Terraria June 2025 Update
Hello Terrarians 🌳
Where did June go? The last few weeks have flown by here at Paper Fort HQ! 😮
In this month’s update we’ll be reflecting on a fantastic UKGE, taking you on a guided tour inside the Terraria: The Board Game box, telling you about some iconography improvements and providing the latest development news.... let’s dig in!
🎫 UKGE Recap
At the very end of May, the Paper Fort Games team travelled down to Birmingham for UK Games Expo. This year, over 40,000 people visited the show, the highest attendance in the history of the convention.
As always, we had a wonderful time meeting Terraria fans, backers, and those attendees who were discovering the game for the first time. The booth was packed for the whole weekend; thank you to everybody who stopped by, played the game, collected a slime balloon or had a go at our beanbag toss - we had a blast! 🤩
We had a bigger stand and more demos than ever before, and as a tiny team we needed to draft in some extra pairs of hands! We want to say a huge thank you to all the demo staff who helped us to make this a fun and memorable event for all involved! 🙏
In last month’s update, we shared some pictures of pre-production component samples that arrived just in time for UKGE. At the show, colleagues from our manufacturing partner dropped off additional samples that they had kindly brought in their suitcases; after many hundreds of emails back and forth it was lovely to see the team in person again 😊!
We were running two demos of Terraria: The Board Game all day, every day of the convention; this provided the perfect opportunity to put these new components through their paces. We identified a couple of minor adjustments that needed to be made; these have already been implemented by the manufacturer (just one of the benefits of being able to chat about the components in person!)
🍿 Sample Box Tour
For those of you who haven’t had a chance to see these new components in person, Chris has recorded a guided tour through our latest sample box, explaining how various components are organised, pointing out small but important changes that are being made and showing off some features that you won’t have seen yet… enjoy!
🎬 Gameplay Video
Speaking of videos, we’re currently finalising the logistics of filming our updated gameplay recording. In last month’s update, we asked what type of videos you’d like to see, and based on your comments, it sounds like a full playthrough is on the cards (no pun intended!). We’re very eager to share more of the game with those of you who haven’t had the chance to see it in person, and we’re excited at the possibility of being joined by a well-known Terraria fan… 👀
🎨 Biome Tile Iconography Update
Previously, when blocks could be partially mined, we added a pip system to diggable blocks that indicated how many hits were required. Through playtesting, we’ve identified that these small pips are too difficult to see, so they’ve been updated to match the chop icons on trees - a single, larger icon containing the dig value. It’s a small change, but a big improvement in terms of user experience.
📑 Development News
So, what’s left to be done from a development point of view?
🃏 Boss Cards
As mentioned last month, as well as streamlining Boss behaviours and mechanics, we’ve been trying out a new idea that make a Boss’s spawned ally more than just another enemy token in the world. We’ve been testing a new idea whereby allies powerup their Boss via a ‘buff’ card; the idea has been simplified and the boss cards redesigned so that the cards provide an interesting decision for players each turn (which buff do we place an ally token onto?) while also making the result of the buff easily visible in the usual flow of the Boss’s turn.
These are examples of prototype boss cards currently undergoing testing – once they are finalised, art and graphic design will be updated to match the rest of the game, and the final cards will be foiled for that premium boss feel!
📖 Rulebook
The rulebook is one of the most important parts of a board game, but also one of the most difficult to get right. We’re still working on the updated version, ensuring that it is as concise as possible while covering everything that players need to know. It’s a delicate balance; we’re getting close but a bit more work is required before we are fully happy with it. Rest assured that once it’s ready, we’ll be sharing it with you, along with a summary of what’s changed rules-wise over the past few months. Thanks for bearing with us!
👋 We’ll Be Back in July!
Next month, we’ll have final samples to show, details about the shipping and fulfilment process and more video content to show you!
Thank you so much for your support, enthusiasm and comments - until next time, Terrarians! 😀
-The Paper Fort Games team