Steam News21 February 20264mo ago

Big Performance Boosts, Valentine's Theme & Juicy QOL Features!

Hey everyone! I’ve been hard at work behind the scenes listening to your feedback. As a solo dev, I'm always looking for ways to make the late-game experience smoother and the UI less tedious to navigate.

In this update3

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Full Pixel Chess Idle RPG update

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Repeated intro

Hey everyone!

What changed

1 fix3 additions8 changes1 removal

Compatibility
Performance
UI and audio
Store
Fixes

changedI’ve been hard at work behind the scenes listening to your feedback. As a solo dev, I'm always looking for ways to make the late-game experience smoother and the UI less tedious to navigate. Today's update brings some massive performance optimizations specifically targeted at the chaotic late-game rounds, alongside a handful of highly-requested Quality of Life (QOL) features and full Native Controller support!

removed🚀 Performance Optimizations & Engine UpgradesWhen you reach the deep late-game and have dozens of units clashing at once, the browser was struggling to keep up with the math. No longer!

changed🚀 Performance Optimizations & Engine UpgradesAI Fallback Web Worker: If the main chess engine (Stockfish) ever hangs or disconnects, the game's custom fallback AI used to freeze the screen while it calculated the next move. I've completely rewritten this to run asynchronously in a background Web Worker. What does that mean? Silky smooth animations and zero screen freezing, even when the AI is thinking hard!

changed🚀 Performance Optimizations & Engine UpgradesCombat Text Object Pooling: Seeing massive showers of damage numbers and gold text flying everywhere is awesome, but the engine was creating and destroying hundreds of objects a second to do it—triggering lag spikes. I've implemented a custom Object Pool to recycle the floating text objects. Late-game combat should now render flawlessly without micro-stutters.

changed🚀 Performance Optimizations & Engine UpgradesCanvas Rendering Tweaks: Optimized how the game loops and renders fonts and arrays behind the scenes, shaving off crucial milliseconds per frame.

changed💖 New Features & Quality of Life improvements"Buy Max" Upgrades: Have billions of gold and tired of clicking a button 50 times to level up your King? I hear you! There is now a handy "BUY MAX" toggle in the Upgrade Menu. Switch it on, and clicking Buy will instantly purchase as many levels of that piece or stat as you can afford in a single click!

Pixel Chess Idle RPG changes

removedWhen you reach the deep late-game and have dozens of units clashing at once, the browser was struggling to keep up with the math. No longer!

changedAI Fallback Web Worker: If the main chess engine (Stockfish) ever hangs or disconnects, the game's custom fallback AI used to freeze the screen while it calculated the next move. I've completely rewritten this to run asynchronously in a background Web Worker. What does that mean? Silky smooth animations and zero screen freezing, even when the AI is thinking hard!

changedCombat Text Object Pooling: Seeing massive showers of damage numbers and gold text flying everywhere is awesome, but the engine was creating and destroying hundreds of objects a second to do it—triggering lag spikes. I've implemented a custom Object Pool to recycle the floating text objects. Late-game combat should now render flawlessly without micro-stutters.

changedCanvas Rendering Tweaks: Optimized how the game loops and renders fonts and arrays behind the scenes, shaving off crucial milliseconds per frame.

I’ve been hard at work behind the scenes listening to your feedback. As a solo dev, I'm always looking for ways to make the late-game experience smoother and the UI less tedious to navigate. Today's update brings some massive performance optimizations specifically targeted at the chaotic late-game rounds, alongside a handful of highly-requested Quality of Life (QOL) features and full Native Controller support!

Here is everything included in today's patch:

🚀 Performance Optimizations & Engine Upgrades

When you reach the deep late-game and have dozens of units clashing at once, the browser was struggling to keep up with the math. No longer!

AI Fallback Web Worker: If the main chess engine (Stockfish) ever hangs or disconnects, the game's custom fallback AI used to freeze the screen while it calculated the next move. I've completely rewritten this to run asynchronously in a background Web Worker. What does that mean? Silky smooth animations and zero screen freezing, even when the AI is thinking hard!
Combat Text Object Pooling: Seeing massive showers of damage numbers and gold text flying everywhere is awesome, but the engine was creating and destroying hundreds of objects a second to do it—triggering lag spikes. I've implemented a custom Object Pool to recycle the floating text objects. Late-game combat should now render flawlessly without micro-stutters.
Canvas Rendering Tweaks: Optimized how the game loops and renders fonts and arrays behind the scenes, shaving off crucial milliseconds per frame.

💖 New Features & Quality of Life improvements

"Buy Max" Upgrades: Have billions of gold and tired of clicking a button 50 times to level up your King? I hear you! There is now a handy"BUY MAX"toggle in the Upgrade Menu. Switch it on, and clicking Buy will instantly purchase as many levels of that piece or stat as you can afford in a single click!
New Board Theme - ValentineGet in the cozy spirit! I've added a brand-new theme selector in the Options Menu. You can now easily swap between the standard Classic board and a gorgeous Valentine aesthetic (featuring soft pinks and deep crimson reds) at any time. Your preference will automatically save for your next session.
Accurate Gold VisualsFixed a visual annoyance where floating text for gold earned from combat wasn't reflecting your actual multiplier bonuses. The numbers flying off enemies will now correctly display exactly what is going into your bank!

🎮 Native Controller Support

I am actively pushing to make this game feel incredibly satisfying on a gamepad!

Native Tooltips: When using a controller, pressing Y (or Triangle) while hovering over a unit will now organically spawn its stat tooltip (showing HP, Damage, and Weaknesses) precisely pinned next to it on the grid! It auto-hides cleanly as soon as you move your cursor.
Native NavigationDropdown menus (like the new Board Theme toggle) can now be cycled naturally! Just hover over the option and press A , or toggle through the choices natively using the D-Pad / Left Stick .

Thank you all again for the incredible support, feedback, and bug reports. It really helps me track down exactly what needs fixing. Let me know what you think of the new Valentine board, and I'll see you in the next run!

Happy checking! ♟️

Source

Steam News / 21 February 2026

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