Witchfire launched in Steam Early Access on September 23, 2024, with the High Stakes update included. Epic Games Store players received the update three days earlier, on September 20. High Stakes added an upgrade station, clearer battlefield visuals and achievements.
When did Witchfire come to Steam?
Witchfire debuted on Steam in Early Access on Monday, September 23, 2024. The Astronauts announced the timing on September 19, saying the Steam release would include the High Stakes update. The studio had not yet announced an exact Steam release time in that announcement. The Astronauts’ announcement
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Epic Games Store players got High Stakes first, with the update scheduled for Friday, September 20, around 7 p.m. CEST. That was a platform timing difference for the update; the announcement does not establish save transfers or cross-store entitlements.
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What did the High Stakes update add?
The Astronauts described High Stakes as a comparatively small update because it followed the Wailing Tower update. Its changes focused on gear upgrades, visual clarity and platform achievements.
#1 Best Overall
- Every Roll Is a Risk, Every Turn a Twist – Build witches. Decide: push for more, or roll the decision die and dump them on someone else. With one bad roll, your whole plan can backfire. Ditch the Witch dice game blends quick thinking and tension with laugh-out-loud reversals that keep every game round unpredictable.
- Strategic Sabotage in Every Direction – Use the decision die to pass your curses left, right, or even choose a rival. No other spooky dice game lets you direct your bad luck. It’s not just about surviving—it’s about knowing when to strike and who to hit. That’s what makes this more than just a roll-and-react game.
- Game-Changing Powers in Every Roll – With special powers tied to spooky icons—like bats that reroll, pumpkins that punish, and cats that erase your score—no two games play the same. These variant powers lead to revenge plays, surprise comebacks, and hilarious chaos round after round, making it the perfect dice game for family game night.
- No Setup. No Scorepads. All Action. – Forget pencils, charts, or long instructions—just grab the dice and start rolling. Includes six custom dice (all themed with bats, ghosts, spiders, pumpkins, cats, and - of course - witches), plus a counter die and a decision die. The counter die replaces the scorepad for fast, hassle-free gameplay. Designed for 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up. Best with 3+ players.
- Chaos in Every Roll, Quality in Every Piece – From surprise witch dumps to last-second counters, Ditch the Witch turns fast dice rolls into fast laughs. It’s frantic, clever, and feels great in your hands—exactly what you’d expect from Dice Emporium, known for top-tier quality and the best dice games around.
Mysteria Forge for gear upgrades
The update added the Mysteria Forge, a station near the Gunroom where players can upgrade gear. The Gunroom remained the place to equip gear, so the Forge added a separate upgrade function rather than replacing that station.
Clearer battlefields
High Stakes revised postprocessing—the visual processing applied to the game image—to make battlefields easier to read while preserving the intended atmosphere. The announcement describes the goal but does not provide a specific graphics setting or performance figure.
Rank #2
- THE HUNT IS ON: In Salem 1692, the witch hunt is heating up. Who is friend and who is foe? Where are the witches hiding? This card game is a unique strategic and social deduction game
- FLYING ACCUSATIONS: Accuse your friends of witchcraft using cards, strategy, deceit, and a bit of luck. Take this game to any party, family activity, or game night group and see what fun you have
- DARK MAGIC: This deluxe edition is for 4-12 players and lasts 20-40 minutes. Players must be 14 years old or older, so tweens, teens, and adults can gather around for interesting intrigue and façade
- SHE’S A WITCH: This high-quality game comes in a magnetically-closing faux book box with a simple design. Play as one of 15 villagers from the old Salem town with character illustrations and bios
- CONTENTS: 1 magnetic faux book box, 128 cards, 1 metal gavel, 5 wood tokens, 12 metal shillings, 1 thirty-second black sand hourglass, 1 rulebook (includes biographies), 5-Tryal card mini-expansion. For ages 14 and up
Achievements and Steam items
The update introduced achievements on Steam and the Epic Games Store. The Astronauts also noted Steam badges, cards and emotes as platform items associated with the release.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhat kind of game is Witchfire?
Steam describes Witchfire as a single-player, first-person dark fantasy RPG shooter, developed and published by The Astronauts. Its Steam listing identifies the September 23, 2024 release as an Early Access launch, not a finished 1.0 release. Steam’s Early Access notice explains that the game can change during development, including through additions such as areas, enemies, weapons and tools. Witchfire on Steam
Rank #3
- PLAY IT ANY TIME ANY PLACE: Convenient take anywhere size game.
- STRONG THEME: Classic horrors from cinema are coming for you. Deduce and bluff to survive until morning and win.
- SIMPLE AND HILARIOUS: Draw a card. Play a card. Fast paced laugh out loud fun for any get together.
- THRILLING GAMEPLAY: Discover different strategies every time you play.
- HAND DRAWN ART: Spooky silly approachable art that will bring horror back to the dinner table.
In the launch announcement, founder and creative director Adrian Chmielarz described High Stakes this way: “Since the Steam release comes so soon after the recent Wailing Tower update, the upcoming one—codenamed High Stakes—isn’t heavy on content.”
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Dark Fantasy Setting: Immerse yourself in the eerie atmosphere of Wildegrens, a village plagued by darkness, disappearing villagers, and suspicion of witchcraft.
- Lead Your Coven: Take charge of a coven of witches, each with unique abilities, as you navigate through a world where magic and monsters are real.
- Fast-Paced Solitaire Gameplay: Engage in fast-playing, card-driven solitaire gameplay where you must make strategic decisions about when to use magic to overcome challenges while avoiding suspicion and imprisonment.
- Prove Your Innocence: Complete missions and defeat enemies to prove to the villagers that magic is not evil. Convince a jury of your peers that you are protecting the village, or face imprisonment for witchcraft.
- Varied Challenges: Assemble your coven from different families of witches, each focusing on different tasks such as revealing challenges, increasing attack power, uncovering the jurors' convictions, or capturing familiars to aid in your fight
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