Work on the game is going a bit slower than I would like to due to some real life circumstances. That being said, it doesn't mean I don't have any news to share.
As I already mentioned before, the EX-4 stage is the next one planned for release. Since this is an EX stage, you may be expecting that this stage will be something else compared to the usual formula - and if so, you would be completely right.
The EX-4 stage, which will take the name "Temple of Logic", is going to be a Sokoban stage. Yes, I am dead serious here - you won't encounter the big scale optimization style of gameplay the game has already used you to, but instead you will get block pushing... kind of. The core reason why a stage like this is possible is the existence of orbs - especially the force orb. Here are two puzzles you will be able to encounter here:
Of course, later puzzles will feature other types of orbs too, as well as stuff like keys, pickaxes and held items.
If you look at the presented stuff carefully, you may also find that there are more orbs than necessary to reach the end - each puzzle will be set up in a way where you can save one orb before continuing to the next floor. That doesn't mean you will be allowed to just break things wide open - all the resources you will have will be zeroed between floors - but each orb you'll save will give you a very noticeable bonus to your power.
The stage will be most likely set up in a way where you will be able to obtain 10 gems (★+5 grade) from it - which sure, is a modest amount for people at the current top end of metaprogression, but it should still be nice enough. Also, if you don't like sokobans, you will be able to get to the crown pretty quickly and not lose too much in terms of the main metaprogression resource.
A game called The Blood Mage 2 has released just a few days ago - it is a pretty fun take on the magic tower gameplay that leans pretty hard into the HP-as-a-resource mechanic. I definitely recommend checking it out, especially that you can get it as part of the bundle with Towers of Scale. You can find the bundle deal here: Magic Tower Like - Towers of Scale & The Blood Mage 2