The "2.0 Update" for Puffer Pop includes new levels and bug fixes. Here are the details...
22 New Levels
22 new levels have been added to Puffer Pop, bringing the total number of levels to 50, almost double!
These new levels are mostly intended for intermediate-to-experienced players. Still, there are a few new beginner levels designed to elaborate on the basic game mechanics.
New levels are purple on the level select screen so current players can differentiate them from the levels they already completed. You can see the difficulty distribution of the new levels below:
How will this affect current progress?
Your current "level complete" total is carried over. If you have completed all 28 original levels, your level select screen will look like this after updating, with the new levels in purple:
To keep the difficulty curve for new players, some existing levels have been moved later. This means you will have to replay some levels to progress, such as what is now level 30. To play the "earlier" new levels, you can select them from the level select screen.
Why wasn't this in the original release?
Puffer Pop was originally designed with only a score attack mode (know as "Endless Mode"). The levels were added towards the end of development as a way to naturally teach players the concepts they needed to succeed in Endless Mode. The 28 original levels were what was felt could be squeezed out of the game without repeating content.
After reworking some level ideas previously left on the cutting floor, expanding on some game fundamentals (such as bubble placement), and discovering a few new interactions between game mechanics, it was found that there was still room for fresh level ideas.
Will there be more levels in the future?
There are no plans to add more levels at this time. It is not impossible, but if 28 levels felt like it fully covered the Puffer Pop's mechanics, then 50 levels almost completely covers the mechanics. There are no new concepts left to explore. Some levels could be added in the future, possibly combining or elaborating on existing concepts, but each level is intended to be meaningful by itself and not be watered down by similar levels. All this is to say: new levels are unlikely and there are no current plans for them.
Bug Fixes
- Bubbles no longer spawn on the space a shark is swimming to, making it look like the bubble was never popped.
- Fixed an issue where if the player died before the level transition finished, they would not be sent to the game over screen, soft-locking the game.
- Minor grammar and spelling fixes.