Be prepared! Mech Shuffle will be getting the first of several content patches over the course of 2023. I am hoping to get it out sometime this month. Here are some of the things you can expect to see:
- New Game Mechanic: Card Cycling (right click a card to spend an action point and cycle)
- New Reward Event Type: Pilot Events (upgrade pilot cards, get new ones)
- New Pilot Cards
- New Encounter Events
- Improved Save System
As well as some minor changes:
- A smarter, more intelligent AI
- Pilot Pack Changes: Sherman and Emrys
- Rewards in Mech Bays will now always be different
- Custom game cursor
Card Cycling
The new Card Cycling mechanic will Increase the decision space for players. You can now choose to spend an action point to discard any card in hand (by right clicking on it). This cycles the card by discarding it and immediately drawing a new card to replace the old one.
Now you can choose to not play cards: to conserve heat, to force your opponent to play first, or to draw that combo card hiding in your deck. Of course, action points are already a precious commodity, needed to fire your weapons, defend against attacks, sink heat, etc. This means that the choice to cycle comes with its own cost.
Cycling also increases the design space by allowing new gameplay and card designs for the future. Ordinarily, you can Card Cycle to draw a card. However, there is a new token type being added to the game to take advantage of cycling:
When you play a token with the cycle symbol, it will enter a side board with all of your cycle effects (rather than going immediately into play). When you later cycle a card, all of the tokens in your side board will enter play. This lets you use actions to stockpile effects for later use. You can build powerful combos this way, or use cycling to counter the more aggressive decks.
Pilot Pack Changes
There will be many new cards added to the game with this patch, most of them making use of the new Card Cycle mechanic. Two Pilot Packs are being updated to use the cycling mechanic.
Sherman is losing Pilot Skill: Tactics in favour of Pilot Skill: Synaptic Savant. Since Sherman is unlocked early in Mech Shuffle, this change will give new players a chance to play around with the cycle mechanic as a defensive option.
Emrys is getting a major overhaul, with three new cards. Emrys will still be the energy weapons specialist, with Pilot Skill: Adaptive Alignment, but now she has the skills to build a powerful side board to enable safe swing turns (Pilot Skill: Foresight) where she quickly dumps excess heat (Pilot Skill: Heat Cycling), and sets up for a powerful laser blast on the following turn.
New Event Type: Pilot Events
Previously, it was impossible to upgrade your Pilot Cards! Now, your pilots can grow along with your mechs.
The new Pilot Events add a much needed way to improve your pilot skills. A Pilot Event will give you the ability to upgrade your existing pilot cards, or to add new pilot cards to your deck. The quality of the new cards will depend on your pilot level. Higher level pilots will have a better chance at more upgraded card options.
Feedback
As always, this is a great place to leave me feedback for the things you want to see next for Mech Shuffle! Many of the additions and changes coming in this patch are happening because of comments, requests, and suggestions from players.
Leave a Steam review for the Mech Shuffle if you haven't already. Every review matters, and helps us to grow the game.
Thank you everyone for playing Mech Shuffle. Now let's make the game even better for 2023.