Lock and load, everyone! Our next major playtest is officially on the horizon. We’ve been heads-down in the lab, and this update brings some of the most significant changes to the core gameplay loop yet. This playtest has some of the most fundamental shifts in how the game plays, feels, and rewards your progress.
The Quick Intel:
Existing Players Early Access: Check the playtest page; you're getting in a few days early.
Public Open Playtest: Starts May 23rd.
Major Features: Weapon attachments, a roguelite-inspired loot system, new instructional and smarter AI.
Performance: Major optimizations, including a focus on Steam Deck compatibility.
Up until now, the weapons you found were mostly "what you see is what you get." That changes with this update. We’ve introduced a comprehensive weapon customization system that lets you tweak your arsenal mid-run. As you explore the map, you’ll find various attachments, everything from optics to barrels, scattered in the world.
To support this, we’ve completely overhauled the inventory screen. It’s now the hub for your build, allowing you to drag and drop attachments onto your weapons to adapt to whatever the next room throws at you. Whether you want to build a long-range precision kit or a high-velocity room clearer, the tools are now in your hands.
We wanted the act of finding gear to feel more like a deliberate choice and less like a roll of the dice. Taking a page out of the traditional roguelite playbook, we’ve reworked our chest system. When you stumble upon a chest now, you won’t just get a random drop; you’ll be presented with three distinct choices. Some might be raw stat boosts, while others will be the attachments you need to finish your weapon build. This adds a layer of strategy to every floor - do you take the immediate power boost, or take the weapon specific attachment and hope you find it's counter part.
While we’re adding a lot, we’re also temporarily taking something away. We’ve decided to close the Shop for this playtest. We aren’t quite satisfied with the current balance of attachment costs, and the broader trade system we’re designing is still in the workshop. Don't be surprised if the Shopkeeper makes a cameo later in the playtest, but for now, you’ll be relying entirely on your scavenging skills.
It’s not just the players getting upgrades. Our enemy AI has received a significant boost, making encounters feel more dynamic and less predictable. We’ve also gone back to the drawing board with our initial tutorials. We know our game can be a lot to take in, so we’ve reworked the instructional flow to ensure new players can get through the "how-to" and into the action as quickly as possible.
Finally, we’ve spent a lot of time under the hood. Performance is a huge priority for us, and we’ve been optimizing across the board. We want this playtest to be the smoothest one yet, and for our handheld fans, we’re happy to say we’ve been putting in the work to make sure this build feels great on the Steam Deck.