Update 3.0: Final Prerelease Update

Hello friends!

As we near the end of Early Access, we're excited to share the last major content update prior to full release. There will still be smaller content updates before then (more on that below).

What's in this one:

• AddedNew Character-Exclusive Skills15 new character-specific skills have been added! These will show up in the normal skills pool but are exclusive to each character. They are: Balance, Hustle, Hedge, Superkick, Chairshot, Burning Hammer, Checkmate, Psychic Special, Poisoned Pawn, Icebreaker, Scream, Legendary Call, Turbo Graphics, Block In, and Watercolor .
• AddedShop RerollA once-per-visit option to reroll shop items had been added to both Tweaky's Cafe and Gabe's Hot Tub.

• Shop Sales & Easter Eggs: Both shops will now feature an item with a 50% off tag and some easter eggs for the adventurous...

• AddedNew Talents4 new talents have been added: Head Eraser, Soldier, Turtle, and Stress Response .
• AddedSkill Cycle RateA "Show Skill Cycle Rate" toggle has been added to the skills screen. This will display a % value for a skill to be cycled/drawn. Extra context for stat crunchers: this value isn't fully guaranteed but is normalized over roughly 25 skill cycles.
• AddedNew Random EventA new random event has been added to the third floor.

• MacOS Support: MacOS is now officially supported.

• Several fullscreen visual effects have been toned down. Some core skill animations have been modified or reworked.

• Sally and Stacy now behave quite a bit differently if Pro Gamer is defeated before them.

• Meeting Blob now only changes intent when taking damage on the player's turn and always switches to a different attack pattern.

• Bug fixes.

We hope you enjoy the new content. Let us know what you think and what else you'd like to see in Discord channel.

What's left for smaller updates before release: a few more talents, consumables, unlockables, achievements, skills (saved some of the best for last), additional enemy behaviors/randomization, and a full pass on game balance. Some of these may go live without an update announcement.

A quick recap on what's been added to the game since launching into Early Access:

• Over 50 skills (from ~64 to 117)

• Two new playable characters (from 3 to 5)

• Over 80 talents (from ~40 to 122, including discovery/starting talents)

• 9 Difficulty Levels (from 3 to 12)

• Over 50 unlockables (from ~12 to ~70)

• 8 random events (from 8 to 16)

• Localized in 10 different languages

• Boss variants and an additional final boss encounter

• Character endings, game mods, starting talents, discoveries, reroll options, improved save/load functionality, accessibility & battle speed options.

• Controller, Steam Deck, and MacOS support.

I'd like to thank some of our players who have been especially helpful with feedback in Discord during Early Access: Xuande, Bumper, Camkitsune, Ozebundi, Undernet, Kalut, Tjthegamerking, and everyone who has been active in the channel over the past two years.

Over the next few months, we will be devoting more time to promoting and marketing the game for full release. We'd love to go full-time on updating the game well beyond that, but the extent of that will depend on how well the release goes.

To put it plainly, we could use your help. If you've enjoyed playing Crush, anything you can do to spread the word helps. Tell your favorite youtuber, game reviewer, or streamer about it. Add/follow us on socials (Bluesky, Twitter, Discord, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube -- we'll actually be active on these in the coming months). Leaving a review here on Steam is always appreciated.

On a personal note, making this game (and the entire process of learning how to make games) has been one of the most challenging, frustrating, and satisfying things I've ever done. It was the only choice for me after exiting Riot Games. We started developing this in late 2019 shortly before our daughter was born, and we're excited to finally be approaching the finish line. A second game (on a much shorter dev cycle) and supporting Crush through full release is next on the horizon.

Thanks for your support.

Travis & Kara