Isle of Arrows news & patch notes

Snowy days ahead

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/8ceb9e894ab94e0a324d99993e03795897b2fa82.png A blizzard has hit the isle and covered it with snow! To celebrate winter and the end of the year, the Daily Defense will take place in a snowy visual backdrop. This event, which does not impact gameplay, will last until early January. It requires a connection to the internet when launching the game. Thanks for playing & happy holidays, Dan

Bug Fixes

• Hotfix for a save game related issue

Introduction

Today’s patch adds Simplified Chinese localization to the game, along with a few other smaller features, improvements, and bug fixes. Please leave a comment here, on Discord, or through email if you encounter any issues. Thanks for playing, Dan

General

• Added localization for Simplified Chinese
• Added a popup with a few stats to the daily mode

Balancing

• The Replication relic will not appear in daily mode anymore

Other

• Increased the score counting animation speed after a game
• Changed the color of the ‘start new game button’ to red to indicate it will override the existing save game

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that prevented the game from launching properly with corrupted save files
• Added a missing description to the dice roll event
• Fixed a bug that would submit daily mode scores from the previous day
• Fixed the screen shake button not displaying properly in the options menu
• Clarified the French localization for Horticulture

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug that would display a missing localization warning.

Introduction

A new guild has been added to Isle of Arrows! Pathfinders are able to bend the rules that apply to building paths but must deal with an increased amount of path tiles. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/e5a41d999ce50199fc08ca81eba8929ae9ff5805.png

New content

• Pathfinders Guild: Pathfinders are able to extend paths both ways. Adding path tiles behind a compass stone automatically moves the compass stone. Additionally, Pathfinders are allowed to cut off path tiles. A yellow highlight will warn players if they are about to do so. As a drawback, Pathfinders must deal with an increased amount of path tiles. They receive extra path tiles through the regular tile drawing mechanic.
• Added 4 new daily modifiers: Isolated, Quagmire, One Hit Wonder, Double Damage

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/2057e88cfb578a5f74980a4479695a310f658e8e.gif A yellow highlight warns players if they are about to cut off a path

General

• High grounds now extend the range of flags
• Plaza now shows its range preview correctly when placing over coins, treasure chests and other pickups
• Added a door to the Fire Blast tower to better indicate its direction
• Changed the location of the skip button in the Beggar event to prevent unwanted skipping
• Card inventory button now closes all menus instead of going back to options
• Added a small visual effect to the loop tower to indicate its clockwise motion

Balancing

• Reduced ring of ruin coins from 2 to 1
• Reduced additional bombs from the Detonator daily modifier to 25

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug that would prevent certain gaps in paths to be closed after destroying path tiles
• Fixed a bug with gauntlet completion percentage going over 100
• Fixed bug with the guild/modifier information not closing properly when hitting escape
• Fixed bug with starting lives not set properly
• Added a potential fix for a save file corruption bug happening during power outages
• Spike trap is now visible under enemy spawn point
• Fixed a visual glitch with the training missions UI

Mobile version

In other news, Isle of Arrows is releasing on mobile this Thursday, November 3. Please note that while the leaderboards are shared between platforms, Isle of Arrows does not offer cross-save or cross-play functionality. Pre-orders are now available for both iOS and Android

Thanks for playing!

I hope you enjoy this new update. As always, please leave your feedback and bug reports in the comments or on Discord. Dan

Introduction

Today’s patch introduces new content specifically designed for new players. Since the release of the game, I’ve received a lot of feedback about the experience new players have in regards to the game’s complexity and difficulty. In order to improve the learning curve, a new tutorial campaign has been added: Training Grounds. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/d408d13940cf0fb70dc06103f90166af32c2d6f7.png The Training Grounds is specifically designed with new players in mind

Training Grounds

A short new campaign that will act as the new tutorial for the game. Training Grounds consists of a limited set of tiles and cards from the core set which aims to reduce the complexity and difficulty for newcomers. The existing tutorial popups have been redistributed across the campaign to avoid an overwhelming amount of information upfront. Additionally, a new set of training missions help players learn the game’s core mechanics. Both Training Grounds and Archer’s Oath will be unlocked at the start of the game.

General

• Towers now highlight which path tiles are inside the given tower's range. Similar to this, traps, flags, and buildings that interact with other tiles show their effect dynamically during placement
• The in-game options menu and game information menu have been split into 2 different menus. Clicking the guild banner will now open a menu that shows the current guild and active game modifiers.
• The unlock structure has been slightly modified: Daily Defense is now unlocked by completing Training Grounds, Gauntlet is now unlocked by completing the Archer’s Oath. If you've unlocked Daily Mode prior to this update and would like to play it without completing the Training Grounds, please get in touch at [email protected]
• Added an option to disable clouds for people with simulation sickness and/or low end computers
• Added an option to disable all keyboard inputs as a potential fix for a rare issue with camera drift
• Included the subtle camera sway when turning off camera shake
• Renamed Geysir tower to Geyser tower
• A few encounters have their continue button renamed to skip to avoid confusion
• The full version number of the game is now visible in the options menu

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/c6bed8d635c23c8d443ddce0df5a529229a6504e.gif The new tower range dispay shows which path tiles are within reach

Balancing

• Lowered content unlock requirements to wave 30 for guilds and wave 35 for campaigns
• Wardens now cannot spawn before wave 25 (was 24)
• Changed the poison trap’s element to nature
• Removed the path tile from the epic (purple) ice trap card

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug with the German localization for Hall of Flames
• Fixed a wrong translation for the French localization of the Moat achievement
• Fixed a issue that would sometimes show the wrong ground graphics when placing tiles
• Fixed a bug with Toxic Leaf that made it apply to an additional enemy each wave
• Fixed a bug that would not update Geyser towers after choosing the Dehydration bonus card
• Fixed a graphical glitch that would make grass blades stick through dig sites and other tile modifiers

Introduction

Today's update further focuses on gameplay balance, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements. A few balancing changes have been made to the Merchant's guild. These changes should help remove some of the variance, but I want to have a more in depth look at the guild in the future to make it less dependant on starting luck. The update also adds a few more keybindings, as these have been requested frequently by Steam Deck players. Eventually, I'd like to implement proper key mapping support. Thanks for playing and please leave a comment or join the Discord if you have any feedback!

Patch notes

General

• Added the targeting priority for all towers in their tooltips
• Added explicit stat percentages and damage numbers to a few bonus cards and tiles
• Made the fast forward toggle persistent across games
• Slightly changed the wording on the Imitation bonus card to make it clear that it only works with groups of exactly 3 towers
• Increased Daily Defense leaderboard size by 20 entries
• Added a few more key bindings: Place tile (enter), next tile (n), start next wave (v). These were requested for remapping by Steam Deck users and will be replaced with proper key mapping support in the future.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/c0bdb3ca71a63586ebb62814776ee96eaee2c151.png Towers now always show their targeting priority

Balance

• Merchants start each game with a bag of coins already on the isle, maximum number of bags allowed on the isle raised to 10 (was 6)
• Merchants starting coins increased by 1
• Slightly tweaked the Merchants starting isle to avoid unfair and frustrating setups
• Slightly adjusted the number of enemies spawning in the Arboretum and Burning Embers campaigns
• Removed the treasure chest from the Cannoneers' random events to avoid nearly unreachable treasures outside the isle
• Legacy tower attack cooldown reduced from 1 second to 0.75 seconds
• Ice trap slow debuff duration increased from 1.2 seconds to 1.4 seconds
• Lowered inferno stone damage buff from 0.3 to 0.25
• Moat tower now targets the enemy with the most health

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that would prevent the Toxic Leaf bonus card from working as intended
• Fixed a bug with the Ignition bonus card that prevented fire traps from activating immediately
• Fixed a mistake with the French localization of the Overflow bonus card

Introduction

Thanks everyone for playing Isle of Arrows and submitting your feedback and bug reports. The reviews, messages, and comments have been very helpful! Exactly a week has passed since the release of the game and while I'm still a bit overwhelmed trying to catch up to all the messages, I thought I'd give a quick update on the continued development of the game. Besides bug fixes and minor improvements, I want to focus work on two major points for the time being:

• Improving the experience for new players and reducing overall friction and frustration caused by balance and RNG
• Planning out the future of the game and how to expand it going forward

Today’s patch focuses on bug fixes and some rebalancing of the early game content to make the game's difficulty curve less steep. In future patches, I will be looking at balancing for mid and late game content as well.

Patch notes

General

• Fast forward mode is now always available, even to players that have not yet finished the first campaign

Balancing

• Lowered the overall difficulty of the Archer’s Oath campaign by slightly reducing the number of enemies that spawn
• Rearranged some of the unlocks of the Archer’s Oath campaign. A few powerful cards have been moved to unlock earlier in the progression
• Founder’s Guild starting resources increased by 1 each
• Treasure chest rewards have been slightly increased and now grant one of the following items: bonus cards, 3 bombs, 4 bridges, or 5 coins
• Brutes and Executioners now won’t spawn before wave 15 and 18 respectively
• Removed number of water tiles attached to the Sniper Tower by 1
• Dehydrate now always rounds up in case of an odd number of water tiles

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug that would soft lock the game when getting a tower from the magic wheel without having room to place it
• Fixed a bug that would mess up a tile’s orientation when quickly rotating it
• Removed Masterplan from the Cannoneers’ pool of bonus cards and clarified its wording
• Fixed a localization issue that would show broken UI when clicking on a crystal while playing as the Cannoneers
• Fixed a bug that allowed arched paths to be built over crystals
• Reworked the wording on the Cannoneers guild to explain the absence of flags
• Added a potential fix for an issue that can corrupt save files when a power outage occurs

Message from the dev:

Thanks for checking out Isle of Arrows! This post aims to showcase some of the features of the game and give details on a few gameplay mechanics. I hope this also helps you decide if Isle of Arrows is a game for you or not. So here are 5 tips that help you getting started with Isle of Arrows:

1. Tower Defense With a Twist

Isle of Arrows combines Tower Defense with tile placement mechanics, often seen board games. This adds near endless replayability, but also makes the game different from most other Tower Defense games. Unlike many other Tower Defense games, Isle of Arrows focuses on the strategic placement of tiles, rather than managing/upgrading individual towers. Each tile has a different effect: towers attack the invaders. Roads build out the path the enemies walk on. Flags extend the isle, giving you more space to build. Gardens reward you with coins. Taverns boost all adjacent archery towers. And so on. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/a9da3f95dc0b10b1ec93dcfb87a75fffa5a464ac.png Tiles can be placed anywhere on the isle, as long as they are adjacent to existing tiles. Consider the position and rotation of each tile carefully!

2. RNG & Tile Distribution

Every tower, building, trap, and road is drawn from a random stack of tiles. You don’t have control over the order and type of tiles that are drawn, but the randomization guarantees a certain amount of each type, to keep things fair and balanced. You always see what tile is coming up next, which helps you plan ahead. Spending 2 coins allows you to skip a tile you might have no use for. To beat all waves and reach the top of the leaderboard, strategic thinking, RNG mitigation, and min-maxing are required! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/b70ae5414ba22008c793019d183da7f1a17629f5.png Each type of tile is guaranteed to be drawn after a certain amount of tiles have passed. If you haven’t seen a flag tile in a while, one is just about to show up!

3. Tower Upgrades

Tower upgrades and improvements are not bought with in-game currency, but are acquired through bonus cards, relics, and upgrade buildings, such as the tavern. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/da1e70edace4c199da286c5a3c629d0f0859ba83.png Some buildings improve the damage of adjacent towers, others change their targeting priorities.

4. Fast Forward

Once you’ve completed the first Campaign of the game, you unlock the fast forward button, which allows you to speed up the enemy waves. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/9a586feab19808271b957462e957a7aed12df3f5.png Make use of the fast forward button, but don't rush when placing tiles!

5. Know Your Enemy

The composition of enemy waves is different in each playthrough. The red circle above the enemy spawn point shows the amount of enemies that will attack. Clicking the circle brings up a detailed view that shows the exact types and amount of enemies of the next wave. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/7c463becace542157ebd348e9bf526b0fbe8704c.png As the game progresses, stronger enemies will spawn. Some enemies have special abilities and behaviours

In preparation for the full release, the demo will be taken down on Sept. 1, 2022. Thanks everyone for playing and submitting feedback, it has been extremely helpful! Until then, you can still win one of 5 steam keys by sharing a screenshot of your isle using #IsleOfArrows.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/faf19af24cf1ac4d06e3f8b28fde9dbcbe80fedf.png Get your bows and arrows ready, Isle of Arrows is coming to Steam on September 8! Wishlist the game now to get notified on release! If you haven't participated in the free key contest yet, you can still do so by playing the demo and tweeting screenshot of your isle using the hashtag #IsleOfArrows. The demo will be playable until September 1st.

Thanks to everyone who spent the time to share their feedback on the demo! After going through all your comments and survey entries, I’ve decided to update the demo with a focus on 2 major points: lowering frustration from RNG and improving clarity for new players. The updated demo is now available! Here is a breakdown of the included changes:

RNG & Variance

One of the recurring points in player feedback has been that the game can be quite punishing in case of bad RNG. I want the game to be a fun balance between skill and luck of the draw, so I’m making a few changes that will give players more tools to work around unfavorable RNG:

• Lowered the variance in tile distribution significantly. This will prevent the same tile type from occurring more than 3 times in a row (no more 7 roads back to back). The amount of tiles for each category remains the same however.
• Added a fixed schedule for random events (example: Black Market will now always occur at waves 10 & 25, bonus cards at waves 2, 8, 12, etc.). There will still be RNG within many of these events, but keeping a more rigid structure will allow players to be more strategic with upcoming waves and events. This is especially useful for the Black Market (see balance changes below)
• Increased the number of bonus cards drawn from 2 to 3
• Added a new card type: Relics. Game changing bonus cards have been transformed into relics which will become available at specific points in the game (think Slay the Spire boss rewards). Before this change, many of these cards didn’t allow for interesting decisions as they were often immediate picks. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/0e9798914b973b3abdb8c12db3ee7b328e1aa354.png Relics have the power to completely change the way a run is played, and can help the player make comeback even late into the game. Reservoir is a new relic added with the update.
• Added a few more tiles, bonus cards, and relics to the core set with a focus to help mitigate RNG {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/9f3529a338593480cb8e704efd12ea002357b195.png Both the factory and market square are reliable ways to get that missing piece you might need

Balance Changes

General

• The starting isle for the founders guild is now slightly bigger
• Founders now start each run with 1 bridge and 1 bomb
• Range benefit for arrow towers and cannon towers on high ground has been increased
• Black Market now always presents the same 4 choices. Combined with its fixed placement in the event timeline, this change will make the Black Market much more reliable and useful. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/8ac81fd0300316768b0a26d2d07f1aa73332ba4b.png

Enemies

• Raiders now take 50% less damage when carrying their shield. The shield breaks after taking 3 hits.
• Fanatics cannot spawn before wave 12
• Enemy spawn numbers have been adjusted to account for the all other balance chances

Tiles

• Small flag is now called pointy flag, has increased range to accommodate its name change
• Quarry is now common (gray) and reads: Destroy adjacent tiles and gain 1 gold for each destroyed tile
• Cannon towers are easier to obtain but a bit less powerful. Previously, much of a run’s success was dependent on getting a cannon tower early on.
• Sniper towers now always target the enemy the with most health

Bonus Cards

• Moving Currents now reads: Randomly spawn a fishing hut
• Pruning was replaced with Cadastre
• Provisions now gives 2 tile refreshes instead of 3
• Duplicates should appear much less often when drawing bonus cards

Fixes & Improvements

New Player Experience/Tutorials

• Added an information button to both upcoming cards that leads to the tile information popup
• Bridges and Bombs count can now be interacted with to get more information on these ressources
• Made the abandon isle button red
• Added another page to tutorials that explains the tile movement after each wave
• Changed the way treasure chest rewards are displayed since they could be easily missed
• Clarified wording for tiles that need to be surrounded
• Clarified that only 1 trap can be active per path tile
• Improved UX when tile placement is not allowed. Hitting the (?) button now shows a contextual error message. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/fb72e8b3abc102d599f91a871f08d4b8d08ace16.gif

Other

• Made currently held/upcoming tiles visible during random events (when pressing the eye button)
• Added a new icon for bonus cards in the event timeline, the star is now used for relics
• Reworked cannon tower graphics as it was confusingly similar to the arrow tower (left: before, right: after) {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/911a2d146008c3f32fdb5865d0514cbd6de0e543.gif
• Reworded a few cards & descriptions to be more clear
• Fixed a bug that prevented points from being awarded for skipping bonus cards
• Fixed an issue where the screen resolution selection was displayed improperly
• Attempted to fix an issue on Windows that leads to distorted sounds while playing
• Fixed a few of other small issues

Huge thanks to everyone who has played the demo and submitted feedback so far. Don’t hesitate to fill out the in-game survey again if you have any comments on these new changes. Thanks, Dan

Catch the dev livestream for Isle of Arrows on June 13, 5PM EST! Isle of Arrows is a fusion of board game and tower defense, in which you place randomly drawn tiles to build defenses on an ever-growing piece of land. The game will be released later this Summer. Wishlist & play the demo now!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42257444/60633aab21ceb211c37baa462a6fc5464c4fe4e2.png Steam Next Fest is in full swing and the leaderboard is getting crowded! Here are 5 tips to help master all 25 waves and improve your score: Income Balancing economy and defenses is crucial. For each 10 coins you hold, you gain 1 additional income after each wave. Reaching higher income levels allows you to easily skip tiles that don’t fit your layout, but saving too much and neglecting your defenses can lead to defeat quickly. Luck of the Draw It’s often better to adapt to the cards you’re dealt rather forcing a specific layout, as you can’t always rely on getting the exact tiles you need. Leaving too many gaps in your paths that require specific tiles can be dangerous! Puzzle Gameplay Isle of Arrows plays like a bit like a puzzle game. Optimizing the layout of your Isle is the key to a high score. With building space limited, it might sometimes be better to skip over a tile entirely! Maximizing Towers & Traps Make sure your towers and traps reach the most amount of path tiles possible! If you manage to make a path loop around a cannon tower or spike trap, your defenses will become quite deadly! Upcoming Enemies Clicking on the spawn point (red circle) shows how many and what type of enemies will spawn in the next wave. See a fast enemy such as the Rogue or the Courier coming up? Invest coins to advance tiles and lengthen the path!

Catch the dev livestream for Isle of Arrows on June 13, 5PM EST! Isle of Arrows is a fusion of board game and tower defense, in which you place randomly drawn tiles to build defenses on an ever-growing piece of land. The game will be released later this Summer. Wishlist & play the demo now!