Hey everyone! We have quite a lot of content to share with you today, so BUCKLE IN as we dive into all of the new features we just dropped.
Character Unlocks/Progression
Following a public vote from the community, 79% of you told us you don’t want cosmetic microtransactions in Draw & Guess. As of this update, they are GONE FOREVER. We decided not to have an “earnable AND buyable” model, as we want characters/skins to represent the time you put into earning them. If we’re going to do this, we want to do it right, i.e. remove cosmetic microtransactions completely, and not overcomplicate things by also retaining the in-game shop.
Note: The shop will be temporarily accessible to players with over 350 Ink for the next 3 months via a dialogue on the main menu. Ink can no longer be purchased; it can only be spent.
Unlocking Characters
Characters are now unlocked by completing in-game challenges. Some of these are trickier than others, some of which you won’t even know the challenge requirements for... good luck hunting!
As you may have noticed… each character now has their own unique epic splash art! Our development queue has been quite heavy as part of this update, so we wanted to take some of the time on the art side of things to help polish up the vibe of this new feature, and explore a bit more of each character’s identity.
You can check a character's unlock condition in their close-up view, which also shows their unlock track!
Unlock Tracks
This update doesn’t stop at just unlocking characters through challenges! We wanted to find more ways to reward players for the time they’ve put into Draw & Guess. Each character can be levelled up to unlock unique rewards, including an Artbook (see below), additional artbook pages, a character skin, and, for those truly dedicated to their favourite character, a brand new character-themed badge to show off.
Player Profiles
This update focuses a lot on community, and we want to build a strong foundation for the game to keep growing that sense of community. A big part of this feeling comes from being able to see and interact with players even if you’re not directly in a game together.
Introducing… player profiles! A space you can call your own, share your favourite piece of artwork, and even show off those badges you’ve been collecting.
Artbooks/Gallery
Profiles are great, but they need something a little… extra, so we’re adding a whole new feature to do just that: Artbooks!
You can think of Artbooks as your own mini portfolios, where you can add up to 9 images per page and then publish them publicly for other players to see both on your profile, as well as in the public gallery.
The Gallery
This new area will let you browse around various Artbooks published by community members. The ability to filter these artbooks by name also opens up the opportunity for running in-game art competitions, both in the form of official and player-run events!
Friends/Direct Messages
To make communicating with your friends easier while you’re in-game, we’re adding a friends system with direct messaging, custom statuses, a recent player list, and a block list.
Upcoming: New Game Mode
Draw & Guess has evolved a lot over the past few years, and we are now at a point where we feel the game's base is in a great place. It was important to us that we focus on creating a solid foundation that feels rewarding, and respectful of players’ time.
Our plan from here is focused on expanding our game modes. In fact, we are already getting started on a brand-new game mode coming later this year.