Welcome to 2025! I hope you had a wonderful break and are feeling full of energy for this, the Year of the Goblin!
We're chomping at the bit to get what we're working on into your hands, and while we solidify the features coming to our next Trash Goblin update, which should be out sometime in mid-February, it's the perfect time to discuss our plans for the year as a whole as well!
What we're working on
First up some teases on what's coming in the next update, because we like to show you cool stuff. Is it big-headed to say this is all cool stuff? Well no matter how cool it is, I do want to point out that a lot of this is in development and subject to change. the usual caveat on showing stuff that's a few weeks away 😅
What's coming to Deep Clean?
Anyway, for an update called Deep Clean, you'd guess we're focusing on the cleaning gameplay... and you'd have guessed right!
Sponge upgrades!
We've had a word with Aimon, and they've managed to source some better sponges for you to buy and utilise - cleaning just got a lot easier! And maybe even softer on your little goblin mitts. We know a lot of you have wanted this for a while, it's exciting to bring it to the game!
From left to right, 3 glorious sponges in order of... sponge-tacular-ness?
Soaktub rework & upgrades!
We're going to change where the soak tub lives, and also give you the opportunity to upgrade it to take more trinkets! Another much-requested feature, and something that should make it easy to stay on top of all those customer requests.
This peek at the new tier 1 shows how we like to be smart where we can, re-using assets if we can! But also lavishing detail on everything, because that's what brings them to life.
Speaking of life, I wonder what this has got to do with the new Soak Tub?
And the tier 2 tub is a clear upgrade from the previous one! Looks a little precariously pinned to the wall, though...
Dirt highlighting.
Ever been stuck spinning a trinket endlessly trying to find that last little bit of dirt? Yeah, same. Well, banish that to the past! Now you can just press a button to highlight all the remaining dirt on a trinket!
And we're not stopping there, so make sure to keep an eye on the full release notes when the update comes out, because there's a bunch more work that's been done on this side of the game that we think you'll love.
Meanwhile, lots of other cool stuff is being worked on. Read on!
Chisel upgrades & alternates!
We're giving you a way to upgrade the power of your basic chisel (which will work how you'd expect ie: fewer hits to crumble a block) but we also wanted to give you some fun options so... what do you think a Lance Chisel might do? there's more up our little goblin sleeve too...
We like to work through plenty of options before choosing the best fit. Sometimes you till choose the first idea, but regardless it is important to feel through more variants. You never know what might pop up.
Quest Tracker.
We've wanted to get this in for the longest time - and the time has come! You can pull it up and down, and it shows you the details of the current active customer request - no more wondering what you were rummaging in the stash for, you can just peek at this handy little panel.
And more. We've also been deep-cleaning the codebase, getting rid of lots of bugs and adding tons of nice quality-of-life features for you all to enjoy! Maybe you can spot some of them in the various images in this update? I can see at least one new feature I've not mentioned...
Plans for 1.0 and beyond
We're thinking a lot, and very carefully, about what content Trash Goblin needs to include to be considered 1.0, especially because we've had a ton of great feedback and feature requests from you lovely lot since the Early Access release.
This happens with every game - the dev has an idea for something fun and they make it, and then the players play it. From that point onwards all bets are off. People suggest ideas that are better than the ones you had. Or people are more excited about a different part of the game, so it'd be mad not to follow that interest and serve that excitement... the issue being of course time is finite so whenever we redirect our efforts, something else has to be paused or shelved to compensate.
That said, one of the nice things about modern game dev is that 1.0 launch is only the beginning. We've always intended TG to be a game we support for months and months after we launch out of EA.
We're gaining confidence in what we think 1.0 is, and also that we'll have plenty of time to add everything that feels like it belongs in the game even after that point. Or to put it another way, anything that might get paused or shelved for the needs of the 1.0 will be taken back down off the shelf, dusted off, unpaused and brought back into the release plan post 1.0.
A really good example of this is Haggling. We're aware a lot of people think all shop-keeping games require a haggling mechanic. We're also aware most of the systems out there are not that great. Plus, a lot of people in the TG and cosy communities don't want the pressure of haggling to spoil the vibes. Not to mention that haggling is something customers do to get a good deal, at the expense of the shopkeeper - which just doesn't seem right, or fun! All of which adds up to us deciding to leave haggling until after 1.0 - that way we can take the time needed to a) figure out if haggling belongs in the game, and b) if there's a smart mechanic that everyone will enjoy.
Side Note: As a designer, I can't resist chiming in on this more, as I find it fascinating. People who ask for haggling in a shopkeeping game don't necessarily want actual haggling. If we added haggling as true to life, customers would decide to haggle, and you'd end up selling items for less - which would be rubbish for you as the shopkeeper. What this player request actually translates to is more accurately put as "some form of gameplay mechanic involving customers and the items they want, that lets players have agency in gaining a higher price". Moonlighter did a really interesting job with this, but all that said sometimes you gotta design something that is called haggling by name, but is functionally something else in order to satisfy the player's desires. Who knows what form that might be! Anyway, that's the end of my little ramble😅
So that's some context and insight into how we think, and the outcome is that we're working on getting an updated and (maybe) more detailed roadmap released soon. A few more decisions have to be made, but we're excited to present it to you and talk about it all - I can't wait! Know that it will be different from the existing one, but not in terms of ambition or quality.
So yeah, 1.0 is not 'job done' for Trash Goblin, it's just another step along the trashy road - we're building a plan to keep adding and expanding the game for at least 12 months after we launch, and we can see a world where we do it for many more years beyond that, not least thanks to all of your support.
Heck, I'd love to drop a hint at what we're thinking for a 1.0 launch date, but until we're totally confident of it I don't want to say a single word. I must resist.
Other News
We can talk about the fact that we worked with Futurlab to make the Wallace and Gromit DLC for Powerwash Simulator that was announced recently! We are delighted to have partnered with Futurlab - they're very good and dear friends of ours, and if you cast your minds back to us pushing the EA launch date, this project was a very large factor in that! Anyway the team did an amazing job on it, and we hope you might go and play it once it's out if you're a fan of Powerwash Simulator or W&G. Also, y'know, elements of Trash Goblin were very inspired by Powerwash's success. Why in this very post we've shown off our own dirt highlighting feature. Sometimes a good idea is just a good idea!
Until next time, stay goblin!