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Horn of Balance

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Horn of Balance

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Come explore this world of secrets and adventure. Featuring solid 2D Zelda-like gameplay, 12 vast non-linear dungeons and a wholesome story about the young golem protagonist called Linden.

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Most popular community and official content for the past week. (?)

Successful Kickstarter and latest demo update

May 11

Dear gamers,

The Horn of Balance Kickstarter has ended.

And I can happily report that it was a success!!

You can read about the Kickstarter over here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hornofbalance/horn-of-balance?ref=discovery

There were several gameplay and lore reveals shared during the campaign so feel free to check out. And, if you're itching for more Zelda-like goodness: I also published several interviews with zeldalike fellow indie developers over there as well.

So, what's next for this project?

Development has been fully funded and is planned to conclude at the end of 2026.

While that may sound like a long wait, I do want to highlight that the final release will contain a massive 12 (!) large sized dungeons and 2 interconnected overworlds. This game is big, intricately designed and filled with secrets. So it WILL be well worth your time. (And for those that do not know: I'm essentially a solo developer with a daytime job on the side. So that also factors in).

Expect more updates in the meantime

In fact, I have just recently updated the demo (as seen below) and continue with smaller periodic updates as the engine, world and backer rewards get completed.

And of course I'm occasionally sharing all sorts of teasers and development information over on Discord and Twitter/X, if you want to stay updated on the week to week progress.

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Latest demo update:

Made a few early demo puzzles slightly more intuitive
Outside signposts can no longer be destroyed with the sword (but can still be picked up)
Game now starts in full screen WITH screen stretching (upon first starting up the game), to accommodate modern widescreen monitors
Adjusted the “controls” menu pages to not show the run option until you collect the required option.
Added backers section to the credits page
Removed Kickstarter link from the menu
Tweaked animation of the wooden sword's special attack
Improved diagonal movement on stairs vs walls corner
Controls now also displayed on the title page
Implemented more new sound effects
Adjusted music volume per track
Tweaked demo dungeon key colours
Updated wall ceiling dithering style
Updated text on the final stats screen
Fixed typo in main item menu
Fixed collisions while running into hit switches / breakables
Fixed small tiling issue in demo dungeon
Fixed bug: boomerang not bouncing properly of some specific types of wall
Fixed bug: being able to trigger demo dungeon crash switch multiple times in sequence
Fixed bug: option to mirror HUD not working fully
Fixed bug: overlapping music when playing the credits from the start menu multiple times in a row
Fixed bug: able to clone some caught sprites if used when already at full hp/mp

That's it for now. Happy gaming and till next time.

Greetings,
Martijn

Horn of Balance

Developer AMA topic

As it says: ask me anything! While posting this I am just about to publish the game's demo. It's been a long journey, and I'll be working hard to keep improving it even after its debut, so any and all questions and comments on that are very much welcome! And the same goes for the game's upcoming Kickstarter event, starting ~1 month from now....

Horn of Balance

Feb 8 @ 8:27am

General Discussions

Only 26 HOURS left to back 'Horn of Balance' on Kickstarter

Apr 6

There are only 26 HOURS left to back 'Horn of Balance' over on Kickstarter!

Backers get the full game at a discount plus exclusive rewards! We are only 1.5k removed from funding the rest of development.

Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hornofbalance/horn-of-balance

Come check it out! We got new lore reveals, a demo dungeon breakdown, item reveals and more.

And if you are a huge fan of Zelda-like games in general: Also check out the various interviews I've done with other developers throughout the campaign. They're a good read!

Ocean's Heart / Tombwater - [interview link]
Seed of Life - [interview link]
No More Fathers - [interview link]
The Girl from Arkayna - [interview link]
Legend Maker - [interview link]
Elementallis - [interview link]

Greetings,
Martijn

Horn of Balance

We are now halfway funded over on Kickstarter!

Mar 24

Dear players,

I'll keep this one short and sweet:

We have officially made it past the halfway point on Kickstarter!

Funding sits at a solid 51% (at the time of writing), with roughly half the campaign time (=13 days) still left to go.

If you have not yet had the chance to check it out, be sure to come take a look. There is more new information about the game's items, dungeons and lore revealed on the main page. And, I have also been posting extra details in the campaign updates. As well as a string of interviews with my fellow Zelda-like indie game developers. Not to mention: this is THE chance to pick up some of the exclusive backer rewards, like including a painting of yourself (or your OC/pet/etc) into the game.

Kickstarter link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hornofbalance/horn-of-balance

PS: Maybe you already found out about the Cursed Cape of Healing in the demo? Well, what about "Earthshaker"? The warhammer so powerful that it can be used to strike enemies from a distance! Wait, what?!