Tactichord: Glam Strategy News

[p]The guitars are tuned and the smoke machine is ready. We're going to do our first private play test starting November 1st. It's time to try out Tactichord: Glam Strategy.[/p][p][/p][h2]What is a play test?[/h2][p]A game demo is a complete package to give a taste of what the full retail version of the game is like. A play test is less than a demo in that the content is usually more restricted, and it's much earlier in the development process. It's a way for you to try the game while we're still working on it and tell us what works for you and what doesn't. It has bugs. It may crash. But there are certainly fun things to enjoy.[/p][p][/p][p]There are many aspects to help new people all around the world try the game and make it as easy as possible for them to give feedback. So when you start the game you'll get asked if we can use anonymized metrics so we can record where you get stuck, how easy it is to clear the levels, etc. Then we pepper the game with ways to contact us when something goes wrong (or hopefully right!): a couple links to our Discord bugs channel, a way to wishlist the game, a survey where we can collect satisfaction data quantitatively, etc. And we're going to sweeten the deal by giving everyone a chance to win free copies of our other games. 🏆🥇[/p][p][/p][h2]How do I join?[/h2][p]To join the play test you need to do only two things:[/p]

1. [p]Hit that "Request Access" button on the store page (see example below) if you haven't already[/p]
2. [p]Watch your email under the period of November 1st-10th.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Players will get access to the game in batches. Once you get the mail, you'll have at least several days to try it out before the play test period ends the game stops working so we can go back to improving it.[/p][p]Let's have fun together making Tactichord as fabulous as a David Lee Roth karate kick.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]How to get the most out of the play test[/h2]

1. [p]Please accept anonymized reporting when you start up the game and get to the main menu. This helps immensely and does not transmit any personally identifying information. Afterwards, try out the levels in sequence in the stage select menu. You'll get raffle ticket entries for each time you clear the final match, and be entered in leaderboard score competition. [/p]
2. [p]Share bugs and feedback in our special Discord feedback channel.[/p]
3. [p]Submit your Steam username and email address so we can contact you if you win something with this form.[/p]
4. [p]Fill out the survey linked from inside the game when you are done playing to register your raffle entries.[/p]

[p]Thanks for reading. See you November 1st![/p][p]/David[/p]

[p]The events just keep on coming! Tactichord: Glam Strategy will be joining Pocket Gamer Connects in Helsinki next week. We'll also be entering the Very Big Indie Pitch competition, showing judges our best air guitars in quick, four minute intervals (maybe we should take some Black Black caffeine gum just in case).[/p][p][/p][p]We'll have an updated version of the game with lots of cool UX improvements built out of feedback from our playtests over the summer, including our fancy new Steam Deck compatible version![/p][p]Learn about tickets and opening hours of the convention here![/p][p][/p][p](this doesn't count as a coffee because you don't drink it, right?)[/p][p][/p][p]Kiitos![/p][p]/David and the Tactichord Team[/p]

[p]Finally the weather in Stockholm is fantastic (at least to my mind). Blue skies, crisp air, 6 degrees on the morning commute. This has me fired up working on Tactichord. We're shifting gears development wise a little bit now because we are approaching our first private beta! ːsteamhappyː [/p][p]Last month we did that show down south as part of Malmö Game Week. I pulled out all the stops and took a stand to start a trend (I hope it becomes one anyway) of Tactichord costplaying! Check out my totally metal Lance getup inset to Magnus checking out our booth.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]At the show we ran two stations of the game, and started our shift to help collect testers for our exclusive private beta which is coming up. You can do so right now on the main Steam page (just open a new window to the store page and scroll down to "Request access" on the playtest button. I'll wait...[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Got that taken care of? Good. Now to support a playtest is not a trivial thing. We need to make a custom Steam build with our server farm, upload it to a special place, have it all marked up so it's nice and easy for you to log bugs with, create some anonymous analytics code so we can see where people get stuck, etc. Maybe say you want to play match 2 until you get an S+ rank? Wicked! But to do so you'd need a stage select menu to be able to choose that level again. We have a design but this isn't implemented. And so on![/p][p][/p][p]The main menu is getting some reworking at the moment. Mette's band portrait is well-received at the moment.[/p][p][/p][p]The point is NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! We have an idea about how our game is both easy to get in to and hard to master, but the game is for you guys so we need your feedback to tell us if that's the case. So stand by, join our Discord now, and get ready to rock![/p][p]Click here to reach the Discord so you can log bugs and feedback!
[/p][p][/p][p]We are trying out enemy attack preview arcs to give more information about how dangerous a move would be.[/p][p]
Next up, Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki![/p][p]/David[/p]

[p]Fresh off of our trip to Gamescom in Cologne just yesterday, we're taking Tactichord south again to visit Malmö Game Week August 30th and 31st.[/p][p][/p][p]Check us out in the Indie Corner next to the food court to try out our latest build and win some good really cool merch! We'll have an updated version of the game with lots of cool UX improvements built out of feedback from our playtests over the summer.[/p][p][/p][p]Learn about tickets and opening hours of the convention here![/p]

[p]Another month, another bit of progress on Tactichord: Glam Strategy. Those who know, know, but Sweden in July basically shuts down and things slow to a crawl. This is the month where we switch over milestones, people take long vacations, and not much development occurs. This is mostly true for us this last month as well, but we took the opportunity to make a few small changes and show the game in Japan for the first time![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]In the middle of July we were fortunate to have an opportunity to show the game at Tokyo Indies, an event very similar to the Indie Game Dungeon we often frequent here in Stockholm. We gave a short presentation on the title, and other developers and fans alike were around to try the game. These kinds of things are always made more easier with the help of our amazing marketing assistant Shinta, who lives near Tokyo.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]There have been some small improvements to the UI in Tactichord as part of our larger core experience improvement we've been working on based on feedback from the last few playtests, but we'll save those GIFs and explanations for a future dev blog.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p]What we can talk about is some tangential news related to the seminal rhythm title for Nintendo DS, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. July was the twentieth anniversary of the Japanese cheerleading game's release and our creative director David was a part of the small indie team that created to the title. There is a lot of Ouendan in the spirit and delivery of Tactichord, so fans of the former have a few little surprises to look forward to. Along with lead artist Atsushi Saito and lead engineer Norhide Okada, David was interviewed by Retro Gamer magazine for a six page article covering the making of Ouendan. If you've ever played Elite Beat Agents or the fan game osu!, this is where it all began. You can order a copy of the Retro Gamer July 2025 edition from a number of resellers online.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Thirsty for more? You can be a part of our micro- dev logos in our very own studio Discord! Share ideas of Backbeat universe lore with other players, learn about upcoming events and campaigns, and let us know what you think about the evolving look and style of the game.

Click here to reach the Discord!

Next up, Gamescom![/p][p]/David[/p]