[Indie Gallery] 'Chain Letter' Dev Log - I'm in it for the fried chicken

Since you guys are doing a chicken event! I thought it'd be great to snag a free meal and share some game updates at the same time, hehe. I posted a brief update late last year, so I've gathered some more progress to share. Sorry for the long post again..!

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First off, the farm game is on hold for now. Today's log is about 'Chain Letter,' a game I once abandoned but am currently giving CPR to. Simply put, it's a swarm defense + high-intensity control game. It's a grid-based roguelite defense mixed with Helldivers-style inputs to give it that satisfying 'hands-on' feel.

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Now for the non-dev stuff! I overhauled the Steam page on the 30th. I deleted all the vague fluff in the description, made everything consistent, and polished the translations. Also, I realized that if people just saw the capsule art with a character standing there, they might skip it thinking it's a dating sim. So, I changed it to a blurred gameplay screenshot in the background. I also cut out all the in-game dialogue and story cutscenes. The first 10 seconds of the trailer were still boring dialogue scenes, and since I got feedback about that on Reddit yesterday, I did a quick fix by swapping it for a combat-only trailer. I'll re-record the gameplay once it's more polished...! I also cleaned up the unnecessary tags.

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I don't know if these tweaks matter for a tiny 'nugu' game, but after posting a couple of promos on Reddit and Twitter, my daily wishlists went from 0-2 to 8 on the 30th. Thanks to that, I've finally hit over 400 wishlists! T_T Looking at the traffic stats though, it's probably just a temporary spike from the promo links rather than the page overhaul being super effective.

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Regarding in-game dev changes! Originally, rhythm was a core element, but I've removed it now. Well, I didn't remove it completely; I made it an optional toggle at the start. If you check the option, the rhythm bar appears like the original version, and you get damage bonuses for timing your hits.

If you don't check it, you can just mash buttons comfortably without the rhythm bar. I've been testing it without the rhythm mechanics, and honestly, just mashing freely feels more fun... I think it was a design flaw from the start. It's looking more and more likely that I'll scrap it entirely for the final version. Since I don't have to time things anymore, I can spam attacks much faster, and the directional key commands feel way snappier. Plus, composing full tracks for a rhythm game was a huge burden, but now that it's just background music, that pressure is gone.