Today I'm releasing the DRM free version of Power of Ten on itch.io (It's on Steam already)! I'm very excited about this as itch.io was very important in playtesting and giving feedback for very early versions of the game.

How is Early Access different from the Demo?

So here's what will be in the Early Access version of the game (without spoiling anything):

Three full regions + one final encounter

If you played the demo it contains a single "region" that you can complete so when I refer to a region that's what I mean, basically the demo's scope more or less. Each will have a few unique mechanics and difficulties. They each have some light story that will be expanded upon as Early Access develops.

An introduction area to help explain controls and mechanics to players much faster

Do not fear! I hate tutorials as much as the next gamer and I put in a lot of work to make the "learning mechanics" part of the game integrated and tied into the gameplay. If you played the demo you'll probably fly right through it in minutes but hopefully, it'll help new players get into the game faster.

Hybrid Weapons

This is a fun mechanic developed for extended gameplay. As you progress you have a good chance to find weapons that also fire almost any other weapon at the same time. The ammo cost is increased to balance out this increase in power. Never miss a chance at a new weapon you may stumble over some incredibly overpowered combos!

Multi-Language Support

Fonts have been updated and systems integrated to translate the game into the most Basic Latin character languages. Right now French, German, Spanish and Portuguese have enough content to support an in-game language but if you want to help with localization please jump over to Localizer and contribute.

New music, enemies, weapons, upgrades, in-game mechanics, and things to discover

A lot more of everything else. May your runs be many and varied!

How Early Access will work

I'm hoping for a very involved community in Early Access. I want to update the game at least once a month after EA goes live until I consider it a 1.0 product and it can fully release. Here are more details:

Why Early Access?

“Early access gives the ability for a continual feedback loop between the players and myself. That feedback loop was essential for making the core gameplay a success and I want to continue that process while expanding the game. The game is in a very solid state from a gameplay standpoint, folks have already sunk many hours into the demo and the EA version has much more content.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“I'm hoping for six to twelve months till a 1.0 version. It's very likely that development will continue on after 1.0 but that work has not been scoped at this time.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“Same game just more of everything that makes it good. More weapons, items, ships, enemies, story and anything that adds variety to the core gameplay. There will likely be several big features along the way like new game plus modes for those that want to continue playing on a higher difficulty. Quality of life features like run history may also make their way into the game.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The game is fully playable. Has a beginning and ending and a lot of content in between. It has over 40 weapons with a hybrid system that takes the possible combinations into the hundreds, alongside dozens of items and upgrade it's a varied and fun experience. The story is very light right now but expects more to come on that in the future. Polish will probably be a little rough in certain areas and balance might not be quite right but I will be iterating on these often and feedback from Early Access will help inform the progress here.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The price may increase a small amount when we leave Early Access based on the amount of content that is in the game at that point.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“The community is already involved in the development. The demo would not be what it is without feedback from the community. This is typically happening in Discord but I will be looking at forums on to inform the development path of the game. Jump into Discord to join in the fun!”

Early Access Roadmap

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Hope all that sounds like fun. If you are excited, have questions or feedback please comment here or join us in Discord.