Behind The Scenes #2 — A New Way to Play, Compete & Progress

The next big Winken update is getting closer. A public beta test will open very soon, and I'm sharing dev updates here every week to walk you through what's changing.

If you missed the first one, it was about the MIDI files management. Today, I want to focus on something just as important: how you play and progress in Winken.

🚀 What's Coming Next

A quick reminder of what the next update will cover:

• The MIDI Files management and reworking of the audio system. ✅ (covered last week)

• The game will now support MIDI Controllers on MAC systems.

• The UI/UX refresh: Menus, Score, XP, Game Modes... has been redesigned to be simpler, smoother, and to give you more freedom in how you play.

• The reworked gameplay flow — Play / Levels split, new scoring with multipliers, leaderboard from the main menu, XP and rank system, Titles... 🎯 (today's focus)

• Multi-language support: 12 languages will be supported.

• The new community features — Discord integration, score sharing.

🎮 Today's Focus: Gameplay & Progression

The old 3 buttons (Levels / Casual / Ranked) are gone. The new flow is simple, clear, and gives you more freedom.

A Clearer Way to Play

• Play — Ranked mode for the leaderboard, with optional 12k mode (default is 7k) and Note Names. Your choices influence your score.

• Levels — Training mode, available in 7k (default) and 12k, each with its own separate progression.

Two clear paths: one to learn, one to compete. Before, you had to finish Levels to access the full song ranking. I wanted to stop forcing you to choose between"I want to learn"and"I want to compete."Now both have their own space.

→ The new Play / Levels menu in action

A Smarter Scoring System

The whole scoring logic has been refactored. The big change: your choices now matter for your score.

• Playing in 12k mode? Multiplier applies.

• Playing without Note Names? Multiplier applies.

• Combining both? Even bigger multiplier.

Multipliers go from 1x → 1.4/1.6x → 2x depending on your setup. The harder the configuration, the higher your potential score.

Leaderboard, Right From The Menu

No more digging through menus. The leaderboard is now visible directly from the main menu, based on the tracks you've selected. One glance, you know where you stand.

New XP, Ranks & Titles

• Simplified XP calculation — More consistent, more readable progression.

• Ranks — As you level up, you earn ranks. You can choose to display them in the leaderboard or keep them private.

• Titles — Show off your achievements.

I wanted progression to feel clear and rewarding without becoming a grind. I hope you'll feel the difference.

📌 A Few Notes

The new scoring system also means that leaderboards from before this update won't be directly comparable with the new ones. I'll detail the migration plan when the beta opens.

💙 How To Stay In The Loop

• 👀 Follow this page to be notified of the next dev updates and the beta test launch

• 💬 Join our Discord for daily behind-the-scenes posts and direct chat with the community →

https://discord.gg/q4M8nNwwuh

Thanks for being part of this journey. Winken wouldn't be where it is without you.

Love & Music ! ❤️

— Ludwig