Dev diary - April 2025

Hi. First dev diary in a while, due to a break in February and March.
You're probably waiting for Update 3, and I've been working on it.

I won't necessarily go over what I already detailed in my previous diaries, but here's a quick rundown: Update 3 is going to focus on gameplay changes, updating the gameplay loop a bit, as well as adding meta-progression.

How things have been going

The menu as been reworked a bit. I couldn't implement all the changes I wanted to make it feel more lively, but it has been split by characters, each with their own separate meta-progression. I also tried to work on various parts of the user interface, and polished some mechanics-related visuals and animations.

In addition to shards, a permanent resource allowing you to improve future runs, you will be able to collect runes. This other permanent resource allows you to upgrade your cards, so they scale alongside your character in effect and art.
This means cards are no longer split by levels. Instead, they have rarity. Rare cards can change the way your deck functions and will be more present as you go deeper in the maze. The existing cards have been reworked to better fit this new design phylosophy.

Your deck doesn't have a set size of 15 cards anymore. This rule was mostly present to allow you to upgrade your deck forever as you grew in strength and level, but after removing card levels, I felt like I could use more fluidity. You will thus be able to find ways to add and remove cards, alongside a draw pile and supply pile system avoiding you to draw the same card over and over.

New cards won't be at the expense of healing anymore, and many rooms have been added in the maze for variety. Fountains where you can heal, worship or remove cards... Treasure rooms where you can find relics... Or various event encounters with characters. I added a number of encounters, with some choices and dialogs.

I also added many relics and consumable items for added variety. You'll be able to gather more of them during your runs, making each run feel a bit more unique.

What is still required

I did rework the cardpool, alongside upgrades and relics, but I mostly focused on a few characters to make sure all goes according to plan. I mostly focused on Amber at the beginning, and also basically finished Ruby's content, but Pearl and Beryl still need some work.
Not only that but I want a lot of events in the maze. I still feel like I need to add more that what I have now.

I thought a lot about how to integrate the story into this new gameplay loop, with the new stage and level system. I finally decided on how to do, but still need to finish implementing it. Lore fights will occuring outside of the maze, directly from the menu, using decks you built in the maze. I also need to rebalance them as well as update their visuals.
This outside of maze kind of event is not limited to fights, however. I started implementing a way to check your mirror, speak to characters, to add to the immersion, but still need to fill in a lot of the actual content.

And of course, I still need the finishing touches. Lots of small elements to polish here and there, bug hunting, bug correction, implementing premium-locked security... that takes time. I also need to update mobile play, which was not my focus until now, and needs some time for balancing. The game is NOT balanced right now.

Last thing I'll note: I'm actually still not sure how to do difficulty settings. The new system changes things a lot in the sense that you can now level up and gain permanent upgrades more gradually, and thus make your way through anyway. For the time being, I think I'm keeping casual and challenge mode as they are.

With all these changes, I should be able to publish the update by the end of the month. I still have work to do, but I see the end.

What I still want to add

I honestly don't feel good not adding growth stage after all this time. I kinda wanted to have you replay the game with the changes while going further than last time. It would also give a clear bonus to subscribers, and I could release Beryl publicly. That is not really possible before the end of the month, though.

I'm trying to write scenes and make content on the side, because that's the next thing I want after I'm done with the above changes.
This would also require a level up on the side of the maze. Once you get strong enough, you'll want to face a stronger maze, with stronger encounters, but also giving more exp.

An alternative would be to publish a preview update for subscribers only, with the new gameplay, so you can play with the new version without having to wait more, while I'm working on new growth stages. At which point I may release it publicly, with proper added growth content on top of the gameplay changes.

Anyway, here you go folks, for anyone who read all that, feel free to give comments and feedback.