#ikh update

[ironkingsheir-if]

New chapter headers and character customisation options

Happy Thursday! Now that all of Chapter 2 is out in the wild, updates are now all about refining and adding to Chapter 2 rather than continuing the story.

This week for the public CoG Demo I've added:

Chapter headers

New "spit on the rabble" option in Ch 1 intro

More character customisation in Ch 2 intro

Generally better prose and a more immersive experience in Ch 2 intro

For the Patreon demo I have:

Reworked conversations with Evangeline and Willem

Added an opportunity to determine the fate of Raedin's special substance

Added a treasury stat...you will soon have to think about how your actions affect the kingdom's coffers

Happy playing!

@interact-if

[ironkingsheir-if]

For the public CoGDemo I have:

Finished revising the banquet conversation with your betrothed (some of the choices should be a little longer now)

Started revising the lead up to the dance scene

Fixed a bug where a dutiful princess could reject Connor at the dance

Fixed a bug where a self-serving princess couldn't always choose Justin as a dance partner

Please note there will be no public update next Thursday on account of technical issues I had when updating the Patreon demo a month ago. We should be back in the groove the following week.

For the Patreon demo I have:

Started revising Osdric's speech

Added a restore checkpoint option which should bring you to the start of Chapter 2

Added a neutral reaction to Mirabel getting blood on your betrothed's gift in Chapter 1

@interact-if

👑 Itch Demo | CoG Forum | Patreon | Discord | Author Info 👑

[ironkingsheir-if]

For the public CoGDemo I have:

Finished revising dance scenes with Evangeline, Mirabel, and Garrett (this includes expanded romantic versions and better flow)

Fixed a bug where you couldn't get injured in Chapter 1

And with that, the public demo now contains the full, new and improved version of the dance! There are a lot of moving parts in this scene now so please let me know if anything feels clunky, out of character, or otherwise off-putting.

Sorry, yet another week with no Patreon update.

I'm raring to get back into the code but boy is this short story taking a while (I've had some life matters slowing me down too sadly). It has a deadline mid-May though so I won't be stuck on it forever.

Thank you for your patience. It's frustrating being away from the code this long but the work I'm doing now will make the ending that much cooler and help with some foreshadowing elements in Chapter 3.

👑 Itch Demo | CoG Forum | Patreon | Discord | Author Info 👑

[ironkingsheir-if]

Expanded character intros for public demo, new cheat modes for patrons

Happy Thursday! Play the public CoG Demo for:

Expanded and improved character introductions for Evangeline, Kirill, Raedin, Anaxis, Willem, and Marcurios

Partially revised and improved conversations with aforementioned characters

Play the Patreon demo to:

Discover a secret Hero Mode and gain +10 to all skills

Discover a secret Romance Mode and start the game with maxed out (platonic) relationship stats

Toggle Story Mode for romance and skill hints

Patrons also have a partially revised conversation with your betrothed.

More details on the secret cheat modes in the latest newsletter. @interact-if

[ironkingsheir-if]

Final(ish) Chapter 2 revisions now posted! (Patreon)

For June's Patreon update I:

redid the purple smoke scene so it's a bit more grounded

finished revising speeches

updated the stats screen with dynamic flavour text

removed personality barriers for throwing your ax across the room and asking someone else to dance

added a couple little scenes where Justin, Connor, or Nora might comment on your outfit

made some small changes to the Ch 2 beginning to address player feedback and improve clarity

added new lore and character details to Ch 1 & 2 including on option to decide your stance towards Thestria's main religion

added almost 2k words of flavour text options depending on what name you choose for your MC

These changes should be available on the public demo on July 10, which is also when I might update the Patreon demo next. I may wait another month though on this one depending on how long it takes to finish drafting out the skeleton code for Chapter 3.

As always, I'll keep you all posted in the newsletter.

👑 Itch Demo | CoG Forum | Patreon | Discord | Author Info 👑

[ironkingsheir-if]

Full rough draft of Chapter 2 now on the public demo, +4.5k words

For the chapter finale, give your first speech!

bolster allies, make enemies

establish what kind of leader you will be

or maybe just get drunk and say weird stuff idk up to you

Moving forward, updates will refine and add to Chapter 2 until I'm happy enough with it to move on to Chapter 3.

For the Patreon demo I have:

heavily revised Marcurios' conversation at the mingle scene

partially revised Evangeline's

done a whole lot of background work that I talk about in the newsletter

I also started a chill little Discord if anyone wants to join us there.

@interact-if

[ironkingsheir-if]

Public update May 14, 2026

For the public CoGDemo I have:

Updated the stats screen and included an appearance section

Added an option to skip character creation

Started work on a toggle "repeat mode" that echoes your last choice to you before continuing the narrative

Made a small adjustment to make it clearer to dutiful heirs that other dance partners are available on other playthroughs

The new choice repetition mode is experimental and a bit of work on my part, so if you use and enjoy it (or hate it, or want it changed a bit) please let me know! You can toggle this on and off in the stats menu. For the next public update all of Chapter 1 will have the choice repetition mode added and I'll be making some polls and gathering feedback more proactively then, but feel free to let me know what you think ahead of that.

Moving forward I'll be posting one update a month.

Next Patreon update: June 12 Next public update: June 5

👑 Itch Demo | CoG Forum | Patreon | Discord | Author Info 👑

[ironkingsheir-if]

For the public CoGDemo I have:

Finished revising dance scenes with Justin, Nora, and Connor, making them more realistic, more response to previous choices, and more romantic (assuming you've been flirting)

Partially revised dances with Evangeline, Garrett, and Mirabel

Made it a little easier to ask alternative ROs to dance (though dutiful MCs still will dance with their betrothed)

Renamed "self-serving" stat to "independent" to be a little less morally coded

Sorry, no Patreon update this week. I've been focusing all my writing time on a short story prequel featuring a young Osdric. It's a very important backstory moment that I need to make sure I get right and it's taking longer than expected (partly because the story itself is getting longer than expected). I may not have an update for next Thursday either, but hopefully for the one after I'll get back in the weekly routine.

On that note, I've been considering posting bigger but less frequent updates instead of the weekly ones. For the most part I write daily and almost always have something worth updating weekly, but I'm not sure how it is on the reader end, if the game resets too frequently or what have you. Open to feedback on the current routine!

👑 Itch Demo | CoG Forum | Patreon | Discord | Author Info 👑