Tips, difficulty settings and current fixes

Scourge difficulty: what changes and how to switch

Scourge, added October 26, is the harder difficulty option. Enemies no longer drop hearts, and damage you take is doubled. Do not plan to recover the health spent in a fight from the next enemy's heart drop.

You can choose it when starting a new save, or change difficulty in Settings after selecting an existing save. A new playthrough is not required just to switch the option. Check the selected difficulty before retrying a boss: a fight that now costs twice as much health may be a mode change, not a new attack pattern.

For an initial attempt, use the land-and-ship tools to solve the room and learn the boss's tells before committing to another close exchange. Scourge changes the cost of a mistake; it is not a replacement for finding the room's intended tool.

Which recent dungeon bugs were fixed?

The 1.0.6.1 fixes cover these specific cases:

Update before repeating an inventory or route workaround from an older recording. The patch also fixes an overworld audio trigger. The dungeon guide keeps the earlier boss-door and softlock fixes together.

Short answers first. The patch history from the first four days is at the bottom, so it stays in one place. Before retrying an old bug, install the current build. Nine patches landed between September 19 and 27 and several of the answers below were fixed by them. Everything labelled "developer" below is an Ice Goat Games reply on the Steam forums; everything labelled "report" is a player's own words.

Is it worth the price?

The US Steam price is $15.99 with no discount on October 30, 2026 — roughly a two-evening game, six to thirteen hours depending on how much of the map you sweep. Launch-week opinion is not unanimous. One forum user argued the price is high "for other games of its type" and said they would wait for a deeper sale; another replied that they were "completely happy with the price" and had no issues at all. Twenty of twenty Steam reviews on day one were positive.

How long is the game?

• Developer, Steam forums: "Should be around 6-10 hours, sometimes longer depending on the person!"
• Review from a player who finished it: 12–13+ hours, with the extra time in the optional sets and the overworld.
• Playtimes on positive reviews during launch weekend: mostly under four and a half hours, because the game had been out for a day.

Both numbers answer different questions: story versus vacuuming the map. Full breakdown on the beginner guide.

Is there a Nintendo Switch version?

No. Draco and the Seven Scales is on Steam (Windows) only, and no console version has been announced as of September 30, 2026. The PS4/PS5 mentions on this page are about controller glyphs in the Steam build, not a PlayStation release.

Should I buy the maps?

Yes, if you have the gold — and launch-day completionists say you always do. Sea charts are their own achievement (Master Navigator). There is no late-game gold sink in 1.0.6.0 that you are saving for.

Is fishing required?

Once. After the first encounter you can ignore it and still roll credits. Master Angler — and therefore Legendary Captain — needs every fish. The minigame commands on the official screenshot are HAUL, REEL, SLACK, ITEM, with the prompt "Reduce the Fish's strength!" More on collectibles.

Can I remap the controller buttons?

Yes — the developer answered this directly: "Yes this is possible in the full game!" The question came from the demo era, when remapping was not available.

One warning from the 1.0.5.0 notes: that patch added separate UI Accept and UI Cancel binds, so your existing key binds "will probably need to be reset". If your controls feel wrong after updating, that is why — rebind them once and it sticks.

My controller is not detected at all

This was a real launch-week problem: one report came from a wired GameSir pad that worked in the demo but had 1.0 "think I'm using a keyboard". The developer answered that they could update the controller input library — and then shipped 1.0.4.3, 1.0.4.4 and 1.0.5.0 in the following days, the last of which is explicitly the PS4/PS5 controller fix. 1.0.5.3 then widened that: the Steam backend now tries Steam Input for more controllers, and the game defaults to controller glyphs on first boot when a pad is connected.

If a pad still is not detected on 1.0.6.0: update first, then try disabling Steam Input for this game, and post the model in the developer's official bug thread.

DualShock / DualSense glyphs are wrong

Fixed in 1.0.5.0 (September 22, 2026). The developer's own instructions for that build: controllers should now work with default settings, which means unchecking "Use Nintendo button layout" in Steam, or even disabling Steam Input entirely, if you had switched either on as a workaround.

Before that patch, the workaround was the reverse — Steam → Settings → Controller → PS4 Controller → try "Use Nintendo button layout". Players testing it reported that with a PS5 pad on default Steam Input, X/O and Square/Triangle were swapped; the Xbox layout looked correct to one tester and the Nintendo layout was swapped as well.

Remember the trade-off: 1.0.5.0 added separate UI Accept / UI Cancel binds, so key binds may need resetting after you update.

Steam Deck

• Developer, September 2 news post: the game "plays wonderfully on Steam Deck" and they would like it to be Verified.
• Two player reports in the forum thread: one ran it on a Deck LCD 512 GB "flawlessly" twice; another said default settings worked once Steam selected ULWGL-Proton-8.0-5-3 as the compatibility layer. A third player, back in the demo, had it hang on a "Starting Game" screen regardless of Proton version.
• Compatibility: check the current Steam Deck compatibility panel on the store before choosing a setup. The dated player reports above describe their own devices and builds.

There is no official recommended TDP or frame-limit profile. If the developer publishes one, it will be linked here.

The demo saved nothing

Correct — the demo has no saving at all. The developer confirmed it: "unfortunately the demo does not have saving!" The full game supports Save Anytime and Steam Cloud. Asked whether demo progress could carry into the full game, the developer said they would like that too and would "try to fit this in" in a release-era demo update; nothing in the patch notes through 1.0.6.0 confirms it shipped.

Related: the demo will not vanish. Asked how long it would stay available, the developer said it will "hopefully stay up forever."

The demo ran badly / was timed / had one settings tab

All three were demo-only, and two are already fixed:

• Timer: the demo limit was uncapped on March 8, 2026, as part of the "Uncapped Demo Duration + New Languages" update.
• Slow movement late in the demo: the developer's reply to that report was "This should be fixed in the full release!"
• Settings: the demo put every option on a single tab, so controller users could not switch tabs. The full build has proper tabs.

Fullscreen and multi-monitor look wrong

Official note, repeated through 1.0.4.3 and still unfixed in 1.0.6.0: if the image looks "funky," set Windows display zoom to 100% on every monitor. That is not just a dodge — a player with a 32:9 main screen and a 16:9 secondary screen at 150% scaling confirmed the 100% setting fixed the oversized second-monitor image. You can also enter fullscreen from inside the game rather than through desktop shortcuts.

Is there a keyboard-only setup?

Yes. Steam lists a Keyboard Only Option alongside full controller support. One review called the keyboard UI a bit clunky but "not very obtrusive during actual gameplay." There is no official rebind table in the patch notes, but in-game controller remapping is confirmed (see above).

What accessibility features are listed?

Steam's own categories for the build: Camera Comfort, Color Alternatives, Custom Volume Controls, Keyboard Only Option, Playable without Timed Input, Save Anytime, plus DualShock and DualSense support. That is the store's list, not a reviewer's assessment.

What do I need to run it?

Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11; 2 GB RAM; 128 MB of graphics memory; 3 GB of storage. There is no Mac or Linux build, and no announced plan for one. Store pages list Steam Cloud and Family Sharing as supported.

Patch history — 1.0.4.1 to 1.0.6.1 (Sep 19 – Oct 8, 2026)

Twelve builds in twenty days. Condensed from the official notes:

1.0.6.1 — October 8. The dungeon respawn patch.

• Dungeon 1: the map dock was misaligned, and dying to the boss at a particular moment respawned you in the wrong place.
• Dungeon 5: a map sync issue when you Save and Quit after a certain point.
• Dungeon 6: using the dungeon 6 item with no other items equipped no longer crashes the game.
• Overworld: a misaligned audio trigger.

1.0.6.0 — October 3. The mermaid statue patch.

• Dungeon 7 and dungeon 8: each gained a new mermaid statue — two of them in total. The developers say the Spanish translation for them is not in yet.
• Fixes: a thorny enemy in the overworld that could get stuck; a crash from a dungeon 6 item used in dungeon 7; several audio issues.
• Announced, not live: the notes say hard mode and difficulty modifiers may arrive in a future patch.

1.0.5.5 — September 29. The ship softlock patch.

• Dungeon 7: fixed a softlock at the northmost Tadataka ship, where the Zephyr could get stuck in the ship collision. A small patch, but it is the kind that eats a run.
• Localization: the Instant Text setting from 1.0.5.3 is now translated for Chinese (Simplified), Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese; the UI Accept / Cancel options are translated for Spanish. So if you are waiting for the instant-text setting in your language, it is in now.

1.0.5.4 — September 27. The softlock patch.

• Dungeon 3: another pass at the Henny softlocks — the notes say "I think we have it this time!"
• Dungeon 5: boss softlock fixed.
• Dungeon 7: boss softlock fixed.
• After dungeon 8: two siren combs had incorrect map locations on the Comb Map.

1.0.5.3 — September 25. Instant text, and more controller work.

• New setting: instant text dialogue. It skips the typewriter effect. The developer notes it is not yet translated into the other languages.
• Controller: the Steam backend now tries Steam Input for more controllers, and on first boot the game defaults its glyphs to controller if one is connected.
• Dungeon 3: returning after completing it and taking the teleporter no longer swaps the captain's and the ship's items.
• Added Japanese text for the UI Accept / UI Cancel prompts.

1.0.5.2 — September 23. Performance.

• Long sessions should slow down less. Aimed at the performance complaints from players on less powerful PCs — the developer asked for more reports if it persists.
• Fishing and the main menu now show the UI Accept key instead of "Primary."

1.0.5.1 — September 22. Gameplay pass and crash fixes.

• Anchor loses its cooldown after the first circle. This is a balance change, not a bug fix: it lowers the power of anchor spam when you are taking damage while keeping the opening hit fair.
• Thrown pots and cannonballs now have a more generous enemy hitbox if they collide with a wall or reach the end of their arc.
• Dungeon 1: the sea area near the boss door was tweaked to prevent a map desync.
• Fishing: the bird minigame needs fewer rotations on keyboard.
• Overworld: Hefty Macaw island gained tiles that improve the puzzle hint.
• The Key Items menu now shows the input prompt to change birds.
• Fixes: unpausing while viewing key items; bird switches that were silent near the screen edge; duplicate enemy death sounds; a "ghost anchor" audio bug; dungeon 3 invisible walls; dungeon 4's crab-fight crash, mirror-room collision and duplicate player shadow; dungeon 6's respawn bug and bishops walking on water; the final dungeon's respawn bug and a sea fall-area exploit.
• Added Simplified Chinese and Spanish translations for the previous patch's new settings option.

1.0.5.0 — September 22. The controller patch.

• Change: added UI Accept and UI Cancel key binds, independent of Primary and Secondary actions. Key binds will probably need resetting.
• Fix: PS4/PS5 controllers should now work with default settings — uncheck "Use Nintendo button layout" (or disable Steam Input) if you had it on.
• Dungeon 2: a bubble stayed gone after you died; an exploit in the boss fight was disabled.
• Dungeon 3: another pass at the miniboss softlock, plus a reappearing enemy.
• Dungeon 5: blue ship enemies now show the immune-damage indicator; a map room entrance was wrong.
• Dungeon 6: map entrance fixed; water levels reset when you leave the dungeon.
• Credits typos.

1.0.4.4 — September 20.

• Overworld: the shipwreck north of Shellhome now spawns you in the right place; the shipwreck east of Shellhome has its switches on the outside.
• Fixed a menu lock introduced by 1.0.4.3 where you could not open a menu after getting the Macaw Egg or Dream Tonic.
• After dungeon 7, the comb and fish map now shows what you have actually found.

1.0.4.3 — September 20.

• Lighthouse doubloons chest now contains the correct amount; the disappearing rock in the Crater Temple's first puzzle room.
• Fixed crashes when purchasing items under certain conditions.
• Dungeon 6 missing collision; dungeon 7 boss-room doors not reopening, and a dungeon-item/enemy clash that softlocked players.

1.0.4.2 — September 19.

• Cartographer: no longer stuck inside his ship, and you can no longer leave his opening encounter.
• Shipwreck Passage rooms now reveal on the map; shipwreck collision added.
• Dungeon 3: collision, a crash when picking up the dungeon item, more miniboss stick cases, and the buoy rune firing twice.
• Dungeon 5: softlock with the moveable ships near the entrance; the player could end up without a respawn point.

1.0.4.1 — September 19 (Day 1).

• Alternate primary/secondary buttons work for dialogue.
• Overworld and shipwreck collision tiles; dungeon 3 miniboss stick; dungeon 5 boss music cutting out after a transition.

Still open as of 1.0.6.1

• Widescreen / fullscreen oddities — the 100% Windows display-zoom workaround is still the official advice.
• Any additional console-controller glyph quirk outside the 1.0.5.0 and 1.0.5.3 controller work.

The patch series has already named things no other official text does: the overworld area Shellhome, the Crater Temple, and the items Macaw Egg and Dream Tonic.

Languages

Store-supported: English, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Latin American Spanish. Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese arrived with the March 8, 2026 demo update; Simplified Chinese and LATAM Spanish on May 15, 2026. The 1.0 build ships with that set. There is no official statement about traditional Chinese or Korean.

Where do I report a bug?

Ice Goat Games runs a pinned Official Bug Thread on the Steam forums for exactly this — "a thread for reporting bugs, and nothing else." Their support address is [email protected]. For corrections to this site, use the contact page.

Where to send a correction

If a number on this site disagrees with your 1.0.6.0 build, use the contact page. Include the page URL and the version string.