Starting today, a hectic and exciting period begins for us. We’ve been hard at work on the next major update for several weeks, but until now, it felt like “just another day at the office.” From here on out, though, we will be even busier than before!

So, let’s dive into what’s happening at Polished Games. We’ll talk about the events we’re attending, a minor (but intriguing) update coming in September, and reveal more about what you can expect from the big October update. Yes, there’s a little “boring” stuff here in the form of the wall of text, but as always, we want to be transparent with you. So let’s answer the question: “How Are We Doing?”

Part of our team has stepped away from development to proudly represent us at Gamescom at the Indie Arena Booth in Cologne, Germany. If you’re attending the world’s biggest gaming event, take a few minutes between AAA demos to visit our crew in Hall 10.2. Look for Moriana’s wallprint and three cheerful Polished Games members exchanging evil laughs with visitors. Don’t be shy — they don’t bite. But if you notice an undead sheep bouncing happily around our stand… stay wary. They do bite. (And explode.)

For those brave enough to approach, we’ll have Be My Horde pins and lanyards waiting as souvenirs!

That’s not the only event in August. Once our Cologne crew returns from their adventures, three more of us will hop on a plane to Seattle for PAX West! We’ll be there as part of the Games from Poland initiative. So if you’re in Emerald City, come find us at the Seattle Convention Center. We’ll have pins and lanyards, and we will be surrounded by other amazing Polish games, so stay a while and try them too!

Both events are a perfect chance to ask us questions directly or give us blunt feedback to our faces. Speaking of feedback…

The Welcome to Hell update was a huge success. It showed us the potential in Be My Horde, and we decided to increase the game's scope and give ourselves more time to fully realize this potential. We received tons of valuable feedback from you on what works and what doesn't, and what we could improve in the future. For the last weeks, we've been heavily focused on designing and planning the final scope of the game, working out how to best address your feedback and how to make the game you truly want us to make.

Right now, we’re preparing the next major update for October. It will address some of the most pressing issues in the game. To be crystal clear: it WON’T BE as massive as the Welcome to Hell update, as we've been mostly focused on working on systems and content that will come later on in future updates. However, it will introduce meaningful gameplay changes and improvements based on your feedback. These will help us polish the game’s core and prepare it for future content. We won’t spoil the fun of discovering those changes yourself, but here’s a little sneak peek:

One of the main issues in the game right now is the lack of difficulty options and no rewards for playing at higher difficulties. Many players find the Normal difficulty to be too easy, and Hard to be, well, too hard. To address this, we will add more difficulty levels with the October update to ensure the game always provides the perfect amount of challenge. We also learned lately how to adjust the difficulty much better. In the past, with Hard Mode, we were simply tweaking the numbers, like minions' health and damage. Now we understand we can do more than that. Do much more with waves, enemies spawn, the amount of environmental hazards, etc. Higher difficulties will now award a souls multiplier, increasing the rewards you get from facing bigger challenges.

You will be able to spend the mentioned additional souls on expanded meta progression. There will be numerous new upgrades, not only for Moriana, but also for your units and other things, like points of interest you find on the map. Those upgrades will help you progress through the higher difficulty levels.

Another common point of feedback we hear is that the Perks aren't impactful enough, especially in the mid and end-game. We are rebalancing the game to make them much more powerful and more relevant throughout the entire run. Some of the less exciting and interesting Perks will be moved to meta progression as permanent upgrades.

We’re planning significant story changes for the full launch. We aim to introduce a plethora of new story content for the full launch. Still, October will already add some new dialogues, revamp a few existing ones, and… add a special Dominion building where you can revisit previously unlocked conversations with Moriana. This way, story lovers won’t miss anything, while those less interested or too intimidated by Moriana can simply ignore it. Choice is yours!

And of course, October will bring plenty of smaller fixes and improvements too, but these are the main things we are focused on. If all goes well and you like the changes, this will put us on a clear path to full launch, letting us focus more on adding the juicy content you want along the way.

We also announced some time ago that we’d be running extra playtests for these changes. More info will be available in the second half of September!

Before October, we’ll also release one minor update in September. However, it’ll just add a new language to the game, but along with a fresh new outfit for Moriana. ;) We won’t spoil which language yet, but we know you’re smart guys. And you’re probably aware what another gaming event will take place in September. And you will probably connect the dots.

That’s all for today! Between events and updates, we’ve got our hands full. Please keep your fingers crossed for us and keep the feedback coming. Your messages and comments—both positive and negative—motivate us to work even harder. Thank you, truly, for your criticism, feedback, and encouragement. You keep us going.

Our main goal is clear: to release the best game we can at full launch. We believe that with your support, we will get there and deliver the best possible Be My Horde 1.0 in 2026!

PRAISE BE MORIANA!

The Polished Games Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2499520/Be_My_Horde/

How are Moriana’s loyal minions doing? Have you found time lately to slaughter a few peasants or stir up some chaos in Hell?

We know we’ve been a bit quiet lately, but that’s because we’ve been laser-focused on development. It took us some time to gather and carefully analyze your feedback, for which we’re incredibly grateful. Honestly, it’s hard to put into words — you’re simply breathtaking. ;)

After reviewing your suggestions and opinions, we’re now deep in improving Be My Horde. The next major update is still marching toward you like an unstoppable horde and will arrive in OCTOBER.

In the meantime, we’ve found a moment for a quick devlog about the enemies you’ve met in Hell — a little behind-the-scenes peek with trivia about your favorite demonic minions. Let’s dive in!

From the very early stages of development, we knew that we would send Moriana into a burning, dangerous Hell after the Kingdom. At first, we imagined the “classic” version of Hell you know from pop culture — rivers of lava, little red devils, torture chambers, and all that jazz.

But things changed when our narrative designer suggested making the Devil — the level’s boss — more than just a cruel guy with a pitchfork. Instead, we gave him a deeper character, and he became this frustrated man who hates his job and feels confined in his workplace.

In Be My Horde, most characters are people trapped by the duties and roles they’re forced to perform. Richard III Ovine doesn’t really enjoy being king — he’d rather spend his time indulging in pleasures and relaxing. The Devil despises his work and is endlessly irritated by the daily grind. This makes them a perfect contrast to Moriana, who is freedom and chaos incarnate — and in her own way, you can say that she frees her enemies from their prisons.

But if the Devil hates his job, his workplace shouldn’t be exciting. Even if scary, Hell might still sound intriguing — so we made it boring. Our idea was to turn it into a soul-crushing corporation with all the dreary office atmosphere that entails.

Initially, this was just a story element, but the concept inspired our artists to weave sad office-life details into Hell’s design — paper coffee cups, scattered memos, old telephones. Naturally, the minions had to match the theme, so we designed an entire corporate ladder of demons.

Here’s the roster — your official Employee Handbook for the Infernal Department.

Back in the Kingdom level, we already wanted to add some ranged units, but besides Mages, we weren’t quite ready to do it. By the time we finished Kingdom, we had the experience to revisit that idea on a new level.

Since we wanted Hell to feel completely different than Kingdom, we decided that the very first unit you get should be a ranged one. So, we introduced the Imp — a flying insect-like creature that hurls fireballs with the enthusiasm of an intern trying to impress their boss.

At first, Imps were extremely powerful thanks to their long range. A group of them could target the same enemy and deal massive damage with one attack. We had to tone them down by reducing their range, adding an attack cooldown, and making them more vulnerable. They became this basic starting unit in Hell, but a big enough swarm can still cause chaos.

FUN FACT: We initially called them “Bugs” or “Wasps,” even in the game files. Switching to “Imp” took some getting used to, and even caused a few team mix-ups. Pro tip for game devs: pick your final names before your whole team gets attached to the wrong one.

After the Sheep in the Kingdom, the Goats are our next animal-type unit. They’re basic melee fighters who rush in headfirst (literally), which serves as a good opportunity for players to test their Imps against enemies that fight up close.

This was also the point where we started adding corporate touches to the units — the Goats have tiny, adorable black ties around their necks, which some players never noticed. No, we have no idea how they tie them without thumbs, don’t ask us.

FUN FACT: For some reason, we sometimes confuse Goats with Sheep during team discussions. We have no idea why, and we’re not proud of it.

We alternated between ranged and melee units as we designed Hell’s enemies. After the Goats came the Bombers — one of our most problematic designs.

We loved the idea of a demon throwing bombs with a delayed explosion instead of shooting simple projectiles like Imps. But in practice, it was hard to make those bombs visible enough without overloading the screen. Sometimes they were invisible behind the horde, and other times the screen lit up like a Christmas tree. After many tweaks, we got them readable without blinding the player.

Bombers are the first serious challenge for players in Hell because getting surrounded by them with just a minor horde can lead straight to inevitable doom. They wear the classic “low-level corporate grunt” outfit — white shirt, tie, glasses.

FUN FACT: Their bombs are, in fact, made after brown paper lunch bags. (They probably contain tuna sandwiches and pure malice.)

The next rung on Hell’s corporate ladder. The Manager is a melee fighter. We considered giving him area-of-effect attacks at one point, but decided against it since his pitchfork aesthetic was too good to mess with.

Managers sit higher in the corporate hierarchy, so we gave them blazers to make them look more important. From the very start, we wanted at least one suited enemy, so the Manager always kept this look, no matter how his design evolved.

FUN FACT: He was originally inspired by Cthulhu, with tentacles on his face, and was even named “Kraken” for a while — but we decided to avoid strong Lovecraftian elements in Hell.

Climbing further up the hierarchy, the Director is a ranged unit inspired by those young, energetic supervisors who believe they are “cool” and seem to be away from their desks all the time. His flashy look reflects his laid-back attitude. The sunglasses turned out to be a perfect touch — they make the unit instantly recognizable in a crowd.

FUN FACT: Not everyone notices because they are too busy avoiding projectiles, but the Director doesn’t hold rifles or cannons, but… hellish printers.

Kettles started as a joke idea — a simple, weak enemy shaped like a coffee kettle. But over time, they suddenly became the final challenge before the boss.

Like the Mages in Kingdom, they’re powerful, ranged enemies — but instead of firing projectiles, they use a flamethrower-like attack, creating a unique battle dynamic. Their design is deliberately bizarre: part coffee kettle, part dragon-snake, all nightmare fuel.

FUN FACT: Early on, Kettle was meant to be an exploding unit. That concept later transformed into the big, tick-like exploding blobs you can still find wandering Hell.

And that wraps up our tour of Hell’s corporate underlings. We hope you enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes tour of Be My Horde’s Hell units. If you like this style of devlog — or have questions about these enemies — let us know! We still have plenty more trivia we could share.

Now, back to crafting the next major update. We hope to share some more info about it soon! Take care, and as always…

PRAISE BE MORIANA!

The Polished Games Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2499520/Be_My_Horde/