Indie studio Butterscotch Shenanigans has released a demo for their upcoming roguelite game How Many Dudes, an auto-battler featuring absurd battles against enemies like toddlers and duck-sized horses. The game draws inspiration from viral internet debates about hypothetical fights. A Steam demo is available now, with plans for cross-platform release on PC and mobile.
Game Overview
How Many Dudes is a roguelite auto-battler developed by Butterscotch Shenanigans, the studio behind the Crashlands series and Levelhead. Players assemble teams of specialized "dudes" to combat increasingly bizarre foes in quick, tactical battles. The core loop involves recruiting characters like Knight Dudes or Paladin Dudes, deploying items, and managing resources to survive encounters that last under 30 seconds each.
The game kicks off with a single Regular Dude facing 10 toddlers, setting a tone of over-the-top silliness. As runs progress, players gain currency to purchase revives and upgrades, influencing outcomes based on dude selection and timing of abilities. Enemies escalate in absurdity, including 30 duck-sized horses or a horse-sized duck as the first boss, balanced around the Regular Dude's stats for hit power and durability.
Development Insights
Founded by brothers Seth, Sam, and Adam Coster, Butterscotch Shenanigans shifted from mobile titles like Flop Rocket to larger projects after Sam's lymphoma diagnosis in 2015; he is now cancer-free. Following four years on Crashlands 2 and subsequent updates, the team sought a lighter project. "How Many Dudes exists for one reason only: to be fun and stupid," Seth Coster explained in an interview.
The concept stemmed from online discussions, such as how many people could defeat a gorilla, prototyped during a Game Maker's Toolkit Jam. It blends elements of Balatro and Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, emphasizing debate over definitive answers. "The fun of the debate isn’t in having an answer, it’s about exploring all the possibilities," Coster noted, highlighting variables like preparation time and fighter types.
Release and Platforms
A demo launched on Steam on December 17, 2025, allowing players to test early builds. Full release targets Steam, Google Play, and the App Store, with potential Xbox inclusion via Game Pass. Despite challenges in mobile premium sales, which have dropped 90% over nine years, the studio remains committed to ad-free experiences and subscription services like Apple Arcade.
Butterscotch's history of polished indie games informs this return to experimental fun, free from the pressures of expansive narratives.
