Toy Tactics News

Greetings!

After more than eight years of hard work at Kraken Empire, we’re finally seeing the full release of Toy Tactics in just one week! We’re nervous but also very happy and proud that everything we envisioned for the game has come to fruition.

Toy Tactics launches on September 19th at 7:00 AM PST. It features over 25 hours of gameplay and includes 6 game modes: Campaign, Skirmish, Puzzles, Mercenaries, Creative Mode (BTW, you can take photos of yourself defeating enemies, emerging victorious, or even being defeated…), and the brand new Online Multiplayer with “1v1” and “Co-op” modes.

Here’s a sneak peek of the "Co-op" so you and your friends, allies, or even enemies can gear up for a weekend of nonstop fun:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Prepare your brushes! See you in the battlefield!

[h3]As we approach the official release, we’re excited to announce that everything is now finalized. Get ready to sharpen your skills, because the upcoming game modes available at launch will be Multiplayer Versus (1vs1) and Multiplayer Cooperative (1+1 vs AI).[/h3]



[h3]What’s New in This Update:[/h3]

• Touchscreen Support: You can now enjoy full touchscreen functionality.
  
• Scene Updates & Balancing: Multiple scenes have been updated and rebalanced for better gameplay.
  
• Skirmish Mode Warning: A new alert will notify you if you attempt to start Skirmish mode without any spells equipped.
  
• Unit Videos in Army Camp: Watch your units in action with new videos available in the army camp.
  
• Boss Improvements: Fixed boss attack cancellations and rebalanced their difficulty for a more engaging challenge.
  
• Customization: Your selected colors are now saved automatically.
  
• Visual Upgrades: Decals have been replaced with a new system, and trails and particle render orders have been refined.
  
• Enhanced performance: Improvements to ensure smoother gameplay and faster load times.
  
• Environmental Updates: Removed underwater vegetation to enhance performance.
  
• Cinematic Additions:
  
  
  • Visualize army cinematics directly from the camp.
    
  • Enjoy the new boss ending cinematics, everytime you defeat any boss.
  
  
• Gameplay Tweaks:
  
  
  • Karts now halt when captured by enemies.
    
  • Chest retrieval mechanics have been revised for specific scenarios.
    
  • Improved arrow sticking for more realistic interactions.
    
  • Reworked pathfinding costs for navigating through and around buildings, both intact and destroyed.
  
  
• Bug Fixes:
  
  
  • Various achievements have been corrected.
    
  • Spells on top of buildings are now functioning as intended.
    
  • Resolved issues with specific spells, including Trojan Horse, Galleon, and Barrels.
    
  • Relic fixes, including adjustments to Ghost Area, Wolf Cloak, and Ancilia.
  
  
• Audio & Visual Enhancements:
  
  
  • Credits audio now respects master volume settings.
    
  • Simplified Fireflight light effects for better performance.
    
  • Campaign markers have been resized and modified for improved clarity.

This will likely be the final update before the official launch, so dive in and explore these changes as you prepare for the big day!

Hello again, Commanders! We are back today with more amazing info and illustrations of one of our favorite bosses: Bonney and Read. Hoist your sails and grab your parrots, because these Pirates take no prisoners!
Aye, Captain! As with our Kitsune Boss, we began by searching for inspiration in Pirate history, to be very precise. The Age of Piracy lasted around 200 years, so there are many cool legends to choose from.
However, since we wanted to make a dual boss, we decided on two historical female pirates: Anne Bonney and Mary Read.



These two were actual pirates! So we thought it would be really cool to fight both of them at once, as they were seen together a lot of the time. They even sailed on the same ship. Also, we think they are cool.

[h2]From Concept to Gameplay and Back[/h2]

Once the initial ideas were settled, our amazing concept artist Ana first drafted a few different designs to see what could be done with Bonney and Read. Look at this:



Ana tried out different looks for Bonney, ranging from very ragged to formal to more feminine. In the beginning, you want to try out a lot of different things to see what could work and what doesn't. It’s not uncommon to draw dozens and dozens of concepts to arrive at the single perfect one.



But as much as you can work on the overall look, you need to know a few gameplay things before finalizing it. For example, what kind of weapons will they carry? How big will they be?



The concept artist must work together with our game designer to hammer out some of these details; only then can we get to the final concept.

[h2]The Devil is in the Details[/h2]

Ana, a huge fan of pirates, said: “I’ve been in love with pirates since I was twelve or thirteen. I just love the freedom and authenticity they exude.” So it was no surprise that she was careful with her pirate designs.
The Age of Piracy lasted about 200 years all over the Caribbean, so when designing Bonney and Read, she had to ensure the clothing, weapons, and look were not separated by decades. For their clothing and weapons, we focused mostly on the last 50 to 80 years of the Age. “You try to be as authentic as possible,” she says, and avoid anachronisms. At least the too-obvious ones. It’s still a fantasy toy boss, though, so some latitude is good.



[h2]The Final Character[/h2]

In the end, they look like this:



Fear them, for they have the power of the sea on their side! I personally love their weapons: jewelry swords and a shark cannon. Whatever you do, do it with style, argh!
If you want to be a Pirate, you can control them or play against them right now in the Early Access of Toy Tactics! 😁

Follow us on Steam for more in-depth content about our strategy puzzle RTS Toy Tactics. Once again, thanks for reading, Commanders!

The gorgeous, psychedelic, turn-based, action, roguelite Enter The Chronosphere is part of Tiny Teams!

If you like the idea of Super Hot x Enter the Gungeon, this is the game you want.

Wishlist and Follow Enter The Chronosphere so you can get news, updates and our demo announcement later this year.

XOXO JV Team

Hello, Commanders! Today, we will be showing you some cool behind-the-scenes content: the first finished conceptual piece for Kyoukai’s Boss, Kitsune. This is the first post introducing the character design in a series planned before the release, so stick around.

[h2]First step: Do some research[/h2]

Like Sun Tzu probably said: know thy enemy. In this case, know thy samurais. Our amazing conceptual artist, Ana Andrés, did a ton of research into Japan’s Samurai era. Turns out, there were a lot of different kinds of samurai through the ages. They were very diverse in their aesthetic and even moral values, depending on the time and place. We decided to combine features which evoked the martial and clothing aesthetics of ancient Japan, along with some spiritual and folklore-related attributes.



[h2]Second step: Decide what you want from the concept[/h2]

After doing the research, Ana decided which part to implement in the design. “We wanted the humble aesthetics of walk-in-the-night point of the samurai, so she has a straw cape. Japan is a very rainy country, so they used this kind of clothing to protect from the rain.”



“We also wanted the regal part of the Samurai,” Ana continued.

This was a little harder to do, since the Kyoukai faction already has a lot of the very obvious thing to add: the amazing samurai armor. So we went with a different aesthetic, more feudal but also very rich: The Kimono.



[h2]Third step: Connect the dots[/h2]

A very important part of any character design is a sense of belonging. We wanted to connect our amazing Kitsune Boss as much as possible to the rest of the Kyoukai faction, without losing her unique characteristics. She is a boss, so she obviously needs to stand out, and yet she needs to still feel like part of the rest of her army.

To accomplish this, we added some important details: the kimono is a very warm pink, a color that goes well with Kyoukai’s purple. We also added sakura as a further reference to Japan. She wears a Kitsune mask as well, which is not only the Kyoukai’s representative icon, but also an important fox deity in the Land Where the Sun Rises.



She is one of our favorite bosses, and we are very proud of her. This is how she looks in her final form. ⚔️

You can play against her right now in Toy Tactics on Steam Early Access! 😁

Follow us on Steam for more in-depth content about our strategy puzzle RTS Toy Tactics. Thanks for reading, commanders!