Bloodgrounds has a new Early Access content drop out now called Trials of the Gladiator. The update adds Gladiator Expeditions, a management layer meant to give benched fighters something useful to do while they are not in the arena.
Expeditions include more than 30 different activities, and they also tie into long-term builds since the developers say this is the only way to change a gladiator’s worshipped deity and traits.
It also expands the combat toolset with nine new class abilities. The examples shared lean into status pressure and board control, with effects that include frost, poison, explosives, spinning attacks, and precision dagger throws, so the new picks should matter in how you spend action points and set up turns.
If you have not followed Bloodgrounds since it hit Early Access on November 5, 2025, it is a tactical RPG where fights play out on a grid and units act by initiative. Each turn is about movement, positioning, and action point budgeting, with weapon and class abilities, consumables like potions and scrolls, and traps as part of the standard kit.
Between battles, the game shifts into squad and city management in Marevento, where you unlock and upgrade buildings such as an infirmary for recovery, a market for item trading, and even a monument that memorializes fallen fighters.
The stakes stay high because permadeath is on, which means a lost gladiator and their gear are gone for good, and the campaign structure pushes you through tournaments and regional champions as you climb toward the Capitol and the Emperor tied to the revenge story. Here is the link to the Steam page.
