Build 26389305

Hello, this is Studio LEF.

While gathering feedback on the game, we learned that, contrary to our expectations, the game's balance and progression curve felt far too slow and repetitive.

Our statistics also showed that playtime was much longer than we had anticipated, and that many players were dropping off partway through without ever finishing the game.

This is clearly a failure of our QA, and we sincerely apologize to everyone who was disappointed by the game.

To address these issues, we've rolled out the following major update:

• The total number of upgrades has been reduced to about 80% of what it was. Many slow, repetitive upgrades have been merged into one or two upgrades whose effects you can clearly feel.

• Key high-value upgrades now appear earlier and more often.

• The order of some skill tree branches has been changed, fixing sections where progress suddenly slowed to a crawl.

• Most upgrades have been made more effective and cheaper. The game now moves at a much faster pace.

• Sessions are now noticeably shorter. Before the update, an average session lasted over 1 minute 30 seconds, and late-game sessions often ran well past 2 minutes. Now the average session is under 1 minute, and even in the very late game, sessions last around 1 minute 30 seconds.

• Total playtime has also been cut significantly, from 4–4.5 hours before the update to 2–2.5 hours now. We understand that some of you may be unhappy about the shorter playtime, and we sympathize. However, we decided that no matter how long a game is, it means nothing if the game itself is boring and not fun. To make up for it, we plan to add more playable characters in future updates so you can enjoy multiple playthroughs.

This update directly affects the in-game skill tree.

If you were in the middle of a playthrough, your progress and save data may change.

Specifically, the following may happen:

• Some upgrades you've never seen before may appear.

• Some upgrades you never bought may already be purchased.

• More of the skill tree may be unlocked than before.

• Some upgrades you already bought may have been removed.

• Some Steam achievements may be unlocked automatically. However, achievements you've already earned will not be revoked for any reason.

For the best experience, we recommend starting a new game, but you're welcome to continue with your existing save data if you prefer. So far, we haven't found any cases of errors or lost save data, but if you do run into any such issues, please post on the Steam Community at any time and we'll do our best to provide technical support.

Besides the skill tree balance changes, there are several other updates:

1. The Eruption Missile skill fired by the Tunnel Borer has been completely reworked. Instead of launching small shells in an arc as before, it now brings a rain of fire down from the sky across the entire city. It's now a far more intuitive and appealing skill.

2. An opening and an ending scene have been added, giving you a clearer goal for clearing the game.

3. You can now turn the particle effects of explosive buildings on or off in the options.

We are fully aware that, after a game's release, an update that touches players' save data is very risky and something that should be avoided at all costs. However, with serious balance problems being reported, we couldn't simply leave things as they were, so we made the decision despite the risks.

We kindly ask for your understanding, and thank you for playing our game.

P.S. This update does not include the new playable characters. We'd be grateful if you could wait just a little longer.

Studio LEF