Fire and iron, ash and art,
Craft the tales that from dust start.
In the ash, our stories blend,
Until the fire's quiet end.


Be it the fate of a person, society, or a whole civilization — nobody really knows what lies in the cards. But as a ruler in your own right, you are one of the few with limited, but crucial knowledge of Fate’s hand..

So let us take a look at your cards in IRONHIVE. May you use this knowledge to your advantage, and guide your people to prosperity.


When things feel barren, remember that no one ever really starts with nothingEach city starts with a foundation. In your case, you have the cards to guide you before that foundation is established.
Each turn, you are given a few cards: you get to use as many as you can before ending your turn. All of your unused cards are discarded afterward, and it might be a while before you can redraw them, so choose carefully! In this world, all things are scarce and a lack of resources could prove fatal in just a few turns.

Time waits for no one, so make it count.

Right-click the card to view it in more detailYour deck hides many types of cards. All these cards pour into your hand: materials and workers mingle, forcing tough decisions. Will you invest in a grand structure for future glory, or channel citizen power into immediate needs? Even as the Ironlord, there is only so much you have control over.

So what are these cards? Key cards include materials and workers. Materials, like the real world, require specific means of acquisition. Some are readily available, others require dedicated structures to produce. Certain special cards also grant specific material types on draw. Typically, you need a certain amount of material, as well as workers of a particular type to construct a building.

Then there are the citizens, and the citizen cards represent the four classes living in the Ironhive: Elite, Production, Hive, and Belief (more on them at a later time).
Each excels in specific tasks, linked to building, construction, and resource generation (Supply, Workforce, Order, Devotion). Expeditions, led by these citizens, unearth vital materials for expansion.
Besides that, classes also have their unique advantages that can aid in exploration and retrieval.
Expanding and maintaining your civilization will take all the castes working together till their last breath.


As the Ironhive develops, all the cogs in your machine become more dependent on each other: different citizens and materials in your hand mesh, fostering further development. Taking further steps will require both specific materials and buildings in your city, all the while the citizen classes boost your further.

Special Management turns drain your Supply, Order, and Devotion based on your citizen and building count. Nothing is ever still in the Ironhive; no equilibrium is ever-stable, and entropy will eventually set in to claim your fledgling civilization.

Your hand won't just hold materials and workers. Special cards can offer potent effects or introduce chaos.
One of those types are Leadership cards: they trigger certain effects, but may also require carrying out certain actions to use them.

There are also Rumor cards, which can turn the tide or throw a wrench into your plans.
Rumor cards represent possible dangers lurking beneath and brewing within the walls of your city.
Rumor cards spawns “Situations” that must be resolved in time and produce detrimental effects that worsen with time. Each time such a card is not played and discarded, a detrimental effect is also generated.
Ignoring these whispers can have consequences: for instance, you might uncover a rebellion in the works. As you take turns, the situation degrades, granting you multiple debuffs (such as bigger card costs), until rebellion finally comes knocking.

Finally, as the Ironlord, you have your chain of command: the great Barons that govern key aspects of your city, from food production to culture. Many of those barons are represented by their cards, and you will need to gradually gain their favor through specific actions, netting you many advantages. This is where you get to play with real politics: seize opportunities, pay your dues and debts, and balance favors in a way that keeps you on top. Even a tyrant needs allies to maintain their rule, after all.

Will the Barons become your legs to stand on or a dagger in your side?This is just the first taste of Ironhive's interwoven infastructure, and the first steps in your journey to becoming the true shepherd of your people. However, no great ruler can claim to know their domain before knowing their history. In that spirit, some of the future entries will delve deeper into the history of the Ironhives and their people.

In the meantime, make sure to wishlist the game to keep up with these updates. And if you wish to see more of the game right now, join our Twitter and the CRITICAL REFLEX Discord server.

Let us live to see another day, together.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2679070/IRONHIVE

[discord.gg]

Today we are starting a series of communications about the world of IRONHIVE, which will gradually reveal more information about the game, its story, and other aspects you might not expect.

For this first issue, let us start with the basics of the game and the world of IRONHIVE. There is no hope of survival without learning the ropes, after all.


“Today we pray within the IRONHIVE,
Amidst the ruins, we still thrive.
The winter left us little hope;
Our only fuel is the will to survive”
– Note found in a skeleton’s hand

The world as we know it has ended.
A series of worsening calamities put an end to our civilization hundreds of years ago. Now, the only way to survive the elements of the lands of Devastation is to band together around fortifications of steel referred to as the Ironhives.

Life in the Ironhives is a harsh existence, blighted by sinister outside forces, the struggle for resources, and the constant threat of being petered out by nature's cruelty. Even harsher is the social hierarchy within the Ironhives: a militaristic regime with a rigid class structure where one religion and ideology rules all. Sitting at the top is a caste of barons, each overseeing an aspect of the Ironhive’s policies and economy. And those Barons answer to the commander and sovereign of an Ironhive — the Ironlord. In this case, you.

Prepare to build and make sacrifices. Tough times call for an iron fist, after all.

Their fate is in your hands.
However, your Ironhive is not a bustling empire… yet. In IRONHIVE, you start with nothing. As the Ironlord, your duty is to to build a sanctuary in the Devastation, and then expand it, defend it, and foster the unity of its people. Let’s see what kind of hand was dealt to you, shall we?

Just enough to start out.

You start with a full hand of seven cards, holding the three main card types: Material cards, Building cards, and Worker cards, along with some special cards. Each building card will erect a new building foundation on the player field, and the Material cards will help you place and gradually finish those buildings, among other things.

The Worker cards are the key to your survival: no building can operate without people in it, after all. Different buildings require different classes of people and materials to expand, and your population size also affects the overall development level of your Ironhive.
You might be a lord, but you are nothing without your subjects.

The buildings in IRONHIVE are can be placed beside each other on a 2D plane, like a typical street. However, the outer world is unsafe, and expansion must happen gradually: to that end, you might consider placing buildings on top of each other instead. Will you spread out or have the whole city at your fingertips? Each architectural style might have its advantages and drawbacks…

The buildings are usually colored after one of the four classes, but that doesn’t mean they are only useful for the corresponding worker type. While some buildings are needed to generate resources or process materials, others might unlock unique functions useful for the Ironive as a whole. You can only survive united as one.


IRONHIVE is a turn-based game. Each turn can be ended manually, which discards the remaining cards in your hand.

However, this time you’re up against nature itself. Taking turns not only advances the flow of time, but expends four of your primary resources — Supply, Workforce, Order, and Devotion, each tied to one of the four social classes. Failing to keep a steady supply of those resources will lead to a swift and devastating downfall: if any of the resources are below zero during your Management turns, the Ironhive’s stability level will decrease, and as stability hits zero societal collapse ensues.

The four pillars of your Ironhive.Perhaps things would be much easier if each day would simply have you marching in lockstep with fate. However, life often has other plans, so expect the unexpected, from sudden moral dilemmas to fascinating and terrifying discoveries. No true leader shall expect things to stay as they are.

Prepare to make tough choices.This is just the beginning of your duties as the Ironlord. Will you turn the tide? Delay the inevitable as the world continues to encroach upon your sanctuary? Perish along with the remnants of humanity? Hopefully, these devlogs will help you hold onto the last strands of hope and continue your mission.

As time marches on, we will delve deeper into various points briefly outlined in this introductory chapter, as well as lift the veil on other aspects of this dying world.

In the meantime, make sure to wishlist the game to keep up with these updates, and if you wish to take counsel with your fellow lords, subscribe to our Twitter page or join the CRITICAL REFLEX Discord server.

Let us live to see another day, together.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2679070/IRONHIVE

[discord.gg]