Pawnbarian FAQ

Feel free to ask on the Discord channel or email me directly if anything's not covered here! Just please keep in mind this is a one dude operation.

  1. The full game doesn't (re)activate on Android, what's up with that?

    First make sure you're logged into the correct Google Play account and have a stable internet connection for a while, then try these (one at a time, usually there's no need to do all of them):

    Note that reinstalling may wipe your progress save. The progress in Pawnbarian mostly happens with your actual skill at the game, but see points 7-8 if you wish to back up your save file.

    If you just bought the game, there's also the option that the payment didn't actually go through, even if you see money deducted from your account - some issue between your bank and Google Play.

    You contact me to confirm the payment status, I'll just need your email address associated with the Google Play account. Note that in this case I can only verify the issue for you, dealing with it is sadly fully out of my hands and something you'll have to solve with your bank.

  2. Enemies in the Golem Fortress reacted as if I played a card with a Cantrip, but I didn't, is this a bug?

    You killed a Spark Imp, the mischevious looking guy with the spiky beard. I know it could be clearer but it's proven a hard thing to communicate after the fact, sorry about that. I promise it isn't bugged, it's just easy to miss.

  3. Is there going to be more content?

    I'm happy with the state the game's in and not actively working on extra content anymore. Not saying never, but for now I'll be working on something new.

  4. Do I have to buy again to play on multiple platforms?

    Yeah, sorry, the platforms are all fully independent.

  5. Is the game included in my platform's family sharing?

    Yes for Steam and the App Store. No for Google Play, sadly there's just no option to allow it for IAP unlocks there.

  6. Can I improve or provide new translations for the game?

    I'd love you to! Pawnbarian's translations were mostly provided by generous community volunteers, and I did my best to make the process easy and convenient. Check out this thread on the Steam forums.

  7. Are my saves backed up in the cloud?

    Yes on Steam. Not on mobile, sorry, it turned out to be a major technical hassle.

    You can back up the save manually on Android - read on to the next quesion.

  8. Can I share progress between platforms?

    Not in any fancy way, but you can transfer over the save manually between Steam and Android. It's sadly impossible for iOS because of its sandboxed, containerized nature.

    For other platforms, it's the progress.json file, by default located at:

    Windows: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\LocalLow\j4nw\Pawnbarian

    macOS: ~/Library/Logs/j4nw/Pawnbarian

    Linux: ~/.config/unity3d/j4nw/Pawnbarian

    Android: /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.j4nw.Pawnbarian/files

  9. What are the niche, hidden rules of the game, like enemy movement/positioning logic?

    See this thread on the Steam forums.

  10. Why is the game priced differently on different platforms?

    The mobile price is permanently 5 USD. The base Steam base price is 10 USD, and you can expect discounts fairly regularly. It's generally a smaller difference in other currencies.

    There are a bunch of reasons for this setup. Mostly it's just the general nature of the various marketplaces - for better or worse, the game's performance on Steam is heavily driven by sales. Also, quite notably, Steam takes a 2x bigger revenue cut from me than both the App Store and Google Play.

    I did my best to balance being fair with not shooting myself in the foot too much on the business side.

  11. Why is the game so expensive on mobile? Why don't you monetize it with ads or microtransactions?

    I hate ads and gameplay-affecting microtransactions both as a player and a developer, and will not use them in my games. There are many reasons, but the main one is that they influence game design in a crappy way - the game has to be optimized for showing enough ads / encouraging enough purchases, instead of just providing a fun experience with no underhanded incentives.

    Sure, there are great, intricate, single-purchase mobile games that are dirt cheap, but you'll notice they're often ports that already had good success on desktop/console at a much higher price, and can afford to participate in the race to the bottom on mobile. I think mobile deserves better than that, and thus I priced my game on par with what it costs on Steam (on a very decent discount, as explained in the previous point).

    I fully empathize that it can still feel expensive in the mobile world, but that's exactly why the demo is there for you to enjoy and make a well-informed purchase.

  12. But still, why is the game so expensive on iOS in my currency?

    Unlike other platforms, the App Store has fixed regional pricing, and it's often pretty harsh compared to the base $5 price in the USA where most players are from. Prices in other currencies are often not converted favorably, let alone adapted for local purchasing power in any way. Sorry, but I just can't do anything about it.

  13. The game's stuck in a restarting loop upon launching, what's going on?

    You pirated the game. I didn't even implement any countermeasures on purpose, it's just a badly done APK unlock.

    I haven't seen this happening outside of piracy, but if you legitimately bought it or it happens in the demo, shoot me an email and I'll look into it right away.

  14. Can I pirate your game?

    Believe it or not, this is genuinely a frequently asked question. I don't think piracy is the end of the world and I don't actively fight it in any way, but please keep it to yourself.

    For what it's worth, I'd rather you pirate the game than buy it from a grey market key reseller site like G2A or Kinguin. There's a reason these keys are often so cheap. None of your money goes to devs, instead it's supporting a bustling industry of grifters, scammers, and scalpers. Please don't support these marketplaces.