About this game

Devlog #06: The Long War

The biggest combat update yet just landed. Three things changed.
Bosses that rise with you. Every chapter boss is no longer a random pull from a roster — they're recurring rivals who grow alongside the player. Across 11 difficulty tiers, each boss earns a new form, a new active-skill kit, and new dialogue. Cyran starts as a sixteen-year-old recruit who can barely hold a sword; by Tier 10 he's the Grand Paladin, Shield of Dawn. Kael Riven walks the same road from conscript to blademaster. Their growth curves were also re-tuned this patch — the high-difficulty fights are now hard, not hopeless.
One unbroken story. Chapter I, II and the throne-room finale now form a single arc with a through-line: a war that remembers every life it took. Cyran the boy who would not run, Kael the conscript forged into a blade, and the Greedy King on his hill of gold. Win or lose, the citadel keeps the tally.
All-new skill VFX. Over 40 class and boss skills were re-wired to play hand-crafted sprite effects from a curated FX pack — crescent slashes, blood novas, holy pillars, earth-quakes, claw strikes — replacing the old crude procedural shapes. Skill effects now correctly layer above the battle cards too.
Plus a pile of fixes: the heal-tracking quest now actually counts, the game-over screen no longer spawns stray event popups, and the conversation panels were restyled to match the rest of the UI.

Devlog #07: Sets, Paths, and Progression

This update is about build variety. Three systems changed.
Class sets are here.

Each major class now has its own dedicated equipment set: weapon, armor, and accessory. These sets are not just bigger numbers. They are built around what each class is supposed to feel like. Warriors lean harder into cleave and pressure. Rangers build toward multi-shot. Vampires get more blood magic. Heavy units hit harder when they commit to the charge.
Talent paths are becoming real identities.

A class is no longer just one upgrade line. Different paths now push units toward different roles: burst damage, sustain, control, scaling, blood magic, domination marks, chain lightning, and more. Two units from the same class can now grow into very different answers.
Progression now controls complexity.

Instead of showing every system at once, new classes, hidden systems, talent paths, relics, and class sets unlock over time as players clear runs. Early runs stay easier to understand. Later runs open up stranger builds and more decisions. The goal is simple: more depth, without asking new players to learn everything on run one.

This one is also a design update for me. I’m trying to make the game’s complexity feel earned, not dumped on the player. More systems are coming, but the important part is making sure each one gives players a new reason to experiment.

About the Game

You Are the Demon Lord.

Heroes are coming to destroy your castle. Build a demon army, survive brutal roguelike events, and command followers who are more than static units — they can talk back, argue, react, and reveal personality through an offline AI-driven dialogue system.

Demon Rising is a dark fantasy roguelike auto-battler where every run pushes you to make hard choices: recruit demons, build class synergies, equip relics, unlock talents, interrogate captured heroes, and survive three chapters of escalating battles, bosses, and political chaos.

✦ FEATURES

AI-Driven Demon Personalities
Your demons are not silent units. They can speak, react, argue, and reveal their personalities through an offline AI dialogue system. Interrogate captured heroes, debate with your council, and watch your army feel more alive across each run.



Auto-Battle Strategy
You do not control every swing. You build the army, choose classes, equip relics, unlock talents, and watch your demons clash with invading heroes. Victory comes from preparation, synergy, and smart build choices.



Roguelike Runs With Hard Choices
Choose your path through battles, elite enemies, markets, treasures, events, and boss encounters. Every run forces different sacrifices, upgrades, risks, and rewards.

Class Synergies & Broken Builds
Warriors, Mages, Monks, Chaos Lords, hidden classes, relics, buffs, and team synergies let you stack brutal combos and discover powerful builds.



Council, Interrogation, and Dark Events
Rule through more than combat. Debate with your demon council, interrogate captured heroes, face dark encounters, and make choices that shape the tone of each run.

Dark Fantasy Pixel Atmosphere
Pixel-art battles, grim demon portraits, gothic music, and a world where evil feels like a burden — not a joke.

✦ PLAY THE DEMO

The demo lets you experience the core loop of Demon Rising: recruit demons, build synergies, equip relics, fight invading heroes, trigger dark events, and test the AI-driven demon dialogue system.

✦ WHO IT'S FOR

If you enjoy Slay the Spire, Darkest Dungeon, The Bazaar, roguelike strategy games, auto-battlers, strange builds, darker stories, and characters who actually talk back — Demon Rising is for you.

Latest news

• Patch Notes·11 Jul 2026Official

  v1.7 Major Update — Your Demon Lord Comes Alive

  Your Demon Lord Comes AliveThe throne screen isn't a menu anymore — your Lord is watching you back. A Living LordThe Blood Tyrant now reacts to you in real time:Tilts to your cursor — the card leans and parallaxes in 3D as you move the mouse.Speaks on her own — unprompted, savage, first-person lines, generated live and fully offline.Emotion in her voice — every line is read with mood-matched bleep audio while the card shakes, punches, sways, or jitters to match what she's feeling.She Remembers YouYour Lord keeps a memory across runs and greets you accordingly:How many times you've returned to the throne.Your victories — worlds conquered under her banner.Your defeats — how many times the First Hero cut you down, how often you surrendered, and how last time ended.The longer you play, the warmer she gets — and the more she has to say.An Honest DemoThe Lord-select screen now shows only the single playable Lord — no fake "Coming Soon" cards.Renamed "Your Demon Lord", with a teaser for the full version's custom-Lord creator.Cleaner card (no stat clutter); confirm button restyled to match the in-game UI.PolishIntro trimmed to a single clean page — no more confusing wall of lore.Removed the Trial entry from the castle menu for this build.Assorted UI consistency fixes.Jump into the demo and meet her. She's been counting your visits.
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• Patch Notes·13 Jun 2026Official

  v1.6 Major Update — Talk Demons Into Contracts, Sign In Ink

  # What changedThe mercenary hall isn't a vending machine anymore. To recruit, you **talk to demons** — and a local Phi-3.5 model reads every word, decides if they accept, what terms they want, and when to walk out on you.## 1. Contract System — sign on parchment with your mouseHired mercenaries demand contracts. Three tiers based on negotiated satisfaction:- **Free hire** — charm them above 85- **Zero-down IOU** — owe 2× souls or gold by day +3- **Pay now** — at whatever amount you offeredThe popup is a parchment scroll. You must **draw your signature on the canvas with your mouse** to seal. Your handwritten signature is **stored on the contract permanently** — you can pull it up later from the demon's profile.**Until the contract is fulfilled, the demon isn't 100% yours**:- Name appears as ⚖ deep orange- Can't fuse / awaken / dismiss them- Miss the due day → they leave + your reputation takes a "word-breaker" hitThe morning the contract clears, you get a golden "\ contract fulfilled · fully bound" notification.## 2. Persuasion Recruitment — every demon listens**Eight personalities** (savage / loyal / passionate / stoic / rational / ambitious / fanatical / treacherous). Each reacts to different words:- Vague pitch → NPC presses you: "Why should I follow you?"- Crude or dismissive → they walk, slot locks for the day- Stronger party = higher starting satisfaction (camp shows "Lord's reputation: legendary force / rising / unknown")- Recruited demons gossip about you → reputation tags accumulate across runs## 3. Ascension Ladder A0-A10Eleven difficulty tiers unlock:- Score multiplier ×1.0 to ×3.0- Each tier has its **own hero boss** with bespoke lines- Higher tiers unlock relic pools, max gear rarity, hidden classes- SR mercs only spawn at A4+ (2.5% → 5% → 7% by chapter)- UR relics — fuse them yourself, store won't sell them## 4. Merchant HagglingThe black-market merchant **actually negotiates**:- "180?" → "200, not a coin less"- Trade equipment — Phi values your invent...
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