Steam News15 February 20264mo ago

Weekly #40 (09.02.2026 – 15.02.2026) - I almost wasted it!

Howdy! In short, I decided to postpone my participation in Steam Next Fest. Continue reading if you want to know more details about why I did it.

In this update4

Full notes

Full Squars: Incremental Defense update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

0 fixes1 addition2 changes0 removals

Gameplay
Maps

addedHowdy!If you’re new here, Squars is an all-square roguelite that blends tower defense with clicker mechanics 🙂.

changedSteam Next Fest:I gave Squars a second look and… Sadly, this is not yet anywhere near to be ready. I was so focused on finishing modules and map chunks I ignored the need of a tutorial, bug fixing and polishing

changedDemo version:A version that gives the player around 30 minutes of nice, guided gameplay and clearly shows what Squars are about. I need such build to be able to easily participate in online festivals which should be my primary focus instead of posting on social medias like Bsky or X. The reason being that Squars is not a “beautiful game”. I try to keep it as minimalist and square as possible and such approach is clearly not “viral inducing”

Squars: Incremental Defense changes

addedIf you’re new here, Squars is an all-square roguelite that blends tower defense with clicker mechanics 🙂.

changedI gave Squars a second look and… Sadly, this is not yet anywhere near to be ready. I was so focused on finishing modules and map chunks I ignored the need of a tutorial, bug fixing and polishing

changedA version that gives the player around 30 minutes of nice, guided gameplay and clearly shows what Squars are about. I need such build to be able to easily participate in online festivals which should be my primary focus instead of posting on social medias like Bsky or X. The reason being that Squars is not a “beautiful game”. I try to keep it as minimalist and square as possible and such approach is clearly not “viral inducing”

Howdy!

In short, I decided to postpone my participation in Steam Next Fest. Continue reading if you want to know more details about why I did it.

If you’re new here, Squars is an all-square roguelite that blends tower defense with clicker mechanics 🙂.

Steam Next Fest:

While I was rushing to get the demo ready for Next Fest, I was also spending some time educating myself on how to actually market games on Steam. I found Chris Zukowski ’s blog How to Market a Game and fell absolutely in love with it. Also it opened my eyes on how many things I was either doing wrong or wasn’t doing them at all!

So, why I decided to ditch the upcoming February’s Steam NF edition?

This is a one time opportunity to boost visibility of your game and it’s best to save it for later, near your launch time.
I gave Squars a second look and… Sadly, this is not yet anywhere near to be ready. I was so focused on finishing modules and map chunks I ignored the need of a tutorial, bug fixing and polishing
I am simply too low on wishlists for NF to make a difference.

This is why I am putting all my efforts into releasing

Demo version:

A version that gives the player around 30 minutes of nice, guided gameplay and clearly shows what Squars are about. I need such build to be able to easily participate in online festivals which should be my primary focus instead of posting on social medias like Bsky or X. The reason being that Squars is not a “beautiful game”. I try to keep it as minimalist and square as possible and such approach is clearly not “viral inducing”

I plan to finish it all up by the start of Tower Defense Fest, so I hope to “see” you there!

And that’s it! More updates to come! As always, have a great week!

Changelog below 👋

📜 CHANGELOG (09.02.2026 – 15.02.2026)

Energy balancing
Energy generators are back and available from the start of the game!
Cards rework WIP

Source

Steam News / 15 February 2026

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