Been a busy few weeks on Tower Shield. With each passing week, I find myself clearer and clearer on the game's design and direction. When you first sit down to write a design document, you're basing it off a vague idea you have it in your head, and as much as you can plan it out on paper, the reality of how the game will play out can only be know when you start prototyping the mechanics. As it is with Tower Shield, which has changed a little since my initial design doc. One of the biggest changes is coming in the months ahead - next week I start on the [b]DUNGEON[/b] component of the game, I'll do a full post here to let you know all about it, but it will really add a ton to the game , basically doubling the game mechanics and adding in tons of synergies. Before I could get to that, I knew I needed to add the 'meta game' around the core game itself. What do I mean by this? Well, think of [i]Swords and Sandals[/i] for example. The core game is fighting, right? The meta game around that is earning coins and then buying stuff to upgrade your character. Tower Shield's meta game is similar - your heroes go on 'dungeon / tower ' runs to try and defeat the bosses waiting for them. Whether they succeed or fail, the runs end pretty quickly. I'm planning to have each run be less than 5 minutes at a time. Any gold / gems you earned on the run, you can spend upgrading your heroes to make future runs easier. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44221347/29f9fc44dc3defbfdcc838b37c6fc781f6db71d8.jpg[/img] There are two shops in the game now. The first is [i]The Forge[/i], where you can increase the powers of things in the Tower. Stuff like making the shield spin faster, or giving it more armour, or perhaps increasing the amount of health given out by health platforms. Most importantly, you can unlock extra slots for your party - you start off with just one hero but can get up to 4 total, which will really make the quest easier ( though more chaotic as you manage all four of them!) The other shop is [i]The Tavern[/i], where you can recruit new heroes to appear in the party. You start off with only access to the Barbarian ( though you can have multiple characters of the same type in your party, such as four barbarians ). There are 6 classes nearly ready ( Knight and Valkyrie should be done this week ) , and I'll be adding at least 2-4 more before game launch. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//44221347/52acbed6b48d23740e1687ead61e5ebff6ae9925.jpg[/img] Heroes, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2446920/Tower_Shield/]remember to wishlist the game [/url]and et me know your thoughts too, would love to hear your feedback. Also there'll be a playable demo in maybe a month or so, so I'll be sure to let you know about that! Cheers, Oliver Joyce Whiskeybarrel Studios