Rack and Slay News

Hey everyone, it's major update day!

If you enjoy the game and the updates, maybe consider leaving a review. It really makes a big difference! Maybe we can break the 300 reviews milestone soon? 👀

Anyways, as promised this is a big one expanding on all areas of the game so let's get into it!

[h2]NEW ITEMS[/h2]

Three new items join the compendium!

• Earthshaker has quite a bit of multi-kill potential and can help move enemies even when they're in tricky-to-reach spots.
  
• Bulldozer gives you a new tool to defeat enemies by smashing them head-on into obstacles.
  
• Recycler can snowball your collectibles generation and opens up new synergies revolving around picking up lots of stuff.

[h2]NEW ENEMIES[/h2]

Two new enemies and brand-new enemy modifier!

• Gobbly eats the first other enemy it touches, which you can use to your advantage, but then you have to deal with a giant, satiated new "friend"...
  
• Charmy is such an attractive monster ball, that it makes you shoot towards itself at the end of the turn. Another ability you may be able to make good use of, but that can also be dangerous, so watch out and plan around it!
  
• The Mimicry modifier can apply to any enemy and causes it to randomly transform at the start of each turn, forcing you to re-evaluate your plans and think on your feet.

[h2]NEW COLLECTIBLES[/h2]

Three funky new pick-ups can spawn in the arena!

• Speaking of the new Mimicry modifier, the Voodoo Doll applies it to enemies who collect it. When you pick it up, you can use its terrifying voodoo powers to make the closest enemy flee in terror!
  
• Picking up a Banana makes you (or an enemy) stronger, but also randomly changes the collecting ball's trajectory. Oops!
  
• The Rune Stone adds a new tool to your movement repertoire by teleporting you back towards the spot where you collected it after the turn. Enemies can use it to locate you and move straight at you (which can put you in a pickle, but also enables some new around-the-corner kills).

[h2]NEW OBSTACLES[/h2]

Three new obstacles to play around!

• The Spike Cannon fires a deadly spike on touch. Line up multiple enemies if you can, but make sure you're not caught in the cross-fire!
  
• TNT Crates will light up on touch and explode at the end of the turn, cause more explosions are always fun!
  
• And finally the Semicircle obstacle adds another beloved shape for more spatial variety.

[h2]NEW CHALLENGES[/h2]

Many of you really enjoyed the existing Challenge Runs as crazy, pre-defined but still very replayable gameplay variants, so you asked for more. Well, this update DOUBLES the number of challenges!

Some of them reward risky plays, some flip the economy on its head, some revolve around the new enemies and obstacles, and one asks you to beat the game without items (say what?). I hope you'll have at least as much fun discovering new strategies as I had designing these new challenges! Of course these new ways to play the game are naturally open to balance tweaks, so if you have any feedback or suggestions, definitely let me know via the Steam forums or the Discord!

[h2]NEW RUN MODIFIERS[/h2]

Six new run modifiers will make your Daily / Wild mode runs even more diverse! I'll leave those for you to discover, but there's some brand-new stuff in it like a chance to dodge damage, enemies eating gems and coins, and a wacky "all-mimicry" mod.

[h2]MISC[/h2]

• Magnet radius doesn’t “collect” enemy swords anymore.
  
• Raging Bull now correctly pushes enemies away from a collision.
  
• Fixed Mimic giving less gold than it should per level.
  
• Fixed Boomy explosions not triggering nearby bombs.
  
• Fixed run modifiers sometimes not being sorted by type.
  
• Fixed run modifier icon not showing in “Berserk” challenge.
  
• Fixed coin and gem scaling in rare “big bridge” level type.
  
• Tentative method to unstuck enemies from walls.
  
• Lots of minor fixes and tweaks all around.

And that's it! I sincerely hope you have lots of fun discovering how the new stuff integrates into the game and boosts variety all around! Once again, thank you so much for the support, feedback and reviews that allow me to pour even more of my game-making heart into this game! ❤️

[h3]BUT WAIT... there's more?! 😲[/h3]

[h2]DISCOUNT + DAILY DEAL[/h2]

Today marks the start of a week-long 20% discount and, thanks to Valve, the game is actually getting featured on Steam's front page! Let's hope this will draw a few more eyes to the game!

[h2]NINTENDO SWITCH RELEASE[/h2]

And finally, the game is OUT NOW on Nintendo Switch (also with a launch discount), which still seems unreal to me! You can find it in the EU/AUS and Americas stores. (FYI: The release version is v1.13, but this new update will come to the console in all its glory soon!)

Okay, that's it for real this time! 😅

All the best and have fun,
Fabian

Hi! Today I'm happy to let you know that work on the big new content update has been going great and the release will coincide with the brand-new Switch version: Both the PC-version update (1.2) and the first Switch release (1.13) will be available on August 19! (In case you're wondering, the new update will come to Switch shortly after and already include any potential hotfixes.)

[h2]A Big One[/h2]
As I already hinted at in the previous news post, this update will add to pretty much ALL types of content in the game (items, enemies, obstacles, pick-up, challenges, modifiers) and overall be significantly bigger than the first major update (1.1).

[h3]A few teasers![/h3]
The new Earthshaker item will literally shake the arena and hold quite a bit of multi-kill potential!


The new Gobbly enemy will happily eat another monster ball and might help you take out a dangerous foe in a pinch. But then you have to deal with its giant stuffed (but happy) version!


You asked for more challenge runs, and you'll get a 100% increase! Not spoiling details for now, but some will drastically change the economy, while others revolve around new enemy and obstacle types.


I'll be posting more teasers on the Discord and my Twitter until the update drops, so keep an eye out if you're interested. Doing my best to add a whole bunch of new combinations of fun wacky stuff all around with this update! And as usual, thank you so much for playing, supporting and reviewing! 🙏

Hi! Given the huge optimization improvements from patch 1.13 have been pretty stable, it's been quiet for a little while in terms of quick-fire updates, BUT that doesn't mean I've been idling. In fact I'm knee-deep in working on the next big content update. Today I'd like to drop the first few teasers!

First things first though, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the game recently. The review number has been creeping up quite consistently and I'm so grateful to see the game is being well received. Really keeps the indie dev motivation going! ❤️
(Side note: This reception includes the recent article from roguelike afficionado Gideon's Gaming who really got what the game is going for and found it to be "incredibly clever, fast, and easy-to-play".)

[h2]What's coming?[/h2]
Now let's look at what's coming in the next big update though:

• New items that shake the arena and smush enemies
  
• New enemies, some charming and some very hungry
  
• New obstacles, some of which are quite trigger-happy
  
• New pick-ups revolving around tricky positional plays
  
• New challenges runs to DOUBLE the number of challenges
  
• New run modifiers for more Daily / Wild run variety
  

The amazing Estivador also started working on the new art assets already, and while everything's still in the works, here are a few teaser sketches:
Will the bananas be of the "Gros Michel" variety? Who knows!

[h2]Switch Release[/h2]

In other news, I'm very excited to announce Rack and Slay is coming to Switch on August 19! For now, it'll be on the European and Americas stores. The port and approval process have been an ongoing side project for a while, so I'm really happy to get this one out the door.

---

[h2]GORGON SHIELD[/h2]
Your friendly neighbourhood Publisher here, Graeme!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2446920/Gorgon_Shield/

Looking for more creative, genre-blending roguelikes? Check out the upcoming Gorgon Shield, from the creator of Swords and Sandals. It's a party-based RPG, arcade, roguelike. I can guarantee you haven't played another quite like it! Launching at just $8.99, be sure to wishlist the game so you don't miss out!

Hey! Time for another bunch of improvements! The biggest deal here is a rework of how runs are saved which results in way smaller save file sizes (up to a 100x reduction in my testing on high-level endless runs) and much (up to 10x) faster loading times. The new system has been tested with a wide variety of old and new save files, but of course please let me know if you encounter any issues. Thank you!
[h2]Patch notes (v1.13)[/h2]

• Accessibility: You can now hold the aiming mouse button during a turn to fast-forward. No need to use the keyboard anymore.
  
• Changes: These should primarily keep high-level endless mode or infinite-money craziness at bay and not affect "normal" runs all that much.
  • Duplicator can’t be duplicated by Duplicators anymore.
    
  • Duplicator now “only” triggers up to 50 times a level.
    
  • Sleepies can’t spawn more Sleepies on defeat (even if the run modifier is active).
• Optimization:
  • Drastically reduced run save file size when holding a large number of items.
    
  • Drastically reduced loading times when holding a large number of items.
    
  • More visual effect optimizations.
• Fixes:
  • Fixed Veteran Spelunker sometimes removing too few obstacles.
    
  • Fixed remaining item uses sometimes not showing.

Hey! Here's another set of improvements for endless mode (which might also help with some particularly broken pre-endless runs). As always, thanks for the feedback and support! :)

[h2]Patch notes (v1.12)[/h2]

• If you have more than 10 item picks, you are now able to randomly roll your remaining ones and immediately leave the shop. (Especially useful for high-level endless runs.)
  
• Fixed Wild Bomb bombs sometimes moving too slowly.
  
• Fixed out-of-bounds enemies sometimes not getting cleaned up (which could result in turns or levels not ending properly).
  
• Optimized lots of explosions being handled simultaneously.
  
• Optimized memory footprint when holdings lots of items.