I scrapped my original turn-based system because it was too slow. Instead, I’ve blended the best parts of three great games: the card playing from Clash Royale, the monster intent from Slay the Spire, and the pure mayhem of Club Penguin.

I’ll be sharing a preview later this month.

I've been super busy working on the new client for Box Critters, and I wanted to share some of the exciting developments with you. We're reimagining the server structure and backend systems to make everything smoother and more robust.

One of the coolest things I'm experimenting with is blending a 2D and 3D engine to bring you even richer effects, animations, and more dynamic action. This new approach will add a whole new layer of fun and immersion to your adventures.

I'm also running some experiments with an arcade-style or thumb stick controller to give you a more responsive way to move around and express your character. Imagine zipping around the world with even more fluidity and style! But don't worry, we're also continuing with the simple point-and-click movement that you're all familiar with from Club Penguin, so you can choose the style that suits you best.

I'm thrilled to share some previews in the next couple of months, so stay tuned and keep following along for more updates.

I've been incredibly busy these past few weeks focusing on the backbone of our game – the servers and systems that will power everything you love about Box Critters. While there's nothing visually exciting to showcase just yet, the foundation being built now is crucial for our future success.

Embracing Nakama

After extensive research, I've decided to implement Nakama as our backend solution. I've been thoroughly impressed with how this system handles:

• Account management

• Item storage

• Character data

• And other essential backend functions

The learning curve has been fascinating – diving deep into documentation, understanding the build process, and figuring out how to scale efficiently. Right now, my development environment is purely terminal-based, sending commands back and forth as I test the system's capabilities.

Planning for Scale

Some might consider it premature to focus so heavily on security, optimization, and scalability this early in development. However, after the success we saw with Club Penguin, I want to ensure we're building an engine that can handle rapid growth. My goal is to create a platform that remains enjoyable to work with for years to come.

Looking Forward

The coming months will bring many more exciting developments. While this current work happens behind the scenes, it's setting us up for a robust gaming experience when Box Critters launches.

Thank you for your continued support and patience. I'm incredibly passionate about this project and can't wait to share more tangible progress soon!

Stay curious

A couple of features we are working on to deepen the world:

• Description text for all items and monsters

• Mouse over text to learn more about the environment

Cards with a 😡 symbol target 1 opponent. Cards with a 😡😡😡 symbol target all opponents. Some cards with a special splash symbol apply their effects to everyone but the first target!

Lots of fun collecting cards and working together to battle monsters. I really enjoyed seeing the critters again and cannot wait to show you. Next steps are to add the game to our new server platform and begin testing for scale. We need to be able to run thousands of games simultaneously.

We can't wait to share all of the new and exciting things we're working on!

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