Squars News

[h3]Howdy!
[/h3][p]I'm knee-deep in marketing for Squars. It's actually pretty fun to learn, but the sheer amount of information I need to process can be overwhelming sometimes![/p][p]If you’re new here, Squars is an all-square roguelite that blends tower defense with clicker mechanics 🙂.
[/p][h3]The most important thing I am missing:[/h3][p]A good Capsule! This is the first and most important step for players to get interested in your game. If the capsule image is weak, you’re ending up with little to no traffic! This is why for the last week I was in contact with graphic artist, preparing whole marketing research - what are similar games, what is the hook, fixing tags, how games of the same genre are doing their capsules (what is the trend here) and so on. I hope to get something ready for the next weekly! Current capsule look like this and I must admit, it’s not very appealing:[/p][p][/p][h3]Bouncing Enemies:[/h3][p]In the meantime I managed to make a small update to how Squarlings are moving. Instead of just moving towards the player, they are now bouncing and I am amazed how good it looks![/p][p][/p][p]Other than that, there was also some bugfixing :)[/p][p]And that’s it! More updates to come! As always, have a great week![/p][p]Changelog below 👋
[/p][h3]📜 CHANGELOG (16.02.2026 – 22.02.2026)[/h3]

• [p]In game icons assets are now white to enable easier color modulation[/p]
• [p]Technology tree rework WIP[/p]
• [p]Bouncing movement for Squarlings[/p]
• [p]Enemies are no longer get stuck at boundary obstacles[/p]
• [p]Enemies no longer spawn in player’s view[/p]
• [p]Fixed broken spawn at chunk 10[/p]
• [p]Fixed game acceleration after game over[/p]
• [p]Fixed Squarploders not exploding when in explosion trigger range [/p]

[h3]Howdy![/h3][p][/p][p]In short, I decided to postpone my participation in Steam Next Fest. Continue reading if you want to know more details about why I did it.[/p][p]If you’re new here, Squars is an all-square roguelite that blends tower defense with clicker mechanics 🙂.[/p][h3][/h3][p][/p][h3]Steam Next Fest:[/h3][p]While I was rushing to get the demo ready for Next Fest, I was also spending some time educating myself on how to actually market games on Steam. I found Chris Zukowski’s blog How to Market a Game and fell absolutely in love with it. Also it opened my eyes on how many things I was either doing wrong or wasn’t doing them at all![/p][p]So, why I decided to ditch the upcoming February’s Steam NF edition?[/p]

• [p]This is a one time opportunity to boost visibility of your game and it’s best to save it for later, near your launch time.[/p]
• [p]I gave Squars a second look and… Sadly, this is not yet anywhere near to be ready. I was so focused on finishing modules and map chunks I ignored the need of a tutorial, bug fixing and polishing[/p]
• [p]I am simply too low on wishlists for NF to make a difference.[/p]

[p]This is why I am putting all my efforts into releasing[/p][p][/p][h3]Demo version:[/h3][p]A version that gives the player around 30 minutes of nice, guided gameplay and clearly shows what Squars are about. I need such build to be able to easily participate in online festivals which should be my primary focus instead of posting on social medias like Bsky or X. The reason being that Squars is not a “beautiful game”. I try to keep it as minimalist and square as possible and such approach is clearly not “viral inducing”[/p][p][/p][p]I plan to finish it all up by the start of Tower Defense Fest, so I hope to “see” you there![/p][p]And that’s it! More updates to come! As always, have a great week![/p][p]Changelog below 👋[/p][p][/p][h3]📜 CHANGELOG (09.02.2026 – 15.02.2026)[/h3]

• [p]Energy balancing[/p]
• [p]Energy generators are back and available from the start of the game![/p]
• [p]Cards rework WIP[/p]

[h2]Version 0.2.0 IS LIVE![/h2][p][/p][p]You can play it right now as Squars Playtest and tell me what you think! I really appreciate your feedback![/p][p]This week (apart from my car breaking down) went great! I barely managed to send the Demo version build to the review. Fingers crossed 4 days is enough time to get it reviewed and there will be no hiccups 🤞[/p][p][/p][h3]v0.2.0:[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]I am really proud of the result! This version contains 2 massive changes:[/p]

• [p]Ship Core Modules that you can find during the game and insert them to your Ship’s Core. Modules are boosting many of your stats, including raw damage output, energy gains, buildings health and so on! On top of that, you can upgrade them many times (depending on their quality) and arrange them in the best way possible to ensure maximum gains! Just be aware of Core Stability Level and look out for modules that actively help you boost it![/p]
• [p]A new map divided into chunks lets you explore in the direction you find most interesting or strategically valuable, for instance, to make the path of the enemies longer. Use up click charges to power up orbital strikes dispensing that nasty black fog and look out for Energy Pools for that sweet bonus energy gain![/p][p][/p]

[h3]What’s next?[/h3][p]Now, with this huge update behind me, I plan to focus on bugs squishing, QoL improvements and overall “squarification” of the game (there are many things that are not as square as I would like them to be). This is all for the preparation for the Steam Demo Fest and later on Tower Defense Fest, which happens to be one month after another.[/p][p]New game trailer as well as Devlog #1 is back on the todo list as I made some significant changes - I feel like the newest trailer is no longer portraying the game correctly and as for the devlog - I am approaching the first full year of Squars development fast so I think it’s about time![/p][p]Most importantly though, I will take the next week lightly. The last couple of weeks were very productive and very tiring. I can feel them taking a toll. Remember to treat yourself nicely![/p][p]And that’s it! More updates to come, stay tuned for the demo and leave me a comment! As always, have a great week![/p][p]Changelog below 👋[/p][p][/p][h3]📜 CHANGELOG (02.01.2026 – 08.02.2026)[/h3]

• [p]Ship Core’s Modules are out![/p]
• [p]Map Chunks are out![/p]
• [p]Loading screen before starting the run[/p]
• [p]Core Stability will affect overall Core performance for now[/p]
• [p]Added cancellation token to wait for signals in the code[/p]

[h3]Howdy![/h3][p][/p][p]Good news everyone! Map Chunks were successfully merged to the main branch and Ship Core’s Modules are close to being finished! I feel like I need just a couple days more to drop version 0.2.0 and then to focus on bugs squashing right before Steam Demo Fest![/p][p]If you’re new here, Squars is an all-square roguelite that blends tower defense with clicker mechanics 🙂.[/p][h3][/h3][p][/p][h3]Map Chunks:[/h3][p][/p][p]As I wrote in the intro, Map Chunks are part of the main branch! The thing is, I now have to think of a nice “chunk reveal” animation and an actual map to play on that is not just a checker of random and empty tiles. There’s a nice video my friend sent me where Path of Exile devs are talking about their procedural map generation system with chunks that can blend with each other and so on. I highly recommend it![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h3]Ship Core’s Modules (WIP):[/h3][p]I managed to finish up all of the logic behind Modules and that is making sure that modifiers are actually affecting the core-gameplay and there’s a lot of them:[/p][p]All Damage Multiplier
Damage Type Multiplier
Click Charges Regen Multiplier
All Energy Gain Multiplier
Energy Production Increase
Energy Source Multiplier
Building Type Damage Multiplier
Building Type Range Multiplier
Core Stability Change
Click Charges Increase
Base Buildings Health Increase[/p][p]Modifiers like “Building Type” and “Damage Type” have to take, well, different types into account, which are:[/p][p]DamageTypes:[/p][p]Projectile
Explosion
Click
Fire
Poison
Bleed[/p][p]As for BuildingType damage and range modifier, currently affected are:[/p][p]Machinegun
Cannon
Flamethrower
Mortar
Healing Tower - I was wondering about this one but decided to keep it in and just interpret “damage” into “healing” 🙂[/p][p]Lastly, EnergySourceTypes are divided into:[/p][p]Production
Harvesting
EnemyKills
Pickups[/p][p]I know I won’t be able to accomplish what I imagined with Core Stability before the Demo Fest so I decided to hide it for now, but you gotta believe me, I am preparing something pretty unusual![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Also, right after publishing the demo version of Squars I will spend some time and describe the whole Modules System in another weekly as I am very, very fond of it![/p][p]And that’s it! More updates to come, stay tuned for the demo and leave me a comment! As always, have a great week![/p][p][/p][h3]📜 CHANGELOG (26.01.2026 – 01.02.2026)[/h3]

• [p]Bare version of Map Chunks is in![/p]
• [p]Ship Core’s Modules UI and most of the logic is done[/p][p][/p]

[h3]JOIN DISCORD[/h3]

[h3]Howdy![/h3][p]Another week has passed where I am focusing on Map Chunks (nearly done!) and Ship Core’s Modules (getting there). More details below![/p][p]If you’re new here, Squars is an all-square roguelite that blends tower defense with clicker mechanics 🙂.[/p][p][/p][h3]Map Chunks (WIP):[/h3][p]I stumbled across an issue with lag-spike caused by showing particles when unlocking new chunks (black particles on edges). This problem does not occur if particles are already running and I am just hiding them somewhere far away and just position them right when needed. This sounds like a hack and I am curious why just showing (or emit start) particle operation can be so heavy that it causes a ~60ms lag spike?[/p][p][/p][p]Other than that it is smooth sailing and I am nearly done with all the logic needed to play on a map that is extending during the gameplay![/p][p][/p][h3]Ship Core’s Modules (WIP):[/h3][p]Last time I wrote about needing to focus on features like leveling up and selling modules. This is now done along with showing the whole Core’s summary! Now what’s left is to implement features of modules influencing each other, depending on their position in the core, actually making core stability to do something and, well, making sure that modifiers are modifying the core-gameplay![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]And that’s it! More updates to come, so stay tuned! As always, have a great week![/p][p]Changelog below 👋[/p][p][/p][h3]📜 CHANGELOG (19.01.2026 – 25.01.2026)[/h3]

• [p]Ship Core’s Modules! (yes, still!)[/p]
• [p]Map Chunks![/p]

[h3]JOIN DISCORD and WISHLIST SQUARS[/h3]