Goblin Stone won't arrive on Steam until December, but you can download the game's demo to get a feel for this adorable little turn-based RPG. A mashup of genres, Goblin Stone has you take control of one of the few surviving Goblin warrens trying to eke out an existence in an extremely hostile world.
To survive, you'll have to send goblins out to raid human settlements for food and supplies. Goblins are fragile creatures, and it's just a fact of life that some goblins won't make it. It's essential for goblins to breed in order to maintain the clan's strength and replenish expected losses.
Luckily, goblins are pretty good at breeding. "What they lack in strength, speed, smarts, and looks, they make up for in abundance," writes Orc Chop Games in its latest development blog. "Provided they have the right facility, Goblins can multiply with great abandon. The magic all happens in the Warrens of their Lair."
Players can select any two goblins to breed in the Warren while the rest of the clan goes on an expedition. Once everyone is gone, the goblins get down to business--pretty much exactly how a college dorm operates. But unlike a dorm, by the time everyone gets back from their rager, there are some young goblins to take care of.
The younguns will possess inherited traits from the parents, but there's an element of randomness thrown in thanks to the possibility of recessive genes. Two green goblins might produce a blue goblin if there’s a recessive gene lurking somewhere in either goblin’s ancestry. However, players should be less concerned about the color of a goblin’s skin and more concerned with its stats, which might make it useful for one of Goblin Stone’s different goblin classes.
Orc Chop didn’t mention anything about gender for goblin breeding, so this could mean that goblins breed asexually like worms or certain insects, or they might breed hermaphroditically like snails. We’ll have to wait for Goblin Stone to release into early access later in July.