Knight
3.6K posts

Knight
@KnightVSL
Multidisciplinary designer who moves pixels for life




Honoring the Butcher's Circus: A Tribute to a Legendary Community When we set out to design the combat system for SkullX: Aibohphobia, we drew inspiration from many sources—but none left a deeper mark than the community around Butcher’s Circus. Released in May 2020 as a free PvP DLC for Darkest Dungeon, the Butcher’s Circus introduced a brutal, strategic arena where players could test their mettle. Despite receiving no updates post-launch, its balance and functionality were so strong that it fostered a passionate, enduring community. Over the years, that community has kept the spirit of the Circus alive through tournaments, balance discussions, and an unwavering dedication to the game. We’ve long admired the depth and resilience of this scene—and followed its content closely. The constant back-and-forth of balance banter, theorycrafting, and meta analysis around Butcher’s Circus gave us invaluable insight and taught us more than a few lessons we carried into Aibohphobia. We’re excited to announce that we’ll be taking part in the upcoming Renaissance Tournament, kicking off May 1st. Participation is free, and much of our team will be there in the trenches. Everyone is welcome to join: discord.gg/hsbwe7t9pe To the Butcher’s Circus community: thank you for the inspiration—and for keeping the arena alive. We’ll see you in the ring.

















