Ocean Keeper Co-op News

[p]
We’re super happy to be part of Steam Next Fest! Ocean Keeper Co-op is our first-ever co-op game and a continuation of the original Ocean Keeper. We’re still developing it, but our north star is simple: make it fun. We’d love you to try the demo, poke at the systems, and tell us what made you smile (or yell). Below we’ll quickly share what the game’s about – hopefully it hooks you enough to dive in.
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h2]What’s the game?[/h2][p]Ocean Keeper Co-op is a team roguelike built around a tight loop: dig → haul → level up → defend → repeat. You dive into caves packed with puzzles, anomalies, teleports and veins—then race topside to beat back enemy waves before diving again.[/p][p]Roles matter, but they’re player-chosen. At the start of a run you decide how you want to help the team:[/p]

• [p]the Miner breaks blocks faster and charts routes;[/p]
• [p]the Courier moves faster and carries more, hauling loot to the surface.[/p]

[p]You can also mix responsibilities – a good squad plans routes together and adapts on the fly.
[/p][h3]Leveling & card draft[/h3][p]Your resources don’t buy upgrades directly. Instead, everything you haul contributes to your team’s shared experience. Hit a new level and the whole squad sees a draft of six cards – you pick four together. These cards are your buildcraft: weapon buffs, mining boosts, movement speed, shields, heals, and big “nukes” for clutch moments. At the end of each wave there’s another card reward scaled by how well you did. Powerful abilities go into a skill queue, so part of the fun is planning who triggers what and when during the next assault.
[/p][carousel][/carousel][h3]Cave content & anomalies[/h3][p]Caves stay fresh because their contents shift: puzzle structures that reward coordination, and anomalies –from mists that reverse controls or boost speed to stranger effects that bend the rules underground. The deeper you go, the harder it gets – but the richer the ore. Smart routing (and knowing when to call it) is half the game.
[/p][carousel][/carousel][h3]
Mech defense & weapon synergies[/h3][p]Up top, your central Mech is the line you must hold. Waves escalate, bosses show up, and your build choices start to shine. Weapon loadouts are on you: each Keeper can cover long-, mid-, or close-range, so synergy matters – the best runs are the ones where everyone’s lane is clear and timing is tight.[/p][p]You can play solo up to four players, but we designed the cadence and chaos for a full squad of four –that’s where the teamwork really sings.
[/p][carousel][/carousel][h3]Roadmap: Next Fest[/h3][p]During Steam Next Fest (Oct 13–20) we’ll roll out the demo and trailer, jump on a couple of live streams with the team, run a small giveaway, host a quick AMA, organize a community playtest, and finish with a short wrap-up. Right after the Fest we move straight into hotfixes and balance changes based on feedback.[/p][h3][/h3][p]If that sounds like your kind of co-op, jump into the Next Fest demo, try both underground roles, experiment with weapon ranges and card synergies, and tell us what you’d tweak. We’re listening in Steam Discussions and on Discord – your feedback drives our patches. If you enjoy the demo, a wishlist helps a ton.[/p][p]Enjoy the game!
[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[h2]Hey Guardians![/h2][p]Following internal playtests and feedback from players in our Discord, we've made several improvements and fixes to enhance gameplay, balance, and overall experience. [/p][h3]
0.2.0 Patch Notes[/h3][p]Cave Timer Adjustments:[/p]

• [p]The timer in the cave is now static at 75 seconds, previously it increased with each wave.[/p]

[p]Card Selection Timer:[/p]

• [p]Reduced to 15 seconds (previously 30 seconds).[/p]

[p]Golden Shield Update:[/p]

• [p]Duration: 7.5 → 10 seconds.[/p]
• [p]Healing: 20% per second → 30% per second.[/p]

[p]Cave Size Increased:[/p]

• [p]Cave size has been increased from 3000 to 3500 blocks.[/p]

[p]Ore Quantity Adjustments:[/p]

• [p]Blue Ore: 60 → 65.[/p]
• [p]Yellow Ore: 70 → 75.[/p]
• [p]Green Ore: 55 → 60.[/p]
• [p]Red Ore: 40 → 45.[/p]
• [p]Purple Ore: 35 → 40.[/p]

[p]Card Draft Adjustments:[/p]

• [p]Reduced likelihood of drawing multiple cards of the same type during the draft.[/p]

[p]Player Icons Update:[/p]

• [p]Added Miner/Courier labels to player icons for better role identification.[/p]

[p]Digger Colors Fix:[/p]

• [p]Corrected color discrepancies for Diggers in the cave (now matching the icons).[/p]

[p][/p][p]Ahead of October’s Steam Next Fest we’re rolling out Demo 0.2.0 – a polish‑heavy update focused on user experience improvement, co‑op synergy and moment‑to‑moment feel. You can now play solo or with 1–3 players, try new cave mechanics, queue your skills, and compare impact with a fresh score & stats pass.

[/p][p]Below you’ll find the highlights and full notes. Jump in, try the new toys, and tell us what breaks (so we can fix it fast).[/p][h3]— Highlights[/h3]

• [p]New Cave Anomalies: Black Hole, Twin Portals, Fog.[/p]
• [p]Gold Skills for: Nuke, Rocket Barrage, Mech Shield, Damage Buff, X‑Ray, Bomb, Portal.[/p]
• [p]Skill Queue — new skill cards are queued, not replacing your current one.[/p]
• [p]Choose Digger Role in the hub before a session.[/p]
• [p]End‑game stats & Player Score to measure contribution.[/p]
• [p]New puzzle‑like cave structures that boost co‑op interaction.[/p]
• [p]Big visual pass (lighting, flora), feel improvements (VFX, screen shake, shooting), UI/UX refresh, optimization.[/p]
• [p]Waves balance update + 1–3 players unlocked.[/p]
• [p]Digger model update + Mech death animation.[/p]
• [p]Lots of bug fixes.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][h3]
Cave Anomalies[/h3]

• [p]Black Hole — an unstable pair of linked rifts roams the mine, sucking in resources and warping them to the other side. Route planning just got spicy.[/p]
• [p]Twin Portals — two connected gates that let squads reposition fast and create clever resource loops.[/p]
• [p]Fog — a drifting mist in the caves that applies a random effect to any Keeper caught inside. Watch your step and adapt.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Gold‑Tier Skills[/h3][p]To add variety and a dash of RNG, we’ve introduced Gold versions of several abilities:
Nuke, Rocket Barrage, Mech Shield, Damage Buff, X‑Ray, Bomb, Portal.
Gold skills open up stronger or more situational plays — experiment and find your team’s favourite combos.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Core Co‑op Flow[/h3]

• [p]Skill Queue. Picking up a new skill adds it to a queue instead of replacing your current one. No more “oops, my build is gone”.[/p]
• [p]Role Selection in Hub. Choose your Digger role in the lobby before the run — faster drafts, cleaner starts.[/p]
• [p]Player Score. Almost every action contributes to your in‑game score, so you can compare impact across the team.[/p]
• [p]End‑Game Statistics. The death/summary screen now surfaces clear team metrics to review what went great (or not).[/p]

[h3]Exploration & Structures[/h3]

• [p]New Cave Structures. Procedurally‑spawned puzzle structures encourage cooperation, routing and shared decision‑making.[/p]

[h3]Visuals & Feel[/h3]

• [p]Cave visuals improved: lighting, vegetation and atmosphere for better readability.[/p]
• [p]Surface feel pass: post‑processing, shooting feedback and screen shake tuned for punch without nausea.[/p]
• [p]UI/UX refresh: cleaner windows across the game; more legible at a glance.[/p]
• [p]Digger model update: a fresh look for our hard‑working miner.[/p]
• [p]Mech death animation: say goodbye in style (then get back to work).[/p]

[h3]Balance, Accessibility & Performance[/h3]

• [p]Waves balance update for a smoother difficulty curve.[/p]
• [p]1–3 Players Unlocked: run solo, duo or trio — your call.[/p]
• [p]Optimization across the board.[/p]
• [p]Audio & Mic settings now available right from the main menu.
  [/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Fixed a crash caused by simultaneous ore counting between host and client.[/p]
• [p]Fixed laser not working when a Digger stands on ore.[/p]
• [p]Fixed missing towers on Mech for both host and clients.[/p]
• [p]Cave background too dark in some seeds — additional lighting pass in progress.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Enjoy the game [/h2][p]Play the Steam demo during Next Fest, try the anomalies and gold skills, and drop feedback or clips in our community channels (Steam discussions & Discord). Your notes directly shape the next patch.

[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Our offerings to the sea have been repaid, and from the depths of the waters rises a new update for Ocean Keeper Co-op! Well, it’s not the work of unspeakable horrors, but the tireless efforts of our devs, who have been working hard to prepare the game for the Next Fest (oh yes, there’s a lot of exciting stuff waiting for you there). But let's dive right into the details of the new update. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Golden upgrades[/h3][p]Imagine entering Ocean Keeper Co-op, only to find a mech and a worm playing cards. Could you ever picture such a thing? Neither could we. But what we do have for you are brand new, golden upgrade cards! New rare golden cards that offer a higher percentage of upgrades compared to the standard ones.[/p][h3]Exit Confirmation[/h3][p]We’ve also added a confirmation window when exiting the session:[/p][p][/p][p]*Are you sure you want to leave the game? :c[/p][p] [/p][p][/p]

• [p]Improved enemy spawn system[/p]
• [p]Enhanced card drop system[/p]
• [p]Added Audio settings window in the Main Menu[/p]
• [p]Mech skills now drop when leveling up and disappear after activation during the round[/p]

[h3]Balance Changes:[/h3]

• [p]Modified enemy waves[/p]
• [p]Adjusted card deck [/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Fixed parallax bug in the mine[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where a session could start with fewer players than required[/p]
• [p]Fixed bug causing enemies to stop moving when host settings were active during the session[/p]

[p][/p][p]You can try out the new update by joining the Playtest, available right on our Steam store page:[/p][p]*Don't forget to add the game to your wishlist![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]You’re also welcome to join our developer playtests by hopping into our Discord community.[/p][p] See you soon! — The Ocean Keeper Team[/p]

[p]It’s been two weeks since we announced the beta release of Ocean Keeper Coop. During this time, we’ve already hosted plenty of playtests with our devs and our amazing community (by the way, those happen in our Discord – and anyone can join in). Now, it’s finally time for the very first major update!
[/p][p][/p][p]So, what’s new? [/p][p][/p][h3]Quick Join [/h3][p]Playing with friends is the heart of OK Coop. But some of you had trouble with having ones :'( You asked for a fix – and we didn’t exactly find you new friends, but we did add a Quick Join button! No need to wait around, just hop in and automatically connect to open lobbies.

[/p]

• [p]Added a system for automatically finding the optimal server with an open lobby.[/p]

• [p]Added the ability to kick a player from the lobby.[/p]

[h3]New Boss [/h3][p]A new boss has arrived: meet the Crimson Ringed Horror. We just call him John for short (we haven't actually given it a name, feel free to suggest your own). We won’t spoil which wave he spawns on – consider it a surprise.
[/p][p][/p][p]Also:[/p]

• [p]Multiple players can now carry ore together.[/p]
• [p]A boss fight timer has been added. [/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Laser VFX polished.[/p]
• [p]Late waves optimized.[/p]
• [p]Enemy sizes adjusted.[/p]
• [p]Wave and enemy balance improvements.[/p]
• [p]Skill balance reworked. [/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Fixed a bug when leveling up twice caused a teleport to the surface.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug with disabled sounds on the first launch.[/p]
• [p]Fixed falling ore after teleporting.[/p]
• [p]Fixed mic mute/unmute issues.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Digger controls during waves.[/p]
• [p]Fixed boss attack behavior.[/p]
• [p]Fixed weapon and skill reload issues.[/p]
• [p]Fixed enemies staying motionless. [/p]

[p][/p][p]Think that’s it? Not quite! To celebrate this update, we’re inviting you to a special DEV+Community playtest happening today at 05:00 PM Kyiv time (10:00 AM ET / 4:00 PM CET) in our Discord. Bring your friends – and come meet John ;)
[/p][p][/p][p]See you there,[/p][p]— The Ocean Keeper Team
[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]