Hi everyone!
It has been one month since we released the demo for Stack Order, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who has played and shared their feedback on Discord and social media. As a two-person studio, your help in identifying bugs and clunky mechanics is invaluable to us.
Important: Save Data Reset
Because we have significantly reworked the core gameplay and the tutorial, we have decided to wipe save data from previous versions. This ensures you can properly experience the new combat resolution and tutorial flow. We recommend using the Fast Mode in the options if you want to speed the animations and the overall flow of combat.
System & Gameplay Updates
Global HP: Bosses now have a global HP pool that determines their defeat.
Reworked Tutorial: Updated to reflect the new HP changes and clarify how "Broken Abilities" function.
Hold-to-Activate: To prevent accidental misclicks, activating a stack now requires a "hold" input instead of a single click.
Dialogue Fix: NPCs will now correctly trigger their intended dialogue the first time you meet them.
Boss Healing: Healing effects now only restore a boss's global HP rather than all individual abilities.
Shield Mechanics: Boss shields now deplete at the start of their turn.
Targeted Card Drops: Boss cards are now earned by breaking specific boss abilities rather than through random drops.
Difficulty Scaling: Tier 3 difficulty has been adjusted to increase boss HP.
Boss Balancing
The Queen: "Royal Persuasion" has been nerfed and now only inflicts 1 Corruption on the player.
Card & Item Reworks
Serrated Slash: Now inflicts 2 Wounds (+1 per Zeal stack on the player). Upgraded version inflicts +2 Wounds per Zeal stack. It no longer deals direct damage, making it a dedicated tool for Wound stacking.
Collectionite (Rework): Now triggers if exactly 3 of your stacks are filled at the start of the turn: Gain 1 Armor, inflict 1 Wound, and heal by 1.
Bug Fixes
Fixed incorrect damage previews for stacks.
Fixed an issue where the stack preview would occasionally fail to appear at some point.
Fixed NPC interaction bugs that prevented players from re-accessing menus or getting locked in rooms.
Fixed an issue where certain cards would trigger instantly rather than waiting for their place in the stack.
Corrected various typos and translation errors.
Visual & Audio Additions
New animations for the start of combat and victory.
Reworked the Climber NPC menu with new art, animations, and functionality.
Added various SFX for game transitions and UI interactions.
Added specific indicators for post-fight rewards to distinguish between boss cards and character cards.
New "Loot" animation when breaking a boss ability.
New "Shield In/Out" animations for both players and bosses.
Added a dedicated icon for Wounds in the stack previsualization.
Thank you again for playing the demo and following our development, it truly means the world to us!