Spirit Swap News

[p]
[/p][p]It’s been an eventful year for our team, launching Spirit Swap, and we’re so happy to share that it’s getting even more exciting! We’ve been working since launch to add a bevy of updates for you to enjoy ~  
[/p][h2]Our VVIP Update is here! [/h2][p]
[/p][p][/p][h3]What does that mean?[/h3][p]This is a free update for everyone who has the game! Story Mode is getting new (voiced!) content so you can spend a special evening with your fave Demashq residents. Once you’ve completed your 5-heart event with each character, get ready to celebrate a night on the town and FINALLY see 5HAGVISION live ~ fingers crossed no spirits interrupt the show! In addition to that, we’ve got fashion and fresh characters added to Endless Mode and more.
[/p][p]Overall, here’s what you’ll find:
[/p]

• [p]Head backstage with VVIP tickets! Finally take your bestie (or a hot date) to the show of the season -- that’s right, you’ll get to attend a 5HAG VISION concert! Let’s just hope the spirits stay on their plane of existence…[/p]

• [p]Enjoy Endless Mode in Style. Swap out Samar’s outfits and even other characters to play as your faves. It's purely cosmetic, so swap as whoever you like![/p]
• [p]Be unchill with more Versus skin options. Challenge your friends as the original crew, with Samar's new outfits, or even as the new band members![/p]
• [p]Unleash your inner decorator. With more furniture to unlock once you complete the finale, there’s even more ways to make Samar’s room truly representative of their taste. [/p]
• [p]Savor new CGs. Pretty pictures of your favorite Demashq residents. What’s NOT to love? [/p]

[p]*Please note that the Mac build is on it's way: it should be ready in 1-2 days! Thank you for your patience![/p][p]
🥳 We also wanted to share a special thank you to every one who’s continued to play, post content, share thoughts, and leave reviews -- every bit of feedback has been instrumental to us as we’ve worked on getting this update out. Thank you! 
[/p][h3]Update Change Log[/h3][p]For everyone wanting the specific notes, here they are:
[/p]

• [p]Added a new, fully voiced finale after you reach max affection (5 hearts) with any character! You can attend the finale multiple times, and invite anyone whose affection is maxed out. Every character has a new CG you can unlock, and we hope you enjoy the ending![/p]
• [p]Optimized our Swapping engine! Gameplay should be much smoother and have a better frame rate.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the game opening in incorrect resolutions (e.g. 1024 x 768 or 800x600).[/p]
• [p]Fixed some settings not saving (e.g. button prompt style) across play sessions.[/p]
• [p]New skins and outfits in Versus Mode. When selecting some of the characters in the Versus character select screen, you'll see an additional button prompt over their avatar to switch between skins/characters.[/p]
• [p]Endless now allows you to play as anyone! It's purely a cosmetic change, so swap as whomever you'd like, including the five members of the band and five outfit changes for Samar.[/p]
• [p]New furniture pieces added. Once you complete the finale, those new options will unlock.[/p]
• [p]Updated our end credits. They're now after the finale (and we've added additional folks who've supported us with this update!) 
  [/p]

[h3]Wholesome Games Celebration![/h3][p]
To make the update even MORE exciting, we're also taking part in the Wholesome Games’ Celebration!

For anyone who hasn't picked up the game quite yet, now’s the perfect time to do so as we’ll be on sale (20% off!) starting today (August 7th) until August 14th! 
[/p][p][/p][p]And, of course, be sure to check out all the other wholesome and cozy games out there on sale and premiering this week ~ there are so many incredible teams and titles to support.[/p][p] [/p][p]Happy swapping! 🥰 [/p][p]
[/p][p]💕 The Spirit Swap Team[/p][p]

[/p]

We wanted to send an update as we've got some fun tidbits post-launch that we wanted to make sure to share ~ 



[h3]💗Updated Builds on Steam 💗[/h3]

We've been able to update both the PC and Mac version of the game with the latest fixes, so we hope you continue enjoy swapping the day away!


[h3]🌛 Refreshed Demo now Available 🌛[/h3]

We wanted to update the demo one last time to reflect the game's current quality and state (our last demo was OLD, y'all).

We're happy to say it's up, so if you have a friend you think should give it a try, please send it their way! Please note that, for now, the demo is available on PC only.


[h3]🐸 Last Chance to Pre-Order Froggo 🐸[/h3]

We're just over 50% for the campaign, and thanks to the kind folks at Makeship, we've got an extended timeline! You have until March 3, 2025 to pre-order the Froggo plush.

Remember, our goal is 200 minimum orders for the campaign to go through! Help us achieve this goal! 



And, if that adorable face isn't enough to entice you, remember THIS:



[h3]🎉We appreciate all the Steam Reviews!🎉[/h3]

We hit our first, second, and third milestone goals of 10, 50, and 100 Steam reviews! We're well on the way to 500 (which is the ultimate goal 🤩) so if you haven't yet left a Steam review, that'd be much appreciated. 



🌛🌸🟢🔷 And, remember: we've still got a major update in the cards, so keep those ears and eyes peeled! We'll let you know as soon as we have official dates to announce, but know that progress has begun ^_^ Wahoooo!

💗 The Spirit Swap team

It’s been officially one week since you’ve all started swapping ~ we hope you’re having an incredible time!

We’ve all been chatting and lurking in streams, watching videos, and taking notes on all of your feedback and reactions to the game, and wanted to share what we’ve been working on in regards to bug fixes and polish since launch.



[h2]Kickstarter Backers: Let us know if you didn’t get your key! [/h2]

As a general reminder, you should have your Steam keys by now! If you haven’t seen your key yet, please make sure to:

1. Remember if you participated in the Beta ~ if so, you already have your key! Just right click on the game in your library, go to Properties > Betas > Select “none” on the dropdown menu. The game should update to the full release version.
   
2. Check your spam folder -- it may have ended up there - to help with the search, please note all the keys were send on Feb 3rd! And, if you still can't find it...
   
3. Email [email protected] -- It’ll help if you can include the email you used when backing the Kickstarter and/or your Backer number!
   

[h2]Thank you for helping us get to 80+ Steam Reviews![/h2]

WAHOO! Our first milestone goal was around 50 by the first week, and we’re already almost to 100?! Y’all are the best!

If you've been playing and haven't yet left a review, please consider doing so!

As a reminder, leaving Steam Reviews for indie games is one of the best ways to help out post-launch if you enjoyed what you played! It can help us get more visibility (algorithmically but also for future Steam-related opportunities) and reviews help us when talking with other potential partners (like publishers, funds, or even merch folks!) 🥳

[h2]Bug Fixes & Updates[/h2]

These issues shouldn’t bug you anymore! Here’s the list of all the fixes and polish we’ve just pushed to the game. We're not done yet, though, so please continue to share any bugs and feedback via our bug report form and Discord!

Without further ado, today's fixes include:

• Run in Background enabled, default screen mode set to Fullscreen Window (i.e. Borderless Window)
  
• Minor difficulty decrease to Spicy and Sheesh
  
• Edited for misspellings in events and character descriptions
  
• Edited for colored text readability
  
• Skip button is now hold-to-use, starts slower, accelerates, and is on E/Right Bumper
  
• Fixed Timekeeper not working properly in Endless mode
  
• Added a pop-up before the credits roll to make it clearer that the game continues afterwards
  
• Fixed achievements being delayed
  
• "Gimme Variety" achievement is fixed, and should unlock retroactively
  
• Fixed typo in credits and included missing Witch on High tier
  
• Limited Refresh Rates available in Resolution Settings to only the current monitors refresh rate
  
• Remove refresh rate display on Resolution Settings (we now just take whatever the current monitor is)
  
• Fixed Samar, Dio, Cleo, and Theo individually being counted as part of the total affection count leading to improper progress display.
  
• Fixed fast as f*ck display check not functioning
  

Again, find a bug? Let us know!
The best place to let us know? This bug report form!

[h2]REMINDER: Get your own Froggo 🐸 [/h2]

The Makeship campaign is LIVE and only has 14 days left!



Check out the page here and you can pre-order a Froggo of your very own (cheeks and all!)



The campaign will only fund and ship if we make it to the goal of 200 Froggos pre-ordered, and we're already just over 20% funded, so be sure to get that in ahead of the deadline to help ensure it becomes a reality!

Again, we've been SO over the moon with how the reception has been. From cosplay, fanart, snippets of fanfic, and even the first ever Spirit Swap tournament (!!!), you've made this a truly special experience.

Can't wait to share more about the upcoming update 🤩 But that'll be for next time! Thanks, and stay tuned ~ until then, keep swapping!

💗💗💗 The Spirit Swap team

Hi Swappers!

Is it….is it really time? YES!

✨✨✨SPIRIT SWAP: LOFI BEATS TO MATCH-3 TO IS OUT NOW!✨✨✨



The game is officially available to play and we couldn’t be more happy/ exhausted / nervous / excited / asdl;fjkaqweropiu 💗

[h3]Words are hard right now, mostly because we’re feeling a lot of things. [/h3]

Launching a game - especially right now - is scary pretty much any way you slice it, but we hope when you see the title screen, listen to the music, bop with Froggo, and flex your pecs with Ishk (you know you’ll do it), that our game that began way back in 2019 (!!!) brings you joy.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

OKAY!

Wipe those (happy) tears: we have some housekeeping!

⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇ ⬇

[h2]The best way to support? Leave a Steam Review![/h2]
Beyond picking up a copy of the game (and maybe one for a friend 😙) the absolute BEST way you can support us is by leaving a Steam review! It doesn’t have to be long or poetic - although if that’s your style, please go for it.

Basically, not only are Steam reviews a way for us to have something (hopefully) nice to read and feel happy about, but they are an important part of helping provide evidence to future funders, platforms, and partners that Spirit Swap is something they should pay attention to. Our ultimate goal is to get to 500 Steam reviews 👀 Sooooo…leave a review. We dare you.

[h2]Find a Bug? Let us know![/h2]
The best place to let us know? This bug report form!

[h2]Sunsetting the Demo[/h2]
We’ll explore getting an updated demo later, but the one we currently have is VERY outdated! So, we’re removing it, just so folks don’t get the wrong idea about the state of the game. We may have a refreshed demo in the future, and will keep you posted if/when we’re able to take time to make that happen, but right now? We’re just focusing on the launch!

[h2]REMINDER: Fashion is coming! 🌸[/h2]

As we mentioned in our last update, our plan is to get Fashion in a post-launch update out in 2025, and once we have a more solid date, you bet we’ll be shouting it from the rooftops.

[h2]REMINDER: Get your own Froggo 🐸 [/h2]

The Makeship campaign is LIVE! Check out the page here and you can pre-order a Froggo of your very own. The campaign will only fund and ship if we make it to the goal, but the best part? We already have the prototype Froggo developed, and Makeship handles everything!




Yalla, habibis! 🌛🌸🟢🔷Let’s get swapping!

💗💗💗 The Spirit Swap team

Happy New Year! The holiday decor is stored, snacks eaten, and we are under 30 days (!!!) until we launch Spirit Swap.



Ahead of the launch, we wanted to share our plans for the game: what you can expect upon release and beyond! It’s -- hopefully -- also our chance to share a little bit more behind-the-scenes and what we’ve learned as we’ve done this first game together as a team for those interested in a little of what it takes to make a game in 2025.

[h2]Our major post-launch update will include Fashion 🌸[/h2]

With this update, you’ll be able to dress up Samar in a selection of outfits to swap in style!

While we wish we could have included Fashion in the game's 1.0 launch, the reality is that making a game is expensive—even more so because one of our tenants as a co-op is to pay all of our contractors living wages, thus expanding our costs a bit more. Adding this feature in post-launch content allows us to get that final bit of funds to help pay our contractors and get the feature to you in a quality state.

We already have some of the outfit concepts from our Backers done -- while we won’t show you what we ARE using, here’s an example of two that didn’t quite make the cut…and one that did!



Our plan is to get this post-launch update out in 2025, and once we have a more solid date, you bet we’ll be shouting it from the rooftops!

[h2]We had to say goodBHY to BHYG mode [/h2]

One of the realities of game development is scope. It’s one of the tried and true tenets that if you’re making a game, you should scope down…and then scope down again. While we initially thought our scope could account for a BHYG Mode (an 8-player versus frenzy), once we got into development and discussion over it these last few months, it ended up not panning out in terms of what we could finish -- and polish -- to the quality that we hoped to achieve.

Now, will BHYG Mode someday make its way back into the world of Spirit Swap? We won’t lie: we’d love to try our hand at it again in the future, perhaps if the funding, time, and stars align. But, at the moment, we’re saying goodBHY to this game mode, and plan on focusing more on making the features we DO have in the game as solid as possible!

[h2]Continuing to Finesse[/h2]

Some of the things we have been spending our time finessing include ensuring we have a variety of features to help folks play how they want to. So, we thought we’d spend a little time checking out the Settings tab!

One of the first settings we have to help folks out is the ability to manipulate saturation -- to help ease eye strain.



We’ve also included text animation! The game’s text waves, shakes, and even changes color to help ensure that visually -- not just auditorily -- you can sense how the tone of the conversation is going.

The story log is also implemented if you need to take a look back at what was said in the latest scene:



We’ve even included a different style of spirit (harkening back to the OG Panel de Pon days) for folks who prefer that visual style.



Finally, we’ve also added the “Skip this Round” button to the pause screen. We know sometimes you just wanna get to the story, or perhaps you’re just not feeling it that round. You can always skip and move on to the next round (or just skip them all and not do the match entirely).



These are just a few of the additions we’ve included, and we’re continuing to polish polish polish! Our main priority right now is going through and playing the game as much as possible, trying to catch everything we can ahead of Feb 3rd.


[h2]Say hello to an IRL Froggo [/h2]

We do have some exciting news on the Froggo front! Over the past few months, we’ve been working with the Makeship crew to design a Froggo plush so you can have a FamiliarZ of your very own to chill with. Check out the page here (and be sure to visit it on Feb 3rd if you’d like to pick a Froggo for yourself)!



For those unfamiliar with Makeship, it’s a crowdfunding campaign-based plushie company. During a campaign, if we reach our goal of pre-orders for the plushie, then it becomes a reality! They will take care of all the manufacturing, shipping, and fulfillment. We’ve already got an adorable design, and can’t wait to share the unredacted image with you all soon.

That’s it for this month’s update! We’re working hard and can’t believe the day is almost here! Feb 3, here we gooooo~