Community

Dev Update #3 — Building the First Demo Slice

Rotary Knights Demo · published 28 Mar 2026, 15:33 UTC

All events Players around this date Read on Steam

Editorial note — July 2026: This March update has been revised to remove obsolete pre-release details. The free Steam demo is now available, and Dev Update #4 covers the current v0.6.366 release.

Hello, pilots!

This post looks back at an earlier Rotary Knights milestone: strengthening the opening, making the first sorties more readable, and turning the aerial board into a clearer tactical experience. At the time, these systems were still moving quickly. They helped establish the focused slice that players can now download on Steam.

Strengthening the Opening

The prologue received more room for character, tension, and meaningful decisions. Pilot creation, temperament, and the first aerodrome scenes were refined so choices felt connected to the war unfolding around the squadron.

That work also clarified an important design goal: Rotary Knights is not only about winning an engagement. It is about the pilot who returns, the aircraft that needs repair, and the consequences waiting on the ground.

Shaping the Tactical Loop

Early combat work focused on readable hex movement, altitude, firing opportunities, ammunition, damage, and the route home. Sorties gained stronger atmosphere through weather, anti-aircraft fire, ground observations, and more varied returns to the aerodrome.

These were development milestones, not a promise that the wider campaign was already playable. The full 1914–1918 career, expanded event pool, full aircraft roster, and broader squadron systems remain in development.

What Became the Free Demo

The public Steam demo now presents a focused, self-contained slice of the current work. Players can plan a sortie across the Living Front, fly objective-driven turn-based missions, use cloud cover as tactical terrain, attack a persistent observation balloon, strafe a ground target, and bring wounds, aircraft damage, objective state, and local consequences home.

The demo is not the full game. It is a way to experience the core tactical and pilot-life ideas while Rotary Knights continues to develop.

Continue with Dev Update #4

Play the free Steam demo, then read Dev Update #4: The Living Front Takes Flight for the current release details.

Wishlist Rotary Knights and join the Discord to follow development.

Clear skies,

Steve
Old Blue Chair

Other announcements

All events

Community13 Aug 2026Dev Update #5: The First Hour, RebuiltHello, pilots! A new Rotary Knights career in development begins in General Service. You arrive without a specialization, learn the common work of an RFC pilot, and fly an Avro 504 familiarization circuit before choosing the posting that will shape your career. That order matters. It lets the first decision come from something you have done in the cockpit instead of a label on a character-creat…Community30 Jul 2026Dev Update #4: The Living Front Takes FlightThis development update accompanies the public Steam demo release. The Steam demo is now available as v0.6.366. Hello, pilots! Rotary Knights has changed across the whole flight loop. The Western Front now helps you plan a sortie, the tactical board gives each mission its own demands, and the squadron remembers more of what happened after you land. The Living Front, Balloon Bust, Cloud Cover, t…Community4 Mar 2026Dev Update #2 — Demo March 24, Combat Feel OverhaulDemo — March 24 Steam demo drops March 24. It covers summer 1914 through your first combat patrols — the opening act of the war. You'll create your pilot, pick a specialization (fighter, recon, or bomber), fly your first sorties over the Western Front, and get into your first hex tactical fights. It's a real slice of the game, not a tutorial. Your choices stick, your kills count, and the war mo…