Title says it all. To opt into the beta branch:

1) Right click the game in your library and click settings.
2) There is a toggle on the upper right corner labeled "Beta Channels" - set this to ON
3) Enjoy!

Feel free to drop in the discord and help out with bug reporting while the build gets ironed out!
discord.gg/wD9k2qV

Merchants and Ports Update - Beta Now Available (11. Januar 2018)

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all having a good new year so far! The beta version of our latest update is now available for testing in the next-version-preview branch here on steam. The major features to look for are bigger maps, merchant ships, transport ships, independent islands, and a job priority system.

We've been hot-patching the beta a few times a week and fixing bugs as people report them, but remember this update is a beta so there are likely more bugs we have yet to squash. Thanks to everyone who has tested so far!

Here's how to try it:

- Select Kingdoms and Castles in your library, right click it and hit properties.
- In the menu that pops up click the "Betas" tab.
- Select "next-version-preview-" in the dropdown menu. Your game will update to the latest beta of the new update.
- NOTE: No code is necessary

Leave feedback in the forums here or on discord here: https://discord.gg/kingdomsandcastles

Yep you have to use Galaxy to access the beta branch...