ChainStaff news & patch notes

Patch 2 fixes

-fixed camera in level 2 cave.

-level 10 balance for easy, more shields.

-properly clears soldiers killed (soldiers don't attack you on new-game+ now)

made controller disconnect message not say "player", instead says "controller" to not imply that there is a two-player option.

SPOILERS:

There are spoilers in this bug list regarding bosses

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SPOILERS:

-alien alaric boss now has weak-point-cover damage stages.

-far right collision on alien alaric adjusted to not stop player shots against boss.

-trying to fix acid drips from alien alaric.

-bounce shots from alien alaric tail now drive along the ground like saw blades.

END SPOILERS

Are you ready to rock?

I said...

Are you ready to rock?

People, we have a full-on music video!

Check out "The Ultimate Weapon", the theme song for ChainStaff created by the brilliant Deon van Heerden (composer on Broforce).

CAREFUL: Listening to this may cause loud outbursts of singing and pumping of fists in the air! :D

Guaranteed the catchiest video game song you'll hear all year!

The official ChainStaff soundtrack is out now (all files are released if you've already purchased it--just restart Steam), Volume 1 is on Steam, complete with The Ultimate Weapon song.

Enjoy!

Thank You!

We made it to 50 Steam reviews! Let's keep going! Thank you for leaving your thoughts on the game. Every review helps, good or bad, big or small.

If you've not already left a review on Steam or on console, please do!

It helps bring in more gamers to find the game.

Accolades Trailer

The critics have been enjoying the game too! Here is a snazzy accolades trailer.

More Choice Quotes

"a wildly inventive run n gun adventure" Kimimi the Game-Eating She-Monster

"ChainStaff is a clever, focused run n gun that turns one multi functional ChainStaff into an endlessly entertaining toolkit. " Absolute Geeks

"The game lasts a pretty good while for its $15 asking price" Gamer Hub

Soundtrack is Releasing Soon

Here is the ChainStaff composer Deon van Heerden absolutely shredding! The soundtrack will be releasing soon, we are working on it.

Again, thank you for an awesome launch week! Even though it's "only a single-player game" there's more in store for ChainStaff.

Version 1.0.49, Updated to Steam, consoles to follow.

-New music track for level 5 mid-boss Jellymander

-Added cheat "change difficulty" to modify game difficulty mid-game.

-Fixed "floating HUD crystal" animation

-Improved Russian translations (Thank you "Solo" for the translation)

-Fixed the ChainStaff Upgrade menu that would hang the game if you had maxed out everything.

-Fixed the "Skewered" Achievement, and a few others.

-Improved the camera in level 8.

-Fixed level 5 boss beacon

ChainStaff is out now on Steam! And Switch and Playstation and Xbox. But you should play it here.

Then probably buy a copy on a console too. Just for safe keeping.

If you enjoyed the demo there's 9 more giant levels, weird-ass parasite upgrades, over a dozen giant bosses some of which are hard to figure out! And plenty of weapons too shoot at dozens of completely bonkers monsters while you go for the 6 different endings.

Stop Reading, go get the game!

My publisher went out of business and I did not have marketing support from a big company.

Instead of waiting to get the game 2 years from now, if you get the game at launch and leave a review, it helps sooooooo much more than getting it in the future.

Plus you get to join in talking to other people on the discord about it while everyone's playing it together https://discord.gg/8PYEmJWxAT

This will help ensure I get to make extra content for it too. (I hope to release some free updates.)

Thank you!

ChainStaff Coming April 8th

Release date: April 8th. Coming to Switch 1/2, Xbox One/Series, Playstation 4/5, Steam

Oh crap the game comes out in 2 weeks! I'm kind of freaking out, but also feeling good since the testing and bug fixing has been going well. 

I made a cool new, kinda silly, but very helpful video on stuff you can do with the ChainStaff. Check it out!

I am hanging out on Discord, and sharing tips, tricks, and even new cheats! If you wanna talk about the game, cool stuff to do, or other games, come on over to the Discord!

https://discord.gg/8PYEmJWxAT



Oh and you can pre-order the game too, check it out. 

https://chainstaffgame.com/

Is your favorite console the Switch 1 or 2?  Good news, the game runs great on it (we are optimizing it right now) and ready for pre-order! 

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/chainstaff-switch...

What about the Xbox systems? Yes! The pre-order is ready there too, check it out.

https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/chainstaff/9pmbbn7nw5...

Thanks for all the support, and get ready-- ChainStaff is coming out Wednesday April 8th.

As we continue to polish ChainStaff for the April 8th release date, I've got cool news. After loads of playtesting I realized we needed just a little bit of extra polish.

Behold--the "Vault Ability"!

This is a new, automatic move that happens to the player in the game.

Any time you are next to a ledge, and you press towards it (left/right), you will automatically try to climb it just a little bit.

You don't climb all the way up walls.

But you do kick off of them twice, giving you a tiny boost.

You do not do a full ledge grab. That I feel would slow down the pace of the game. But you quickly do a small wall-hop and it lets you over loads of tiny spots you'd fall normally.

Want to try it out? It's in the free demo on Steam right now! Is it better than a ledge-grab?

Let me know what you think.

Launch Date

I have cool news! We finally have a release date for ChainStaff. Steam, Switch, Playstation, Xbox, everything...the game is coming out April 8th. 

Check out the trailer for new monsters, weapons, and levels. 

Pre-Order

Also big news--we have a price, $14.99, and pre-order options are available! We worked really hard to get the game through all the annoying systems for Nintendo and Microsoft. (Sadly Sony doesn't let smaller games like mine get a pre-order. I did try though! )

You can pre-order on Switch 1/2 and Xbox.

Please wishlist it or pre-order it. It's a big help! This page has all the store links: 

https://chainstaffgame.com/

Cheat Codes Now in the Demo 

I just updated the demo here on Steam.

It is still the tutorial training level and level 1, but there is now also a Cheat Menu. 

How's it work? Well it takes simple words. But you have to *know* the words. And I put all kinds of wacky, helpful, powerful cheats in there. Letter-case does not matter. Spaces do matter in between words. 

Just go to Options->Cheats in the demo to add them. How do you find out the Cheats? You should join the Discord server. Also I will reveal a few sometimes in the newsletter.

I add some cheats on the Discord server.

https://discord.gg/8PYEmJWxAT

 Okay fine, here's one cheat since you read this far already: show enemy health

But there's more on my Discord, jump over there and let's talk cool games!

Enjoy! 

I will be at MAGFest this weekend in Washington DC! It's June 8th to 11th. It's absolutely packed with awesome indie games, arcade games, and lots of amazing game music. Come out to the show and tell your friends about it!

ChainStaff was accepted to be shown in the "MIVS" division of the show. It's an indie-only section where cool indie games are previewed for the gaming public. You get a 10x10ft booth and you design it all yourself.

My first idea was... what if you could hold a real ChainStaff?!?

What would it be like? Check out this video as I detail the construction of it.

It ended up being over 7 feet long, but thankfully only weighs about 5 pounds so anyone can wield it.

I also printed a backdrop of the main game box art, and you'll get to pose in front of it with the ChainStaff!

This is inside my office; it barely fits! I'll do a new blog post when we get the real booth set up at MAGFest. The banner is 10x8ft. We had to take the picture sideways because the room is too small to fit. Thankfully the convention center is huge, so this will be awesome when we get it set up there.

The light fixture at the top obscures the game logo, but my idea was you'd get to "pry open the monster's mouth" on the box art with a real ChainStaff.

ChainStaff is due to come out to consoles and Steam this spring, so I'm working hard to get the word out for it. Thanks for following along on my journey!

Updated Demo

Get a taste of the story in ChainStaff! There are now two new story cutscenes at the beginning of the demo, where you can see the origins of the Star Spore invasion.

The demo update also has the ability to pick between Easy and Normal difficulty modes. The difficulty is hand-tuned for each level. There will be new attacks and more enemies in Normal difficulty. Easy mode might have more platforms to land on, plus you start with more player shields.

Here's the list of demo changes

I wish I had great news, but I have a bit of ... not great but not terrible news. I lost my publisher, Null games. Well, I didn't LOSE them, they dissolved (I don't know why).

What does this mean for ChainStaff? It means I have to do all the marketing, promotion, and community building myself, in addition to making and producing the game. That's is a lot work! But don't worry,

I've done it before with my past games.

Why is it not TERRIBLE news? Because I can spend a little more time balancing the game and not rushing to release it this Fall (to fit the publisher's schedule). I absolutely LOVE ChainStaff and excited to make it the best game I can.

The game was scheduled for release in Fall 2025. That's not going to happen any more, BUT don't worry, I don't plan on taking another year to finish the game or anything like that. The game is probably 85%

complete, so that's great! My current "release window" is Spring 2026. More info when I have it sorted out.

As for you all, the game demo is still live here on Steam (as of this writing), so if you could help me spread the word about how cool the game is to your friends, and  even your favorite influencers, that would be a big help!

And if you want to get into the closed beta, to play the game before release and help me balance the game and improve it, join my mailing list. I'll be doing the beta through here:

https://subscribepage.io/Mk6GOH

TLDR: Game is still coming out! I'm working hard on it, probably out more like Spring 2026.

Thank you for all your encouragement and support! It really helps with my motivation to do a great job and finish the game strong. -Nathan

FALL IN HERE, MAGGOTS! ChainStaff is confirmed to release on PC, Mac, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Prepare yourselves for heart-pounding heavy metal tracks and fast-paced, slippery combat against some of the weirdest half-alien, half-animal hybrids out there. Maybe even consider eating some brains, as a treat.

• Get to grips Learn to harness the ChainStaff’s murderous and varied powers in the Tutorial training grounds before taking the fight back to the invading alien scum
• Beautiful devastation Explore ChainStaff’s first level, Sand Spires, and gawk in awe and horror at once scenic views turned to surreal and otherworldly landscapes
• Dangerous species Shoot, stab and spear your way through several types of mutant fiends and catch a glimpse of what to expect from the many enemy variants the Star Spores will bring to the battlefield at full release
• Bring your best Deploy your flesh-ripping arsenal against the first of the game’s many gargantuan bosses, all of which will require precision use of your weaponry to resist and overcome their dreadful attacks
• Grotesque upgrades Your comrades are stranded across the wasteland of the Sand Spires, helpless to resist the Star Spores on their own. You can choose to send them back to base with a rescue for tech upgrades, or feed the alien beast on your head by devouring their organs to make you more powerful.