22 Aug 2025Developer post

Patch #1 Notes

Every time a game gets released, a patch note gets its wings. And I think that's beautiful. And so is ours, because it's actually nothing major. Just a bunch of QoL changes and bug fixes! We've been extremely lucky that nothing major has broken, so let's keep it like that, shall

16 Aug 2025Developer post

🤘 Thank You for an Amazing Launch Week! 🤘

Hey everyone! We've officially entered our first post-launch weekend, which gave us enough breathing room to come here and say how immensely grateful we are for the support so far! Thanks to you we're officially rated as Positive on steam - with a 100% positive review score! (And

13 Aug 2025Developer post

IT'S SHOW TIME!

IT'S FINALLY TIME TO RELEASE THE CORRUPTION OF METAL ONTO THE WORLD! Our master plan is finally complete. "I don't get the reference" button Right. On. Schedule. Mostly... Let's not talk about the Xbox delay . Ok all jokes aside I can finally say, after 3 long years of developmen

21 May 2025Developer post

STILL PLAYING

Listen, we all know that gaming (as an industry) kind of feels like we're all trapped in the 9 circles of hell. Or The Hunger Games. Or some other third fictional metaphor about fighting to stay alive. And that's exactly what we've been doing! Just like the BeeGees, we've been tr

Listen, we all know that gaming (as an industry) kind of feels like we're all trapped in the 9 circles of hell. Or The Hunger Games. Or some other third fictional metaphor about fighting to stay alive. And that's exactly what we've been doing! Just like the BeeGees, we've been trying to stay alive.

This resulted in us having to take a momentary step back from Metavoidal. But we're back now, baby!

#1 Thank you for your support

We know we've been talking about our game for literally years at this point. Release dates have been moved, the game's scope has increased/decreased/simply creased our brows multiple times, and we've disappeared for a few months. But we're still very much committed to releasing this game!

So firstly, thanks for believing in us and our project, and then secondly for sticking around!

Now onto the questions you may have:

#2 What now?

Well, when we took a break the game was 90 - 95% complete. So the biggest task for us right now is to playtest the crap out of it and fix the things that are broken.

There are some very obviously broken things, and then there are the things literally only one of us experienced but would really suck if one of YOU experienced it while playing. So we're taking the 220 grit sand paper to the game, and smoothing as many edges as we can.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Metavoidal will be part of the Six-One-Indie Steam event that's happening from the 22nd to 26th of May. We might sneak an update in that has some QoL improvements and bug fixes, but we're pretty happy with the current demo build as it stands. So we won't be changing anything major.

That said we've made the demo a separate page from the main. Why? Because we'd love to see player reviews! So if you've played the demo before, would you mind leaving a little review for us? Just so that we know if there were any bits that you might have particularly liked/disliked!

#3 What now-now?

Just like the good old South African saying implies, the game will be releasing 'now-now'. Meaning: At some point in the near future, just not right now.

That window can be between a week and 2 months from now, depending on how quickly we can smooth the edges... or depending on other, unforeseen factors.

We do have things like the release of the OST planned, so hopefully you'll be able to vibe to the sounds of corrupting metal. But until then, know that we haven't abandoned this wacky idea.

Until the next update,
This has been your beloved band of golden retriever devs,
Yellow Lab Games <3

🔗Don't forget that you can keep up-to-date with our movements through our socials 🔗

Original post

29 Jan 2025Developer post

New & Improved Demo!

Alright, let me be very honest with you... Tutorials are hard to make (well). You basically have to distill the essence of your game into the easiest-to-digest, concentrated bite-sized slice to educate the player enough on the mechanics, while also not boring them to death with w

Alright, let me be very honest with you... Tutorials are hard to make (well). You basically have to distill the essence of your game into the easiest-to-digest, concentrated bite-sized slice to educate the player enough on the mechanics, while also not boring them to death with walls of text. That sentence alone was hard to write, now imagine what the devs have to do...

That said, we always do our best to take player feedback and incorporate it into the game as best we can. And our demo is no different! Whenever there are adjustments made in the main game, the same will be reflected in our demos to try and give players the best possible experience. We want you to fall in love with Metavoidal as much as we have.

And thanks to our community (that's you!), we've been able to make bound after bound of progress in this regard. We've also added a few things that we've been itching to implement because they're just nice to have. Since the Xbox Winter Fest even in December, here's what we've tinkered with:

There's also a level name banner that pops up at the top to show you where you just spawned in
The flow of the tutorial has been improved, it's also a lot shorter.
It also has new tooltips! ~~No more~~ Less walls of text!
There's a ▶️ 'Listening To' music banner that appears at the start of a level

The crate in the tut spawns 2 techniques so that you can actually see what the drumkit does... Revolutionary!
New explosion noises when things explode! I think? 🤔 They sound new!
You can now see health hearts on the map! (Thanks for that QoL suggestion <3)

End-level roulette chests have a chance to drop trinkets now
Added new gigs to the board for trinkets and techniques
There's now a pop-up for trinkets that tell you what it does!

Naturally, bug fixes. Hopefully no more hard-locks in boss rooms 🤞
Metavoidal: Now with more sticks! We've added stick dispensers to the game so that you'll run out of sticks less.
And finally, WE HAVE STEAM ACHIEVEMENTS! 🎉 There's something like 60+ of them at this point, which is nuts!

DISCLAIMER: There is a thing that we are working on that you need to be aware of; the tool tip for the album types is still a bit funky. Which is completely the wrong genre for the game, so we have to wrangle that back into place. Basically, it'll only pop-up once per type (element & ranged/melee) before/during/or after track selection, so while it does need smoothing down it's not going to break the game.

That's about it! This part is usually where I tell you about our grand plans for the future, but currently we don't have any except 'Finish The Game' and 'Press Release'. If that changes, you'll be the first to know!

As always, tell your friends! Tell your parents! Tell that neighbour that always walks around with their Metallica shirt on when they go to their car! The power to help indie games get eyes on them lies in your hands (or mouths, depending if you're texting or something). And we'd really appreciate the support!

OK BYE, SEE YOU SOON!
<3 Yellow Lab Team

Original post

13 Jan 2025Developer post

Our demo is now on Xbox!

A wild Devlog appeared! Welcome to a new year, with some new(s)! As of December, you can now experience Metavoidal on your Xbox ːsteamthumbsupː We were fortunate enough to be included in the Winter Demo Fest, which ran until the 31st of December, but going into it we knew we'd be

18 Oct 2024Developer post

Spotify isn't the only place you'll find a new demo that just dropped...

Listen, I won't chew your ear off this update around. In trying to not be like a guitar solo that's gone on way too long, I'll try to keep it as short and sweet as possible without leaving you guessing too much. Here's what you need to know: 1. We've just updated our demo for the

Listen, I won't chew your ear off this update around. In trying to not be like a guitar solo that's gone on way too long, I'll try to keep it as short and sweet as possible without leaving you guessing too much. Here's what you need to know:

1. We've just updated our demo for the first time since the June Next Fest!

It's been a while, but that's because we've been trying our best to actually finish the game :P
Which leads me to the next point...

2. We think this is a really solid build that shows off the game in its nearly-complete glory

But nobody's perfect, and there might be some things lurking in the dark that we couldn't see while we were playtesting. So, if you come across any nasty bugs (or some silly goobers) please chuck 'em at me and I'll get it to the team as soon as I can!

Here's a link to our Discord for bug reporting

3. If you've played the previous demos, give this one another go - there's a few new odds & ends that's been added!

Obviously, with more development time comes more QoL changes as well as game content additions. And to not bore you with all the details, here are some of the things that you'll find in this updated demo:

New music -> The electric & holy albums' music is (to the best of my knowledge) finally complete and in the game. Rejoice!
A Gigs Board -> The more you slay, the more enemies you unlock. We thought that since you'll be dying a bunch, as is the nature of the roguelite beast, we wanted to give you little rewards & incentives for being the deadliest drummer this side of the crowd barrier. You can find the gigs board to the left of the green guy in a cage in the Santuary.
Quality of Life -> There are a few of them, but the most obvious one you'll see is that you no longer have to pick up your extra drum technique each time you spawn in! It now gets automatically spun and added to the open technique slot in your move set. You still need to go and adjust the sequence of your moves at the drum set, but just removing that additional task helps make the whole game feel slightly more polished.
New Moves -> We've added a few new fancy stick tricks. Some are level-boss related, some are just fancy little twirls that refresh your dodge charges. They randomly spawn, so have fun with them when you find one!

There are also additional trinkets and other items that have been added to the game, but listing it here would just make this wall of text even bigger. So instead, I'd just encourage you to go find it for yourself in the demo!

We really hope you have fun with the new build. And as always, please let us know of anything and everything you think of when you play our game! Your input makes our game more fun, and that's all we really want.

GLHF OUT THERE, DRUMMERS 🤘🤘

Original post

24 Jul 2024Developer post

The drum circle has gotten bigger! :D

HELLO! It's currently the China Joy Steam event, and while we are participating, I just wanted to take this opportunity to A. Inform you that we've reached a milestone , and B. Thank you for wishlisting our game! It's been hectic on the backend tying-up loose ends for the launch

12 Jun 2024Developer post

Welcome to the stage, The Yellow Lab Gang

WELCOME TO THE STAGE, THE YELLOW LAB TEAM! Join us on Friday for a stream where the team will be playing the game they made*. So bring your questions! Bring your ridicule of their questionable decisions in fighting tactics! Just as long as you bring yourself, it's sure to be a go

10 Jun 2024Developer post

Metavoidal is taking to the Steam Next Fest stage!

Howzit, Metalheads! Our guitars are turned up to eleven, our metaphorical mosh pit is prepped, and we're ready to powerslide our way onto your screens. Be sure to stretch out those limbs, zip-up that hoodie, and crack those corruption-busting knuckles because It's time for Metavo

Howzit, Metalheads!

Our guitars are turned up to eleven, our metaphorical mosh pit is prepped, and we're ready to powerslide our way onto your screens. Be sure to stretch out those limbs, zip-up that hoodie, and crack those corruption-busting knuckles because It's time for Metavoidal to hit the Next Fest Stage!

We've been slowly cranking up the tempo of development over the past year trying to finish the game on time, and now we're finally unleashing the final* version of MV's demo onto the world this June.

This Ain't Your Grandma's Polka Metal

The Steam Next Fest demo is an updated glimpse into the symphony of destruction that is Metavoidal, and we're excited to unleash it. So prepare to shred through creatures born from the very essence of metal itself, all while head-nodding (at the very least) along to the new songs in MV's original soundtrack.

Our time in the studio

It's been a hot second since we've updated our Steam demo (February, to be exact). So, get stuck in, play to the beat of your own drum(mer) and see if you've got the chops(ticks) to take down a band member! There has been a fair few tweaks and additions made to the game in the last 3 months, so...

Here's what we've been up to :

Bestiary - Read all about the corrupted creatures you encounter in the cathedral
Tracks Library - A sort of discography that gets updated as you find more tracks!
New Lightning Album- It's sure to be an Electrifying experience
Technique Roulette - Start every run off on the right foot by randomly getting a 4th move to add to your technique list
Updated rooms - From the Sanctuary, to the forgotten hallowed halls of the basement, we've updated the layout to feel more homey, or at least given you enough space to stretch your legs
Difficulty Settings - MV now comes with an Easy Mode! :D
Multiple Bug Fixes - No more [redacted] during a run

We have some news that'll be coming your way in the next few months, but for now just sit back and enjoy the demo! :D

See you soon!
<3 The Yellow Lab Team

PS. Shout at us on any platform (Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, etc) if you encounter any bugs or issues! We'll hop on it ASAP!

Original post

28 May 2024Developer post

Playing next - Festivities on Stream!

I'll keep this short and sweet - During the week, as well as a little bit before & a little after, we will be streaming Metavoidal gameplay on our page. BUT for an hour a day, on 2 separate days, there will be a stream running that you can interact with! It will probably be m

28 Mar 2024Developer post

A closer look at the Biome-diversity of Metavoidal

When looking to set up a cult focused around metal music, it's all about location, location, location! So, we're going to take a closer look at where our mysterious metal band have set-up camp. Each level ends with a challenge room, and each biome culminates in a boss fight with

When looking to set up a cult focused around metal music, it's all about location, location, location! So, we're going to take a closer look at where our mysterious metal band have set-up camp.

Each level ends with a challenge room, and each biome culminates in a boss fight with a Band Member to really test your metal. In-between are mini bosses, extra rooms, and challenges to make sure you tap into the tempo of game. Here's the breakdown of the world of Metavoidal:

The Sanctuary (pre-run)

Where fresh-off-the-tour-bus drummers start to prepare for their escape attempt. The sanctuary is a dimly-lit space that is safe enough from the corrupted to fine-tune your skills, and prepare for the chaos that lies ahead.

The Church/Catacombs (Biome 1)

This is where you'll stretch your bass drum kicking legs. Here, you'll encounter the corrupted forces of metal for the first time, and find the rhythm of the game. Decorated with church pews, ancient-looking bookshelves and a shocking amount of fire hazards, The Church is where you find your footing.

The Sewers/Graveyard (Biome 2)

~~Where shit hits the fan~~

Where you have to put that double-bass pedal to the metal! If every escape attempt was a song, then this is where the cool build-up would be. You'll find yourself among crumbling tombstones and forgotten crypts of musicians unknown, and you'll have to face-off against new and even more foreboding foes.

In the graveyard you'll come to realise that every beat of your drumstick could be your last...

The Bone Desert/REDACTED (Biome 3)

Where you will start to taste freedom, but start to question if you're a good enough drummer to see this through. The Bone Desert is littered with past failures, and hides buried secrets under the sands of time. This is where you will face your greatest challenge, and possibly gain your greatest reward.

In time you'll become intimately knowledgeable of each pixel of these biomes as you attempt to give your poor drummer the freedom they deserve. But until then, you must excuse us for keeping some of the details up our hoodies' sleeves. We wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.

We're really excited to get this game into your hands! So mark your calendars for the Endless Replayability Fest in May to try out an updated demo.

Keep an eye out for more Metavoidal news in the next couple of months. Its debut might be closer than you think!

For general updates & to see the progress of the game, please follow our social media pages! You can find the links to all of them

See you at the next update,
<3 Yellow Lab Team

Original post

06 Feb 2024Developer post

Metavoidal is on-stage during the Chinese New Year Steam Event!

Xin nian hao, from the Yellow Lab team! While we've opted to not participate in this February's Steam Next Fest, we're incredibly happy to announce that we will be celebrating the Chinese New Year with our friends at Astrolabe Games. Right here on Steam! For the duration of the e

25 Jan 2024Developer post

Some inTRINKET knowledge from behind the stage curtain

Happy 2024 to all you metal-heads out there! Welcome to another installment of "What's up with Metavoidal?", where we try to make sense of our own weird design choices by explaining it to you as best we can! We've been a bit secretive about what kind of powers are lurking under t

Happy 2024 to all you metal-heads out there! Welcome to another installment of "What's up with Metavoidal?", where we try to make sense of our own weird design choices by explaining it to you as best we can!

We've been a bit secretive about what kind of powers are lurking under the hood of Metavoidal; partially because we were waiting for the right time, and partially because we didn't have a clear idea of what they looked like when we first started playing around with the idea.

But with the development moving forward at the pace of a Dragonforce song, we decided to show you some of the things we've come up with. The list will be expanded as we go, but here's what we can share so far!

TRINKETS

In short, they're kind of what it says on the tin; Trinkets are knick-knacks, if you will, that you can discover during a run. From a nudge of extra health and defense, to tapping into that new corrupted musical bone in your body, they're your good luck charm for the fight ahead. The trinkets we have planned so far are:

BingBong's Leg: Killing enemies replenishes dodge charges
Blue Book: Gives you extra health & drumstick slots, and dodge charges
Golden Guitar Pick: Increases your movement & attack speed for a time after collecting picks
Moon Gel: Instead of dying you become invulnerable for a time, and gain back half your health
Glass Drum: Your attacks deal double, but you also take double damage from enemies
Golden Egg: Increases the amount of picks you find between every couch cushion

There are more planned, but we love involving players into the development of the game. So if you have any ideas for more trinkets, and what they can do, please throw them at us like a drummer would throw their sticks at a crowd; with fervent disregard for the person on the receiving end...

MECHANICS

This one isn't too complicated, but there are some caveats to getting trinkets in-game. Namely, they have a possibility of spawning from guitar cases you find in a level BUT you will have a greater chance of getting a drop when completing Challenge Rooms.

We'll discuss what those are at a later stage, but they, too, are pretty much what it says on the tin. Rooms that spawn in a level that are there to challenge you. Risk & reward rooms, basically.

We'll (hopefully) be doing more updates like this as we get closer to launch to show you what we've got going on in the background, so keep an eye out for future posts!

And as always, this is a living project. There might be some adjustments made on the game's features before release that we've found would be better for the overall game. So if you're reading this, and it isn't so in MV anymore, just know it was a call made for a reason.

Thanks so much for reading, and see you in the next one!

(And don't forget to wishlist the game if you liked what we're working on!)

Original post

24 Nov 2023Developer post

Drumming for Beginners!

If you came here expecting a breakdown on 'how to get into drumming', then I must unfortunately disappoint you. Instead, we'll be taking a closer look at our new combat system! At Gamescom, and at events as far back as BitSummit, there were a few comments made about the 'lack of

If you came here expecting a breakdown on 'how to get into drumming', then I must unfortunately disappoint you. Instead, we'll be taking a closer look at our new combat system!

At Gamescom, and at events as far back as BitSummit, there were a few comments made about the 'lack of variety' in attacks in Metavoidal. These remarks were more than fair, since there's more to a drummer than simply banging sticks against things, right?

While we were initially planning on adding some spice to the move sets, we decided that a mere dash wouldn't suffice. That's why we've added new attacks & items altogether to put a bit more ~~beat~~ meat on the bones of each run.

ATTACKS:

A drummer has more up their hoodie's sleeve than just hitting things with sticks. That's exactly why, instead of delaying it in-lieu of doing something less important (like music) we've gone and actually added the new moves & fighting mechanics.

So apart from the old reliable down stroke and fling a stick, we've added 7 new drumming techniques to your repertoire:

Hi-Hat Tap
Crash Cymbal
Stick Trick
Drum Kick
Flam (a double whammy)
Blast Beat (jump attack)
Up Stroke

Not forgetting about the Double Time spin attack that has been in the game since August. So there's about 7 already in, or in the process of being added.

MECHANICS:

OK great, new things are coming. Whoo.
But does it play well with the systems already in-place? Well, about that...

In the pursuit of giving variety, we've opted for a more customisable option! You start out with the basics, but as you explore and defeat challenge rooms, you will unlock new techniques.
You can then chop & change your configuration at the end of each level with the new moves you've nabbed, or try out a new playstyle with what you have by changing the sequence of attacks.

How it works

Your drummer has 4 open attack slots, like this o > o > o > o.
Initially, 3 of them are filled with the basic* left-right-double attack move combo, with a pause at the end, to get you started. Like this Left > Right > Double > Pause.

*You're a fresh drummer, you gotta work your way up to the cool moves, you know?

As you progress through the levels, you'll unlock new moves that you'll be able to access through the drum set at the end of each level. Riiiight before you head into the next area.

Customise your sequence, try out what flows more with your style, or just select a new move as you please and get back to it!

It takes a second to get use to the new rhythm, but once you have it you'll be beating down baddies in no time!

Outro

This new combat system, coupled with the Trinkets (more on those SOON) you can unlock during a run, is sure to put the "Fun" in 'Funeral for a Friend'. But we'd love to hear what you think about this change!

If you have any questions, pop them in the comments, or find us on Discord to have a chat about it.
https://discord.gg/XhK7fNpH8N

Original post

31 Oct 2023Developer post

A tale of Revenge! - Halloween Scream Fest Stream

Gather 'round, listeners, both mortal and spectral, as we unveil a tale intertwined with the cosmic and the drum's rhythmical 🥁 In the mystical world of Metavoidal, where rogues and rhythms entwine, our Halloween special stream takes the stage, an event quite divine ✨ Within the

23 Sep 2023Developer post

Metavoidal is now taking part in Steam China Showcase 2023!

Dear Players, We're excited to participate in the Steam China Showcase hosted by Steam China! We will be taking advantage of this fantastic opportunity to show case our upcoming game, Metavoidal. We are progressing well into the development. Though at this moment we don’t have a

08 Aug 2023Developer post

See You Soon, Gamescom!

GERMANY, WE ARE ON OUR WAY (maybe, depending on when you read this update) We're happy to announce that the Yellow Lab Team will be adding not only Gamescom but Devcom to our World Tour this year. If you're planning on going to either (or both) events, please please please come s

15 Jul 2023Developer post

Metavoidal at BitSummit 2023!

Hello, drumers! We're excited to announce that we're bringing Metavoidal to BitSummit 2023! We are progressing well into the development. Though at this moment we don’t have a demo available, we are confident that we should have something for our followers in the near future! “Me

Updates & announcements

IT'S FINALLY TIME TO RELEASE THE CORRUPTION OF METAL ONTO THE WORLD! Our master plan is finally complete.

And now, a sneaky reveal...

#1 Thank you for your support

So firstly, thanks for believing in us and our project, and then secondly for sticking around!

#2 What now?

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

#3 What now-now?

Welcome to a new year, with some new(s)! As of December, you can now experience Metavoidal on your Xbox ːsteamthumbsupː

Oh, and one more thing...

1. We've just updated our demo for the first time since the June Next Fest!

2. We think this is a really solid build that shows off the game in its nearly-complete glory

3. If you've played the previous demos, give this one another go - there's a few new odds & ends that's been added!

HELLO!

Thank you so much for over 7 000 wishlists!

Friday, 14th June @ 12PM CAT

Howzit, Metalheads!

This Ain't Your Grandma's Polka Metal

Our time in the studio

Thursday, 13th June @ 11AM CAT

The Sanctuary (pre-run)

The Church/Catacombs (Biome 1)

The Sewers/Graveyard (Biome 2)

The Bone Desert/**REDACTED** (Biome 3)

Xin nian hao, from the Yellow Lab team!

The quick highlights of what we've changed include:

TRINKETS

MECHANICS

ATTACKS:

MECHANICS:

How it works

Outro

OK NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY! 🎃

The Bone Desert/REDACTED (Biome 3)