Hi, it's the solo developer of NovaShift again. This is the biggest update since launch: more to do inside every universe, plus Linux and macOS. Your Keys, stars, shards and upgrades carry over.
Red portals and eight bonus games
- After stages 5 and 10 of each universe, a red portal opens next to the exit. Step in and you play a short bonus game. There are eight of them, two per universe: Number Snake, Number Breaker, Retro Highway, Run & Gun, Mine Cart Escape, Lava Climb, Gravity Flip and Hive Worm.
- Survive one minute to clear it. If you're still alive, you can keep going up to two minutes for extra shards.
- One, two or three stars pay 300 / 450 / 600 shards (more on the two hardest difficulties), so a bonus game is worth the detour.
- Lava Climb gives you three hearts and a small map that shows how close the lava is.
Challenges, BOLT and the bosses
- Challenges: up to three stages per universe carry a hard challenge: defeat a number of enemies, collect crystals, take down elites, or a 10-second kill streak. They ask for most of what a stage throws at you. Each one pays shards and one of four trophies per universe for the Workshop. Rather just play? Switch them off on the stage map.
- BOLT, a small robot from the hangar, says hello over the radio when you enter a universe, and cracks a joke about it now and then.
- Final bosses now introduce themselves with a line of their own.
The Workshop is now a trophy room
- Every universe has a display case with four trophies made from its own enemies and boss: a Blocky Zombie's tooth, a Skeleton Archer's bone, a slice of pi, a Larva Runner's egg and more.
- You win them in challenges. Each one gives a bonus that only works in its universe: more health in Voxel, faster fire in Retro, longer reach in Number, more speed in Alien.
- Click a trophy in the Workshop (main menu) to see it up close and read its short story.
Universe Guide and summaries
- GUIDE in the main menu: each universe's law, a tip, the boss that guards its Key, and an enemy list that fills in as you defeat them.
- The death screen and the stage result show a short summary of the attempt: how much damage each weapon did and which enemy you beat most.
- 8 new achievements: chests, bonus games, the guide and a lot of kills.
Linux, macOS and controllers
- NovaShift now has Linux and macOS builds (Intel and Apple silicon).
- Controller: Start pauses, B goes back, any button skips the story films, and the bonus games show your controller's buttons. Playing on Steam Deck should feel better too.
Other changes
- Enemies stand out more from the ground in every universe.
- Big enemy crowds run smoother.
- Fixed a rare freeze when a screen opened during a hit-stop or a slow-motion moment.
- Fixed: progress could be lost if another program (an antivirus or a cloud sync tool) was holding the save file at the wrong moment.
- Fixed long texts that didn't fit in some languages.
- The stage map now works fully with a keyboard or controller: the arrows walk the route and Enter starts the stage.
Thanks to everyone who left a review or sent feedback. A lot of this update came straight from it. If something feels off, tell me in the discussions.