Fangs & Forges – Interview with Alpenwolf Studio

IGD:  Hi Alex – Tell us about yourself and your studio.

Alex:  I’m Alex, aka Alpenwolf, I’m 35 and I’ve and I’ve been working on this project both full-time and part-time over the last several years. Before this, I was a Project Manager and Controller in resource management, and I completed an apprenticeship as a Recycling Technician in my mid-20s. Earlier, I was a professional ice hockey player.

This project kicked off with my brother, focused on building a fantasy franchise around the vibrant world of Lyboria. As lifelong gamers, we poured years into crafting its lore, dreaming of introducing it through a video game. Our first attempt was A Glimpse of Luna, a free-to-play PvP live-service card game.

In 2018, I quit my job, learnt programming and Unity, and built an online PvP card game with a dedicated server and microtransactions all by myself. Ultimately, A Glimpse of Luna didn’t succeed due to the challenges of live-service free-to-play games, especially for an indie team, and its very niche appeal.

When the original team parted ways, I couldn’t let the dream die or see our efforts go to waste. So, two years ago, I took full creative control under the name Alpenwolf Studio. The project is 100% self-funded. That’s when Fangs & Forges was born, inspired by my favourite games: Heroes of Might and Magic 3, The Elder Scrolls, classic Pokémon, and Diablo 2.

Utilising the project’s strengths, distinctive art and Lyboria’s rich lore, my growing development experience, and the evolving gaming landscape, I crafted a game I’d love to play myself, blending card-game and collecting aspects with turn-based strategy. I currently work a part-time job three days a week, dedicating the rest to Fangs & Forges.

IGD: Love the journey from ice hockey to solo dev, and the pivot from A Glimpse of Luna to F&F shows real resilience; and your PM background is clearly shown in your work.

IGD:  Tell us more about Fangs & Forges?

Alex: Fangs & Forges is a turn- and party-based tactical RPG set in a handcrafted medieval high-fantasy world. You’ll dive into thrilling battles on a hex-grid battlefield, level up your squad, collect loot, and explore a vibrant map. Along the way you’ll recruit a diverse roster of unique characters, each with distinct strengths and weaknesses, allowing you to forge the ideal squad for every challenge. The main story revolves around an ancient evil trapped inside a floating, moon-like sphere, unknown to the world’s inhabitants. Here is an exclusive preview 🙂

The Eye of God, the Broken Sphere, Skyboulder… there were many names for the mesmerising spectacle that watched over Lyboria since the dawn of life… or at least that’s what everyone believed. For millennia, its origin and purpose occupied the scholars of the land. But, akin to its varied names, a plethora of tales and theories enshrouded it. The most famous theory held that this world once languished beneath a blanket of darkness, barren of vegetation, devoid of life. A dead land. Until its celestial impact dispelled the dark cloak covering Lyboria and set the numbed world into motion. The ensuing tides and cycles birthed a sanctuary for life. Yet, as the inhabitants of Lyboria soon learn, this tale was only partially true…

I’m beyond excited to share how this main plot unfolds and impacts the game, but that’s all I can spill for now!

By genre, it’s closest to a tactical RPG, but Fangs & Forges stands out from typical titles in some big ways. Your characters and items are collected and played as cards, a departure from standard 3D models, 2D sprites, or pixel art. Unlike many tactical RPGs where available fighters are limited to a small selection or are randomly generated, like in Gloomhaven or Battle Brothers, Fangs & Forges draws heavy inspiration from classic Pokémon games (like Silver) and leans hard into collecting. We’re talking over 100 unique characters, each with their own story, abilities, stats, and flair, hailing from four distinct races, including Viking-like humans, humanoid turtles, and more. So yes, there’s definitely a collectible-card-game and deck-building vibe woven into the experience.

What also sets it apart is its massive collectible aspect with cards and absolutely no microtransactions, something I know players crave, harking back to the good old days of gaming. Another big difference is the world itself. While many tactical RPGs rely on procedurally generated content, Fangs & Forges boasts a lore-rich, handcrafted world packed with diverse biomes, regions, and cities. As a player, your main goals are to explore this world, uncover new missions, and tackle unique challenges driven by varied battle layouts, enemy types, and enemy behaviours. If you’ve played classic Pokémon, the core loop will feel familiar, exploration and collecting are at the heart of it.

Beyond your units, you’ll also hunt for items, and this system dives deeper than Pokémon, feeling more akin to ARPGs like Diablo 2, with various weapon and armour types offering unique stats and abilities. Character progression blends base levelling with skill trees, letting you customise your unique characters without losing their core identity.

Unlike many squad-based battlers that can feel static, Fangs & Forges makes the hex-grid battlefield shine by emphasising range, movement, and positioning. But here’s the kicker: while it’s deeply tactical, it’s also fast-paced with snappy inputs. Battles wrap up in 5–10 minutes, unlike the slower, drawn-out approach of most tactical games. On top of that, F&F features optional real-time events linked only to specific characters and their abilities, letting players choose whether to dive into a more interactive battle style or stick with the classic turn-based approach. It might sound wild, but imagine classic Pokémon meeting Diablo 2 in a world inspired by The Elder Scrolls. That’s the vibe Fangs & Forges is chasing.

In terms of age rating, it’s likely 14+. The game has vibrant colours and minimal gore, but its mature themes and deep character stories are comparable to something like The Lord of the Rings.

The business model is straightforward: a one-time purchase with no microtransactions, just like the classics. Planned DLC will expand the world and introduce new races, keeping the experience fresh without nickel-and-diming players. This combination of massive collectible aspects with cards and no microtransactions is definitely a standout feature that I believe players will love.

Accessibility-wise, the game will first launch on Steam in Early Access, where it’ll be refined and expanded with more content before rolling out to other platforms like consoles, Switch, and Steam Deck. Its Pokémon-inspired core makes it a perfect fit for handhelds, and I’ve designed it to run smoothly on almost any computer, regardless of specs, to ensure it’s accessible to as many players as possible.

As highlighted, while the world isn’t randomly generated, replayability comes from the massive character collection, random loot, and dynamic aspects of each battle region. You’ll encounter different enemy types mixed together, with map layouts and environmental conditions that can shift slightly. Plus, each battle region features day and night options, further mixing up enemy encounters and combinations. Certain world events tied to the campaign will have random elements too. Battles aren’t always about clearing a region, sometimes you’ll protect a unit against waves of enemies or face other unique conditions. This isn’t better or worse than more randomly generated games, it’s just different. You can’t have it all, and the focus here is a persistent, lore-rich world sprinkled with random elements where it fits, laying the groundwork for future expansions with more characters, races, and a bigger map. This is only East Lyboria, and the concept of more has been planned for a long time 🙂

Right now, the game has a quite polished but content-limited demo that gives a solid taste of what’s coming in the full version.

When it comes to modes, F&F is PvE-focused, with a meaty campaign, side missions, and that addictive collecting aspect, but there’s potential for PvP down the line, similar to Pokémon Link, where you can pit your best squads against other commanders.

The biggest challenge so far has been nailing the game’s identity, leaning into its strengths, like the rich world, striking art, and collectible aspect, while building a game that stands out by blending new ideas with proven concepts. You can’t make a game for everyone, and while I love tactical games and skill expression, with Fangs & Forges I try to hit that sweet spot: easy to pick up but hard to master. It’s a balance many games aim for but rarely nail.

I’ve reached out to publishers and am open to the right opportunity, but I’ve come a long way solo. A successful Kickstarter would push my independence further and help me publish this on my own terms.

IGD: The card-led squad building, handcrafted world, and brisk hex battles are compelling, and we are especially excited to see how optional real-time events layer with the turn-based core as the game expands.

IGD: What’s the release plan?

Alex: The demo for Fangs & Forges launched in March this year and has since received several patches and updates, making it a bit of an open development process for the core mechanics and more. It now features a much-improved tutorial, numerous quality-of-life changes driven by fantastic community feedback, and new content like additional characters with unique abilities. Recently, a localisation patch made the game available in several new languages.

The demo currently boasts 21 reviews on Steam with a 100% positive rating, alongside lively discussions in the Steam Community Hub.

In September, the game will launch its Kickstarter campaign, aiming to fund a closed beta phase that will kick off after the campaign ends and run until the Early Access launch around Q2 2026. During this beta period, all backers with access will receive regular updates, including new content and mechanics, as we iterate on the game and expand it to ensure a polished state with solid content for the official Early Access launch in 2026, before summer.

After that, the plan is to stay in Early Access for about a year before the full launch in 2027.

IGD: The open development, localisation push, and strong demo reception are encouraging, and we will be watching the Kickstarter, closed beta, and Early Access milestones closely.  We also love the origins story and from a professional hockey to indie game developer is a big jump!   If you don’t mind, we’d love to drill down on the technical aspect of the game by asking some more questions.

Alex: Sure!  I’d love to go into more detail.

Technical Overview

– Combat & systems design

IGD: You emphasise brisk, no-slog skirmishes. Which design choices, AI intent, action economy, map scale, animation speed, made that pace click?

Alex: The fast-paced skirmishes in F&F come from a few key design choices. Battlegrounds are compact, small arenas, mimicking quick skirmishes rather than sprawling battlefields. Unlike other tactical RPGs where you’re scrolling across bigger maps that don’t fit on one screen, our fights stay tight and focused, similar to Heroes of Might and Magic. Your squad is capped at four units, keeping battles manageable and short.

For actions and animations, I prioritise minimal input with maximum tactical depth. Each character gets a basic attack or one of three core abilities, select a highlighted enemy or use an auto-targeting AoE ability, and the attack triggers fast and responsively. No sluggish animations. The action economy is simple: every character can move and attack/use an ability each turn, with the sequence up to you. Unlike other tactical games where moving too far locks out attacks, or attacking first blocks movement, we keep it fluid. Move and fight, no restrictions.

The turn sequence is streamlined too. Initiative decides who goes first, but every character gets one turn per round. No units hog extra turns before others act. This keeps the pace snappy and the strategy straightforward.

IGD: Elemental link-ups are central. Share a favourite combo that looked broken on paper but sings in practice, and the counterplay that keeps it fair.

Alex: My favourite combo is a secret one with Jupo, the Mad Scientist. I’m not spoiling it here, it’s such a rewarding ‘wow, that’s cool!’ moment when you figure out how his abilities interact in wild ways. It’s probably a bit broken, so I’m tweaking it, haha. Hint: dig into Jupo’s kit and you’ll stumble on something awesome. I’m leaning hard into these kinds of discoveries going forward, not just chaining abilities (we’ve already got a bunch) but also how they play off environmental stuff like terrain or map hazards. It makes every fight feel alive and each battleground distinct.

Back to your question: Jupo’s ‘Madness Potion’ looked overpowered at first. It jacks up an ally’s damage and speed (how far they move) big time, but only for a few unit turns. Pair it with a slow, heavy hitter, and they’re zipping across our tight maps, smashing enemies around. In practice, it’s balanced because you have to nail the sequence, buff a unit, and if their turn isn’t up soon, or the target is out of reach, the effect fizzles.

As for counterplay, there’s no one-size-fits-all trick. It’s about spotting threats and combos in the heat of battle and using smart positioning to counter them. The bigger counterplay happens before the fight. Know the terrain, expect certain enemies, and prepare a squad that fits. Preparation is the passive part, positioning is the active one.

IGD: What defines a boss encounter in F&F, mechanically and thematically, versus a standard skirmish?

Alex: Mechanically, bosses have unique abilities, passive and active, that break the usual game rules. They might act multiple times per round, have more actions available, or do things other units can’t, making their AI behaviour distinct and demanding observation to counter. Bosses are much harder to beat, so preparation is key. To stand a chance, you need to leverage items, consumables, ability combos, and a squad tailored to counter their resistances.

Thematically, boss encounters in the current demo aren’t too different from standard skirmishes yet, but I plan to make them distinct. They might occur alone, unlike typical fights against multiple enemies, or come with an altered battleground that changes the feel of the fight.

IGD: Your battlegrounds are compact puzzles. How do you use obstacles, elevation, and sightlines to reward positioning without stalling the tempo?

Alex: Great question. Sightlines are currently not in the game but were tested before the demo release. It slowed down the battle pace and made things more complicated. However, I think I’ve found a way to reintroduce it without taking away from the current fast-paced experience. Stay tuned. It could make the ‘puzzles’, as you call them, cooler and add another tactical layer, especially given the grid-based battles, where positioning and distance management are the most important components.

Obstacles are already in place in one demo battleground. A static obstacle (Mammoth tooth) alters the layout, making navigation very different. This inherently plays into short battles: the smaller the maps, the quicker the fights, so it’s beneficial in that regard. In the future, I plan to add dynamic and destructible obstacles, like a carriage or barricade with its own life bar, displayed as hex-card blocks in the field temporarily, appearing randomly every battle. This idea was actually the spark to maybe reintroduce sightlines, as you can see how it could be combined.

Elevation is a concept we (me and the community) played with early in the alpha stage, but it’s not likely to come to this game. Something comparable that might come is hex fields outside the general field, looking like an elevation but not having an elevation mechanic, acting instead as unreachable tiles where an enemy could be positioned to distract; for example, a ranged unit which you either ignore or are able to shoot down.

A lot of these ideas are future plans, and I’m excited to work them out with the community to keep battles quick, tactical, and engaging.

– Characters, balance & meta

IGD: With 120+ recruitable characters, how do you keep roles distinct and readable at a glance while still enabling deep synergy and buildcraft? With such a broad roster, how do you prevent ‘solved’ builds, rotating modifiers, soft counters, or encounter remixing?

Alex: As mentioned earlier, F&F takes big inspiration from classic Pokémon games. With 120+ recruitable characters, it’s not possible to make all of them balanced and equally viable for every scenario, and that’s fine; it’s part of the design. Here’s what Pokémon did, plus new ideas I’ve added to keep roles distinct, readable, and synergistic:

a) Resistances. Certain battles feature enemies with high resistances against specific types, which eliminates a good chunk of potential squad members for that challenge. This makes it clear which characters fit the fight and encourages strategic squad-building.

b) Dynamics beyond turns. Unlike static turn-based Pokémon or card games, the dynamic system ties into initiative (how fast a unit acts), speed (how far they move), and attack type (close combat or ranged). To efficiently beat certain challenges, you need specific units. Combined with resistances, this significantly narrows the pool, making roles stand out and team choices matter.

c) Tier system tied to resources. Not in the demo yet, but some units are 3-star, others 2-star or 1-star, determining power level. To use a recruited character, you pay upfront costs and share rewards. 1-star units are weaker but have no upfront cost and take a small flat fee after. 2-star units have small coin fees and might take a small share of rewards. 3-star units require high coin fees, sometimes other in-game currency (no microtransactions), and take a large chunk of rewards. Using 1-stars lets you keep more rewards if you clear raids successfully, but if you mess up, you invest in healing and armour restoration. Powerful 3-star squads clear faster but leave you with less. This needs polishing and testing, but it shapes buildcraft by balancing power and cost.

d) Character-gated challenges. Some battles might require using specific characters to be reached or played (e.g., a guide who knows how to get there). This makes some units viable and rewarding in at least a few scenarios. Also, certain battles might have a limited budget (resources), so you have to beat them without using your most powerful characters. Combined with the other points, this further limits the potential selection, making roles clear and strategic choices deeper.

e) Fellowships based on lore. Certain characters are connected, related or fierce enemies. These form fellowships of 2 to 4 characters, granting bonuses when used together or penalties if enemies are paired. This adds synergy and ties squad choices to the world.

f) Player expression. Like in Pokémon, where I used favourites that weren’t always the best but resonated with me, players can pick characters for their art, lore, or gameplay. The fun is in collecting and making your favourites as powerful as possible, with clear roles to guide builds and synergies to explore.

For readability, it’s about keeping the overview manageable. Like Pokémon, you can dive into a unit’s deeper strengths beyond resistances, but you don’t have to. You recruit units step by step, learning their roles gradually, and a good chunk of abilities are similar but slightly different, making them easier to understand. Think League of Legends, lots of characters, each with four abilities, but many are variants or combinations of core ideas. In F&F, some characters stand out with very cool, unique abilities, but not all need to. They just need to fit a slightly different purpose or appeal to players who vibe with a certain character’s style or lore.

– Progression & economy

IGD: Missions range from monster hunts to bandit clear-outs. What’s the intended cadence from commission, to upgrades, to the next challenge, without grind?

Alex: The cadence from commission to upgrades to the next challenge is designed to give players freedom, inspired by classic Pokémon, so it’s not about grinding. You start by selecting your first roster, 5 to 7 units from a slightly bigger selection, like picking your first Pokémon. Then you have access to the map scene showing locations, cities, shrines, or other points of interest. You pay a travel cost with resources to visit one, which unlocks a hub. In the hub, you can recruit new characters, visit a shop for items and consumables, or pick up a handful of commissions tied to nearby raid regions, like monster hunts or bandit clear-outs.

You choose a raid region from the map, which takes you straight into a battle. Battles are quick due to compact battlegrounds, and commissions vary, destroy a set number of units, beat a boss, find items, protect a neutral unit collecting something in the area, and more. After a battle, you’re back on the map, deciding whether to revisit the hub, take another raid, or unlock a new location with travel costs.

Upgrades happen in your roster collection: you spend resources like coins or other in-game currency (no microtransactions) to recruit units, heal, restore armour, or buy consumables. You can level characters to unlock their skill trees by revisiting raid regions for loot or experience. Some regions drop specific loot, and some commissions require specific characters or limit resources, so you can’t always use your strongest units.

You might repeat battles to level characters, gather loot, or complete commissions, but it’s not forced grind, it’s your choice. You can focus on unlocking all characters in a region, finishing commissions, or progressing the map to new cities and raid regions. There’s no strict difficulty curve, so it’s up to your skill: fight efficiently to keep more resources and explore faster, or stay in one area to power up. You can go where you want at your own risk, tackle commissions, or push the map forward.

On top of that, story elements shake things up by changing the map, battlegrounds, and enemies, adding variety I won’t spoil. The mix of mission types, resource management, and player-driven choices, stay and level or move on, keeps the loop engaging and strategic without feeling like a grind.