Where to begin? Let’s start with ~THANK YOU!

After the coverage of the demo by FuryForged and the ANZ Indiefest Steam event, I have been simultaneously overjoyed, terrified, anxious, bewildered, gobsmacked, flabbergasted, but mostly just overwhelmed by the response of the community. My little bee golf game garnered a lot more attention than I was expecting for a game of it’s kind. The community has grown, secrets have been discovered, flags have been collected, and sights are set on the next juicy puzzle to solve. Thank you all for that.

FuryForged covered my game! Thank you!!

And that brings me to the next point. Even though I had followed the tales of secret hunters in other games, I realise now I was woefully unprepared for the dedication of players for Sting & Swing. When I was deciding what to include in the demo I knew I wanted the core gameplay pristinely polished (and I believe I mostly did so), but I figured most demos are treated casually enough that the secrets needn’t be buried too deeply to be safe. I was wrong. The lesson has been learned now. I’m glad I learnt it in the demo so I can apply this lesson for the full release. I will not hold back in future in my secret designing.

The secret-hunting community is DEDICATED. They are OBSERVANT. And they need more than a little morse code to satisfy their hungry CURIOSITY-FUELED meat computers.

So what’s the status? Good news and bad news. Bad news is the community has devoured the demo content much more thoroughly than I thought they would. Enjoy it as an appetiser. The good news? Well, people have been asking whether everything in the demo has been found and as of writing, I have yet to see one last secret discovered (of the golden hexagonal variety). Wow so that’s it? Just one? Yes and no. Yes the demo is almost 100% completed and I only disclose that with full honesty because I respect people’s time. I admire the dedication of secret-hunters but I don’t want people chasing mirages. But also no that is not the end of the secret trail.

For you see, the trail is continuing to be laid before you. Leading up to release (which I can only guarantee you will happen before the heat death of the universe), you can expect a battle of wits, a game of secrets, a curiosity tournament where the only prize is the satisfaction of discovery and the occasional free Steam Key for the game on launch. For those interested, I implore you to pay attention to FUTURE announcements for clues. For the rest of you, know that I am working hard on the full game. Think of the demo as a proof of concept, I have much much more to share with you all in time.

Keep leaving your feedback, I read all the comments. Keep paying attention to the little details, it’s what makes life worth living. And keep supporting independent artists like me because that’s awesome, and the world needs a more awesome, now more than ever.

Thank you FuryForged for being a super cool dude and for covering the game. Thank you to the team at The Indie Brew who featured Sting & Swing in the ANZ Indiefest Steam event. And thank you to everyone who has played the demo, wishlisted it, left a review, and/or shared it with a friend. Your support of a relative stranger making digital toys at his desk means the world to him.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a break from game dev to play some Tunic which I have been putting off for far too long. This is a marathon not a sprint and I must pace myself.

Take care,
MrCheeseAndPie

P.S. There is not a secret in this post though there may be a clue that will come in handy later, give me some time to cook. Besides there’s still one last secret in the demo to find!