Game Update! (v0.4.9)

New Update!

2025 is almost over! ☃️

I was reading through some old patch notes yesterday and suddenly realized that around this time last year…I hadn't even started working on Sealed Citadel yet!? This whole year has felt like it flew by, but looking back at the logs, it's actually been pretty packed. All of a sudden, we've got the Sealed Citadel, Infernal Shards, a bunch of new characters, towers, relics, and tons of stuff that wasn't even in the original plan. So really, thank you all for the support and feedback throughout the year! Thanks to so many of you playing and supporting the game, I've been able to keep expanding Emberward. (Sometimes I feel I'm working on a live service game 😆)

With the holidays coming up, I made an extra new event map for this update. Like the Misty Graveyard, this one is also a themed Endless Mode map with its own mechanic! On top of that, I kept filling in features that were planned before 1.0, like Custom Games, and reworks for Altar and Quests. I'm really curious how you all feel about the new endless map, do you want more maps like this or prefer modes like Daily Challenges? Let me know what you think after you try it!

For the next update, I'll be spending more time on some background stuff, like controller support and adding more languages (probably won't be finished in just one update though). Since they're quite complex to implement and there's a lot more IRL stuff at the end of the year, the next update might come a bit later than usual. I'll keep you updated if there's any news.

That's all! Hope you enjoy the new map and happy holidays! ✨

- Refi

New Features

Endless Mode

• New event map: Snowridge Outpost!

  While the adventurers celebrate the holiday, the monsters are attacking! So...let's exchange gifts and defend at the same time!?

  • In Snowridge Outpost, you receive gifts from other characters each round to aid your defense.

  • For example, Chunk gives you Mega Rune blocks, and Silas's gifts are packed with coins.

  • Although it's a holiday event, this map will not be removed after the holiday ends, so don't worry if you haven't unlocked it yet!

  • The achievement for this map will be added later (possibly 1.0). The game tracks your best record, so if you meet the requirements, the achievement will unlock automatically once it is added.

• A new Random Challenge mode has been added to Endless Mode. Each time you enter it randomly chooses a map and anomaly effects.

Custom Game (in Campaign Mode)

• Within each difficulty, the Custom Game option appears after all four regions have been cleared.

• In a Custom Game, the Academy does not appear at the beginning. Instead you enter the Secret Vault.

• Inside the Secret Vault you may freely select the towers (up to 8), blocks and relics you want to use. You can only choose the towers and relics that you have previously built or used.

• Using a Custom Game will not record any data for that run, nor will it unlock achievements or award experience points.

Map

• New node: Campsite

  • The Altar node will no longer appear on the map and has been replaced by the Campsite.

  • At a campsite there are three options:

  • Supply Station: Purchase supplies to restore your fire source's energy.

  • AddedCircusSpin a wheel to get new towers or relics!

  • Altar (...3.0):

    • You can