After 15 years in the development oven, the best RPG you have never played, Caves of Qud is finally cooked enough to get a full launch on Steam

A lot has happened in 15 years. Most of it is instantly forgettable but with the backdrop to the carnage of humanity, there has remained the constant. Caves of Qud still needed to be finished.

If games such as Dwarf Fortress, Warsim, and Caves of Qud must be described as graphically lo-fi, this design choice continues to enable the gameplay of all three to very much be up there with the best RPGs of all time. In many ways akin to tabletop sessions run by lunatic Dungeon Masters, all three have cemented a place as “niche” while at the same time having huge player counts of their lifetimes.

Caves of Qud, like Dwarf Fortress, has spent more than a decade before finally readying itself for a Steam launch and now, December 5th is the day. Mark it in your calendar.

The difference between Caves and DF is that Caves is already on Steam as Early Access, where it has lived in Overwhelming Positive review harmony since July 2015. Dwarf Fortress, more infamously, spent a huge period of time simply “Coming soon” to Valve’s platform.

Published by Kitfox Games (yes, they also did Dwarf Fortress), Freehold Games is, by their own admission, “a tiny indie studio”, but once again an absolute labor of love is finally going to hit the point of Version 1.0 and no return.

The move from Early Acess will also take Cave’s price adventuring north as it increases on 29th October to $29.99. Until that point though it is currently on sale for the lowest price it will ever be, coming in at $16.99.

When the game arrives proper on December 5th it will be complete with a new tutorial to help the bewildered, alongside the much-anticipated final quest in the main questline, with a mind-blowing ending to the game that matches or exceeds the strange, surprising notes fans have come to expect from Caves of Qud.

Official description time, “Caves of Qud is a science fantasy RPG & roguelike epic, built on deep simulation in an intricately etched, far-future world. Come chisel through ten thousand years of history in one of PC Gamer’s Top 100 games of 2019, 2020, and 2024 where new civilizations blossom on the bones of the old.”

“Build any kind of character you like from more than 70 mutations and dozens of cybernetic implants. Fly, teleport, hypnotize a goat, swap bodies with a robot: use the million tools at your disposal to explore a world of strange richness, where everything thinks and everything feels. Try Classic (Roguelike) mode with permadeath, or play the game as an RPG with friendlier Roleplay or Wander modes.”

If you need a synopsis of the above, it will go something like, “Caves of Qud” could take over your life.

• Tutorial to teach the basics of the game
• Final quest in the main questline & the end of the game
• Several new music tracks, sound effects, and items
• 40 new achievements
• Lots of bugfixes and small feature improvements

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