Swarmcade

Released: Dec 4, 2024
Platforms
Last updated: 14 Sep 2026, 01:34 GMT

Updates & announcements

20 posts

18 Apr 2025Developer post
Update #22: Eggstermination Eggstravaganza!
The 22nd update for Swarmcade is now live! Highlights include a cracking new bonus character to unlock, a fresh bonus weapon, a egg-citing new secret boss, and an egg-stra special power-up. This update also brings a new achievement, some quality-of-life improvements, and the usua
The 22nd update for Swarmcade is now live! Highlights include a cracking new bonus character to unlock, a fresh bonus weapon, a egg-citing new secret boss, and an egg-stra special power-up. This update also brings a new achievement, some quality-of-life improvements, and the usual bug fixes.
Highlights
New Bonus Hero: Eggslinger
Celebrating Easter, the Eggslinger hero is armed with his unique special weapon, the Egg Launcher. It fires unpredictable homing eggs that scale in power and duration the higher your level. Not only that, but the Eggslinger hero will periodically drop the new egg power-up, giving him more regular access to the powerful egg effects. Unlock him by cracking the secret Eggfrafa boss wide open.
New Power-up: Eggstravaganza!
A new power-up has been added to the random drop pool. When an egg is obtained, players will have a choice of six egg-cellent effects to choose from – try them all out to see (the egg-themed names will crack the mystery)! Five of the effects are fixed and will be very useful, but one will offer more unpredictable results. Clever use of the egg will make cracking tougher achievements, like 20k kills, or reaching LV250, much easier.
V1.0.6  Patch notes:

NEW Bonus hero added - Eggslinger, periodically drops eggs
NEW Bonus weapon added (exclusive to Eggslinger) - Egg Launcher, fires unpredictable homing eggs
NEW Secret boss added to all stages - Eggfrafa
NEW Power-up added - Eggstravaganza!
Balance - Nerfed Hearteater's black heart damage
QoL - Added kill count to Run History, shortened Hero names
QoL - Changed some unlock text conditions for clarification
Bug fix - Various minor fixes
Achievement removed - Reach level 125 with any character
Achievement added - Defeat the Eggfrafa boss with the Eggslinger hero (available on all stages)
Original post
14 Feb 2025Developer post
Update #21: Love Hurts
The 21st update for Swarmcade is now live! Highlights include a new bonus character to unlock, a new bonus weapon, a new boss, and the addition of Run History. This update also brings a new achievement, various quality-of-life improvements, balance changes, and bug fixes New Hero
The 21st update for Swarmcade is now live! Highlights include a new bonus character to unlock, a new bonus weapon, a new boss, and the addition of Run History. This update also brings a new achievement, various quality-of-life improvements, balance changes, and bug fixes
New Hero: Matchmaker
Celebrating Valentine's, the Matchmaker hero is ready to remind you that love hurts! Armed with his enchanted bow, HeartSploder, he fires explosive heart-shaped projectiles that detonate on impact, dealing area damage to foes while mending his own wounds with every successful strike. Unlock him by defeating the new boss.
New Feature: Run History
This update adds a Run History, a new addition selectable from the main menu that records key details from your last 10 runs. Now, every attempt will be logged, showing which hero you played, the stage and difficulty you tackled, and whether you won or lost. You'll also be able to review your weapon and item loadout, along with the highest wave you reached, giving you valuable insight into what worked and what didn’t! Keep in mind, this is not retroactive, so only runs after this update will be recorded.
V1.0.5  Patch notes:

NEW Bonus hero added - Matchmaker, gains life on attack
NEW bonus weapon added (exclusive to Matchmaker) - Heartsploder
NEW Secret boss added to all stages
NEW Run History added to menu
Balance - Patchkeeper's Pumpkins damage buffed
Balance - Bronto's Bubble damage buffed
Balance - Meteor and Ultimate Meteor's descent angle tweaked to increase chance to hit foes
Balance - Ultimate Space Pals slowed move to give longer for their projectiles to hit, buffed damage and cooldown!
Balance - Buffed Lightsword damage
QoL - HUD changed to show weapon/item boxes. Also added hero, stage and difficulty.
QoL - Added more audio variation to SFX
QoL - Increased opacity on Maelstrom
QoL - Build screen on pause now shows in 2 columns for better viewability (also shows infinite stats)
QoL - Full music added to Game Over screen
Bug fix - Missing coin icon on tutorial screen
Achievement removed - Reach LV75
Achievement added - Defeat the Hearteater boss with the Matchmaker (available on all stages)
Original post
31 Dec 2024Developer post
Small Patch
1.04.1 Patch notes: Infinite stats now correctly show on build screen, also genie boons are correctly taken into account on build screen Added a message clue for Stage 4 secret super boss Added failure message for Stage 4 secret super boss if taken too long and warped back Fixed
22 Dec 2024Developer post
Update #20: Slay Bells Ring!
The 20th update for Swarmcade is now live, just in time for Christmas. The latest update is suitably festive to celebrate. Highlights include two new bonus characters to unlock with their own exclusive new bonus weapons, a super stage boss, a new secret boss, new achievements. Al
The 20th update for Swarmcade is now live, just in time for Christmas. The latest update is suitably festive to celebrate.
Highlights include two new bonus characters to unlock with their own exclusive new bonus weapons, a super stage boss, a new secret boss, new achievements. Alongside some tweaks, balance changes and bug fixes.
V1.0.4  Patch notes:

NEW Bonus hero added - Merrymaker
NEW Bonus hero added - Snowmancer
2 new bonus weapons added (exclusive to new characters)
NEW Secret area added to Stage 4
NEW Super boss added to Stage 4
NEW Secret boss added to all stages
NEW mega chest added for special stage events
QoL - Changed text size on Auto Level Up notifications
Tweak - Snowmen snowball attack hue changed
Balance - lowered rate on Ghost curse
Balance - lowered rate on Fire curse
Balance - increased Mimic XP amount
Tweak - Chest opening art tweaked
Bug Fix - some bonus heroes were incorrectly using placeholder names
Bug Fix - rare Stage 5, phase 2 boss no show
Various minor bug fixes
NEW - 3 Achievements  (requirements): -Kill the hidden Stage 4 Super boss -Loot the mega chest -Survive 30 mins on any stage on Cursed with the Snowmancer
Merry Christmas!
Original post
05 Dec 2024Developer post
Small Launch Patch
A smaller update to primarily address issues players were having getting a couple of achievements in the original 1.0 version: One for 20,000 kills, and the other for reaching level 250. While this was possible with the previous build of the game, it was probably out of reach for
A smaller update to primarily address issues players were having getting a couple of achievements in the original 1.0 version: One for 20,000 kills, and the other for reaching level 250.
While this was possible with the previous build of the game, it was probably out of reach for most regular players. Therefore, some balance tweaks have been implemented. This is still not an "easy" achievement, but it should be more doable now.
Note: If you are going for either of these achievements, it should be done on Cursed difficulty.
1.03 Patch notes:

New enemy added to Cursed difficultly
Cursed difficultly waves and amount rebalanced
Various minor bug fixes
Original post
04 Dec 2024Developer post
Swarmcade Official Launch!
After a year and three months, today marks the day that Swarmcade officially leaves Steam Early Access! To celebrate this milestone, check out the launch trailer above. For those who haven’t jumped in yet, the game is currently discounted by 25% for another week—so there’s no bet
04 Dec 2024Developer post
Swarmcade @ Bullet Heaven Fest 2.0 (25% off)
Swarmcade is excited to be part of the Bullet Heaven Fest 2.0, which launches today on Steam. The game will discounted by 25% for the duration of the event (ending December 11). If you've been waiting for a deal, now's the time to buy! Check out the full Steam page for the event
07 Nov 2024Developer post
Patching a Few Bugs
Just a small update to address a few of the bigger bugs reported by players post 1.0. 1.02.1 Patch notes: Bug fix - Some weapons and items were incorrectly carrying over between runs new game preventing them from showing in the LV up choices. This should now be resolved! Bug fix
Just a small update to address a few of the bigger bugs reported by players post 1.0.
1.02.1 Patch notes:

Bug fix - Some weapons and items were incorrectly carrying over between runs new game preventing them from showing in the LV up choices. This should now be resolved!
Bug fix - During the second phase on Stage 5, the boss was not showing damage received on the boss HP bar.
Bug fix - Incorrect costs showing for Banish upgrades (the price was correctly deducting but not showing the right value).
Original post
31 Oct 2024Developer post
Update #666, Chapter 2 - The Banishing
The nineteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, adding the much-requested Banish mechanic, two new Halloween themed characters to unlock, as well as a new secret boss and 2 new achievements. Alongside the usual Balance, QOL/tweaks, and some bug fixes from 1.0. Highlights Banishi
The nineteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, adding the much-requested Banish mechanic, two new Halloween themed characters to unlock, as well as a new secret boss and 2 new achievements. Alongside the usual Balance, QOL/tweaks, and some bug fixes from 1.0.
Highlights
Banishing
The biggest new addition is the game finally has the banish feature. If you're somehow not familiar with this mechanic from other games in the genre, it basically allows you to remove any item or weapon from the item pool during a run. This allows more manipulation of the RNG, hopefully allowing you to get the things you want.
In Swarmcade, this is how it works. First it must be unlocked in upgrades (this can be upgraded 5 times for a total of 5 banishments). Then a new NPC merchant will appear on any stage alongside the other merchant (if you have unlocked both). Unlike the item/weapon merchant he will not take a chunk of your precious life, his only currency is how many banishes you have. The weapons/items to choose from are randomised and you can use rerolls.
NEW Bonus Hero
Two new Halloween themed heroes have been added to the bonus roster. Pumpkinhed is unlockable through killing at least 666 pumpkins in a single run (you must have first unlocked the bonus character select). Boogeyman is available through the lucky draw.
Full v1.0.2 Patch notes:

NEW - Banish Vendor added
NEW - Hero Boogeyman, starts with kitchen knife, more kills=more life, deaths increase damage
NEW - Hero Pumpkinhed, starts with pumpkins, velocity+++
NEW - Secret Banisher Boss added
Tweak - Adjusted RNG on Level Up/Rerolls to increase new items
Tweak - Adjusted Lucky Draw Pity to give out prizes more often
Balance - Merchant boss tweaked attack pattern and collision on attacks
QoL - Added helper text on merchant
Bug fix - G-Upgrades costs were not calculated correctly resulting in some negative values paying out gold. A forced G-Upgrade refund/respec will be initialised on entering the upgrade screen.
Bug fix - Sometimes elite enemies would not spawn resulting in no chest drops (maybe they got too scared?)
Bug Fix - An attempt to fix rare instances of level-up stopping before all weapon/item slots were filled (may require further research)
NEW - 2 Achievement s added [requirement]: - Fight the fully powered Banisher secret boss (available on all stages) - Kill at least 666 pumpkins in a single run
Original post
18 Oct 2024Developer post
Update #18: The Big One
The eighteenth update for Swarmcade is now live! After a bit longer than hoped (that's game dev for you), 1.0 is finally here! This is the biggest update to the game since the early access launch. A new stage, new difficulty, new upgrades, new heroes, enemies and bosses/elites. P
The eighteenth update for Swarmcade is now live! After a bit longer than hoped (that's game dev for you), 1.0 is finally here! This is the biggest update to the game since the early access launch. A new stage, new difficulty, new upgrades, new heroes, enemies and bosses/elites. Plus some much-requested quality of life and features, new achievements and more.
There's a lot to go through so let's begin!
Patch notes
Note: Some text has been marked as spoilers as some of you may prefer to find out the major new features/rewards and unlocks through actual gameplay.
New

Title Screen added and Title Music
Bonus Stage (unlocked after surviving 30 minutes on Stage 5 - retroactive). On this stage every wave is randomised
Lucky Draw added after completion of Bonus Stage - Spend excess gold here for a chance of a prize. There is a pity mechanic so you will never go too long without a win!
Cursed difficulty unlocked after killing Bonus Stage 1 Boss and with 60 or above upgrades.
When on Cursed difficulty a Genie appears after a certain amount of level ups and will grant very powerful boons, or tricky curses (if you're unlucky).
Several remixed Enemies, Bosses & Elites added (many will only appear on the new difficulty)
G-Upgrades added after killing the Bonus Stage Boss. These new perma-upgrades enable far far higher level, "broken" builds by upgrading the boons granted by the Genie (and also lowering his curses).
1 Regular hero unlocked for defeating Bonus Stage 1 boss
4 powerful new Bonus heroes unlocked through the Lucky Draw
4 new unique weapons that are exclusive to the new bonus heroes. Unlike regular weapons these start at level 8 because they are weapons that scale over time. The more you level up the more powerful they get! And they get very powerful, competing with ultimate weapons in terms of sheer damage.
All 25 Regular heroes can now unlock an even more powerful Star version in the Lucky Draw. Star versions of the heroes enhance their key passives and/or stats.
Quality of Life

Completely reworked level up choices and the RNG factor
As long as the weapon/item pool allows, rerolls should always show new choices
An Ultimate weapon or item combo now displays on the LV up choice menu when unlocked (retroactive)
Late Game Auto-levelling can now be enabled in the options menu. This means all choices during the infinite stat phase of level-ups will be automatically chosen at random and the level up screen not shown. The stat increases will still show above the hero
Chests will now be picked up from a slightly further distance
New animations for Thunderbolt attacks
New animations and icon for Ice Spike attacks
New Coin icons and sprite in game
Paladin now shows when passive has healed him
Wave number is now displayed on HUD
Damage number size shrunk slightly
Damage numbers tweaked to help with performance impact
Gameplay Tweaks

Level up choices are no longer fixed Weapon/Weapon/Item instead all choices are random
Infinite stats now only become available upon level up after the first two pools have been exhausted
Infinite stats now display a level number
Healing and gold removed from LV up choices
Lost XP pick-up now drops quicker once threshold has been hit
Unlocking Hard mode no longer requires stage completion on normal, instead unlocks for all stages after 40 or above upgrade unlocks
New players now start the game with +300 gold
Subtle Text Cues added for some secret bosses
Enemy dogs fire attack changed to red hue for easier legibility
Balance

Windwaker's Fairy heal amount increased
Warlock's Resurrection now increases his max HP upon reviving after every death (very powerful buff!)
Archmage casts his random Ultimates slightly less frequently (Star version unchanged)
Magnet max pick-up range doubled
Ultimate Ward - petal rate adds cooldown scaling (this is a buff!)
Some Ultimate cooldowns slightly increased to balance out the new boons available on Cursed difficulty
Ultimate Banana slightly decreased explosion damage, still insanely powerful!
Bosses damage adjusted depending on difficulty and player power
Some elites buffed on harder difficulties
Stage 3's Final Boss Bat attack collision reduced
Bug Fixes

Thorn ward visual glitch
Jelly fish move speed bug
Thundermine DPS rate slightly lowered (was ticking too many times)
Numerous other boring bug fixes
Achievements
Some achievements have been removed with this update. As previously mentioned, Steam limits games to 100 achievements until your game meets a certain sales threshold, so no further achievements could be added without removing some existing ones first. More were removed than new ones added to allow some room for future additions (assuming the game doesn't meet the threshold).
Removed:

20 upgrades
30 upgrades
50 upgrades
60 upgrades
500 kills
2000 kills
4000 kills
6000 kills
8000 kills
Stage 1, Wave 5
Stage 1, Wave 15
Stage 1, Wave 25
Added:

Reach level 250 with any character in a single run
Kill 20,000 enemies in a single run
Kill the Bonus Stage 1 boss on any difficulty
Survive 30 minutes of any stage on Cursed difficulty
Kill any final boss on Cursed difficulty
Unlock any bonus character
Use a certain bonus character to defeat the final boss of Stage 2
Purchase 25 G-Upgrades
Final note
Despite reaching this major milestone, Swarmcade will not be leaving Steam's Early Access immediately. The game is in a good shape now and the content goals for 1.0 have been met. But even with a lot of testing behind the scenes, with such a big update there could always be some things that could crop up that may need addressing before hitting that big Steam launch button. With all that said, it should be officially released sooner rather than later!
Original post
17 Sep 2024Developer post
Swarmcade @ Raid Survivors Festival / 1.0 Update
Swarmcade is excited to be part of the Raid Survivors Festival, which starts today on Steam. The game will discounted by 25% for the next 7 days. If you've been waiting for a deal, now's the time to buy! Check out the full Steam page for the event, which includes lots of other gr
31 Jul 2024Developer post
1.0 Delay
Hey everyone, Just wanted to give an update on version 1.0 of Swarmcade. Unfortunately, it is not going to hit the original planned July release. The patch was on track, but a few unexpected major bugs reared their ugly head during testing, which set things back a little. As a re
30 Jun 2024Developer post
Update #17 - Robotron 2024
The seventeenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new Ultimate and new achievements! Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes. 1.0 Coming soon! This update should mark the final one before version 1.0. This major update
The seventeenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new Ultimate and new achievements! Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes.
1.0 Coming soon!
This update should mark the final one before version 1.0. This major update has been worked on in the background for the past few months. 1.0 adds the final chunk of content before leaving early access - some cool new additions are still to come even if you have unlocked everything/achievement until now. Patch ETA is before the end of July (Unless something goes wrong at the last minute, but hopefully not!)
Highlights
NEW Robot Hero
The Robot starts with the Thundermine weapon. His passive ability triggers the magnet effect every ~15 seconds (dependent on your cooldown) without the need for the magnet power-up. If you do grab the magnet master power up as well, he will gain more magnet time making it possible to max it out for the wave (perhaps with no downtime depending on your build). Great for a lazy build and those who want to make sure they get every XP drop as fast as possible.
NEW Explorer Hero
The Explorer starts with the Line Bomb weapon, and a unique passive ability to find bonus chests on the map. This means the Explorer has the potential to max out his weapon and item loadout much faster than other characters, and on top of that, with more chests comes more gold, which is useful if you are getting low (and plenty of gold will be required to unlock everything in 1.0!)
Full v0.9.8 Patch notes:

NEW Hero added - Robot, starts with Thundermine, periodically magnetizes XP
NEW Hero added - Explorer, starts with Line Bomb, randomly discovers bonus chests
NEW Ultimate added - Nom Nom!
Balance - Ghost hero now gains a move speed boost after scaring enemies (slows down after)
Bug fix - Archmage incorrect gold cost
Bug fix - Some issues with text descriptions not displaying correctly
QOL - Tweaked some enemy appearances
NEW - 3 Achievements  added [requirements]: - Unlock the Monk - Unlock the Archmage - Unlock the Ultimate Banana
Original post
31 May 2024Developer post
Update #16 - Mages, Monks & Bananas!
The sixteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new weapon, new Ultimate and new achievements! Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes. Highlights NEW Archmage Hero The Archmage is a pure glass canon - he has immense p
The sixteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new weapon, new Ultimate and new achievements! Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes.
Highlights
NEW Archmage Hero
The Archmage is a pure glass canon - he has immense power, but at the cost of very low HP. He starts with the Meteor weapon, but his passive ability allows him to randomly summon Ultimates of the elemental magic variety, e.g. Fire, Ice, Lightning. Yes, right from the start of the stage without levelling anything up! And these stack with the regular Ultimate Fire, Ice and Lightning for even more power.
NEW Monk Hero
The Monk starts with the Cyclone weapon, and comes with a unique ability to summon a healing aura on the ground. If you are in vicinity of the aura, you will be healed. This aura refreshes every 5 seconds and heals for the duration (on a cooldown). If you do move you will summon a new one near you. To gain maximum benefit, it is best to stay stationary within the aura. A good defensive character whose healing scales high.
NEW Thundermine
The Thundermine is does exactly as the name suggests. A mine is dropped that unleashes bolts of lightning at any foes stupid enough to get in range. The damage arcs out like chain lightning, hitting multiple foes. A very strong defensive weapon, but it's best to stay near the mine.
Achievements Removal
Some achievements have been removed with this update. This was not a choice but a necessity. The reason: Steam limits games to 100 achievements only until your game meets a certain sales threshold. Unfortunately, Swarmcade has not met that threshold, so no further achievements could be added without removing some existing ones first. So some of the less interesting/easier achievements are gone to make way for the new ones added in this update. See the patch notes for a complete list.
Full v0.9.6 Patch notes:

NEW Hero added: - Monk, starts with Cyclone, leaves a healing aura
NEW Hero added - Archmage, starts with Meteor, randomly casts elemental Ultimates
NEW Ultimate added - Banana!
NEW regular weapon added - Thundermine
Balance - Stage 3 Boss - tweaked attack pattern
Balance - AOE Splash damage added to meteors
Balance - Stage 5 Elite damage increased
Tweak - increased input responsiveness of Cyclone attack
Bug fix - Gold Gremlins occasionally getting stuck on objects
Bug fix - Music sometimes dropping out
Bug fix - Mimic chest drop pickup getting stuck
NEW - 6 Achievements  added [requirements]: - Unlock the Monk - Unlock the Archmage - Unlock the Ultimate Banana - Reach level 25 with any character - Reach level 75 with any character - Reach level 125 with any character
REMOVED Achievements: -Reach Level 10 with any character -Reach Level 20 with any character -Reach Level 30 with any character -Reach Level 40 with any character -Reach Level 60 with any character -Reach Level 70 with any character -Reach Level 80 with any character -Reach Level 90 with any character
Original post
13 May 2024Developer post
Swarmcade @ Endless Replayability Fest
Swarmcade is excited to be participating in the Endless Replayability Fest which launched today on Steam! The game will discounted by 30% for the duration of the event (which lasts until May 20). Check out the full Steam page for the event here . The game's price will be increasi
30 Apr 2024Developer post
Update #15 - Burn Baby Burn!
The fifteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new Ultimate to discover, new weapon, and new achievements! Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes. Highlights NEW Pyromancer Hero Alongside the firepit weapon, the Pyro
The fifteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new Ultimate to discover, new weapon, and new achievements! Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes.
Highlights
NEW Pyromancer Hero
Alongside the firepit weapon, the Pyro has a unique trait of leaving a trail of fire behind her. This will harm any enemy that comes into contact with it. The damage scales as the hero levels up, so it will be effective into the late game.
NEW Angel Hero
The Angel starts with Azazel's Tears and has a unique passive ability to mirror the laser beam. That means, for instance, if the hero is facing right the mirror version will fire left at the same time. Essentially, you are covered in both directions, making the Angel the best to use with the laser beam.
NEW Line Bomb
This weapon drops a bomb during player movement. When it explodes it leaves a vertical or horizontal blast depending on the player's direction at the time it was dropped. The distance of the blast line starts small, but will increase massively as it levels up, eventually covering the distance of the whole screen!
Full v0.9.4 Patch notes:

NEW Hero added: - Pyromancer, starts with Fire Pit, leaves a fire trail behind hero
NEW Hero added - Angel, starts with Azazel's Tears, mirrors laser beam
NEW Ultimate Meteor added
NEW regular weapon added - Line Bombs, leaves a vertical or horizontal blast
Balance - Buffed damage of Ultimate Undead by 566% (Sacrificing HP should be more rewarding!)
Balance - Reduced enemy move speed up during Speed power-up
Balance - Reduced collision and max size of Firedog’s fire attack
Bug fix - chests were unable to be picked up if dropped in scenery
Bug fix - some enemy collision/pathfinding problems
Bug fix - numerous boring fixes not worth highlighting!
NEW - 3 Achievements  [requirements] - Unlock the Pyromancer - Unlock the Angel - Unlock the Ultimate Meteor
Original post
31 Mar 2024Developer post
Update #14 - The Missing Link
The fourteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new Ultimate to discover, a sneaky new secret boss, new achievements! Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes. Windwaker Hero Alongside the bananarang weapon, the Windwa
The fourteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new Ultimate to discover, a sneaky new secret boss, new achievements! Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes.
Windwaker Hero
Alongside the bananarang weapon, the Windwaker hero starts with a unique fairy summon. The fairy has a few functions. She will heal the player when in danger (at or under 40% HP), attack enemies (with scaling damage) and "special" moves that will be amusing to fans of a certain massive game series...
Ghost Hero
The Ghost starts with the Nom Nom weapon and has a unique passive ability to inflict fear most regular enemies periodically throughout runs (bosses and elites are not affected). Affected enemies are visibly changed whilst they are under the fear status. The best thing about this is that Ghost can then run into scared enemies to kill them instantly (you will not take damage). You gain more XP when you do kill them this way as well. It's a very unique and fun character trait and changes the way you play the game. Instead of avoiding the enemy, for a brief period, you can go after them every time it happens.
v0.9.2 Patch notes:

NEW Hero added, Windwaker, starts with Bananarang and fairy summon
NEW Hero added, Ghost, starts with Nom Nom, periodically scares enemies
NEW Ultimate Maelstrom weapon added
NEW Secret boss added (found on all stages)
NEW Power-Up added, Super Speed - considerably increases hero move speed for a short time
NEW Win Screen added with celebratory theme
NEW Game Over theme added
Balance - Stage 2 & 3 Final Boss increased damage and range slightly
Balance - Stage 5 Final Boss (phase 1) damage increased slightly
Balance - Buffed Ranger trap damage and fixed trap mine duplicate error
QOL - Power-ups drop closer to player and quicker
Bug fix - Hero selection incorrectly locking to Warrior
Bug fix - Incorrect reroll amount at start of run
NEW - 4 Achievements  [requirements] - Unlock the Windwaker - Unlock the Ghost - Kill a sneaky foe (available on all stages) - Unlock the Ultimate Maelstrom
Original post
29 Feb 2024Developer post
Update #13: Go To Hell!
The thirteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and Stage 5 is here! This is the last regular stage of the game before 1.0, and hell is the final destination. The new map is a 30+ minute run (to complete all waves and kill the boss). It contains all new enemies, elites, and secr
The thirteenth update for Swarmcade is now live, and Stage 5 is here! This is the last regular stage of the game before 1.0, and hell is the final destination.
The new map is a 30+ minute run (to complete all waves and kill the boss). It contains all new enemies, elites, and secret and final bosses. On top of that, there are another two awesome new tracks (composed by Miguelangell960)!
How to unlock Stage 5
To unlock Stage 5, players must survive 10 minutes in Stage 4 (normal). This should be retroactive, so Stage 5 (normal) should be open if you have already done this.
Full patch notes follow.
V0.9.0  Patch notes:

NEW map added, Hell
NEW regular enemies added
NEW elites added
NEW final boss added
NEW 4 secret bosses added
NEW Music tracks added
QOL - Magnet pick-up changes for easier legibility during the chaos!
Tweak - Regular chest slightly reduced in size
NEW - 4 Achievements  (requirements): -Survive 30 mins in Stage 5 on Normal -Survive 30 mins in Stage 5 on Hard (unlock hard mode by completing Stage 4 on Normal) -Kill the Stage 5 final boss (any difficulty) -Kill the Stage 5 ultimate secret boss (any difficulty)
Original post
20 Jan 2024Developer post
Update #12 - Bombs Away!
The twelfth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new Ultimate, a new regular weapon and item, new achievements. Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes. v0.8.5 Patch notes: NEW Hero added, Bombardier, starts with B.F.B.,
The twelfth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings two new characters to unlock, a new Ultimate, a new regular weapon and item, new achievements. Alongside the usual Balance, QOL, tweaks, and bug fixes.
v0.8.5 Patch notes:

NEW Hero added, Bombardier, starts with B.F.B., Mini-Nukes
NEW Hero added, Frostmage, starts with Ice Orb, Ice Retaliation at half HP
NEW Ultimate B.F.B weapon added
NEW regular weapon added, Meteors - calls down meteors from the sky!
NEW item added, Dragon's Eye - Boosts Crit Rate and Crit damage
Balance - Max range of Magnet Master increased even further
Balance - Regular enemy move speed slowed on Stages 1 & 2
Balance - Elites move speed slightly increased on all stages (Hard mode only)
Balance - Nerfed “Hidden in Plain Sight” boss HP
QOL - Crit icon now shown on HUD during crit boost powerup
QOL - Some Vendor spots moved on Stage 2 to avoid accidentally opening shop after warp
QOL - Added some descriptions to some Ultimates screen
Bug fix - startup resolution check (Should resolve first time Steam Deck startup issue)
Bug fix - Some secret bosses will no longer disappear after warps
NEW - 3 Achievements  [requirements] - Unlock the Frostmage - Unlock the Bomber - Unlock the Ultimate B.F.B. combo
Original post
22 Dec 2023Developer post
Update #11: Season's Beatings!
The eleventh update for Swarmcade is now live, and Stage 4 has arrived in time for the festive season! The map, Snowzonia, is a 30+minute run (to complete all waves and kill the boss). It contains all new enemies, elites and a secret and final stage boss. On top of that, there ar
The eleventh update for Swarmcade is now live, and Stage 4 has arrived in time for the festive season!
The map, Snowzonia, is a 30+minute run (to complete all waves and kill the boss). It contains all new enemies, elites and a secret and final stage boss. On top of that, there are another two festive tracks (composed by Miguelangell960)!
How to unlock Stage 4
To unlock Stage 4, players must survive 10 minutes in Stage 3 (normal). This should now be retroactive, so Stage 4 should be open if you have already done this.
Elsewhere there's the usual quality of life, tweaks and bug fixes. Full notes follow.
V0.8.0  Patch notes:

NEW map added, Snowzonia
NEW regular enemies added
NEW elites added
NEW final boss added
NEW secret boss added
NEW Music tracks added
Balance/QOL - Level 40 XP spike reduced
Balance/QOL - Reduced magnet spawn timer
Balance - Lowered Crowned King HP
Bug Fix for Full screen selector on/off not registering correctly
NEW - 4 Achievements  (requirements): -Survive 30 mins in Stage 4 on Normal -Survive 30 mins in Stage 4 on Hard (unlock hard mode by completing Stage 4 on Normal) -Kill the Stage 4 final boss (any difficulty) -Kill the Stage 4 secret boss (any difficulty)
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