The Double Skunk demo is live on Steam. It is free, and you can download it from the store page right now on Windows, Mac or Linux.
A few weeks ago I wrote about pushing the release back so I could build a demo first. This is that demo.
What is in it
The demo is the real game with the ladder cut short. The Long Tally campaign starts you in a back-room parlor, and you climb through five named rivals, from Aunt Beryl Buns up to Big Brenda. Beat Brenda and the Parlor Cup is yours.
The cribbage underneath is played by the book. Six cards, two to the crib, cut the starter, peg to thirty-one, count your show. The rival counts as hard as you do.
Then you build. Every campaign match opens with a draft, and between hands you put together an engine from 24 of the full game’s 57 powerups and all 26 consumables, the thirteen rank cards and thirteen preparations. You earn pegs on the way up that change the rules of the run. The board pays out when you land on the right tile, and a shop opens between boards.
The weekly challenge is in there too, on the same leaderboard as the full game. It is thirty hands of duplicate cribbage where every player gets the same deal. It needs an internet connection.
And if you just want to play cribbage, you can. Sit down against the AI at Easy or Medium, set your house rules, and turn every system off if you like. Your grandmother’s game is still in there.
Your save carries over
Whatever you win in the demo comes with you when the full game comes out. You pick up right where you stopped, so trying it early costs you nothing.
New to cribbage?
The demo has a How to Play mode that teaches the rules and walks you through a guided warm-up hand. If you would rather read first, the free cribbage guide covers everything from the deal to the count.
What comes next
The demo will be part of Steam Next Fest from October 19 to 26. The full game comes after that, later this fall, with seventeen more rungs on the ladder, new rivals and powerups, the Beyond past the summit, two more AI skill levels, and online matches against friends.
Between now and then I would love to hear what you think. Bugs, confusing screens, a rival who feels unfair, all of it. The Discord is the fastest way to reach me, and the patch notes will show what changes because of it.
If you play it and like it, a wishlist on the store page helps more than almost anything else I can ask for.
Double Skunk is a cribbage roguelite built by one person. Play the free demo or wishlist it on Steam. The patch notes track what changes build to build.
