The demo was one of the standouts of Steam Next Fest June 2026, and ACE Team kept it available afterwards — a confidence move two weeks out from a July 15 launch. It contains the full expedition loop: the Tempestad hub with its shop, appraiser and woodworker, multiple contract types, the beach and Valdivian forest regions, and enough of the sanity system to ruin a friendship or two.
What the demo taught the developers
ACE Team patched the demo actively through late June, and the notes read like a studio listening: enemies now drop weapons you can pick up directly, two new sanity effects joined the rotation, guidebook codex pages appear across the map, gun ammo drops more generously (undead in particular), the appraiser's tone got a rewrite, and a stack of fixes landed — token debt, the first-person crouch animation while carrying bodies, the map being usable as a medallion, subtitle size options.
Launch changes — shipped and upcoming
- Token weapon upgrades (shipped) — the launch update added the Weapon Upgrade Anvil, so token rewards now matter beyond one-run gear.
- Hard timer removed (shipped) — the demo's mandatory end-of-mission cap is gone in 1.0; you can now stay on the mainland as long as you can survive.
- Camera-smoothing fix & push-to-talk (shipped) — plus a wider FOV slider (75–125) and simultaneous ox-wagon inventory.
- Weapon blocking (in development) — a block & counterattack system for certain weapons, confirmed by ACE Team but not yet live. See the patch notes.
Should you grind the demo?
For learning, absolutely: weapon feel, noise discipline and sanity protocol all transfer, and our beginner's guide is essentially demo hours distilled. For progress — good news: the developers have said demo progress will carry overto the full game, while recommending a fresh start to experience the monsters, items and sanity effects held back from the demo. Grind guilt-free, and spend launch day's first hour re-checking prices against the armory table, because we will be doing exactly that.
Demo questions
Is The Mound demo still available?
It stayed up on Steam after Next Fest ended June 22 and through the July 15 launch. Steam demos are usually retired at the publisher's discretion after release, so check the store page rather than trusting this line — the full game is what everyone is playing now.
Does demo progress carry over to the full game?
The developers said demo progress carries over, while recommending a fresh start to see the content held back from the demo (new monsters, items and sanity effects). Either way the rank grind isn't wasted.
How long is The Mound demo?
It covers roughly the opening hours of the full game with multiple contract types — most crews get several evenings out of it before it repeats.