Hey all, happy weekend!
Just a quick update on what we’re working on and the thought process behind some of the major upcoming system changes.
From the initial launch feedback, we’ve identified two main takeaways:
Confusion around game mechanics and a lack of progressive onboarding. The current structure feels a bit chaotic — key systems like Mechanical Cores, Overdrive, Consumables, and Cyphers are all introduced at once, without a smooth ramp-up. This results in several issues: gameplay can feel unforgiving, core mechanics may be unclear, and the pacing of content, addons, and unlockables feels uneven.
Strong, engaging moment-to-moment gameplay once players “click” with the mechanics. When players push past the early confusion and start using key systems as intended, or when the game loop naturally flows for them, the experience becomes very fun and rewarding.
On the first point — we don’t think a simple tutorial will solve the problem. The mechanics are already dense enough that adding more explanation could make early gameplay tedious, hurt the sense of progression, and add friction to onboarding. More importantly, the extra complexity might not be worth the trade-off. The good news is that, once the friction is reduced, the core game loop is already strong enough to stand on its own without relying on so many extra mechanics to create moment-to-moment engagement.
Sorry if this sounds overly “academic” >< — what we really mean is: the core loop is fun and complex enough without piling on things like:
Scarce health recovery
Mechanical Cores as a fourth resource to manage
Too many powers to swap between in a single run
Our goal is to tighten up all mechanics so they better serve the engaging parts of the game, reduce noise, and pace optional systems so they appear later, rather than all at once at the start.
So, what’s changing in the upcoming major update
A new progression system will replace the current difficulty tier system. It’s a map-like structure where each node represents a step forward.
Normal nodes: 1 stage, completable in about 20 minutes.
Challenge nodes: 2+ stages, requiring more planning.
Some nodes will contain unlockables or unique addon drops.
Refined upgrades and powers: Powers will be more impactful, easier to use, and won’t require constant swapping.
Mechanical Cores removed: The Energy system will be reworked into a generation/spender model for both normal and Overdrive abilities, making resource management more fluid. Some builds will allow instant Overdrive casting.
Overall, we want sessions to feel more engaging, less restrictive, and occasionally even overpowered — while still retaining a good layer of tactical decision-making.
These are big changes, and we expect to refine them further after the update once we see how they play in practice.
Oh, and yes — a new character is in development! We’ll share more on that later.
The patch is planned for later this month. Everything mentioned here is still subject to change as development continues.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end — you’re the best!
Talk to you soon.
— BlueTurtle