Time flies, and it's now 2026. I spent most time since last update visiting family, getting ready to move, and trying to find a new job, because the economy is what it is, and I'm gonna need it. I only give you this glimpse into life's follies because I haven't been able to update the game much in the meantime.
But I'm not stopping, so here's an outline of what I plan to accomplish for Midnight at Grimmi's in 2026, in no particular order:
General Progress and Pacing
To be blunt, the game still "feels weird" in terms of how long it takes characters within any given run to be come too powerful, which is not satisfying beyond the first time one breaks the game. I often tell people that I need more players to properly test the game's difficulty, and that is still very much true. I also need to develop non-gameplay tools to properly test these things without having to play the game "manually" over and over, and that will take development time, but such things are to be expected in game development.
Progress also means the pace at which you unlock characters and relics, and the means by which you obtain the necessary Ectoplasm to do so. It's a whole causal chain, and like a potted plant, it requires careful pruning and nourishing and care.
tl;dr: I'll keep working on balancing so the game eventually feels fun throughout.
Clauvio and the Roster
In case you don't know, Clauvio (a playable character and VTuber) is re-debuting with a complete rebrand today. I very much enjoy her content, so I will be adding her new form (whatever that might be) as a playable character. Old Clauvio will remain in the game, unless she asks me to remove that content.
As for the other as-of-yet unreleased VTubers, I'm still aiming for a 16-character final roster, but I will likely limit new characters to 2 or 3 from what we already have in 2026, just to make sure they are well balanced before adding more.
Minigames & Other Features
Besides bugfixes, I'll stop working on the computer's daily games, unless enough players tell me they like them enough for me to add more, since they are a bit of a fad that comes and goes. In the same vein, I want to add companion trinkets and ornaments that you can purchase, so that you can customize them, if only cosmetically.
General Art Cleanup
Some art is wonky, badly colored, sketchy and hastily made, mainly because I wanted to get some content out before I tightened those things up. Expect cutscene and world art to be redrawn or cleaned up.
Of course, these aren't set in stone will change and evolve as the year progresses, but it should be more or less what you can expect. I chose not to set any specific dates because I would rather surprise you with progress than promise something I might have to walk back later.
That's pretty much it for this month. Next time I post in this format, it'll be alongside meaningful update to the game. As always, thank you very much for your support!
-CryomancerLex