Crush the Industry news & patch notes

Hi friends! We've got another big content update for you and a Steam Daily Deal Sale (Nov 8-22) coming up.

Crush will be 75% off starting November 8th -- less than a cup of coffee from Tweaky's Cafe! If you'd like to support us for that, we'd sure appreciate it.

We're calling this update "content complete" because it includes all of the content that was originally envisioned for the game, but that doesn't mean we're done updating it. Here's what's in this one:

• A New Boss Encounter: Supervisor Sweets (and her Cute Li'l Slime)! Defeating the Community Overlord once will unlock this as an alternate boss encounter for the first floor.

• A SECRET BOSS. You'll have to figure out how to reach him, but it's not too complicated. This replaces the "Two-Faced Manager" battle encounter on the 4th floor and serves as an alternate route of sorts. Defeat this formidable foe to unlock a powerful new talent!

• New Random Event. Look for the new "personal trainer" event appearing randomly on any floor. A familiar face will help you fix that gamer posture and strengthen those glutes!

• Three unlockables added.

• Lots of minor adjustments to enemy damage and status values.

• Corporate Hell damage modifier increased slightly.

• "Deft" starting talent now gives 5 Crit (increased from 4).

• "Defensive" starting talent now gives 2 Block (increased from 1).

• "Level-Headed" starting talent now gives 6 Sanity Shield (increased from 4).

• "Peppy" starting talent now gives energy every 3 turns (instead of every 4 turns).

• "Rugged" starting talent now always gives 1 Armor but has a -5 Max Health modifier.

• "Strong" starting talent now always gives 1 Power but has a -5 Max Health modifier.

• "Zombie" starting talent now gives 5 Contact Decay (increased from 4).

There's a lot of little things we'd still like to add or adjust. Have anything specific in mind that you'd like to see? Need to report a bug? Tell us about it in the Discord channel.

Going forward, we will be juggling Crush updates with exploring options for console publishing and developing our next game (Want to playtest it? Join the Discord channel for that too).

Thanks for your support.

Travis & Zafi

• A New Boss Encounter: The Mad Maestro (and his frog quartet)! Defeating the High Priestess of Creative once will unlock this as an alternate boss encounter for the second floor.
• Nightmare Challenge Mod. You wanted a tougher challenge beyond Corporate Hell? We heard you. This mode is so dang tough that even we can't complete runs most of the time. Enabling it (without other mods) and beating the game will unlock special trophies for each character in the Milestones section. Good luck! You'll need it...
• New Skills. Four brand new skills have been added: Chomp, Meat Shield, Mind Palace, and Energy Swap! These were designed to pave the way for new build strategies (e.g. Max Health, Rethink/Cycle).
• New Random Event. Look for a new zombie-like horde event on the first floor. Will you crawl under a smelly dumpster or run for it? Additionally, the "community award" event now features an option to pawn the trophy.
• Other Changes:
  • Charge and Paint skills now display expected total damage in parenthesis. These skills now calculate damage normally and only apply Power once (effectively a nerf to Fia, but she's still plenty strong).
  • Brainstorm skill has been reworked (including an updated visual effect).
  • New Talent: Meathead.
  • Capitalist talent has been reworked.
  • Blockbuster skill changed to deal 1x/2x damage (down from 2x/3x).
  • Slightly increased damage for some CEO and Taskmaster attacks.
  • Well Prepared talent changed to give 3 Rethink (down from 4).
  • Chairshot skill changed to deal 10/15 damage (up from 9/14).
  • Catharsis talent changed to restore 2 Sanity (down from 3 Sanity).
  • Minion Manager talent can now level up to 6. It takes quite a few more consumables to reach this final level, but it should feel better scaling into late game.
  • Added a pulsating effect to the Rethink glyph and tooltip. This disappears after a player has used Rethink a few times.
  • Various bug fixes.

• Added a "Select Random Talent" option to the starting talents panel.
• Added a skip button to the Unlock screen. The lock people are rejoicing and hope that you will leave a nice review now that they may occasionally live past the horrors of this screen.
• Checkmate (skill) damage increased to 40/50 from 35/40.
• Creative Spark (skill) pure damage (to player) increased to 4/6 from 3/4.
• Dissolve (skill) damage increased to 5/9 from 4/6.
• Focus Fire (skill) Burn value increased to 3/4 from 2/3.
• Localization file updated for several languages -- much appreciated to our contributors in the Discord channel for working on making this better.

• The 3 Toxic Players/Slimes encounter on the first floor can now spawn a Micro Micromanager instead of a Toxic Player or Slime.
• Corporate Hell difficulty modifier (enemy damage) increased slightly.
• Fixed a bug with upgrading an existing skill resetting cycle rate to base value.
• Changed the "Hard Times" achievement to trigger when achieved at any difficulty above Hard.
• Wondershot (Talent): random damage range increased from 0-200% to 0-225%.
• Fixed a visual bug with enemy death animations not completing, specific to certain MacOS versions (much appreciated to anyone playing on Mac reporting bugs).
• Charged Shield icon now displays correctly.
• Fixed several translation inconsistencies/errors. Updated Japanese, Spanish, and French translations.
• Unbalanced Mechanic attack pattern changed to 40 Poison and 30 Burn (down from 99 Poison and 33 Burn).
• Macho Badman is now slightly less impotent.
• Lovestruck Knight attack damage increased to 3 (from 2).
• Risque Influencer attack damage increased to 23 (from 22).
• Toxic Slime attack damage increased to 9 (from 8).
• Sally has been working out and now has 35 Health (up from 30).
• CEO first attack damage increased to 9x3 (from 8x3).
• Decreased volume on the player insanity sound effect (the pitch-shifting ambience). This is now muted when "Reduce Insanity FX" is enabled in the game settings.
• Added Turn Decay, Contact Decay, and Contact Poison to the help panel.
• Modified visual FX for several skills to be less glaring/fullscreen.
• Player damage cap increased to 9999 (from 999) because people like big numbers.

• Adding a win streak counter.
• Adding an "unlock harder difficulties" option for experienced players.
• Adding more battle encounter/enemy variations.
• Adding a Low Contrast Mode display option.
• Adding more new enemies, talents, events, etc.

• Fixed a bug with the Game Designer Moles locking combat actions when Contact Decay triggers under certain circumstances.
• Fixed minor Japanese and Spanish localization inconsistencies.

Hello friends!

• Added the "Golden God" achievement.
• The Help panel has been updated to include Rolling Health and Skill Cycling sections.
• Several insanity and fullscreen visual FX have been toned down.
• Hell 9 difficulty modifier "health roll speed is faster" increased (from ~15% to ~25%).
• Corporate Hell difficulty now includes an additional "enemies deal more damage" modifier.

• Toxic Slime damage attack increased from 7 to 8.
• Toxic Slime health decreased from 22 to 20.
• Neckbeard damage attack increased from 17 to 18.
• Neckbeard starting Block value changed from 5 to 10.
• Risque Influencer damage attack increased from 21 to 22.
• Lovestruck Knight sanity attack increased from 2 to 3.
• Meeting Blob damage attack increased from 18 to 19.
• Meeting Blob heal pattern now includes a +1 Power buff.
• Foul Overlord health increased from 230 to 240.
• Foul Overlord sanity attack debuff changed from 3 Poison to 4 Poison.
• Foul Overlord buff pattern changed to 3 Power, 3 Thorns, and 15 Block (from 2 Power and 2 Thorns).
• High Priestess of Creative lifesteal attack increased from 15 to 16.
• High Priestess of Creative buff Charge amount increased from 5 to 6.
• Critical Neckbeard health decreased from 125 to 120.
• Critical Neckbeard damage attack increased from 25 to 30.
• Game Designer Mole health increased from 60 to 65.
• Game Designer Mole lifesteal damage attack increased from 10 to 11.
• Unbalanced Mechanic health decreased from 80 to 77.
• Fried QA Tester damage attack increased from 20 to 25.
• Fried QA Tester sanity attack increased from 6 to 7.
• Anonymous Neckbeard damage attack increased from 25 to 30.
• Anonymous Neckbeard health increased from 170 to 175.
• Spaghetti Code Monstrosity damage attack changed from 8x4 to 7x5.
• Spaghetti Code Monstrosity health increased from 210 to 215.
• Spaghetti Code Monstrosity Drained debuff increased from 3 to 4.
• Two-Faced Manager now starts with 1 Dispel.
• Ominous Figure sanity attack now includes 3 Distracted and 20 Decay debuffs (changed from 3 Exposed).
• Ominous Figure heal pattern Power buff increased from 3 to 5.
• Ominous Figure damage attack changed from 27 to 10x3.
• Ominous Figure now starts with 30 Block.
• Ominous Figure health decreased from 400 to 300.
• CEO first damage attack changed from 7x3 to 8x3.
• CEO sanity attack pattern now includes a 2 Burn debuff.
• CEO now starts with 10 Block and 1 Dispel.
• CEO character-specific attack patterns deal more damage now.

Hello friends!

• New Character-Exclusive Skills: 15 new character-specific skills have been added! These will show up in the normal skills pool but are exclusive to each character. They are: Balance, Hustle, Hedge, Superkick, Chairshot, Burning Hammer, Checkmate, Psychic Special, Poisoned Pawn, Icebreaker, Scream, Legendary Call, Turbo Graphics, Block In, and Watercolor.
• Shop Reroll: A once-per-visit option to reroll shop items had been added to both Tweaky's Cafe and Gabe's Hot Tub.
• Shop Sales & Easter Eggs: Both shops will now feature an item with a 50% off tag and some easter eggs for the adventurous...
• New Talents: 4 new talents have been added: Head Eraser, Soldier, Turtle, and Stress Response.
• Skill Cycle Rate: A "Show Skill Cycle Rate" toggle has been added to the skills screen. This will display a % value for a skill to be cycled/drawn. Extra context for stat crunchers: this value isn't fully guaranteed but is normalized over roughly 25 skill cycles.
• New Random Event: A new random event has been added to the third floor.
• MacOS Support: MacOS is now officially supported.
• Several fullscreen visual effects have been toned down. Some core skill animations have been modified or reworked.
• Sally and Stacy now behave quite a bit differently if Pro Gamer is defeated before them.
• Meeting Blob now only changes intent when taking damage on the player's turn and always switches to a different attack pattern.
• Bug fixes.

• Over 50 skills (from ~64 to 117)
• Two new playable characters (from 3 to 5)
• Over 80 talents (from ~40 to 122, including discovery/starting talents)
• 9 Difficulty Levels (from 3 to 12)
• Over 50 unlockables (from ~12 to ~70)
• 8 random events (from 8 to 16)
• Localized in 10 different languages
• Boss variants and an additional final boss encounter
• Character endings, game mods, starting talents, discoveries, reroll options, improved save/load functionality, accessibility & battle speed options.
• Controller, Steam Deck, and MacOS support.

Hello friends!

• New Unlockable Final Boss: A new boss encounter can be unlocked by defeating the CEO. This encounter features three new original enemies that will put your skills to the ultimate test!
• Unlockable Taskmaster Deluxe Encounter: You've fought the standard model - are you ready for the deluxe version? This new encounter features the new explosive status effect and should be approached with caution.
• Game Designer Moles: These cute little guys are lurking somewhere on the third floor.
• Over 20 New Unlockable Starting Talents: These offer new build paths and ways to play. Want to be a Zombie, Chef, or Ninja? Now you can be! Of special note is the "Minion Manager" talent which features an evolving pet dynamic.
• Corporate Hell Difficulty: Beyond the nine circles of Hell awaits the worst fate for any office worker: Corporate Hell! This can be unlocked by completing the Hell 9 difficulty level. This is a beta version of sorts (a more complex implementation may happen in the future).
• Bug Fixes: Fixed a bunch of em.

Hello friends!

• Localization (Language Support): Can be accessed from the settings menu. Translations include: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, and Korean. Extending support for other languages in the future is always a possibility.
• New Playable Character: The artist Fia introduces some colorful new mechanics to pair with her unique playstyle. Unlock her by defeating the second floor boss and let your creativity run wild! Erase negative stats and paint your way through the workday! (editor's note: she's probably OP)
• New Random Events: Two new random events have been added. These also include 6 new exclusive consumable items, such as the powerful Bug Spray and Kingly Sword.
• Bug Fixes: Fixed some bugs with Flow State interactions.

Hello friends!

Hey dudes.

• Improved Save/Load: An oft-requested feature is finally in - you can now save anywhere/anytime on the schedule! If you notice any bugs with this, please let me know so I can squash them.
• Reworked Sanity Attacks: Enemy sanity hits now only occur as their own intent (rather than alongside damage). The previous implementation was a little cluttered/confusing, so this was done to simplify things and make battles flow more smoothly.
• Enemy Balance Changes: Lots of encounters have been adjusted. A few new attacks/behaviors were added. Many encounters should feel a bit less punishing or difficult now.
• UI Changes: Armor, Block, and Sanity Shield now appear next to their respective resources rather than in the status bar. Fonts have been changed to accommodate localization and readability.
• Random Event Art: Random events now have art. I don't know what else to put here. There's art. It goes with the events. Art is cool.
• Battle & Text Speed Options: You can now adjust text and battle speed (skill animations/delays) to be slower or faster to your heart's content! These new options are available in the settings menu.
• Bug Fixes: Of note, several controller/gamepad bugs have been fixed.

Hello friends!

Hello friends!

• 27 New Skills: Lots of these feature fun new mechanics and open up new combinations and synergies. Maybe some new bugs, too (please report any in our Discord!). Try combining While Loop with Target Function, or Copy and Paste with Focus Fire. Experiment and let me know what you think!
• 12 New Talents: Some of these should pair nicely with those new skills. Or just grab a Teddy Bear for some extra defense.
• 3 Game Modifiers: Offering more customization and options for each run. Want your runs to be a little easier or more chaotic? You're in luck. More will be added in the future. Note: these currently do not disable achievement progress, but that may change eventually.
• 20 New Unlockables: Unlock more content by taking down bosses and completing tasks. Some of the less newbie-friendly skills and talents will be locked until you've got enough work experience under your belt. Note: if you've already beaten the game, you'll be boosted farther along here to compensate.
• Stat Tracking: Expect an entire tab dedicated to this soon, but for now some of the more important stats are tracked & displayed on the character progress screen. Note: if you've already beaten the game, these numbers will be boosted to compensate.
• Achievements Tab: You can now view your Steam achievement progress from the character screen.
• Reroll Skills: You can now reroll "learned skill" options on the battle victory screen.
• Gabe 2.0: Gabe has received a bit of a makeover. He's still as steamy and weird as ever.
• The +Max Health option on the battle victory screen has been replaced with an option to receive bonus wages. Because money is more fun than max health.
• Bug fixes and other stuff I forgot to write down.

Hello friends!

Hello friends!

• Controller Support Testing: Controller support is in! This shouldn't be considered "official support" just yet. Feedback and bug reports in our Discord channel are greatly appreciated. Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Sony DualShock 4 controllers should work. Other controllers may work but haven't been tested yet. Expect hotfixes in the coming days as I continue to refine controller support!
• New Enemy Animations: a few enemies gained some new moves...
• Hell Balance Adjustments: adjusted several Hell difficulty modifiers to be a little less severe. Most notably, many summoned enemies (e.g. Microtransaction Eggs) are limited to 1 random buff on the harder Hell difficulty levels.
• Display resolutions that are not 16:9 aspect ratio should properly letterbox or pillarbox now. Dynamic resolution support is planned for a future update.
• A whole lotta bug fixes.

Hello friends!

• Added two unlockable new boss variations! Taking down the Foul Overlord and Countess of Creative might require different tactics than their normal counterparts.
• Added 8 new talents to the game: Death Stare, Infectious, Lean, Maniac, Manipulative, Supersaver, Viral Marketing, and Wondershot.
• Added a new enemy intent: Reflect.
• Added new status effects: Contact Poison and Contact Decay.
• Updated art & animation for Community Overlord.
• Minor bug fixes.

Hello friends!

• Reworked game difficulty levels. There are now nine circles of Hell to traverse before reaching Corporate Hell! Each new level adds challenging modifiers that stack with lesser difficulty levels.
• Added 13 new customizable starting talents to character select.
• All character-specific talents have been rebalanced to compensate for the additional starting talent.
• Several skills rebalanced (Poison the Well, Charged Shield, Fan the Flames, Trial By Fire, Train of Thought).
• Reduced intensity of insanity visual FX.
• Minor bug fixes.

Hello friends!

• Added new status effect: Turn Decay.
• Added new talents: Pure Power, Guarded, Beefy, Last Gasp.
• Added new skills: Code Rot, Crop Dust, Stonewall, Purge, Rest, Snap.
• Purist talent reworked.
• Dodge status effect reworked to only trigger after Armor/Block.
• Added a "Go Back" button when upgrading or adding skills.
• Out of Touch talent adjusted to be less out of touch.
• Fart skill now deals Pure Damage, just like real farts.
• Burn values adjusted for Trial By Fire, Macho Madness, and Midnight Oil.
• Adjusted Health roll to be more forgiving when ending battles at close to 0 Health.
• Lots of minor bug fixes.

• Save system now checks for file integrity and creates a backup file (as a safeguard against file corruption in the event of an unexpected crash, power outage, etc).
• Fixed several bugs with saving/loading.
• Added an option to view your schedule anytime (located in the character panel).
• Added "Reduce Insanity FX" option to settings menu.
• Added Music & SFX volume sliders to settings menu.
• Added "Disable Vsync" option to settings menu.
• Macho Badman now sticks his foot in his mouth on his second turn.
• Ominous Figure now gains power over time (but starts off weaker).
• Adjusted Multitasking Pure Damage from 5 to 4.
• New Consumable: Frost Primed Fizz.
• Insanity audio and visual effects toned down slightly.

Hello friends!

• Saving & Loading. Progress now autosaves at the start of each new floor, so you can resume a run whenever you want!
• Several new talents & skills. Try using Corporate Speak to generate Buzzwords, or harness your own insanity as a Mad Scientist!
• New Unlockable Character. Zeke uses his own unique "Hype" mechanic and timed hits. Can you make it to the top with this sharp-witted shoutcaster?
• ...and more. Be sure to join our Discord to get the latest detailed updates.

Hello friends!

• All 4 floors are in the game now!
• Ending, introduction, and floor progression cutscenes.
• Dozens of new skills, talents, consumables, and events.
• Core skills now receive bonus upgrades after completing floors.
• Unlockable content, including two extra difficulty modes.
• Tons of gameplay flow & balance adjustments.
• Lots of audio/visual polish.
• The demo has all of this now too (but you're still stuck on the first floor).
• Other stuff that sounds impressive and enticing!