Time Bandit Part 1 just received a major update with new features. A summary of the biggest changes follows, with more details below. To celebrate the big update, as well as everyone's favorite time-related holiday, the end of Daylight Savings Time, Time Bandit Part 1 will be on sale for 20% off!

• Buy furniture for your home from the shop
• Steam achievements
• Steam Cloud functionality and save backups
• Added the moon and accurate moon phases
• Added seasons for the forest
• Added a few new radio conversations
• Button prompts to advance dialogue will now be updated to your remapped controls

Buy furniture for your home

Joseph now sells furniture for your home at the gas station. It's not much, but it's better than nothing!

Steam achievements

There are now 11 Steam achievements to collect, from getting radicalized to collecting all the secret time crystals and stealing the maximum possible time crystals in Part 1. If you've already been playing Time Bandit, you will have to start a new game to collect many of the achievements.

Steam Cloud functionality and save backups

Now you can save your game to the Cloud. If you've already finished Part 1, I recommend loading up the game just to send a backup to the cloud, in case you switch hardware before Part 2 comes out. I've heard reports for other games of Steam Cloud overwriting saves when switching between devices (e.g., between a PC and a Steam Deck), so I also set up local save backups. Hopefully you won't have to use them, but in case anything goes wrong, see the FAQ for how to restore your save from a backup.

Added the moon and accurate moon phases

Now there are real-time moon phases that are (approximately) accurate to the day. While setting these up, I also noticed and fixed an issue with transitioning out of sunrises, which most people probably never ran into since I doubt many are playing the game at sunrise.

Added seasons for the forest

Return to the forest year-round to see how your trees are growing and changing. It's a lovely autumn right now.

Updated button prompts for advancing dialogue

If you remapped the action button, the button prompt for advancing dialogue will now update properly to your remapped control. Due to display limits, if you use a button that is represented by more than one or two characters, it may be difficult to read (e.g., for spacebar, which may be a common button to remap to, the word "space" may be too tiny to read).

Minor changes to [spoiler]glitch bomb[/spoiler] item

[spoiler]When you pick up the glitch bomb in the world or buy it from the shop, you will now receive 3 glitch bombs. The price was too expensive for just one.[/spoiler] Incidentally, just as I was preparing to publish this update, Valve reviewed Time Bandit Part 1 for Steam Deck compatibility, and it received playable status. This is in line with what I expected from players who said that the game was working well for them on the Deck. It's a great way to play an idle adventure game like this! In addition, I quietly made numerous bugfix updates in the weeks following the launch (we were up to v1.0.13 before this v1.1.0 update!). I may add an official changelog in the Steam forums when I get the chance, just in case anyone is curious about what exactly was fixed! If you haven't checked out Time Bandit Part 1, get it while it's 20% off, and be sure to try out the new furniture for your home! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481910/Time_Bandit/

[ 2023-11-02 20:15:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

After many years of work, Time Bandit Part 1: Appendages of the Machine is finally available today. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481910/Time_Bandit/ Time Bandit is a real-time adventure game where everything at your new resource management job seems to take longer than it should. Uncover a dark conspiracy behind the company you work for and fight back by sneaking around your workplace and stealing back your time.
To celebrate the release, Time Bandit is receiving a 10% launch discount and will be featured in the Steam Stealth Fest and Indie Live Expo. Feel free to join us in Time Bandits Discord community to talk about the game. I appreciate your support during the game's launch!

[ 2023-07-24 13:00:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi! With Time Bandit now released, I wanted to let you know that I will be available for receiving bug reports in the days after launch. The best place to report bugs is in the #bugs channel on Time Bandits Discord server because I can respond to you most quickly on there, but feel free to use the bug report thread on the Steam forums as well. The game was thoroughly tested before launch, but as an adventure game with many complex interlocking systems, there are bound to be things Ive missed. For the most part, these should be small bugs, and I dont anticipate many players encountering significant issues, but if you do, I will try my best to fix them as soon as possible. I am working on Time Bandit entirely on my own, so please be patient, but I will give priority to fixing anything that causes softlocks or hinders progress (while keeping in mind that Time Bandit includes certain deliberate design choices where progress may intentionally be slowed). In the meantime, if the game punishes you unfairly for quitting without saving due to a softlock, theres a tip in the FAQ on the Steam forums for how to skip the punishment. Thank you for your support and your help in finding bugs! -Joel

[ 2023-07-24 12:59:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

After many years of work, I'm happy to announce that Time Bandit Part 1: Appendages of the Machine will finally be available on Monday, July 24. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1481910/Time_Bandit/ Time Bandit is a real-time adventure game where everything at your new resource management job seems to take longer than it should. Uncover a dark conspiracy behind the company you work for and fight back by sneaking around your workplace and stealing back the time crystals. To celebrate the release, Time Bandit is receiving a 10% launch discount and will be featured in the Steam Stealth Fest and Indie Live Expo. Feel free to join us in Time Bandits Discord community to talk about the game. I appreciate your support as the game moves into launch!

[ 2023-07-21 15:53:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

I'm shocked to say that Time Bandit was nominated for the Independent Games Festival (IGF) 2023 Nuovo Award!
You can also vote for it to win the Audience Award here! More news coming soon... For now, be sure to check out the new Stealth Demo if you haven't yet. You can download it from Time Bandit's Steam store page.

[ 2023-01-24 18:41:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Yes, Time Bandit is receiving a second prologue chapter! Why? Truthfully its because the game needs a big marketing push. This is a big, experimental game with a lot of different parts, and for a long time I found it very hard to explain exactly what you *do* in the game or convey how it is, in fact, fun to play. The first prologue was more or less an intro to the story, and that was it. I really like how, in the real-time spirit of things, even the main mechanics are introduced slowly in a tutorial that's spread out over a couple of real-life days. I was happy with it artistically; it begins at the beginning, and I had no problem releasing something like that early on as a teaser to the game.
Unfortunately, it was terrible for marketing. These first moments of the game aren't at all representative of the game as a whole. The first prologue has different goals entirely than the game that follows, namely, to introduce a story and set up the idea that this game will give you an unusual experience of time. And certainly, these things can make up part of its appeal. But at the same time, it's leading with the parts that are the most complicated to explain, and its just not possible for me to convince people with something like that that there's also a rather traditional game loop to come. And as with most things that stare you right in the face, it took me much longer than you might expect to figure out how to explain exactly what you *do* in the game in the most basic terms.
But this is it: Time Bandit is a resource management game in which you try to sneak out time crystals in order to sell them for money, which you need to buy more fuel in order to solve more puzzles to collect more time crystals. See, a loop. It's simple! And it's definitely circular, as a loop should be! And this is a significant part of what people want to hear, I think, when learning about the game, alongside whatever makes it unique (and for that I've developed a line about how this is a "wholesome"-seeming idle adventure game where everything you do takes an unusual amount of time because the company you work for is hiding a dark secret).
Around the same time that I finally discovered how to describe Time Bandit, I was also able to do some playtesting, and I quickly realized that I should use a save file to jump people past the whole story intro and into that game loop. Then it wasn't long before I also realized that giving players the opportunity to experience this game loop should have been part of the marketing all along. So, this second prologue does just that: it jumps you ahead to after all the main mechanics are introduced and throws you right into the stealth so you can get a feel for how the game works. This prologue also features a high score. How many crystals can you steal within 3 real-time days? You'll receive your high score if you manage to get to the end of the 3 days without getting caught and thrown in jail! The new stealth prologue is available by clicking on the big green button to download the demo from Time Bandit's store page. If you already had the demo downloaded, it should auto-update to the new stealth prologue. For the moment, due to certain compatibility issues, the second prologue chapter is only available on Windows. If you download the demo on Mac, it will download the original prologue chapter. The full release of Time Bandit will be available for both Windows and Mac. Good luck and have fun!

[ 2022-12-07 17:30:26 CET ] [ Original post ]

As part of Steam Next Fest, the free prologue chapter of Time Bandit will be available on Steam, June 1320! During the event, I will also be hosting a stream to show off the unique combination of real-time mechanics, story-driven adventure, resource management, and stealth gameplay. Watch the stream!
In Time Bandit, you work for a company that's trying to take control of time in order to make you work for them forever, so you start to steal from them. Unique real-time gameplay where everything you do takes time is combined with an addictive game loop of managing your money, resources, and energy to collect the time crystals before sneaking them out of your workplace. Don't get caught, or you could lose the time crystal permanently - or even end up in jail. The prologue also features a high score ranking. How many time crystals can you collect before you reach the end of the prologue? You can download the prologue now from the Time Bandit store page, and you can wishlist the game to show your support!

[ 2022-06-13 17:05:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

As part of Steam Next Fest, the free prologue chapter of Time Bandit will be available on Steam, June 1320! During the event, I will also be hosting a stream to show off the unique combination of real-time mechanics, story-driven adventure, resource management, and stealth gameplay. Watch the stream!
In Time Bandit, you work for a company that's trying to take control of time in order to make you work for them forever, so you start to steal from them. Unique real-time gameplay where everything you do takes time is combined with an addictive game loop of managing your money, resources, and energy to collect the time crystals before sneaking them out of your workplace. Don't get caught, or you could lose the time crystal permanently - or even end up in jail. The prologue also features a high score ranking. How many time crystals can you collect before you reach the end of the prologue? You can download the prologue now from the Time Bandit store page, and you can wishlist the game to show your support!

[ 2022-06-13 16:27:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

As part of the Dreamhack Beyond sale, the free prologue chapter of Time Bandit will be available on Steam, May 31-June 6!
In Time Bandit, you work for a company that's trying to take control of time in order to make you work for them forever, so you start to steal from them. Unique real-time gameplay where everything you do takes time is combined with an addictive game loop of managing your money, resources, and energy to collect the time crystals before sneaking them out of your workplace. Don't get caught, or you could lose the time crystal permanently - or even end up in jail. The prologue also features a high score ranking. How many time crystals can you collect before you reach the end of the prologue? You can download the prologue now from the Time Bandit store page, and you can wishlist the game to show your support!

[ 2022-05-31 03:25:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

As part of the Going Rogue Steam sale, the free prologue chapter of Time Bandit will be available on Steam, May 29!
In Time Bandit, you work for a company that's trying to take control of time in order to make you work for them forever, so you start to steal from them. Unique real-time gameplay where everything you do takes time is combined with an addictive game loop of managing your money, resources, and energy to collect the time crystals before sneaking them out of your workplace. Don't get caught, or you could lose the time crystal permanently - or even end up in jail. The prologue also features a high score ranking. How many time crystals can you collect before you reach the end of the prologue? You can download the prologue now from the Time Bandit store page, and you can wishlist the game to show your support!

[ 2022-05-04 13:58:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

As part of the Going Rogue Steam sale, the free prologue chapter of Time Bandit will be available on Steam, May 29! In Time Bandit, you work for a company that's trying to take control of time in order to make you work for them forever, so you start to steal from them. Unique real-time gameplay where everything you do takes time is combined with an addictive game loop of managing your money, resources, and energy to collect the time crystals before sneaking them out of your workplace. Don't get caught, or you could lose the time crystal permanently - or even end up in jail. The prologue also features a high score ranking. How many time crystals can you collect before you reach the end of the prologue? You can download the prologue now from the Time Bandit store page, and you can wishlist the game to show your support!

[ 2022-05-02 20:00:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

As part of the Going Rogue Steam sale, the free prologue chapter of Time Bandit will be available on Steam, May 29! In Time Bandit, you work for a company that's trying to take control of time in order to make you work for them forever, so you start to steal from them. Unique real-time gameplay where everything you do takes time is combined with an addictive game loop of managing your money, resources, and energy to collect the time crystals before sneaking them out of your workplace. Don't get caught, or you could lose the time crystal permanently - or even end up in jail. The prologue also features a high score ranking. How many time crystals can you collect before you reach the end of the prologue? You can download the prologue now from the Time Bandit store page, and you can wishlist the game to show your support!

[ 2022-05-02 17:45:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

As part of the Games from Qubec Steam sale, the free prologue chapter for Time Bandit received a big update! Check out new art, music, real-time weather tied to your location, and more for a limited time. There's a new high score ranking too. How many time crystals can you collect before you reach the end of the demo? You can download the demo now from the Time Bandit store page.

[ 2022-02-03 18:02:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Time Bandit received an honorable mention at the PLAY 2021 festival! You can check out all the games in the PLAY 2021 festival's virtual space and vote Time Bandit for the audience award from within!

[ 2021-11-10 14:10:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Time Bandit is up for the Long Feature award at A. MAZE / Berlin Festival 2021 today! But you can also vote for it for the audience award! Today only! Thanks for your support <3

[ 2021-07-23 13:25:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Make your choices carefully, because everything you start in Time Bandit will take time to finish--just like in real life. I'll talk about some of the many unique real-time game mechanics:

• Move boxes, grow trees, build bridges, and compact trash--and wait for them to finish.
• Different guard rotations and different consequences for getting caught during stealth gameplay, depending on the time of day when you play.
• A story that unfolds slowly through conversations that work like real-life phone calls. Characters will only pay you a call periodically to advance the story over the course of days and weeks of playtime.
• Your energy meter goes down while you play, and it takes up to 8 real-time hours of good sleep to fill it up all the way.
• Meet characters at the actual meeting times that you set with them.
• Dynamic music that changes with the hour of the day.

And I'll show off some of the new cutscenes revealing the game's anti-capitalist premise. In Time Bandit, you work as an independent contractor for a mining company, but when you discover theyre trying to take control of time in order to make you work for them forever, you start to steal back. Happy to answer any questions you have in the chat or on Discord: https://discord.gg/vhue5NtN39 :)

[ 2021-06-17 17:52:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Make your choices carefully, because everything you start in Time Bandit will take time to finish--just like in real life. I'll talk about some of the many unique real-time game mechanics:

• Move boxes, grow trees, build bridges, and compact trash--and wait for them to finish.
• Different guard rotations and different consequences for getting caught during stealth gameplay, depending on the time of day when you play.
• A story that unfolds slowly through conversations that work like real-life phone calls. Characters will only pay you a call periodically to advance the story over the course of days and weeks of playtime.
• Your energy meter goes down while you play, and it takes up to 8 real-time hours of good sleep to fill it up all the way.
• Meet characters at the actual meeting times that you set with them.
• Dynamic music that changes with the hour of the day.

And I'll show off some of the new cutscenes revealing the game's anti-capitalist premise. In Time Bandit, you work as an independent contractor for a mining company, but when you discover theyre trying to take control of time in order to make you work for them forever, you start to steal back. Happy to answer any questions you have in the chat! :)

[ 2021-06-14 17:00:43 CET ] [ Original post ]