Hello everyone!

First off, we want to send a huge “thank you” to everyone who has purchased Bricks over Blocks on Steam Early Access. Your support directly helps us keep the game growing and improving. We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes and are planning to release updates every two weeks from now on. We have lots of exciting ideas in store, so stay tuned!

We realized we didn’t formally announce the March 13 update, so this post covers both the March 13 and March 24 builds.

Build Mar_13

Bug Fixes

• Ball Respawn: Fixed an issue where the ball wouldn’t respawn correctly after falling.
• Countdown Audio: The countdown at the start of each level now plays correctly with the new audio.
• Ball Stuck: If the ball ever starts moving perfectly straight up and down, it now gets a slight nudge left or right to avoid being stuck.
• HUD Disappearance: Addressed a bug causing the HUD to disappear after playing a level and then opening the settings.
• Mouse Persistence: Fixed an issue where the mouse cursor remained on-screen while playing a level.
• Level Progress: Fixed a bug that caused level progress not to delete properly when playing in the editor.

New Features & Tweaks

• Game Splash Screen: A temporary splash screen is now in place.
• Steam Achievements (WIP): We’ve set up basic plugins to start integrating Steam Achievements in the future.
• Save System (WIP): Began implementing an initial save system for level selection.
• Ball Speed Tweaks: Adjusted the initial ball speed, and it now increases after 30 seconds.
• New Loss Conditions:
• Losing a life: If Blocky falls into the hazard below, you lose big points (3 times and you’re out).
• Running out of time: If the timer hits zero, it’s game over.

Build Mar_24

New Level Content

• Forest Biome (Test Level): Added the first Forest biome level with a new layout and design. (Temporarily disabled from normal gameplay while we refine it, but it’s included for testing!)

Gameplay & System Improvements

• Keybind Persistence: Keybinds now save properly, and there’s a placeholder UI to manage them.
• Dynamic Level Select: The number of level buttons on the selection screen now adjusts automatically based on available levels.
• Refactored Actors & Collisions: Simplified how various objects interact with each other for more consistent behavior.
• Fireball & Sludge Ball Rework: These special balls now inherit from the main ball for improved consistency and fewer bugs.
• Player “Missile” Feature: If Blocky is launched upward by a level obstacle, it can destroy bricks on the way up—like a missile!

Looking Ahead

We’re excited to continue polishing Bricks over Blocks. Updates will now come every two weeks, so expect more new features, refined gameplay, and of course, more levels! Your feedback is crucial, so please keep sharing your thoughts with us on the forums or in the community hub.

Once again, thank you for your ongoing support and patience. Each purchase and piece of feedback helps us make Bricks over Blocks the best it can be.

Stay tuned for more updates—and as always, happy brick-busting!

—The Bricks over Blocks Team