Open now · By request
The Governor's Hand playtest
by Granitefire Games
Govern a Roman frontier province for ten months, one card at a time. Raise soldiers, tax the markets, sign writs, and decide how hard a hand to rule with. Harsh measures might keep the province stable, but will go on the record you will answer for in Rome at the end of your term.
It's free to ask. The developer chooses who gets in.
- Access
- By request
- On playtest since
- Oct 29, 2026
- Planned release
- Q1 2027
- Developer
- Granitefire Games
- Platforms
- Windows
- Players
- Single-player
- Languages
- English
How to join the The Governor's Hand playtest
- Open the game's Steam page with the Request access button. Sign in to Steam if it asks.
- Request access to the The Governor's Hand playtest there. It's free and doesn't commit you to anything.
- The developer lets players in, often in batches, so it can take a while. Steam emails you when you're in, and the playtest appears in your library.
New to playtests? How Steam playtests work
How AI is used
Ai usage: Card illustrations, character and enemy portraits, backgrounds, the province map and store art were generated from the developer's prompts, then selected and edited by the developer to fit the game. Parts of the game's code and in-game text were written with the help of an AI, but were reviewed and edited by the developer.
The developer's own words, from Steam.
About The Governor's Hand
The Imperator of Rome sends you north to govern a remote province.
Arvennia is a frontier province with restless tribes in the hills, a thin treasury, and a predecessor who left in a hurry. You hold it for one term, Martius to December.
Rule with cards.
Each card is an act of government: a cohort marched out, a tax farmed, a writ sealed, a favor called in. Play your hand to answer each month's troubles, develop new governing powers as the fight goes on, and face the month's crisis at the end of it.
Two chains of power.
Not all acts of government at accepted by the citizens, but as things get worse they will accept more government power.
The longer a fight runs, the more of your province you can bring to bear, and the harder the choices get.
A tyrant's record you will answer for.
You have immense power granted to you to keep the province stable. However, some actions are illegal even if necessary. Each tyrannical act does not go unnoticed, and after December's crisis you will stand trial in Rome, your own deeds read back to you as evidence against you.
A governor judges.
Each month a petition comes to your court: a widow's debt, a druid in chains, a smuggler's offer, a beacon left unlit. Every answer is a trade, and every month asks something different of you.
Make the province yours.
Reform the laws with powerful bonuses that last the whole term, upgrade the governmental cards, choose which tools you have to use from pack of powers, and spend Legacy between terms to unlock new packs, Reforms and ways to play.
Features
- A ten-month term with a crisis at the end of every month and a trial at the end of the year
- Six currencies in two chains that open as each fight goes on
- 400+ cards in 70+ themed packs, 70+ Reforms, 50+ side challenges, 20+ petitions, and new ways to play all unlocked by how well you beat each term
- 30+ troubles and 25+ crises, each with rules of its own
- The Weekly Term: the same seeded term for every player worldwide each week
- Endless, Reversed and Sandbox modes
- Ten levels of Hardship for veterans governors
- A Codex of everything you have met, and 52 achievements
- Colour-blind symbols and palette and full keyboard play
From the game's Steam page.
