Hi everyone!


The launch has been going well so far, and now I'm back working on the next region!
I know many of you have already cleared the heroic mode. I'll try to not keep you waiting for too long :P
(Don't forget to try out the other characters and fire types!)

Also, I've read some suggestions about gameplay or accessibility. Some of them are already in the game! You can find them at the bottom of the settings page.

Does the timer make you feel stressed? You can turn it off!
Do the fog color or flashing monsters hurt your eyes? Turn them off!
Does recalling blocks take too much time? Switch it to the right mouse button for instant recall.
Does the moving background in...uh...a certain level make you feel uncomfortable? You can stop it from moving.

For players using window mode or multiple monitors, you can uncheck the Lock Cursor option to move the cursor freely.


I hope these options can help you enjoy the game more, and feel free to let me know if there's any other
suggestions!


- Refi

Hi everybody!

After 1.5 years working on the game, I'm happy to announce...



At the start of Early Access, here's what you'll see:

• 2 Playable Regions: Misty Forest and Bone Desert
  
• 26 Towers (18 in demo)
  
• 45 Relics (16 in demo)
  
• Tower upgrades: All the towers larger than 1x1 have 2 upgrades to choose from!
  
• 3 Extra Characters / 2 Extra Flame types

Emberward has grown a lot since the demo launch, and I really appreciate all your help in making this game better! You can join the Discord server[discord.gg] for more development updates. And please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any feedback.

Small update!
This patch is mostly bug fixes, with some design changes.

• Players can now start building towers even if they don't have enough coins, and build them once they have enough.
  
• Treasure chests now offer a choice between three bundles instead of just one card.
  
• Poison Dart Towers will now skip monsters whose accumulated poison exceeds their health.
  
• Scrap Tower rework: Scrap Towers now have a 30-ammo limit and will be destroyed when the ammo is exhausted. Damage and fire rate have been slightly increased to compensate for the new mechanics.
  (The purpose of this change is to enhance the strategic value of the Scrap Tower. When you notice an area is about to be breached, the Scrap Tower serves as an excellent emergency defense!)
  
• Scrap Rune: Now spawns up to 5 scrap towers on the block.

• Time-Saving Device: Now gives 3 coins for every 10 seconds remaining on the countdown timer (up from 1)

• Update: Fixed an issue where Japanese text was using the wrong font in some UI elements.
  (Japanese uses a separate font so I might have missed setting it up in some UI. Let me know if there's anymore I'm missing!)
  
• Fixed a bug where opening a treasure chest at the end of a level could freeze the game.
  
• Fixed an issue where runes could be clicked before they appeared when selecting them.
  
• Fixed a problem where tower placed on moving minecarts sometimes fell off.
  
• Fixed a glitch where monsters would float when passing a treasure chest.
  
• Fixed an issue where the altar could repeatedly remove block cards under specific circumstances.

Hi everyone! It's been a while since the last update.

Following the Steam Next Fest, I received tons of feedback and suggestions, so I've been busy tweaking the game and have added many new features. This update includes a massive amount of content, so please try it out even if you've played the demo before! (and let me know what you think about these changes!)

Also, this will be the last major update to the demo before the Early Access launch. I'm working super hard to finish all the new features, and I'll share more news when it's ready for the launch!

• New Tower: Lightning Ball Tower - Shoots lightning ball in a straight line.
  (This is a new type of tower so I’d love to get more feedback on it!)
  
• Path Preview: You can now see changes to paths immediately while building blocks.
  
• Block Runes: After acquiring a new block, you can enhance it with runes that offer various abilities.
  
• Treasure Chests: Monsters will randomly drop treasure chests in battles, which you can open to choose from getting coins, healing, or various buff cards!
  
• Skill Button: The "Overcharge” ability has been changed to a special button instead of providing an buff card every turn.
  
• Faster Game Speed: There are now four speed settings (Slow/Normal/Fast/Ultra Fast), corresponding to the Z, X, C, V keys on the keyboard. (I know 1, 2, 3, 4 would be easier to press, but those are already used for the tower buttons.)
  
• Tower Statistics: By clicking on a tower in-game, you can view the total damage and kill count it has achieved.
  
• Photo Mode(?): At the end of a level, clicking the "View Map" button will temporarily hide the UI, allowing you to take photos of your completed mazes.
  
• Talent Page Rework: Most damage-related talents have been removed, and some talents now have multiple levels.
  - Note: Due to these talent adjustments, all talents will be reset and all experience points refunded after the update.
  
• Added game accessibility/customization options:
  - Remove countdown timer: Once activated, there will be no countdown timers in the levels, nor will time-related items appear.
  - Black fog: When enabled, the fog at the map edges will be set to black.
  - Reduce flashing effects: This can reduce the flickering effects of monsters and some special effects. (Honestly, I'm not sure what's the intensity threshold for people to start feeling unconfortable. If you still experience uncomfortable flashing effects in the game after enabling this, please fill out a report to let me know!)
  - Block recall button: Allows changing the block recall button to “right mouse click”

• Maps:
  - Slightly reduced the complexity of map paths.
  - Adjusted the rewards for regular levels, some of which now include "Tower + Artifact"
  - A tooltip appears when the mouse hovers over a special map cell, informing players of its function.
  
• Academy:
  - Now ensures that the same tower combinations do not appear.
  - Allows you to preview artifact options when selecting tower.
  
• Shop:
  - Added more items for sale and a reroll function, plus new talents that can apply discounts to shop items.
  - Added healing items for sale.
  - When you leave the shop on the map page, you can return to it as long as you haven't moved on to the next location.
  
• Barracks:
  - "Do not use ___ tower" type missions will now fail only if the tower is still present on the field during battle, or if it’s built during the battle.
  (So you don’t fail the quest if you accidently build it, as long as it’s not in battle.)
  
• Altar:
  - The STRENGTHEN option now also restores 5 health points in addition to increasing the maximum health.
  
• Gameplay:
  - Now you can see what monsters are coming in the next wave.
  - Clicking on a monster in the field will display its health and attack power.
  - Elite monsters reaching the fire source will now deal 5 damage.
  - Hold mouse button to recall blocks is now faster, and you can now switch to using the right mouse button to recall instantly in the game options.
  - Added new indication for the Drone tower detection range.
  - Added a new menu for changing tower’s default priorities.
  - Pressing spacebar in battle will now switch game speed between current speed and slowest speed.
  - Redesigned poison damage. Now the tick damage increases with each attack, and deals full damage much faster.
  - Changed the visual effects for corrupted monsters.
  
• Sound Effects:
  - Now the default volume for the game is 50%
  - Adjusted the sound effects of the snowball tower.

• Flame Tower: The flame tower will now continuously attack passing enemies without cooldown. The damage is lowered to maintain the same damage output.
  
• Chaos Transmuter: After transformation, the sell price of towers is slightly lower.
  
• Giant Dice Tower sell price adjustment: Lowered sell price for lower rolls.
  
• Snowball Tower: attack range slightly reduced.

• Fixed an issue where minecart animations in boss levels were not moving smoothly.
  
• Corrected the Japanese translation of the "Time-Saving Device."
  
• Fixed a problem that prevent player to build wall block near some wooden fences.
  
• Resolved issues where some towers could not be built using keyboard shortcuts.
  
• Fixed a problem where some sounds would disappear when there were too many simultaneous sound effects.
  
• Corrected an issue where the wrong numbers were displayed on the Giant Dice Tower when affected by the Chaos Transmuter.

Streaming the demo gameplay for Steam Next Fest!

The Steam Next Fest is about to begin!!

For us Indie game developers, this event has a huge impact on the visibility of our games and is the most important opportunity before the official release. If you enjoy the demo, PLEASE help me recommend it to your friends, streamers or youtubers!

(BTW, join the Discord[discord.gg] if you want to discuss more about the game!)

This update primarily focuses on fixing some issues and adding more QOL updates. Initially, I didn't plan to add anything new to maintain stability, but I'm curious to see everyone's reaction to this tower, so…

• Giant Dice Tower: A 20-sided 2x2 dice tower, where the number you roll determines its attack speed! A roll of 20 on the Giant Dice Tower results in crazy DPS (and a little celebration!), but rolling a 1... even recycling it will be a problem.

• Completed the Japanese translation of the recent additions to the demo version.
  
• When constructing a tower on a range buff tile, the increased range will now be displayed.
  
• Towers that cannot or do not need to set priority targets will no longer have a target selection menu.
  
• Changed the keyboard number keys for building turrets.

• Slightly enhanced some relics with weaker effects:
  
  
  • Wealth Vault: At the start of each round, you earn interest equal to [5% → 10%] of your current gold.
    
  • Royal Command: Recover 3 health points for the fire source when passing a level, but limits your preparation time to [15 → 25] seconds.
    
  • Flamekeeper's guard: At the end of a level, if you receive [1 point → 3 points or less] of damage throughout the battle, recover 1 life point.
    
  • Adventurer's Legacy: You receive an additional [15 → 20] gold coins at the start of each level.
    
  • Chaos Transmuter: At the end of each wave, [3 → 5] of your towers will randomly transform into another tower of the same size..
    (Actually, this relic wasn't particularly weak, but many players said it was fun, so I made it even more RNG!)

• Fixed an issue where the "Chaos Transmuter" sometimes did not transform the correct number of towers.
  
• Fixed an UI issue with the route display on the map page.
  
• Resolved an issue where adjusting window size in windowed mode would revert upon scene switch.

Streaming the demo gameplay for Steam Next Fest!

Feel free to ask me any questions about the game!

Happy New Year everyone! 🎉

This update is mainly focused on the Roguelite elements in the game, adding an relic system and new map nodes.

Since it's a new feature with a significant impact on the game, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the relic system! Are there any effects you particularly like/dislike, or do you have any other ideas? Feel free to leave a comment or tell me on Discord! I will adjust the direction of the relic system in future developments based on everyone's feedback

• New System: Relics!
  
  Relics obtained during the adventure can provide various aids, or change how you plan your strategy. In addition to one given at the start of the game in the academy, you can also acquire other relics in corrupted levels, altars, and shops.
  
  
• New Map Page Elements!
  
  
  • Altars: Offer Ember Stones or life points at altars in exchange for the help you need.
    
  • Training Ground: Choose the mission you want to challenge! Complete it in the next level to get rewards.
• Now, in addition to getting a tower when passing a level, you will also receive an additional wall card. If it's a corrupted level, you can choose an extra relic.
  
• Workshop and buff cards temporarily removed, will return after adjusting mechanisms.
  
• Added a new scene!

• Now you can start the battle by holding down the space bar.
  
• The shop now sells better stuff.
  
• Increased options on the map.
  
• The starting set of all T-shaped blocks is back, but some have grown a bit!
  
• Added a hint for switching the priority of all towers at the same time (right-click on the tower building button!!)
  
• When choosing a tower after passing a level, you can now see your cards and towers.

• Slightly reduced the attack speed of Dice Tower and Snowball Tower.
  
• Increased the effect of the talent "Poison Mastery", making the poison effects cause damage faster.

• Fixed the issue where the block disappears when recalling it with a full hand.
  
• Corrected the issue with Sniper Tower default attack target not being "highest health".
  
• Some minor performance optimizations.

• Some players experience fps drops on the home page when V-Sync is turned on.
  
• Received player reports about the camera moving randomly when placing objects in-game, currently investigating the cause.