Dear Blockbusters,
It's been a minute - we've taken time to plan our path through Early Access to v1.0 and each week we're making progress, dedicated to making TopplePOP the best it can be.
Some of the things we're working on will take a bit longer before they're ready. But right now we have some quality of life improvements and relatively minor updates while we work on the big stuff:
New Party Mutators
Try these out via the Mutators dropdown in Party Mix settings:
Battle Arena
Competitive purists and fans of head-to-head battles - this one's for you! No pre-existing puzzle, no Grumbles to rescue; focus solely on planning chain-reactions to bury your opponents in garbage! This is just one of several ways we plan to expand and improve on the core gameplay across all game modes.
Windy Weather
Every so often, gusty winds push your character and blocks around.
This can hinder, or sometimes help your game - check the forecast and plan ahead!
Optional Auto-balancing
Always winning against your friends? Want to keep things interesting?
Designed for casual games to subtly level the playing field if any player leads by more than 2 wins. It won't invert an outright win / loss, but should help keep things interesting! (Toggle auto-balance via Mutators in party Mix Settings)
General Improvements
Better Bombs
A shorter fuse, flashier explosions, and they fit more easily into tight gaps - perfect for blasting through those tough Temple puzzles!
- additional variety in puzzle layouts for beach, city & stadium
- added temporary signposts for content coming soon - more Story Chapters & Battle Opponents to come in Early Access
Bugfixes:
- fix daily/weekly challenge level rotation not ticking-over correctly while in-game
- fix so ice blocks take correct damage from explosives
- fix so wild stars are no longer included in 1-color puzzles
- fixes to Control Remapping
- fixes to Localization for Control Mapping UI
- fixed UI font missing glyphs in some localizations
What's next you ask? We've been planning ahead toward v1.0
Our Goals in Early Access
- Stability
While online games are good for the most part, some multiplayer experiences are less than ideal - we're working to find and fix these. Thanks to all our players who've helped us track down bugs via the discord #bugs channel!
- Satisfying Story Puzzles
Earlier, during prototype testing - some players found Story Mode Levels too hard and complicated. Recently, others find Story levels too simple and unsatisfying. It's a balancing act, but we're planning changes to help every player to have a satisfying Story experience.
- More Story Chapters
Continue the adventure through the melting Polar zone, the thorny Forest zone and more...! We're working to make each zone feel unique with interesting gameplay differences highlighted in Story puzzles.
- Improved PvE experience
Our CPU players could be smarter. They will be getting a significant upgrade to be more reminiscent of a human player with adaptable behavior - able to rescue faster, recover from near-wipeouts and build big chain reactions.
These new bots should provide a tougher challenge for skilled players and those wishing to hone their competitive blockbusting skills.
- Improved Battle Mode
Head-to-head battles could be more tactical, so we're leaning in to gameplay changes focused on careful planning of big chain reactions to topple your opponents.
- More Party Mutators
Plenty more ways to spice up multiplayer parties - got ideas? Share them with us on discord!
- Spectacular Story Mode Bossfights...
... more info coming soon - gotta keep some surprises in store...! ;)
What do you think? Are there other things we should focus on? Let us know via the comments / on our discord we'd love to hear from you.
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If you'd like to help us make TopplePOP great - please consider:
✨ Share your feedback via an honest Steam Review - every opinion counts and helps us improve the game!
✨ Yet to get the game? Wishlists are a big help too!
Why this matters:
🔹 More reviews & wishlists = more visibility to grow your TopplePOP community!
🔹 Your feedback directly shapes our Early Access updates (roadmap coming soon!)
Over the coming months we'll be fixing bugs and adding features often.
Please show your support and help us share TopplePOP with everyone!