Cassette Beasts News

Hey folks, Tom and Jay here -- we're the duo behind Cassette Beasts! Cassette Beasts is our "dream game", an open-world monster-fusing RPG!

"I don't know how best to break the news. You're stuck here. We all are."

The player begins the game having washed ashore on the beaches of New Wirral, and you soon learn of the predicament you are in. New Wirral holds many environments, dangers and secrets. On your quest to find your way back home, you'll explore the island at your own pace.


[h2]Harbourtown[/h2]
Harbourtown is the home for all residents of the island, and is a place you'll be returning to often. Built as a community that accepts everyone, Harbourtown is a place you can:

• Heal up without having to use wood for a campfire
  
• Swap out your adventuring partner for another
  
• Catch up on the latest town gossip
  
• Exchange resources for new moves to use in battle
  
• And more!
  

The residents of Harbourtown may be strangers at first, but the more you get to know them, the more you'll learn about this strange world you've found yourself in!



[h2]Transformation[/h2]
If you've been following so far, you'll know that in the world of New Wirral, the residents transform using cassette players. Each cassette tape contains the essence of one monster form, that its listener can transform into to battle. But how does one obtain new monster forms?



[h2]Recording[/h2]
The built-in microphone on the cassette players can be used to record the essence of a wild monster. This isn't straightforward and it comes with its own risks. In order to record a monster, you must return to human form - which means you are vulnerable to attack.
A successful recording will net you a new tape, and a new bestiary entry for your collection if you've not obtained this monster form before!



[h2]Stickers[/h2]
You and your partner are able to act in battle using stickers - a list of actions that you can trigger on your turn. Each monster has a certain number of slots available to assign stickers, and monster forms are limited in which stickers they are able to use.
All of these stickers can be assigned and removed from a monster tape without any cost, so you are free to experiment to find the best loadouts for your monster forms!
There's one more cool thing to mention when talking about stickers - you can get uncommon and rare variants!



[h2]Fusion[/h2]
When you and your partner fuse in battle, you combine into a powerful and unique Fusion form!




How does this affect your move list, then? Well, you get both move pools at once.


Not only does it mean you can use any of the active moves assigned to either monster used to create your fusion form, but your passive moves will all still be able to trigger. You can have very interesting and versatile fusion forms as a result of this!
There are also unique "Fusion Power" moves that you can obtain when fused!



[h2]Next Time[/h2]
Thank you for taking the time to read our quick roundup of some of the features and systems in Cassette Beasts. To see more in detail, you can view the individual posts below.
If you want to ask any questions, feel free to visit the official Discord and follow us on Twitter!

• Blog #1: Hello, and welcome!
• Blog #2: Home Sweet Home...?
• Blog #3: Roll the Tape!
  
• Blog #4: Show your Moves!

"This might get a little weird, but follow my lead!"

Hey, folks! Earlier this summer we managed to bring a demo of Cassette Beasts to multiple worldwide events. The reception to it (both from press and the public!) was so positive that we've been working towards bringing that demo to a wider audience. We're super excited to finally be able to bring it to Steam Next Fest, so you too can play it!

So, what do we have in store?



[h2]Demo Tape[/h2]



You too can now play a limited-time demo of Cassette Beasts! You can find it on our Steam store page, and it will be available from October 3rd - 10th.

Our demo lets you play through the opening of the game. You'll get to explore Harbourtown, meet some new friends and learn the ropes when it comes to transforming and battling.

Your progress will be saved, so you'll be able to continue any save files you create in the demo in the full game when it releases in 2023!

What's more, we've been able to bring you the demo in the following languages:

• English
  
• French
  
• Italian
  
• German
  
• Spanish - Spain
  
• Spanish - Latin America
  
• Japanese
  
• Korean
  
• Simplified Chinese
  

The full game will also be available in these languages! We're eager to see players enjoy Cassette Beasts across the world.


[h2]I want to know more![/h2]

The demo is the first peek into the world of New Wirral, but there's plenty more to learn about the game! If you want to know more, you should read our Steam blog posts:

• Blog #1: Hello, and welcome!
• Blog #2: Home Sweet Home...?
• Blog #3: Roll the Tape!
  
• Blog #4: Show your Moves!

[h2]Wiki[/h2]


Oh, hello there, Pombomb! What's that in your mouth, a letter for us? Hmm, let's see... Oh wow, this is amazing; thank you for letting me know! Who's a good boy; you are Pombomb!

Looks like he wanted to tell us about the new official Cassette Beasts Wiki!



We've also been working on bringing this to you, just in time for the public demo! It's live right now, please take a look around. It'll be continuously updated so feel free to check back often for new updates and information.



We won't keep you waiting any longer, enjoy the game! If you want to talk about Cassette Beasts with the team and community, you should join our official Discord! Not to mention, we have a Twitter account where we share new information and snippets of the game.

Until next time!

---

Oh, you read this far? Congratulations, you! Here's a secret - you can obtain an extra special Traffikrab tape in the demo - all you have to do is give the phrase TRAFFIKRAB to the mailman. Don't worry, you'll figure it out!

Welcome back! Today we're going to look at combat and moves in Cassette Beasts - since battling monsters as monsters is at the core of the gameplay, we thought it'd be a good idea to dive into how it works!



[h2]Stickers[/h2]

You and your partner are able to act in battle using stickers - a list of actions that you can trigger on your turn. Each monster has a certain number of slots available to assign stickers, and monster forms are limited in which stickers they are able to use.

Let's take a look!

A look at Bansheep's default full sticker set.

You'll notice that most moves here have a set of orange squares next to them: these represent the number of Action Points, or AP, it costs to use them. A party member gains 2 AP per turn, so you have some choices to make - do you spend your AP on a low cost move such as "Sharpen" this turn, or perhaps use a no-cost move like "Smack" in order to use a stronger move next turn? You'll be making choices like this a lot as you fight: it's time to think strategically!

You'll also notice that one of the moves here does not have a cost, and instead is listed as "passive". Some stickers have their own trigger conditions in battle, such as losing a certain amount of HP.

All of these stickers can be assigned and removed from a monster tape without any cost, so you are free to experiment to find the best loadouts for your monster forms!



[h2]Fusion[/h2]

Wait, didn't we say last time we'd show what these two looked when fused?

Oh yeah, we did!

When you and your partner fuse in battle, you combine into a powerful and unique Fusion form!

Banlope! Like, Bansheep + Thwackalope! That makes sense.

How does this affect your move list, then? Well, you get both move pools at once.

That's a lot of moves!

Not only does it mean you can use any of the active moves assigned to either monster used to create your fusion form, but your passive moves will all still be able to trigger. You can have very interesting and versatile fusion forms as a result of this!

There are also unique "Fusion Power" moves that you can obtain when fused, but we can talk about that another time!



There's one more cool thing to mention when talking about stickers - you can get uncommon and rare variants. Let's have a look at this move set for Palangolin:

Palangolin can use Toxic Stab AND Battery? That's pretty versatile.

Do you see how "Sharp Edges" is displayed with green text? That means it is uncommon, and has a bonus effect that is listed on the move description. In this case, it heals 7% of the owner's HP when activated. There are lots of different bonus effects, and they differ depending on the kind of move and its rarity. You might find yourself coming across some extra useful versions of commonly-found move stickers!

This status page also displays the stat balance of the monster form. Palangolin is better at melee combat, which is no surprise.



[h2]Next Time[/h2]

Wow, there sure are a lot of moves with many different elemental types. I wonder how they all work? I guess we'll find out next time! If you want to ask any questions, feel free to visit the official Discord and follow us on Twitter!

What would these two look like when fused? Find out next time!

This week, we're going to take a look at the ins and outs of monster transformation. Cassette tapes? Recording? What does it all mean?



[h2]Transformation[/h2]

If you've been following so far, you'll know that in the world of New Wirral, the residents transform using cassette players. Each cassette tape contains the essence of one monster form, that its listener can transform into to battle.



transforming into a monster is the best way to fight back against the hostile monsters that roam this strange island! But how does one obtain new monster forms?

[h2]Recording[/h2]

The built-in microphone on the cassette players can be used to record the essence of a wild monster. This isn't straightforward and it comes with its own risks. In order to record a monster, you must return to human form - which means you are vulnerable to attack.

When you select the "Record" option in battle, you are given the option to choose a blank tape, and also the wild monster you wish to target. For the next turn of combat, the party member who is recording will return to human form, establishing a recording connection with the target.

Let's try and record a copy of this monster! Wait... is this piracy?

A percentage meter will appear above the heads of the target - this displays the chance of a successful recording. This likelihood can be raised or lowered before the turn ends, and is influenced by several things:

• The quality of the blank tape
  
• How much HP they had when recording begins
  
• How much damage is done to the target in rest of the turn
  
• How much damage is done to the recorder in the rest of the turn
  

A successful recording will net you a new tape, and a new bestiary entry for your collection if you've not obtained this monster form before!

It may may look cute, but the Thwackalope's big makeshift club gives it access to some strong attacks.

That's the gist of it! Whilst most monster forms can be obtained from wild monsters, there are some that you might have to add to your collection through other means.



[h2]Gamescom[/h2]

Did you catch our announcement? We're bringing a demo of Cassette Beasts to Gamescom 2022! If you happen to be attending, you can find us by visiting the Raw Fury area [over in HALL 9.1 Aisle B No: 049] to find our booth!

For those eager to play the demo but aren't able to attend Gamescom, we are looking into the best way we might make this demo public. We appreciate your patience!





[h2]Next Time[/h2]

For our next blog post, we'll look at the battle system with more depth, as well as how fusion works. Which begs the question - what does a fusion of Thwackalope and Bansheep look like?



As always, you can come chat to us on the official Discord and follow us on Twitter!
Until next time!

We are happy to announce that we are world premiering a the first Cassette Beasts public demo at Bitsummit X-Roads and Gamescom 2022!

The demo features the prologue of Cassette Beasts and will let you experience the opening to the game, meet the inhabitants of Harbourtown, and battle and record a bunch of beasts!

Be one of the first to try out this new demo at two events this August:

Bitsummit X-Roads in Kyoto, Japan - August 6th-7th

Gamescom 2022 in Cologne, Germany - August 24th-28th

At both events, you'll be able to:

• Play the demo, available to the public for the first time!
  
• Pick up some exclusive Cassette Beasts goodies!
  
• Chat to the us, the developers, who are attending both events!
  

We foresee no Lobstacle to having a lot of fun at these events!

We will have demo stations featuring the game and the opportunity for you to ask questions and let us know what you think!

This is going to be a really exciting journey for us - we hope to see you there!

To find us at Bitsummit: https://bitsummit.org/en/

To find us at Gamescom: https://www.gamescom.global/en

Look for Cassette Beasts or Raw Fury on the maps!



For more news and updates, follow us on Twitter, Tiktok and join our official Discord! Don't forget to Wishlist the game here on Steam; it helps us a lot!