Frog species! New biome! More!
Image credit: Eremite Games/Hooded Horse
Against the Storm – the critically acclaimed city building roguelike from Eremite Games – is set to get its first major expansion, titled Keepers of the Stone, on 26th September this year.
Against the Storm, if you’re unfamiliar, challenges players to survive the apocalyptic Blightstorm ravaging the kingdom by gradually upgrading the Smoldering City at its heart. That requires setting out across multiple biomes and establishing a series of settlements, success in each location only coming if players can meet the Scorched Queen’s endless demands.
Which brings us to the newly announced Keepers of the Stone expansion. This promises to build on the base game’s already superb action by introducing, firstly, the Coastal Groves biome, where settlements start along the water. Here, players can build the Strider Port, enabling them to launch expeditions for treasures lost in the surrounding depths.
Keepers of the Stone also introduces the Frogs – a new species joining the existing Humans, Beavers, Lizards, Harpies, and Foxes – who are particularly proficient with stone masonry, enjoy the rain, and can increase the rate at which new citizens join settlements. Frogs also demand special upgradable Frog Houses, rather than the usual shelters.
Elsewhere, the expansion adds new upgrade tree rewards in the Smoldering City – all intended to benefit the Frogs – alongside three new Legendary Cornerstones, one new Epic Cornerstone, three new Rare perks, and five new Uncommon perks. Additionally, it brings 12 new orders reflecting the Frogs and their capabilities, plus 14 new music tracks.
Keepers of the Stone launches via Steam, GOG, Epic, and the Windows Store on 26th September (no price has been announced just yet), and will be accompanied by a substantial free base game update. This introduces fishing – enabling players to acquire resources from variously sized ponds in glades, providing they build a Fishing Hut first – as well as an increased level cap, new buildings and resources, plus various balance changes and bug fixes.
“It’s a pleasure to play something where every detail takes you back to the heart of what a game excels at,” Eurogamer contributor Ruth Cassidy wrote in their five star review of Against the Storm last year. “Every layer… reveals something more compelling than the layer above it – where that layer stands as something already deeply interesting in its own right.”
