Helskate

Released: Jan 20, 2025
Platforms
Last updated: 15 Sep 2026, 16:44 GMT

Updates & announcements

20 posts

25 Mar 2025Developer post
Post Launch Patch - Mar 25, 2025
Hey folks! Thanks for your patience. We had a bit of an issue switching Git servers but are now back up and running. Bug Fixes: Fix for World 1 final boss sometimes not appearing Fix for Shawn walking off the edge of the world Shawn now always jumps back into the center of the ma
20 Jan 2025Developer post
HELSKATE IS OUT OF EARLY ACCESS - EXPERIENCE THE FULL STORY NOW
Hey all! Today marks a huge milestone for us. After nearly a year of feature updates and improvements in Early Access, Helskate is now available on Steam! Check out the launch trailer here: What is Helskate? (For those new to the game) In Helskate, grind, perform tricks, and chai
Hey all!
Today marks a huge milestone for us. After nearly a year of feature updates and improvements in Early Access, Helskate is now available on Steam!
Check out the launch trailer here:
Watch on YouTube
What is Helskate? (For those new to the game)

In Helskate, grind, perform tricks, and chain combos to power up your attacks and slay the monsters of Vertheim. Combine unique weapons and gear to suit your playstyle as you fight, die, and upgrade your abilities to come back to this labyrinth over and over again!

Skate your way through Vertheim - Traverse Vertheim as you grind, wall ride and manual your way through this hellscape with classic arcade-style skating
Fight, Die, Upgrade, Repeat - Combine different weapons, gear and tapes to create powerful and unique builds for each run. Get inked up with sick tattoos to permanently upgrade your abilities for a much needed edge over your foes.
Skateboarding Combat - Chain huge combos, do ollies, kickflips, and other awesome tricks to power up your attacks and gain unique abilities and buffs to slay the monsters that await you in this fast-paced skateboarding action roguelite!
Take on the Gods of Skating - Use everything in your arsenal to battle against the Gods of Skating. Take on the God of Vert Ramps’ score challenge and grind your way up the Ancient God of Skating to strike at his weak points.
What new content has been since Early Access?

Complete main quest story including playable Memory Tapes
The world of Grindgard (an enitrely new series of tiles after you exit Verthiem)
New World 2 enemies
The Beach!
A new boss fight with a skating twist
The reveal of [REDACTED] in the Vault of Wishes
Lots of small bug fixes based on Discord feedback
For any players who joined us during Early Access, your save files should work BUT to experience all the new features we strongly recommend creating a new save file.
This content update is BEEFY and as a small team we’ve done our best to iron out all creases but if anything slips through the net, please let us know over in our Discord channel
We will be keeping an eye out in there for any major issues and do our best to jump on them as quickly as we can.
Original post
17 Jan 2025Developer post
Helskate will be launching on Monday 20th January
We are very excited to let you know that Helskate will be leaving Early Access and fully launching on Monday (in 3 days!) Thank you to the amazing community, the loyal beta testers and everyone involved in helping us reach this point. To celebrate we've put together this Art of H
14 Jan 2025Developer post
Helskate will be kick-flipping out of Early Access very soon...
What a ride Early Access has been. The whole team here wants to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has tried the game, given feedback, and inspired us to make Helskate the best it can be! We’re happy to announce that we’re VERY close to leaving the Early Access period, s
20 Sep 2024Developer post
"Score Attack" Update
Hey all! We’ve reworked the core loop of the game completely. The focus is now on points. Skating/combos, killing enemies, doing goals: everything now feeds into score. And score is now the way to progress. We like it a lot. To us, it feels much closer to what the game wants to b
Watch on YouTube
Hey all! We’ve reworked the core loop of the game completely. The focus is now on points. Skating/combos, killing enemies, doing goals: everything now feeds into score. And score is now the way to progress. We like it a lot. To us, it feels much closer to what the game wants to be.
Don't forget, the game is in Early Access and could benefit from your feedback! Don’t hesitate to join our Discord and let us know what you think. We’re particularly interested in thoughts on / ideas for getting the tuning of the score requirements right for both new and experienced players.
Also: special thanks to Yungtown for the collab on this trailer, we absolutely loved working on it.
Thanks again for playing,
<3 The Phantom Coast Team
CHANGELOG
New Stuff!

New story intro (V1 - more improvements + final VO coming soon)
Score Attack mode is now the core game mode → Score X points and defeat the miniboss to unlock the next level
Added ‘Challenge Timeline’ that advances challenge (enemies and score requirements) over time
Added “Mallkoplin Supervisor” Miniboss
Added “Constellation” Miniboss
Added “Crowgre XL” Miniboss
Tuned down base score for tricks to simpler numbers (Kickflip = 1point, Barrel Roll = 5points etc…)
Added visualization and juice to combo scoring after a combo is landed
Added Magazine system for upgrading trick scores, trick types, and increasing score potential dynamically per run
Added goals to every level
Added Skyhawk portraits
Lots of additional juice and polish to dialogs
Added new songs from Enola Gay
Shades can now show up in the hub after their goals are completed
Improvements

Revised existing goals + added lots of new goals to levels
Revised competition to work with new format
Added dialog indicators for all NPCs
Improved collider and line issues in all levels
Bug Fixes

Fix for some stickers showing up infrequently
Fix for some animation state issues
Fix for some cases when player goes through walls while wallriding
Fix for sword secondary attack not hitting after state change
Original post
05 Sep 2024Developer post
Beta Patch v20240905.0
Hey all! There is a HUGE patch up on the beta branch . We’ve reworked the core loop of the game completely. The focus is now on points. Skating/combos, killing enemies, doing goals: everything now feeds into score . And score is now the way to progress. We like it a lot. To us, i
Hey all!
There is a HUGE patch up on the beta branch. We’ve reworked the core loop of the game completely. The focus is now on points. Skating/combos, killing enemies, doing goals: everything now feeds into score. And score is now the way to progress. We like it a lot. To us, it feels much closer to what the game wants to be.
You have ~2 weeks to get your feedback in before we push this update live to the main branch. We’re particularly interested in thoughts on / ideas for getting the tuning of the score requirements right for both new and experienced players. (Discord)
Thanks again for playing,
<3 The Phantom Coast Team
CHANGELOG
New Stuff!

New story intro (V1 - more improvements + final VO coming soon)
Score Attack mode is now the core game mode → Score X points and defeat the miniboss to unlock the next level
Added ‘Challenge Timeline’ that advances challenge (enemies and score requirements) over time
Added “Mallkoplin Supervisor” Miniboss
Added “Constellation” Miniboss
Added “Crowgre XL” Miniboss
Tuned down base score for tricks to simpler numbers (Kickflip = 1point, Barrel Roll = 5points etc…)
Added visualization and juice to combo scoring after a combo is landed
Added Magazine system for upgrading trick scores, trick types, and increasing score potential dynamically per run
Added goals to every level
Added Skyhawk portraits
Lots of additional juice and polish to dialogs
Added new songs from Enola Gay
Shades can now show up in the hub after their goals are completed
Improvements

Revised existing goals + added lots of new goals to levels
Revised competition to work with new format
Added dialog indicators for all NPCs
Improved collider and line issues in all levels
Bug Fixes

Fix for some stickers showing up infrequently
Fix for some animation state issues
Fix for some cases when player goes through walls while wallriding
Fix for sword secondary attack not hitting after state change
Original post
13 May 2024Developer post
The Axetronaut Update
Hey hey, it’s update time! Thanks once again to everyone who has been playing Helskate! Super extra thanks to everyone who took the time to write massive feedback posts on Steam and Discord, and those who have been submitting videos and bug reports <3. It’s so so helpful and w
Watch on YouTube
Hey hey, it’s update time! Thanks once again to everyone who has been playing Helskate! Super extra thanks to everyone who took the time to write massive feedback posts on Steam and Discord, and those who have been submitting videos and bug reports <3. It’s so so helpful and we are reading every bit of feedback even if we can’t quite reply to everything. You rock!
In this update: a new deck. The Axestronaut spins into a skateshop near you. This weapon is all about Spin and features a new experimental mechanic: static charge. Spin repeatedly to build up the static meter and enter Overcharge mode. Let us know what you think!
Also in this update: new levels! New (and reworked) tapes! Polish and GUI improvements!
This is not the Big Spring Update, but there’s a lot of new stuff here. Enjoy this additional medium in-between update :).
Thanks again for playing, and feel free to join our Discord to chat more about the game!
<3 The Phantom Coast Team
CHANGELOG
New Stuff!

The Axestronaut deck (Axe Weapon)
Reworked tape system. Tapes are no longer randomized but instead hand crafted. Also, stacks should behave much more as expected.
New Tape: Big Sword Flip
New Tape: The Swarm. A manual that spawns insects to attack nearby enemies
New Tape: Razor Grind spews razor blades as you grind
New Heavy attack for Soul Samurai Deck: The Barrage
New Tattoo: Chain Wallet
New Sticker: Tengu’s Membership Card
New Sticker: Tengu’s Coupon
New Sticker: Treasure Eyes
Improvements

Improved sticker select screen. Stickers now go onto the deck.
Improved Choice Door sequence and GUI
Updated Park Goals Gui
Hammer damage retuned and feel improved
When dashing, camera snaps to dash direction
Tornado flip trick tapes now tied to specific directions
Tapes now available in Tengu’s shop
New Levels!

Pain River
MallYard
Bug Fixes

Fix for some tricks playing the wrong stance version of the animation
Stop moving up when ceiling gets detected while wallriding
Fix for wrong gold multiplier when starting a run
Fix for tape being equipped twice when replacing from the shop
Helskate is 20% off during this festival!!
Original post
23 Mar 2024Developer post
"Feel and Flow" Update
Hey all! A deep and heartfelt thank you once again to everyone playing Helskate! The amount and detail of feedback has been fantastic. This update is all about Feel & Flow and the connection between skating and combat. First, the major combat rework is now live. We’ve retuned
Watch on YouTube
Hey all!
A deep and heartfelt thank you once again to everyone playing Helskate! The amount and detail of feedback has been fantastic. This update is all about Feel & Flow and the connection between skating and combat. First, the major combat rework is now live. We’ve retuned the weapons and increased knockback and impact forces to the enemies. The result should allow you to fight enemies without breaking the flow of skating. Put another way, enemies are now a tool for scoring a big combo.
Second, we’ve added a feature that helps bridge skating and combat: the Combo Shield. When you hit enemies or smash objects in the environment, a meter builds up. As long as the combo shield meter is active, it will prevent your combo from breaking. We’re still working on the exact tuning, but this should help new players ease into scoring big combos and provide another reason to incorporate combat into your combos and vice versa.
Finally, we’ve added two of your most requested features: the Classic Skating Camera and Free Skate Mode. Let us know what you think!
Thanks again! <3
-The Phantom Coast Team
CHANGELOG
Combat feel improvements

Carry force (ground) - enemies inherit player velocity when hit to improve flow and feel
Juggle force (air) - player will reorient to hit nearby enemies in the air and stay in the air for a bit after a hit
Knock-back’d Enemies now take damage (and bounce!) when hitting walls and each other
Added attack interrupts for most enemies
Increased enemy health to balance against new movement and damage options
Improved speed and feel of magnetting to enemies
Improved hit detection
Improved usability of the “Combo Shield”
Increased combat camera FOV
General Improvements

Added Free Skate mode
Added “Classic” camera mode
Improved settings menu visuals
Combo break clarity (Player flashes red and plays an animation)
Changed competition score calculations so that it does not get out of hand
Added option for character relative controls
Added new vault
Changed menu exit button assignment to Circle (Playstation) / B (XBox)
Levels art and visual improvements

“Triangular” level art
“Donut” level art
“Garbage” level art
The hub had a set dressing pass
Miniboss Grindwyrm VFX pass
Bug Fixes

Total playtime should no longer randomly be reset
Fixed a bug where re-entering a wallride would break
Various collision fixes
Fixed tattoo shop disappearing
Fixed various animation transitions
Improved navmesh generation
>>There's a 20% discount for the game at this moment!
Thanks for playing! Don't hesitate to join our Discord to chat!
Original post
19 Mar 2024Developer post
Beta Patch v20240319.13
Hey all! We’ve been working to improve the feel of combat. The goal is to keep the flow of skating as you fight enemies. Or, put another way, to make enemies another useful tool for getting big combos. Let us know what you think of the changes on Discord or in the comments. Thank
Hey all!
We’ve been working to improve the feel of combat. The goal is to keep the flow of skating as you fight enemies. Or, put another way, to make enemies another useful tool for getting big combos. Let us know what you think of the changes on Discord or in the comments.
Thanks so much!
CHANGELOG
Improvements

Added option for character relative controls
Added “Classic” camera mode
“Triangular” level is arted-up
“Donut” level is arted-up
“Garbage” level arted-up
Improved hit detection
Improved usability of the “Combo Shield”
Combat changes

Carry force (ground) - enemies inherit player velocity when hit to improve flow and feel
Juggle force (air) - player will reorient to hit nearby enemies in the air and stay in the air for a bit after a hit
Knock-back’d Enemies now take damage (and bounce!) when hitting walls and each other
Increased enemy health to balance against new movement and damage options
Improved speed and feel of magnetting to enemies
Bugfixes

Fixed tattooshop disappearing
Thanks for playing!
Phantom Coast
Original post
04 Mar 2024Developer post
Beta Patch v20240304.1
Hello everyone, A relatively small update today as we continue working towards some of the bigger features planned in our roadmap. Please feel free to join our Discord to share your feedback and experiences; your input is very important to us! Below is a list of the changes made
Hello everyone,
A relatively small update today as we continue working towards some of the bigger features planned in our roadmap.
Please feel free to join our Discord to share your feedback and experiences; your input is very important to us!
Below is a list of the changes made in this build:
CHANGELOG
Improvements

Added Free Skate mode
Changed menu exit button assignment to Circle (Playstation) / B (XBox)
Combo break clarity (Player flashes red and plays an animation)
Added new vault
Miniboss Grindwyrm VFX pass
Hub visual update
Changed competition score calculations so that it does not get out of hand
Level Fixes

Various collision fixes
Bug fixes

Total playtime should no longer randomly be reset
Fixed a bug where re-entering a wallride would break
Thanks for playing!
Phantom Coast
Original post
29 Feb 2024Developer post
Early Access Patch 001 --> v20240223.1
Hey all! Thank you for playing Helskate and sharing your feedback with us! Your insights are invaluable in helping us improve the game. As mentioned in our Beta Branch Update , we are dedicated to updating the Beta version after detailed testing. This ensures that only the best i
Hey all!
Thank you for playing Helskate and sharing your feedback with us! Your insights are invaluable in helping us improve the game.
As mentioned in our Beta Branch Update, we are dedicated to updating the Beta version after detailed testing. This ensures that only the best improvements are transferred to the main game. You are now seeing these enhancements, previously vetted in the Beta version, in the latest update.
CHANGE LIST
Improvements

Added missing cutscenes and removed temporary text
Replaced Temp title screen with improved temp title screen
Crafting materials drop tuning
Added button in pause menu to return to the hub
Added button in pause menu to reset the player to the start of the level
Level Fixes

Replaced Checker dev textures
Improved lighting in prototype tiles
Collision/Grindline improvements
Bug Fixes

Improved collision reliability
McTwist animation now playing
Improved blending between skating and tricks
Thank you and don't hesitate to Join us on Discord!
Phantom Coast
Original post
22 Feb 2024Developer post
A message from the team
Thank you for supporting Helskate in Early Access! <3 <3 <3 It’s a week since launch and it’s been motivating and heart-warming to see so many players vibing with what we made. We know there are a lot of things to improve and we appreciate you supporting us while we work
16 Feb 2024PCGamesN
Stylish new roguelike mixing Tony Hawk with Hades grinds onto Steam
The frantic action of Hades, dashing from room to room and clearing out hordes of demons and monsters with all manner of deadly weapons and combos. The effortless style of nailing that perfect Tony Hawk's Pro Skater line - the nosegrind down the stairs, the heelflip into wallride
16 Feb 2024Developer post
Day 1 patch (bug fixes and tweaks)
Day 1 Patch is here! It includes: Bug fixes and tweaks Improved UI scaling for different aspect ratios (Tested 16:9, 16:10 and 32:9) Multiple small collision Improvements Pause the game when the steam overlay is opened Fix for lag spike whenever a new sticker is acquired Tattoosh
Day 1 Patch is here! It includes:
Bug fixes and tweaks

Improved UI scaling for different aspect ratios (Tested 16:9, 16:10 and 32:9)
Multiple small collision Improvements
Pause the game when the steam overlay is opened
Fix for lag spike whenever a new sticker is acquired
Tattooshop show correct tattoo on Anton now
Tattooshop tweaks
Status effects apply correctly to all enemies
Removed ScoreVault/ Re-Baked HolyWoodHighTile
Fixed VO in footage dialog
Thanks for playing!
Phantom Coast
Original post
15 Feb 2024Developer post
Helskate is out in Early Access TODAY!
After nearly four years of passionate development, countless lines of code, and many late nights, we're thrilled to announce that Helskate has officially launched in Early Access TODAY! This journey began as a dream — a “you know what’d be cool?” kind of dream — and through hard
14 Feb 2024Developer post
Helskate Early Access Roadmap
Hey skaters, Huge thanks to everyone who's joined us on this special journey by wishlisting and buying the Helskate's Early Access release. Your support and feedback fuel every aspect of development, from the most mundane line of codes to the most hype rocket-shooting kickflips,
13 Feb 2024Developer post
Helskate @ PAX East 2024!
We’re glad to announce that Helskate will be featured as part of PAX East’s official PAX Rising Showcase! It's an honour to have been selected by the PAX Team and to be highlighted on the show floor, next to other inventive indie titles like Big Boy Boxing, Memory’s Reach and Nir
05 Feb 2024Developer post
Join the Celebration: Helskate at Steam Next Fest!
The Phantom Coast team is thrilled to announce that Helskate is officially part of the exhilarating lineup at this week’s Steam Next Fest! This is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our unique blend of arcade skating and addictive roguelite action of Helskate to a broader
02 Feb 2024Developer post
WIN $1000 BY PLAYING THE FREE HELSKATE DEMO!
Phantom Coast is excited to invite you to participate in the Helskate Speedrun Competition, celebrating our demo release and the upcoming Early Access launch. This competition is not just about skill; it's about speed. Here’s your chance to get early hands-on experience with Hels
Phantom Coast is excited to invite you to participate in the Helskate Speedrun Competition, celebrating our demo release and the upcoming Early Access launch. This competition is not just about skill; it's about speed. Here’s your chance to get early hands-on experience with Helskate and compete for some amazing prizes.
Speedrun Competition Overview:
The essence of the competition is straightforward: complete the Helskate demo as quickly as possible. The timer starts the moment you begin the demo and stops the instant the final boss is defeated. We're seeking the fastest demon-skaters out there. Show us how quickly you can navigate through the fiery obstacles and enemies to claim victory over the final boss.
Prizes:
1st Prize: $1000 cash, an exclusive Helskate skateboard deck, plus a free copy of the Helskate Early Access release.
2nd and 3rd: An exclusive Helskate skateboard deck and a free copy of the Helskate Early Access release.
4th and 5th: A free copy of the Helskate Early Access release.
Participation Guidelines:

Age Requirement: Participants must be 18 years or older.
Stream and Submit: Stream your entire speedrun live, save the VOD without making any edits, and email the VOD's URL to [email protected]. If submitting a VOD with multiple runs, please indicate the timestamp of the run you wish to enter.
Play Fair: Avoid exploiting any game-breaking bugs. We understand bugs are part of Early Access experiences, but fairness is key for your run to qualify.
Entry Deadline: All runs must be submitted by February 12th, marking the end of Steam Next Fest.
Phantom Coast reserves the right to disqualify any entry if there’s a reason to believe the participant has not adhered to the competition rules, ensuring a fair and honest competition for all.
We can't wait to see how fast you can conquer the hellscape of Helskate. Remember, the challenge begins the second you launch the demo and ends with the defeat of the final boss. May the swiftest skater win!
Good luck!
Warm regards,
Phantom Coast
Original post
30 Jan 2024Developer post
Helskate Demo PATCH NOTES (version 0.D2)
Hi, skaters! Seeing how many of you have been enjoying the demo has warmed our hearts, and we couldn’t be happier about all the immensely positive and constructive feedback you’ve been giving us. Please keep doing so, as every Early Access release stands or falls on the quality o
Hi, skaters! Seeing how many of you have been enjoying the demo has warmed our hearts, and we couldn’t be happier about all the immensely positive and constructive feedback you’ve been giving us. Please keep doing so, as every Early Access release stands or falls on the quality of the feedback from the community.
Here are the changes we’ve made to the demo with our latest patch, including a plethora of much requested fixes. Naturally, all these improvements will carry over to the full Early Access release 🙂
Improvements

Updated goal visuals
Turret cooldown time doubled
Start first tile with a Gear instead of a tape
Temporarily removed Sløsa bort dagarna by Svart Katt
Bug Fixes

Fixed broken enemies soft lock (caused by falling into reset trigger in a vault)
Fixed infinite respawn / softlock death in the wallride vault
Fixed under-the-level activation of room doors without clearing the tile (sorry nolew! ;))
Fixed Collider gaps in the competition tile
Collider improvements combat tiles
Fix for some graphics settings not being applied.
Fix for the Deep Cuts gear (legs)
Fix for Lightning Mallkoplin not hitting the player.
Keep playing the demo! 🙂 We have a little competition to announce this week, so it’ll be rewarding in more ways than one… Thank you so much and keep the feedback coming! Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/TjwtSvvP2w
And remember: when you’re going through hell… KEEP SKATING!
Phantom Coast
Original post