Hi, everyone!
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season! We've been hard at work throughout the break, and Community Playtest 2 has been invaluable in shaping the demo. Here's a summary of what we've accomplished over the past couple weeks.
Deckbuilding System Overhaul
The core deckbuilding loop has received major upgrades:
Card Removal and Rerolls are now available in the Shop
New Deckbuilding UI showing your Draw Pile, Discard Pile, and full Deck at a glance
Randomized starting decks for more varied runs
New Enemy Types
We've introduced three new enemy types that demand different strategic approaches:
Copper - Extremely heavy units that attract and are more vulnerable to electrical effects. Tesla Tower deals 3x knockback against Copper enemies, making it a hard counter.
Rubber - Takes significantly reduced knockback from electrical effects and prevents chain lightning from branching through it. Forces you to rethink pure electrical builds.
Iron - Heavy units affected by magnetic forces. Magnetism interactions are still work-in-progress, but these heavier enemies require more knockback to move.
These enemy types now appear throughout Stages 3-5, adding variety to wave compositions. Wave tooltips now specify which enemy types are coming so you can plan accordingly.
We're also experimenting with aesthetic shells on enemy units - colored bands that communicate functionality at a glance, like polarity on magnetic units. Basic enemies without special behaviors don't have these to keep the visual language clear.
With the introduction of these new enemy types, the game is now significantly more challenging and rewards combining different towers to handle varied threats. Spamming a single tower type is significantly less viable now!
Tower Changes
Volume-Based Detection - Towers that affect a volume (Fan, Speed, etc.) now use a new attack pattern that actively detects enemies rather than relying purely on time-based activation. These towers should feel significantly more responsive and reliable.
Deflector Tower Rework - The Deflector Tower now features a single adjustable panel instead of four. You can control the angle of the panel to create bouncy contraptions and redirect projectiles with precision.
Module Updates
New modules - We've expanded the tower-based Module pool and have added a brand new set of economy focused modules
Module Rarity tiers now differentiate module power levels and likeliness to appear in the shop
Stackable Modules - Purchasing duplicates of a module now properly increases its effect
Smarter Shop filtering - The shop now only contains modules for towers you currently own, reducing clutter and making choices more meaningful
New icons - All module icons have been updated to be more intuitive and recognizable
Endless Mode
Endless Mode is now available! After completing the final stage, you'll transition into an endless gauntlet where waves scale aggressively over time. How long can you survive?
Shop access every 5 waves - Continue building your deck throughout the endless run
All enemy types in rotation - Expect the full variety of threats
Aggressive scaling - Enemy mass increases over time, demanding stronger setups
We plan to extend this mode long term with more unique unique levels and encounters that truly test your defenses.
Leaderboards
Leaderboards are now functional! Track your Waves Completed in Endless Mode with both Global and Friends sections. This is an early implementation and will be expanded to track different types of "scores", so expect continued improvements.
Steam Achievements
Steam achievements are now supported! We have a handful in place for the playtest, with more to come as we finalize the full achievement list for the upcoming demo and full release.
Shield & Energy Rework
We've simplified the shield system:
Removed the max shield concept entirely - shields now display as a simple label like Matter
Unused energy now converts to shield at the end of each wave, rewarding efficient play
Quality of Life
Wave speed memory setting - Choose whether your preferred speed resets per-wave, per-stage, per-run, or persists forever
Tower cooldown pattern UI on hover
Stage progress UI on game mode selection with preview tooltips
Wave tooltips now specify enemy types
Ultrawide resolution support
Thank You! ❤️
This playtest has generated incredible feedback, and we're grateful to everyone who has jumped in and shared their thoughts.
💌 Join our Discord to connect with other players and share your thoughts.
Bug reports and suggestions are always welcome! You can submit them via Discord or in our Community Hub.
Thank you for being part of Tower Lab's journey!
Devon & Xueer