The Griftlands alpha will launch on July 11, 2019, it was revealed today. The announcement was made during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2019, with the gorgeous hand-drawn deck-building rogue-like set to become available for testing next month. It’ll also be an Epic Store exclusive for a year, before releasing on Steam the following year.
The announcement was made during a brand new trailer for the game, showing off its deck-building gameplay alongside its unique art style. The alpha will allow PC players to jump in for testing ahead of the game’s full release, though a Griftlanders release date has yet to be officially confirmed.
Griftlands is a reboot of developer Klei Entertainment’s planned RPG. Klei explained its decision to change up the game in a form post:
“Over 4 years ago, we set out to make a new RPG, and the development of the game twisted and turned in many interesting ways, Klei wrote. “After a couple years, we thought we were close, and announced the game. It turns out, we were premature in the announcement, and after another year of development, we realized that we were not delivering the experience we had set out to.”
And so we have the new Griftlands, which changes the concept for the game considerably.
“Today, we’re announcing a reboot of Griftlands, a single-player deck building game where you negotiate, fight, steal or otherwise persuade others to get your way,” Klei continued. “We put aside the huge simulation and RPG elements and focused on negotiation, combat, and manipulation. You play the game as one of three characters, and each decision you make is important — which jobs to take, which side to choose, and which cards to collect.”
Watch the brand new Griftlands E3 2019 announcement trailer below:
