ChainStaff News

[p]I will be at MAGFest this weekend in Washington DC! It's June 8th to 11th. It's absolutely packed with awesome indie games, arcade games, and lots of amazing game music. Come out to the show and tell your friends about it![/p][p]ChainStaff was accepted to be shown in the "MIVS" division of the show. It's an indie-only section where cool indie games are previewed for the gaming public. You get a 10x10ft booth and you design it all yourself. [/p][p]My first idea was... what if you could hold a real ChainStaff?!? [/p][p]What would it be like? Check out this video as I detail the construction of it. [/p][p] [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]It ended up being over 7 feet long, but thankfully only weighs about 5 pounds so anyone can wield it.[/p][p]I also printed a backdrop of the main game box art, and you'll get to pose in front of it with the ChainStaff! [/p][p][/p][p]This is inside my office; it barely fits! I'll do a new blog post when we get the real booth set up at MAGFest. The banner is 10x8ft. We had to take the picture sideways because the room is too small to fit. Thankfully the convention center is huge, so this will be awesome when we get it set up there.[/p][p]The light fixture at the top obscures the game logo, but my idea was you'd get to "pry open the monster's mouth" on the box art with a real ChainStaff.[/p][p]ChainStaff is due to come out to consoles and Steam this spring, so I'm working hard to get the word out for it. Thanks for following along on my journey! [/p]

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]Get a taste of the story in ChainStaff! There are now two new story cutscenes at the beginning of the demo, where you can see the origins of the Star Spore invasion. [/p][p]The demo update also has the ability to pick between Easy and Normal difficulty modes. The difficulty is hand-tuned for each level. There will be new attacks and more enemies in Normal difficulty. Easy mode might have more platforms to land on, plus you start with more player shields.[/p][p]Here's the list of demo changes[/p]

1. [p]Cutscenes added[/p]
2. [p]Difficulty modes added[/p]
3. [p]Now has 3 Save Slots[/p]
4. [p]Dual Stick controls fully supported[/p]
5. [p]Better button remapping[/p]
6. [p]Game balance changes: Players don't retract ChainStaff on Damage. You now need a full heart to take an extra hit (not just a subheart).[/p]
7. [p]Many more balances and game polish.[/p]

[p]Come help steer the direction of the game balancing! I'm slowly finishing up the rest of the game and will be doing playtests soon. Join my newsletter to get in on it![/p][p]https://subscribepage.io/Mk6GOH[/p][p][/p][p]I check Discord more frequently than most places:[/p][p]https://discord.gg/8PYEmJWxAT[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for playing![/p]

[p]I wish I had great news, but I have a bit of ... not great but not terrible news. I lost my publisher, Null games. Well, I didn't LOSE them, they dissolved (I don't know why).[/p][p][/p][p]What does this mean for ChainStaff? It means I have to do all the marketing, promotion, and community building myself, in addition to making and producing the game. That's is a lot work! But don't worry, [/p][p]I've done it before with my past games. [/p][p][/p][p]Why is it not TERRIBLE news? Because I can spend a little more time balancing the game and not rushing to release it this Fall (to fit the publisher's schedule). I absolutely LOVE ChainStaff and excited to make it the best game I can.[/p][p][/p][p]The game was scheduled for release in Fall 2025. That's not going to happen any more, BUT don't worry, I don't plan on taking another year to finish the game or anything like that. The game is probably 85% [/p][p]complete, so that's great! My current "release window" is Spring 2026. More info when I have it sorted out. [/p][p][/p][p]As for you all, the game demo is still live here on Steam (as of this writing), so if you could help me spread the word about how cool the game is to your friends, and  even your favorite influencers, that would be a big help![/p][p][/p][p]And if you want to get into the closed beta, to play the game before release and help me balance the game and improve it, join my mailing list. I'll be doing the beta through here:[/p][p]https://subscribepage.io/Mk6GOH[/p][p][/p][p]TLDR: Game is still coming out! I'm working hard on it, probably out more like Spring 2026.[/p][p]Thank you for all your encouragement and support! It really helps with my motivation to do a great job and finish the game strong. -Nathan[/p]

[p]FALL IN HERE, MAGGOTS! ChainStaff is confirmed to release on PC, Mac, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Prepare yourselves for heart-pounding heavy metal tracks and fast-paced, slippery combat against some of the weirdest half-alien, half-animal hybrids out there. Maybe even consider eating some brains, as a treat.

[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Are you ready, grunt? ChainStaff is traveling at the speed of light to deliver some heavy metal mayhem to the first-ever Galaxies Showcase streaming exclusively on Twitch. Expect some big news with a planet-sized serving of blood, guts, and carnage.

Synchronize your watches - the briefing starts April 17th (12 PM PT / 3 PM ET / 9PM CEST), so tune in for the latest updates on your mission to bring the pain to the Star Spores.

See you all at twitch.tv/galaxiesshow!