the way, if you've been considering leaving us a review, now would be a great time. We'd really appreciate it!Feedback on the beta version in our Discord would also be extremely helpful. To switch to the beta, use the Game Versions and Betas tab in the game's properties in your library.So, the main topics of this patch are Optimization, Dark Politics, Worldviews, and Squad Formations.OptimizationWe've moved to a new version of the engine (which required us to fix a few bugs in the engine itself), worked on optimization,…
- Norland News Roundup at the Hooded Horse August Publisher Sale - 28 August 2026
Summer is nearing an end, and Norland has recently received a new update to herald the coming Autumn. Dmitry and his beta testers have been hard at work since the last major patch testing and refining patches 54-56 to bring to the main branch. This three-in-one patch brings new additions like the Event director as well as QoL and balance changes. In case you missed it, see below for the full roundup of patches 54-56. Norland is also part of the the Hooded Horse August Publisher Sale at 50% off. Check it out, and the other games that are discounted as part of the Hooded Horse August Publisher Sale. Hooded Horse August Publisher Sale Norland News RoundupPatches 54-56 were all released simultaneously, bringing the previous two beta patches and the new Patch 56 to the main branch. Let's break down what each patch brought to Norland. Patch #54 focused on reworking guests, improving politics,…
- Save 50% on Norland - 22 August 2026
Norland is currently 50% off during the Hooded Horse August Publisher Sale. Norland is a medieval colony sim that casts you as the head of a noble family and the leader of a small kingdom. You must navigate your way through class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery – all while tending to the needs of your people, executing nefarious plots against your enemies, and uncovering the lost knowledge of a fallen empire. Hooded Horse August Publisher Sale
- Patches 54-56 (MAIN). Event Director, QoL and Balance. - 31 July 2026
Hello everyone,Dmitry here.Today we are releasing Patch 56 to the main branch together with the previous Patches 55 and 54, meaning the game will be updated by three versions at once.The main focus of this update is the Event Director, improvements to the overall gameplay experience, and balance.Patch 56 also primarily focuses on balance adjustments and fixing a large number of bugs.Although the game may not seem to have gained a huge amount of new content, and some of the changes may appear questionable at first glance, we believe the game has become significantly more fun to play.Over the coming weeks, we will release updates to intrigues and dark deeds, improvements to combat tactics, village development, character worldviews, a peaceful game mode, and optimization. Much of this is already nearly complete, but still requires testing.So stay with us. The game is developing quickly, an…
- Patch #55 (BETA). Event Director and Balance - 17 July 2026
Hello everyone,Dmitry here.Today we are releasing the Event Director to the beta branch.This system, also known as the Storyteller in RimWorld, makes the game experience more balanced at every stage of a playthrough, as well as richer, more varied, and more rewarding.Our testers now refuse to return to the previous version and say that playing without the Director feels painful and boring.I hope you notice the same improvement to the gameplay experience that we did.As usual, all save files are compatible.You can switch to the beta branch through the game's menu in your Steam Library or directly from the game's main menu.Event DirectorThe system is complex, but here is how it works in brief.The Director controls almost every event in the game, while still taking its trigger conditions into account. For example, an uprising still requires dissatisfied characters and will not happen for no…
- Save 50% on Norland - 9 July 2026
Norland is currently 50% off during the Hooded Horse July Publisher Sale. Norland is a medieval colony sim that casts you as the head of a noble family and the leader of a small kingdom. You must navigate your way through class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery – all while tending to the needs of your people, executing nefarious plots against your enemies, and uncovering the lost knowledge of a fallen empire. Hooded Horse July Publisher Sale
- Save 50% on Norland - 26 June 2026
Norland is currently 50% off during the Hooded Horse Summer Sale. Norland is a medieval colony sim that casts you as the head of a noble family and the leader of a small kingdom. You must navigate your way through class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery – all while tending to the needs of your people, executing nefarious plots against your enemies, and uncovering the lost knowledge of a fallen empire. Hooded Horse Summer Sale
- Patch #54 (BETA). Guest Rework, Politics Improvements, and New Character Traits - 26 June 2026
Hi everyone,this is Dmitry.Unfortunately, in this patch we won’t be showing a radically new gameplay experience, but it noticeably improves the overall feel and logic of the game.Notable changes:We have reworked the mechanics of guests arriving to the player. Their actions will now be more meaningful. However, this is only the beginning of a larger task: rethinking dark deeds and moving politics to the level of relations between states.We have made a map generation menu for the start of the game.Added many new character traits (they will still be balanced).Added new political mechanics and more complex intrigue logic.Based on your feedback, we have also made politics less suffocating - political demands will now only be made if a politician’s relationship with your ruler is below friendly. This change has also been pushed to the main branch.And overall, we made many fixes and improvemen…
- Main Branch Hotfix - 12 June 2026
Hello everyone,We're releasing a hotfix to the main branch that addresses the most troublesome bugs you've been reporting recently.Let us know what you think of the new generation algorithm. Has it improved the experience?Either way, we'll be adding more customization options in the next update.Also, next week, we'll do our best to roll out a very exciting new version to the beta branch.Thank you!ChangelogBig hill will now generate less frequently in the center of the map when using low hilliness settings.Required playable map area reduced from 75% to 70%, decreasing the chance of generated maps being rejected and regeneratedUpdated the localization file parsing DLL used during game startup, which should eliminate rare launch crashes experienced by some playersFixed an issue where the border configuration prompt could appear during the tutorial even though border editing is not availabl…
- Norland News Roundup at the Hooded Horse May Publisher Sale - 1 June 2026
Spring has sprung, and Norland is celebrating with a brand new update! Dmitry and his battalion of beta testers have been hard at work refining multiple beta patches, and the resulting Spring Update is the culmination of patches 50-53. We also just got an updated development roadmap for Norland. So in case you missed any of the latest development news, here's a full roundup for you. Norland is also part of the Hooded Horse May Publisher Sale at 50% off. Check it out, and the other games that are discounted as part of the Hooded Horse May Publisher sale. Hooded Horse May Publisher Sale Norland News Roundup The Big Spring Update is aptly named, as it compiles multiple beta patches into one beefy main branch update. Here's a quick look at the major changes from each beta patch that went into this update. Patch 50 added seasons and climate to Norland. The game now starts in spring, and seas…
- Roadmap for Second Half of 2026 - 29 May 2026
Hello everyone, this is Dmitry.This time we took longer than usual to release a new roadmap - for various reasons. However, after a lot of discussion and planning, we now have a clear vision of where we want to take the game over the coming months.Our main areas of focus will be:Expanding the event systemLocal map late gameGlobal map expansionCombat system improvementsLet's take a closer look at each of them.Event DirectorWe have accumulated enough mechanics to finally organize them into a unified Event Director system (similar to RimWorld's storyteller).The primary goal of the Event Director is to keep the game engaging by creating a highly varied experience and filling the gaps when not much is happening. It is also designed to prevent both devastating snowball situations and extended periods of overly easy challenges.This does not mean that events will occur without any apparent caus…
- Save 50% on Norland - 26 May 2026
Norland is currently 50% off during the Hooded Horse May Publisher Sale! Norland is a medieval colony sim that casts you as the head of a noble family and the leader of a small kingdom. You must navigate your way through class conflict, religious struggle, and political treachery – all while tending to the needs of your people, executing nefarious plots against your enemies, and uncovering the lost knowledge of a fallen empire. Hooded Horse May Publisher Sale
- Main Branch Hotfix. The caravans are coming again! - 15 May 2026
Hello everyone!This is a small hotfix for the main branch that fixes a number of critical bugs related to the latest update, including the issue preventing caravans from arriving.We apologize for the inconvenience. The update was quite large, and things like this can happen.Thank you.Changelog:Fixed a bug that could prevent caravans from arriving when loading saves made in a previous version of the gameScripttonic will now bring 1–2 books from another culture. If the player has a lord of a different culture than the ruler, one of the books is guaranteed to belong to that lord’s cultureWhen loading a game, if roads had already been built in a city, the player’s ruler will receive the corresponding knowledge required to build those roadsAdded the option to disable soft tutorials during gameplayFixed tutorial errors
- Patches 50-53 (MAIN). Big Spring Update. Seasons, Politics, UI - 11 May 2026
Hello everyone, Today we are moving the accumulated changes from patches 50-52 (map generation, public politics, and more) out of beta into the main branch, along with a today's patch №53 that includes many fixes and QoL stuff. Thanks to the entire community for the feedback on the beta version! We will continue working and will soon show you our plan for further work - there will be a lot of interesting things!Dmitry.Changelog of of the patch №53Below you will find the contents of patches 50–52 from the Beta branchCharacter TraitsAdded the “Devout” and “Preacher” traitsFanatics now receive a relations bonus towards characters with the “Devout” traitA character with the “Preacher” trait gains increased relations growth with the Bishop after delivering a Sermon of FaithWhen starting a new game, characters from predefined family presets now have their traits assigned in advance, and start…
- Patch #52 (BETA). Intimidation, Notification Reform, and Balance - 4 May 2026
Hello everyone!This is the last patch in BETA chanell before the main branch update, which we are planning for Friday.It includes the system of intimidating lords through terror, farming adjustments (thanks to our Discord community for pointing out the issue), changes to AI behavior on the global map, and much more.FarmingThe growth cycle of Rye and Hops has been reduced to 4 days, and vegetables to 2 days. This allows you to harvest up to 3 times per season, providing more balanced gameplay and reducing the risk of losing crops unfairly.Intimidation systemNow punishing a lord instills fear thoughts in all others. This greatly increases their relations with your ruler but lowers their mood. You can try playing as a tyrant.Notification system reworkWe have reworked the notification system, removing many unnecessary and distracting ones. In particular, the top notifications about deep com…
- Patch #51 (BETA). Fixes and improvements - 24 April 2026
Hello everyone!Today’s update for the Beta channel is not a big one, but it includes fixes (many based on your reports) and a number of improvements.A huge thank you for your feedback and suggestions — we’ve read and worked through everything.Next week we’ll add more features and move this version to the main channel.What was done based on your requests:A long-standing request — the ability to save character settings in the Family creation menu at the start of the game.Clay pottery is now produced twice as fast.The clay placement algorithm when loading old saves has been fixed to ensure that building a pottery workshop is always possible.The player’s ruler will no longer go hunting or attempt seduction on their own as part of political actions (since this could harm them).If a character sleeps outside a bed for 5 hours during winter, there is a 50% chance of getting Pneumonia, which can…
