Iron Gall — frequently asked questions

The game

Is Iron Gall free?

Yes. The game is a free download on itch.io; a donation is suggested, never required. Iron Gall is in development: donations help it grow.

What does it run on?

64-bit Windows, with mouse and keyboard. Linux and the Steam Deck are planned for later; there is no Mac version.

Which languages?

English, French, German and Spanish. On first launch, the game picks the Windows language if it speaks it, English otherwise. The German and Spanish translations have not been reviewed by native speakers yet: report an awkward line on the Discord and it will be fixed.

I don’t know nonograms.

The game teaches them: at the writing desk, the master’s pile of books (“The master’s lessons”) opens the tutorial, and the “Handbook” button in the top bar keeps everything it has shown.

Does the game keep going when it’s closed?

No. When the game is closed, nothing moves: no ink drying, no ink works, no orders, no debt. The workshop waits for you.

The debt is too hard.

The mode is chosen at the start of each new game:

  • normal: the debt, its interest, and debtors’ prison after 25 hours of play;
  • easy: the debt and its interest, with no deadline and no prison;
  • very easy: the debt alone, with no interest;
  • sandbox: no debt at all.

To change mode mid-game, start over: ⚙ Settings, “Reset the game…”. The old game is kept next to the save, in save.json.reset.

My squares fade and disappear.

That’s intended: an ink too weak for the page’s level does not hold, and its marks fade before the page is done. Two fixes: write with a better ink (bought at the counter from a pricier supplier, or brewed in the ink works), or pick a lower level under “The next page”. A mark that has started to fade can be traced over with a left click.

Does the game use AI?

Yes, and the in-game credits say so. The illustrations were generated with Google Gemini, and some of them (Master Jacquemart, Mariotte, the two cats) with ChatGPT, from family photographs. The code, the world and the illustration prompts: Claude (Anthropic), with David “Zip” Pierron. The music, sounds and typefaces are free works by their authors, named in the credits.

Installing

Windows says “Unknown publisher” or “Windows protected your PC”.

The installer is not digitally signed (a certificate is expensive for a free game), so Windows SmartScreen is wary of it. Click “More info”, then “Run anyway”.

Installer or zip?

  • The installer (IronGall-Setup-….exe) installs the game for you only, without administrator rights, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Iron Gall, with a Start menu shortcut and an uninstaller.
  • The zip can be extracted anywhere: keep IronGall.exe and the folder next to it together, the game needs both.

How do I uninstall?

Windows Settings, Apps, Installed apps, Iron Gall, Uninstall (or delete the folder, for the zip version). Your save is not deleted: it lives elsewhere (see below).

How do I update?

Run the new version’s installer: it replaces the old one. With the zip, replace the game folder.

Saves

Where is my save?

In %APPDATA%\Godot\app_userdata\Iron Gall\: paste that path into the File Explorer address bar. The game is in save.json, and the previous one in save.json.bak. The game saves every 15 seconds, on every purchase, on every finished page and when it closes.

Will my game survive an update?

Not necessarily before version 1.0: while the game is in development, a saved game may not carry over from one version to the next. From 1.0 on, it will.

My game is gone.

If the save was damaged, the game set it aside (save.json.broken-<date>) and loaded save.json.bak instead. After a reset, the old game is in save.json.reset; after debtors’ prison, in save.json.prison. Nothing is deleted: post the folder’s contents on the Discord and we’ll take a look.

Settings

The ⚙ button at the end of the top bar (or Esc) opens the settings: language (the game restarts), volumes, window or fullscreen, the cats Domino and Gribouille (untick them and they won’t come back), the tutorial and the reset. M mutes the sound, P pauses; the game also pauses when its window goes to the background.

Reporting a problem

On the Discord, in the support forum, one thread per problem, with:

  1. the version and build number, written small at the bottom right of the screen (for example v0.3.0 · build 261103.2215 · 104721e);
  2. what you were doing, what happened, and what you expected;
  3. a screenshot: F12 takes one in the game, saved in the save folder as shot-….png;
  4. if your game is involved, the save.json file.