News

Last week was pretty busy as we were testing, tweaking, and managing our game on both Google Play and the App Store.

But things slowed down a bit when Péter’s dog, Arden, got sick. We ended up spending quite a few hours at the vet, and as a tight-knit, animal-loving team, we had each other’s backs.❤️🐶

That gave us a fun idea: why not share a bit about the pets who are just as much a part of our work family as we are?  You may have already met us in the  "About us" section, but now it’s time to meet our furry teammates!🐾

Arden - The Brave Watchdog🐕

Arden’s an American Akita who’s basically the boss of the house. Even though he’s on a little sick leave right now, he takes his job seriously, protecting the place from anything, whether it’s the mailman or a stuffed teddy bear.

Lior - The Ninja Cat🐱

Lior’s Péter’s other buddy, a beautiful Maine Coon who’s lightning-fast when it comes to hunting down every buzzing bug around.🐞⚡

Tián’s Husky Crew 🐺 🐺 🐺 🐺

Egon - The proud alpha who walks like every stroll is a royal parade👑

Konor - So chill he could be a houseplant; sometimes you gotta check if he’s even breathing🪴😴

Dilen - A little ball of energy who’s already zooming around before you’ve even had your coffee☕⚡

Thiago - The mischievous Spanish bad boy who knows the rules but likes to bend them a bit😈📜

Ottó and Cheddar🐶

Cheddar is the fluffiest Welsh Corgi who’s impressive in both size and weight. Basically a little fluffy couch potato that rivals the huskies in softness.🥔

Noémi and Lili

Our Key Account Manager is accompanied by Lili, a unique mix of Amstaff and raptor. With her refined yet strong personality, Lili easily takes charge wherever she goes.👑💪

What’s new in the game?

While our furry teammates keep the office vibe lively, our dev team has been hard at work improving the game. Here’s what changed last week:

✅Simplified the registration process which once activated, you no longer need to log in separately.

✅Improved the character selection design for smaller screens.

✅Fixed a server crash that happened if no player chose a character within the 30-second limit.

✅Added match statistics to the admin panel. The more you play, the better insights we’ll gather!

✅Tweaked character strengths based on tests, there’s still more fine-tuning ahead.

✅Started updating device versions on a separate branch. So far, the transition looks smooth and will unlock new features to optimize the game even further.

Show us your pets too! 🐕🐈🦜

At our company, animals aren’t just pets, they’re valued team members who make every day better.

Join us on Discord and share photos of your four-legged (or feathered, or scaled) family members. 📸✨

Don’t forget to subscribe so you won’t miss any of our future updates and fun stories! 🔔😊

Hey everyone!
After last week’s excitement with Zyn’s introduction, we went full steam ahead into testing. Game development often feels like solving a challenging puzzle: some days, the pieces just don’t want to fit. But in the end, the full picture always comes together! 😅
We’ve spent countless hours diving deep into the game, hunting down every bug - big or small - that comes our way. We’re like digital treasure hunters, but instead of gold, we’re tracking down those annoying little bugs! Every issue gets logged, analyzed, and we work as fast as possible to fix it.

Our goal is still the same: by the time you all jump into the Pre-Alpha, we want the game to be in the best possible shape!
Like any adventure, there are challenges along the way. Sometimes we run into bugs that make us laugh later, and sometimes we just shake our heads… but we never back down!

Here’s what we worked on (and fixed) this week:
✅ Periodic damage could be dodged: We now handle ongoing damage correctly, even when dodging is involved.

✅ Refactored damage processing: All damage is now handled by a separate, more robust system - faster and easier to expand in the future.

✅ Streamlined news section: Only the most relevant, recent posts appear on the homepage for easier access.

✅ Dashboard image resizing: Oversized images on the dashboard have been scaled down so everything looks great on all devices.

✅ Update time only shows when needed: Article update times are now only displayed if there was an actual change, cutting down on clutter.

✅ Better game images on mobile: Game images now fill the screen nicely on mobile for a much cleaner look.

✅ Clear registration instructions: When signing up, you’ll now see exactly what kind of password you need to create (length, characters, etc.).

✅ Form resets on exit: If you leave or restart a game, all forms now reset to default, so you won’t get stuck with old data.

✅ More accurate code feedback: Registration codes now give you clear feedback-no more guesswork.

✅ Return to main screen after exit/reconnect: If a game ends or you reconnect, you’ll be sent to the main menu so you never get stuck on a battle screen.

✅ Bot players in progress: We’ve started developing AI opponents, but they’re still in the testing phase.

✅ Forfeit indicator: A small flag now appears next to your health bar if you choose to forfeit a game.

As you can see, there’s still plenty to do - but with every fix, we’re one step closer to a game we can be proud of, and one you’ll love to play! 💙

Don’t miss a thing!

Join us on social media, especially Discord - where you’ll get all the latest updates, behind-the-scenes looks at development, and even the chance to help us test! 🚀
Every puzzle piece is falling into place!

Tian

Onward and upward!

Another week, another Monday, another Weekly Fix!

In our last article we introduced you to Anchorn. Today, we’re excited to unveil Kaenu, the shadow warrior! Of course, we’ll also fill you in on everything we accomplished over the past week.

Just a quick reminder: our closed Pre-Alpha test is coming soon, and pre-registration will be available on our website shortly. 🙂 In the meantime, join us on our Discord server.

So, who is Kaenu?

Kaenu is the master of the Shadow Realm. He’s an exceptional fighter-not just because of his raw power, but because he blends strength, agility, and clever use of tools. He excels at deception and surprise attacks. Let’s take a closer look at Kaenu’s abilities:

Ambush:
Attacking from the shadows, this ability damages his opponent and briefly stuns them. While stunned, the opponent can’t use any of their abilities.

Sharp Cut:
A fast attack where he throws a shuriken to damage his enemy. In addition to immediate damage, the attack can inflict a bleeding wound that causes damage over time. If Kaenu lands multiple hits, the effects stack for even more damage.

Silent-Shot:
He uses a hollow bamboo tube to shoot a poisoned dart, inflicting damage over time. On top of that, the poison prevents the enemy from healing. Timing is key—since the poison takes a bit to kick in, you’ll need to plan your move. 😉

Stealth Form:
Kaenu can fool his enemies and hide in the shadows for a while. If you can’t see him, it’s pretty hard to hit him!

Kaenu is a true ninja, maybe the ultimate among them, with untapped potential still ahead. Thanks to his stuns, he’s not only a great DPS, but also an extremely valuable teammate in any squad.

Now, here’s what we worked on this past week!

✅ While publishing our last article, we noticed that oversized images were messing up the admin panel and the website display. Since this put the article at risk, we fixed it ASAP, so the article was published on schedule.

✅ That same article helped us catch a bug: on mobile, ability descriptions weren’t displaying in the usual “description-image” order, but sometimes as “text-image,” “image-text.” We fixed that before the article went live, too.

✅ Real talk marketing-no taboos here! We ran a mini test campaign on Facebook for the price of a few coffees. According to Facebook Ads Manager, 129 people clicked through to our site. But our analytics showed only 4 users actually came from the ad. 🤔 Our guess? The cookie consent bar wasn’t noticeable, so most people ignored or dismissed it. To give everyone a real choice, we redesigned the cookie consent as a pop-up-now you have to make a clear decision to accept. It might be a bit strict, and we’ll probably tweak it again as we see new data.

✅ Added “forgot password” functionality to the game.

✅ It was confusing when, the moment an enemy died, the results screen would pop up instantly. We added a transition to make it clearer what just happened.

✅ When an enemy died, the HP bar wasn’t resetting to zero because the client learned about the character’s death before it got the updated health value from the server. Fixed.

✅ With Anchorn, we realized that if you used Dark Shield multiple times in a row, every shield effect would stack. Fixed-now only the last active Dark Shield remains.

✅ Sometimes, attacks would produce fractional damage values, cluttering the screen with numbers. Now, only rounded whole numbers appear.

✅ The Pre-Alpha registration page for the website is finished! Just a final review left, and it’ll be live soon. Woohoo! 🎉

✅ If all players left a battle or lost their connection, the match didn’t actually end on the server side. We fixed this, because otherwise, over time, it would have led to memory leaks.

✅ We found a sneaky bug in one of Zyn’s abilities that could cause the server to restart. And speaking of Zyn... stay tuned, Zyn will be introduced next week!✌️

✅ Effect handling overhaul… This was a pretty major change, especially just before Pre-Alpha, but we felt we had to make a choice:

1. Patch the current system, knowing we’d have to rewrite it after the test anyway; or

2. Roll up our sleeves and do it right before the test.
   We’re not the type to sweep problems under the rug-so we went with option 2, giving you a test version we believe in and plan to use for the long haul. Of course, if testing shows we need to pivot, we’ll adapt. But when it comes to quality, we won’t compromise.

While most of our time goes into actual game development, a surprising amount also goes into communication, updates, and sharing our progress. Just alone writing this article takes several hours before I’m happy with it (I’m definitely not a professional writer!). And beyond that, we’re gradually setting up more platforms so you can follow us wherever you like.

As for all the extra tasks we handle on top of game development, I’ll talk about those in a future article.

Don’t forget, Zyn is coming in one week! In the meantime, come chat with us on Discord or follow us on our other platforms:

• X
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitch (Soon)
• TikTok (Soon)
• YouTube (Soon)

Tian

We want you to be part of the journey that is building this game. That’s why we’ve decided to share our progress with you every Monday in a weekly update. If you’re hungry for even more info or want to be a deeper part of the development process - not just reading about us, but actually talking to us - then join our Discord server. 

Quick note before we dive in: as many of you already know, we don’t have a publisher backing us, and we’re currently unable to work full-time on the project. That said, we love this game, and we put in as much time as we possibly can. Whether it’s early mornings, late nights, or weekends - we’re working on it whenever we get the chance. Still, there may be some weeks where we don’t make big progress. If that happens, we’ll be honest about it, because transparency is something we truly value. 

This one might be a bit of a longer read, since we want to give you a more detailed picture of where things stand right now.

Let’s dive in!

In our first article → Spirit of Tazo: Opening Strike ← we already gave you a glimpse of what we’re working on. But now it’s time to take a closer look at our current progress.

One thing you should know about us: we love games! – Shocking, right? 😄

When it comes to PC or console titles, our favorites are MMORPGs and MOBAs. These genres really inspired us to create a similar kind of strategic and competitive experience - but for mobile.

The idea for this project was born back in 2018: build a mobile game that focuses specifically on combat, its tactical depth, and knowing your characters inside and out.

We knew from the start that we wouldn’t be able to compete with the big studios in terms of visuals - for two main reasons:

1. We’re not graphic artists,
2. And we don’t have the budget for 3D models, animations, or textures.

But we realized that what might seem like a “limitation” could actually be a strength. So, we stripped the gameplay down to its essence, removed movement from the equation, but kept the action real-time.

One of the best things about games like these is the co-op experience - sharing the fun with your friends. A unique twist in our game is that players really need to be in sync to win. That made it a no-brainer: coordination would be a key mechanic.

Of course, sometimes you just want to hop into a quick solo match. So, taking into account what works well on mobile, we decided to support 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 battles.

And since the game is PvP-focused, ranking naturally becomes an important feature. We won’t hide it - it would make us incredibly proud if this game someday made its way to an Esports stage. In the future, we’ll place strong emphasis on features that help you measure and understand your performance - but more on that later.

Where we’re at now

We’re getting very close to launching our first closed pre-alpha test. In this version, our plan is to let players try out three characters in 1v1 mode (no ranked matches yet), with four unique abilities each.

The main goal of this test is to evaluate the technical foundation of the game - to see if it’s as solid as we want it to be.

Two of the characters - Anchorn and Kaenu - are already fully ready for this test. The third character, Zyn, is still in progress: we’re finishing the implementation of her four abilities. The animations and visual effects are already done.

Before the pre-alpha test, we’ll publish separate posts introducing each character.

Currently, the game has no audio yet - we’ll see if we manage to get that far before the test. But as we mentioned, audio isn’t the focus of this test. It’s all about testing the technical implementation.

Speaking of which, we still need to review our system to ensure we’re logging data in all the right places (don’t worry - it’s all system-level data, nothing personal! 🙂), so we don’t miss anything important.

What happened this past week?

A few weeks ago, we received the new UI design from our graphic designer.

Before that, in true dev fashion, every screen outside the battlefield looked like neatly aligned squares. 😅 Once we had the new designs, we implemented them right away - but the process flow also changed.

Previously, players would first choose the team size (1v1, 2v2, 3v3), then select a character, then queue up and wait for an opponent.

In the new UI:

• Practice and Ranked modes have been added,
• The team size selector is now right on the main screen,
• And character selection now happens after matchmaking, so in 2v2 and 3v3 matches, players can see which characters their teammates are choosing.

This required a full overhaul of the matchmaking and selection process in the background.

The mobile client now fully supports this flow, but at the time, we hadn’t yet updated the server logic - because we also received the website design around then.

We decided it was time to finally go public and start sharing updates - so we shifted our focus to getting the website ready.

Now, the site is live - and in fact, you’re reading this article through our new admin interface! Of course, both the site and admin tools will continue to evolve.

So… what did we do last week?

We finally got back to the core server logic and began implementing the changes needed for the new UI flow.

We also squashed a couple of minor bugs on the website:

• Fixed a bug where the homepage image slider on mobile was spinning out of control
• Continued polishing the admin interface

If you find any bugs - whether on the site or while testing the game - we’d really appreciate it if you let us know in the right channel on our Discord server! 😊

Thank you!

Thanks for reading this (not-so-short 😄) post!

We’ve embarked on a journey that means a lot to us, and we’re beyond happy to have your attention and support.

We’ll be back next Monday with the next weekly update.

Until then - come say hi on Discord!

Tian