v0.2.3: Unique Engravings!

Merry Christmas everyone! (Or whatever you wanna celebrate, I don't care as long as you have a good time :) )

Before we get into the update, some news: We've been nominated in the category "Best Student Game 2025" at the SGDA Awards! Unfortunately, our plans to win were foiled by Pale Abyss, a first-person action RPG with a PS1-like art style. This makes us very upset, and we hope Permanent Crab Studios is struck by a terrible fate, like forgetting the keys at home when going out, or eating fajitas that are a bit too spicy. (Jokes aside, congrats! The game looks sick as hell, wishing you luck on future endeavors >:] )

Now, to the actual update: We've adjusted some of the engravings from the last update. In playtesting, there was a bit of information overload & on some playthroughs, descriptions were ignored entirely, so we've reduced some of the clutter. Also, some were a bit too polarizing, so we've reduced the individual effects on those.

Here's the big change

We've added a bunch of new engravings, each with a unique effect! These aren't just stat upgrades, but provide effects that only they can offer.

For instance, look at these

All-Consuming Hunger (■ Power) [Killing an enemy with this weapon gives you a temporary +5% damage on all weapons (Caps at +200%, needs to be fed]

This engraving gives you a considerable damage boost, but requires you to keep killing enemies to maintain that bonus. This is very useful against the hordes, but requires some balancing of weapons & prep for boss fights.

Expertise (▲ Finesse) [Equipping other Engravings with the ▲ Finesse type to this weapon levels them up by one tier]

This one is for character-builders. It doesn't do much right away when you equip it, but with a bit of planning, you can get a lot of value out of it. Plus, it synergizes well with the anvil, allowing massive stat increases!

Emblem of Chaos (☽ Arcana) [Whenever you enter a tile, randomize all other engravings equipped to this weapon]

This is just a fun one, seeing what comes out when you travel! It can also be useful when you get some engravings that just aren't doing anything for your run. For boss fights, I suggest rerolling a bunch of times to get a good build to face Shadigi. (Also, please don't tell Edmund McMillen that I stole his iconic representation of chaos. He will flay me.)

These are just my favorites, but we've added a couple more! Guess you'll have to play the game to see them for yourself ;)

New to the game as well: The Orb of Pure Arcana! A new weapon that follows your cursor, allowing you to snipe enemies with pinpoint precision. (As long as they're in range).

In addition, we've received some feedback that a lot of the weapons don't work as starting weapons. To combat this, a couple of them were buffed & given higher base stats. Hope that gives you more wiggle room to play with. Also, a bit of polish to top things off, check out the patch notes for more details, and give us feedback. I'm off for the holidays, but expect more updates in the future!

Have a good one, and enjoy the holidays! Jonas Wiesli Team Quintuple-A

Patch Notes

Changes

• Added 8 new engravings with completely unique effects

  • New total: 44 different engravings to encounter

• Added "Orb of Pure Arcana", a brand-new weapon

• Major rebalance to nearly all existing engravings

• Added changes to make alternative starting weapons more viable

  • More starting penetration & higher fire rate for Boomerang

  • More base attacks & higher fire rate for Lightning Rod

• Increased minimum velocity for magic shot

• Unequippable items are now crossed out on the map screen

• Added squiggly lines between tiles of the same biome (this was a major pain in the ass to implement, but worth it)

• Added option to display current FPS

• Reworded stat descriptions

• Added startup sequence with the team name :]

Fixes

• Drastically reduced likelihood of starting chest (with the "Arsenal of Weapons" unlock) being covered by trees

• Fixed XP Bomb being usable when it shouldn't be

• Fixed two engravings sharing the same name

• Fixed various spelling mistakes

• Adjusted main menu sub-menus