A blizzard has hit the isle and covered it with snow!

To celebrate winter and the end of the year, the Daily Defense will take place in a snowy visual backdrop.

This event, which does not impact gameplay, will last until early January. It requires a connection to the internet when launching the game.

Thanks for playing & happy holidays,
Dan

Today’s patch adds Simplified Chinese localization to the game, along with a few other smaller features, improvements, and bug fixes.

Please leave a comment here, on Discord, or through email if you encounter any issues.

Thanks for playing,
Dan

• Added localization for Simplified Chinese
  
• Added a popup with a few stats to the daily mode

• The Replication relic will not appear in daily mode anymore

• Increased the score counting animation speed after a game
  
• Changed the color of the ‘start new game button’ to red to indicate it will override the existing save game

• Fixed an issue that prevented the game from launching properly with corrupted save files
  
• Added a missing description to the dice roll event
  
• Fixed a bug that would submit daily mode scores from the previous day
  
• Fixed the screen shake button not displaying properly in the options menu
  
• Clarified the French localization for Horticulture

A new guild has been added to Isle of Arrows! Pathfinders are able to bend the rules that apply to building paths but must deal with an increased amount of path tiles.

• Pathfinders Guild: Pathfinders are able to extend paths both ways. Adding path tiles behind a compass stone automatically moves the compass stone. Additionally, Pathfinders are allowed to cut off path tiles. A yellow highlight will warn players if they are about to do so.
  As a drawback, Pathfinders must deal with an increased amount of path tiles. They receive extra path tiles through the regular tile drawing mechanic.
  
• Added 4 new daily modifiers: Isolated, Quagmire, One Hit Wonder, Double Damage

A yellow highlight warns players if they are about to cut off a path

• High grounds now extend the range of flags
  
• Plaza now shows its range preview correctly when placing over coins, treasure chests and other pickups
  
• Added a door to the Fire Blast tower to better indicate its direction
  
• Changed the location of the skip button in the Beggar event to prevent unwanted skipping
  
• Card inventory button now closes all menus instead of going back to options
  
• Added a small visual effect to the loop tower to indicate its clockwise motion

• Reduced ring of ruin coins from 2 to 1
  
• Reduced additional bombs from the Detonator daily modifier to 25

• Fixed a bug that would prevent certain gaps in paths to be closed after destroying path tiles
  
• Fixed a bug with gauntlet completion percentage going over 100
  
• Fixed bug with the guild/modifier information not closing properly when hitting escape
  
• Fixed bug with starting lives not set properly
  
• Added a potential fix for a save file corruption bug happening during power outages
  
• Spike trap is now visible under enemy spawn point
  
• Fixed a visual glitch with the training missions UI

In other news, Isle of Arrows is releasing on mobile this Thursday, November 3. Please note that while the leaderboards are shared between platforms, Isle of Arrows does not offer cross-save or cross-play functionality.
Pre-orders are now available for both iOS[apps.apple.com] and Android[play.google.com]


I hope you enjoy this new update. As always, please leave your feedback and bug reports in the comments or on Discord.

Dan

Today’s patch introduces new content specifically designed for new players. Since the release of the game, I’ve received a lot of feedback about the experience new players have in regards to the game’s complexity and difficulty. In order to improve the learning curve, a new tutorial campaign has been added: Training Grounds.

The Training Grounds is specifically designed with new players in mind

A short new campaign that will act as the new tutorial for the game. Training Grounds consists of a limited set of tiles and cards from the core set which aims to reduce the complexity and difficulty for newcomers.
The existing tutorial popups have been redistributed across the campaign to avoid an overwhelming amount of information upfront. Additionally, a new set of training missions help players learn the game’s core mechanics.
Both Training Grounds and Archer’s Oath will be unlocked at the start of the game.

• Towers now highlight which path tiles are inside the given tower's range. Similar to this, traps, flags, and buildings that interact with other tiles show their effect dynamically during placement
  
• The in-game options menu and game information menu have been split into 2 different menus. Clicking the guild banner will now open a menu that shows the current guild and active game modifiers.
  
• The unlock structure has been slightly modified: Daily Defense is now unlocked by completing Training Grounds, Gauntlet is now unlocked by completing the Archer’s Oath.
  If you've unlocked Daily Mode prior to this update and would like to play it without completing the Training Grounds, please get in touch at gridpopgames@gmaill.com
  
• Added an option to disable clouds for people with simulation sickness and/or low end computers
  
• Added an option to disable all keyboard inputs as a potential fix for a rare issue with camera drift
  
• Included the subtle camera sway when turning off camera shake
  
• Renamed Geysir tower to Geyser tower
  
• A few encounters have their continue button renamed to skip to avoid confusion
  
• The full version number of the game is now visible in the options menu

The new tower range dispay shows which path tiles are within reach

• Lowered content unlock requirements to wave 30 for guilds and wave 35 for campaigns
  
• Wardens now cannot spawn before wave 25 (was 24)
  
• Changed the poison trap’s element to nature
  
• Removed the path tile from the epic (purple) ice trap card

• Fixed a bug with the German localization for Hall of Flames
  
• Fixed a wrong translation for the French localization of the Moat achievement
  
• Fixed a issue that would sometimes show the wrong ground graphics when placing tiles
  
• Fixed a bug with Toxic Leaf that made it apply to an additional enemy each wave
  
• Fixed a bug that would not update Geyser towers after choosing the Dehydration bonus card
  
• Fixed a graphical glitch that would make grass blades stick through dig sites and other tile modifiers

Today's update further focuses on gameplay balance, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements.

A few balancing changes have been made to the Merchant's guild. These changes should help remove some of the variance, but I want to have a more in depth look at the guild in the future to make it less dependant on starting luck.

The update also adds a few more keybindings, as these have been requested frequently by Steam Deck players. Eventually, I'd like to implement proper key mapping support.

Thanks for playing and please leave a comment or join the Discord if you have any feedback!

• Added the targeting priority for all towers in their tooltips
  
• Added explicit stat percentages and damage numbers to a few bonus cards and tiles
  
• Made the fast forward toggle persistent across games
  
• Slightly changed the wording on the Imitation bonus card to make it clear that it only works with groups of exactly 3 towers
  
• Increased Daily Defense leaderboard size by 20 entries
  
• Added a few more key bindings: Place tile (enter), next tile (n), start next wave (v). These were requested for remapping by Steam Deck users and will be replaced with proper key mapping support in the future.

Towers now always show their targeting priority

• Merchants start each game with a bag of coins already on the isle, maximum number of bags allowed on the isle raised to 10 (was 6)
  
• Merchants starting coins increased by 1
  
• Slightly tweaked the Merchants starting isle to avoid unfair and frustrating setups
  
• Slightly adjusted the number of enemies spawning in the Arboretum and Burning Embers campaigns
  
• Removed the treasure chest from the Cannoneers' random events to avoid nearly unreachable treasures outside the isle
  
• Legacy tower attack cooldown reduced from 1 second to 0.75 seconds
  
• Ice trap slow debuff duration increased from 1.2 seconds to 1.4 seconds
  
• Lowered inferno stone damage buff from 0.3 to 0.25
  
• Moat tower now targets the enemy with the most health

• Fixed an issue that would prevent the Toxic Leaf bonus card from working as intended
  
• Fixed a bug with the Ignition bonus card that prevented fire traps from activating immediately
  
• Fixed a mistake with the French localization of the Overflow bonus card

Thanks everyone for playing Isle of Arrows and submitting your feedback and bug reports. The reviews, messages, and comments have been very helpful!
Exactly a week has passed since the release of the game and while I'm still a bit overwhelmed trying to catch up to all the messages, I thought I'd give a quick update on the continued development of the game.

Besides bug fixes and minor improvements, I want to focus work on two major points for the time being:

• Improving the experience for new players and reducing overall friction and frustration caused by balance and RNG
  
• Planning out the future of the game and how to expand it going forward

Today’s patch focuses on bug fixes and some rebalancing of the early game content to make the game's difficulty curve less steep. In future patches, I will be looking at balancing for mid and late game content as well.

• Fast forward mode is now always available, even to players that have not yet finished the first campaign

• Lowered the overall difficulty of the Archer’s Oath campaign by slightly reducing the number of enemies that spawn
  
• Rearranged some of the unlocks of the Archer’s Oath campaign. A few powerful cards have been moved to unlock earlier in the progression
  
• Founder’s Guild starting resources increased by 1 each
  
• Treasure chest rewards have been slightly increased and now grant one of the following items: bonus cards, 3 bombs, 4 bridges, or 5 coins
  
• Brutes and Executioners now won’t spawn before wave 15 and 18 respectively
  
• Removed number of water tiles attached to the Sniper Tower by 1
  
• Dehydrate now always rounds up in case of an odd number of water tiles

• Fixed a bug that would soft lock the game when getting a tower from the magic wheel without having room to place it
  
• Fixed a bug that would mess up a tile’s orientation when quickly rotating it
  
• Removed Masterplan from the Cannoneers’ pool of bonus cards and clarified its wording
  
• Fixed a localization issue that would show broken UI when clicking on a crystal while playing as the Cannoneers
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed arched paths to be built over crystals
  
• Reworked the wording on the Cannoneers guild to explain the absence of flags
  
• Added a potential fix for an issue that can corrupt save files when a power outage occurs

Thanks for checking out Isle of Arrows! This post aims to showcase some of the features of the game and give details on a few gameplay mechanics.

I hope this also helps you decide if Isle of Arrows is a game for you or not.

So here are 5 tips that help you getting started with Isle of Arrows:



Isle of Arrows combines Tower Defense with tile placement mechanics, often seen board games. This adds near endless replayability, but also makes the game different from most other Tower Defense games.

Unlike many other Tower Defense games, Isle of Arrows focuses on the strategic placement of tiles, rather than managing/upgrading individual towers.
Each tile has a different effect: towers attack the invaders. Roads build out the path the enemies walk on. Flags extend the isle, giving you more space to build. Gardens reward you with coins. Taverns boost all adjacent archery towers. And so on.

Tiles can be placed anywhere on the isle, as long as they are adjacent to existing tiles. Consider the position and rotation of each tile carefully!



Every tower, building, trap, and road is drawn from a random stack of tiles. You don’t have control over the order and type of tiles that are drawn, but the randomization guarantees a certain amount of each type, to keep things fair and balanced.

You always see what tile is coming up next, which helps you plan ahead. Spending 2 coins allows you to skip a tile you might have no use for.
To beat all waves and reach the top of the leaderboard, strategic thinking, RNG mitigation, and min-maxing are required!

Each type of tile is guaranteed to be drawn after a certain amount of tiles have passed. If you haven’t seen a flag tile in a while, one is just about to show up!



Tower upgrades and improvements are not bought with in-game currency, but are acquired through bonus cards, relics, and upgrade buildings, such as the tavern.

Some buildings improve the damage of adjacent towers, others change their targeting priorities.



Once you’ve completed the first Campaign of the game, you unlock the fast forward button, which allows you to speed up the enemy waves.

Make use of the fast forward button, but don't rush when placing tiles!



The composition of enemy waves is different in each playthrough. The red circle above the enemy spawn point shows the amount of enemies that will attack. Clicking the circle brings up a detailed view that shows the exact types and amount of enemies of the next wave.

As the game progresses, stronger enemies will spawn. Some enemies have special abilities and behaviours