- A Military Promise: Founders met at the Nonsan Training Center and promised to build a game based on a paper prototype they called “Nonsan Tactics.”
- The DNA of Classics: Inspired heavily by the legendary ‘Farland Tactics’ series.
- Combat Innovation: Introduces a “Combo” and “Counter” system to make turn-based battles feel real-time and visceral.
- Artistic Dedication: Uses labor-intensive full-frame pixel animation, ensuring every scene feels like a high-quality anime.
Most people leave military training centers with sore muscles and exhaustion. But for Hong Jong-hyun and Kim Jun-ha, their three weeks at the Nonsan Training Center in South Korea sparked a lifelong mission. Bonding over their shared love for classic Japanese SRPGs, the duo spent their downtime cutting paper to create unit cards and battlefields—a prototype they jokingly dubbed “Nonsan Tactics.”
Years later, that promise has manifested as Kniv Studio, a 10-person developer team now on the verge of releasing their debut masterpiece: ‘Stardust: The Star and the Witch.’
The Game: A Modern Homage to ‘Farland Tactics’
Set in the magical world of Tranya, the game follows the journey of Star, a spirited adventurer, and her childhood friend Yuu, a genius mage. Their quest revolves around “Stars”—mysterious entities that grant wishes and fuel the political turmoil of the surrounding nations.
While many modern SRPGs lean into punishing difficulty or complex menu-diving, Kniv Studio’s Director, Kim Jun-ha, has a different philosophy: “Light, casual, and fluid.”
Revolutionizing the Turn-Based Grid
To solve the “boredom” often associated with turn-based strategy, Kniv Studio has implemented several high-octane mechanics:
| Feature | Description |
| Mana System | Similar to Hearthstone, your mana pool increases by one each turn, keeping resource management intuitive. |
| Combo System | After landing certain skills, players have a 1-2 second window to input a follow-up attack for extra damage. |
| Counter System | If you have mana left during the enemy’s turn, you can spend it to block, parry, or counter-attack in real-time. |
| Full-Frame Animation | Unlike modern games that use skeletal rigs, every frame of animation in Stardust is hand-drawn, resulting in incredibly smooth sprites. |
From Kickstarter to Live Service
Following a successful Tumblbug (Kickstarter) campaign in October 2023, the studio has been meticulously polishing the title. While originally aimed for a 2024 Early Access release, the team extended development to ensure the “leveled-up” pixel art and voice acting met their high standards.
The Roadmap Ahead:
- Steam & Stove Launch: The game is currently listed on Steam with a playable demo available on the Stove platform.
- Early Access Focus: The upcoming build will feature character skill-tree customization, team-building mechanics, and roughly 20% of the total narrative content.
- The “Live Service” Indie: Unlike many one-and-done indie titles, Kniv Studio plans to treat Stardust like a mobile live-service game, providing major content updates, new characters, and balance patches every 1–2 months.
The “K-SRPG” Dream
“We want to build a studio where players buy our games just because our name is on the box,” says Producer Hong Jong-hyun. By engaging deeply with local communities like DC Inside and global platforms like Discord, the team has built a loyal following that watches their development GIFs and combat previews with bated breath.
With its blend of nostalgic pixel aesthetics and fast-paced tactical depth, Stardust: The Star and the Witch is poised to become the standard-bearer for the next generation of Korean SRPGs.
The Indie Game Success Formula = Communication with Users
Knives Studio actively communicates with the community throughout the development process. They share development progress and gather user feedback through various communities, including the DC Inside Indie Game Gallery.
Since April 2022, they have been consistently releasing development PVs, and in November 2025, they shared cinematics and battle GIFs to communicate with fans. The development team’s positive relationship with the community can be seen in the team’s statement, “Your kind words always encourage our development.”
We also provide continuous updates through our official Twitter account (@KnivStudio) and website ( www.kniv.studio) , and we also operate YouTube and Discord channels.
The current SRPG market is experiencing a decline in the number of games released compared to the past. However, Kniv Studio believes in the genre’s expressive power and history. They believe it’s the perfect genre for leveraging storytelling and animation direction.
In particular, with developers with extensive animator experience on staff, they are confident they know the best tools and methods to leverage this. Their promise to “create an SRPG more fun than animation” isn’t just boastful talk; it stems from a confidence rooted in skill and experience.
A promise made at training camp, dreaming of becoming a K-SRPG powerhouse…
“Nonsan Tactics,” created from paper at the Nonsan Training Center, is now being completed as a full-fledged game called “Stardust: Star and Witch.” Over three years of development, Kniv Studio has consistently improved the game, remaining true to its roots.
Stardust inherits the sensibility of the classic SRPG, Parland Tactics, while adding a modern twist. With its delicate pixel art, full-frame animation, and combo and counter systems, this game stands out. Expectations are high for its market reception.
“While the game still has many shortcomings, every bit of your interest gives us great strength and support.” These humble words from the development team embody their sincerity in creating a great game and their determination not to give up. When the promise made on paper at the Nonsan Training Center is finally realized as a single work, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Kniv Studio’s progress to see what kind of milestones it will set for the Korean indie game scene.
