After a false start last week, Stoic announces the release of the new free update for Banner Saga 2 that adds a new Survival Mode. This challenges players to try to survive 40 consecutive levels of combat in the turn-based tactics game. Here are more details:

“Survival Mode is something we’ve been working on behind the scenes for a while now,” commented John Watson, Technical Director at Stoic. “This is an entirely new experience within Banner Saga 2. Our goal was to create a fun, tactical game mode where fans can play from a different perspective which focuses on strategy and the hard cost of death in combat. We modified how the combat worked from the core game based on feedback from our community and put it through a closed beta to make sure that it was fun. Thanks again to our dedicated fans for their continued support.” he added.

In survival mode players have to assemble a ‘combat’ team from a wide range of existing Banner Saga heroes. Once their team is complete, combat begins, but beware, perma-death in battle is real and once lost, a hero can not be brought back. Each victory grants ‘Renown’ (one of the major currencies in the Banner Saga), which can be used to unlock more Heroes to replace ones that have fallen. Items now drop in combat, or can be purchased with Renown, so that you can constantly improve your combat team. A 30-second timer keeps the action moving and leaderboards track how each player ranks against others. All three difficulty levels are included in survival mode, so the hard core challenge is available to those who think they can make it all the way through.

“Although Stoic is a tiny indie studio and their time is precious, they have shown an unrelenting commitment to fans of the Banner Saga by producing more content for them to enjoy. ” said Steve Escalante, General Manager of Versus Evil. ”The Banner Saga 2 just became a much bigger game with the core experience already lauded as one of 2016’s best games and now this new, free game mode included. We hope to get this update in the console launch later this Summer as well as make it a part of our mobile experience.” he concluded.

The FREE Survival Mode is available now for Banner Saga 2 owners (on PC and Mac). Banner Saga 2 is also currently available to buy on Steam, GOG, Humble Store, GreenMan Gaming, EA’s Origin and other digital PC and Mac stores.