WEEK 8: Item Shop | Equipment Sets

From the Developer

This week’s update focuses on equipment, item progression, and preparation for larger battles and future exploration systems.

As enemy encounters continue to expand, including future space battles, stronger monsters, and more advanced combat cards / equipment will become increasingly important for survival and different playstyles.

The new Castle Shop introduces the first major equipment sets in the game, including headgear, body armor, and boots with different themes and future gameplay possibilities.

Many future systems are also already being planned around these items, including crafting, upgrades, faction-style mechanics, and special environmental effects.

I’ve also continued working on a LARGE amount of Japanese learning content behind the scenes, including new stories (as mentioned before), kanji mnemonics, JLPT quizzes, and more that will appear in future updates. Putting these in the game is pretty time consuming so please keep recommending things you would like to see more of below, on the Discord or with a Steam Review!

Note: No AI was used to create these equipment assets or code, everything was handcrafted.

Castle Shop Equipment Update

A brand new shop has been added to the Castle area featuring equipment sets / or mix them up however you like.

Players can now purchase equipment pieces including:

• Headgear

• Body Armor

• Boots

Current set themes include:

• Traveler Set

• Sorcery Set

• Demon Set

• Frost Set

More equipment sets, item shops, and accessories are planned for future updates.

Future plans for equipment systems may include:

• Item upgrading

• More crafting systems

• Gear set bonuses

• Environmental abilities

• Faction or ally-related mechanics

For example, certain future ice-themed equipment may eventually allow players to safely walk across frozen areas or interact with special locations.

These systems are still early concepts and will be expanded later during development.

Equipment & Inventory Improvements

The equipment interface has received changes.

New changes include:

• Equipment categories now display Japanese names instead of icons

• Bigger Exit “X” button and coloring

Equipment category examples:

• 本 = ほん = Book

• 頭 = あたま = Head

• ゆびわ = Ring

• 手 = て = Hands

• 体 = からだ = Body

• シールド = Shield

• 足 = あし = Legs / Feet

• かぎ = Key

Players can access equipment through:

• Inventory Menu

• Pressing F

• Shortcut Key “V”

  

New Story Added

New JLPT N5 Story:

[JLPT N5] 夜の学校 = よる の がっこう = The School at Night

Many stories are already finished, it takes time to fully implement and polish them for the game. I plan to continue adding them gradually over future updates, similar to the Music Room where a few new songs are added each week.

Story Organization Improvements

Stories are now labeled more clearly inside the Stories Room to make navigation easier. Thank you to "whereitsatvending" on Discord for sparking this new idea.

Examples include:

• N5 #1

• N5 #2

• N5 #3

This system will help organize the growing amount of Japanese learning content planned for the game, and when refer to a typo in a story. Many floors of stories planned.

Music Room Update

New songs added to the Music Room:

• きらめく海 = きらめく うみ = Sparkling Sea

• にんじん泥棒 = にんじん どろぼう = Carrot Thief

More songs are already planned for future updates. :)

Fixes & Improvements

• Fixed furigana typo in Story Room:

  • N5 田中さんの朝: 挨拶 = あいさつ (not しょうかい)

• Light performance improvements made in several areas (Additional optimization work is still planned)

Other Notes

Some battles may become significantly more difficult going forward, especially with future enemy types and larger combat encounters.

Equipment, shields, health-focused builds, mana builds, and stronger card combinations are expected to become increasingly important as progression expands.

Development continues weekly,

Thanks for playing PLAYNESE and helping shape the game through feedback and support. I appreciate all comments and honest Steam reviews as this also drives a big part of the game's success.

See you in next week’s update!

ライト = Light 🎮