Hello, café managers! ☕🐾

The PurrPlate demo has just been updated to the latest version!This update brings greater stability, fixes a number of key issues, and adds new features including the Mad Cat tutorial, new mission system, and several player-requested improvements.

We warmly invite you to download the new build and continue sharing your café stories with us in the community!

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Bug Fixes

This update focuses on resolving several major issues affecting gameplay:

· Fixed a bug where a single staff member could occupy two double-seated positions.

· Fixed an issue where using the scroll wheel in the scene editor caused unwanted zooming.

· Fixed an error where staff stats could overflow and display negative values (especially movement speed).

· Fixed an issue where the easter-egg character Mad Cat could not trigger dialogue.

· Optimized cat pathfinding — cats will now automatically adjust their routes when blocked, completely resolving the stuck issue.

· Fixed an issue where grass in the back area of the scene could not be removed.

· Fixed a bug in the construction interface where pressing ESC could cause UI layering errors or prevent building (this can only occur under extremely rapid repeated inputs).

· Fixed an issue where restarting expeditions could cause duplicated exploration sites.

· Fixed the pause function so it now properly pauses gameplay and closes the staff and exploration UIs.

· Fixed incorrect worker placement on the watchtower (cats now stand on the tower as intended).

· Fixed animation errors and freezes in weather effects.

· Fixed occasional issues where certain buildings could not be constructed.

· Fixed an overlapping UI issue when switching between windows.

· Fixed a rare bug where special character recruitment generated empty objects.

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Quality-of-Life Improvements Based on Player Feedback

Thank you all for your valuable feedback! We’ve added several small yet useful updates to make café management smoother:

· Added character skill descriptions to the Management page.

· Added staff details to the Staff Management section of buildings.

· Employee list now shows each staff member’s current position.

· Added staff skill info to the Expedition interface.

· Added hotkey prompts for adjusting game speed.

· New missions now automatically focus the main screen for better visibility.

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New Features & System Changes

Mad Cat Arrives! A New “Soft Tutorial” Begins

· Added a new tutorial sequence led by the easter-egg character Mad Cat.

· Mad Cat will now proactively start conversations to introduce features and missions.

· Added the Mad Cat Telephone Booth, allowing players to talk directly with Mad Cat and trigger random tasks.

· Reworked the dialogue and mission structure — each level and mode now features unique conversations and objectives to enhance immersion.

Farm Interaction Update

· Farms can now auto-plant crops even without assigned cats (harvests still need to be done manually).

· When cats are assigned to a farm, crops will now auto-harvest upon maturity and trigger a UI notification.

UI Updates

· Added social media and community hyperlinks to the demo’s main menu for quick access.

· Added an in-game Notice Board for future news and thank-you letters.

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Thank You!

A heartfelt thank-you to every café manager supporting PurrPlate!

Your feedback and encouragement mean the world to us ❤️

Please continue sharing your discoveries and adorable cat moments in the comments!

Let’s keep building and caring for this cozy, bustling little café together ☕🐾

— The PurrPlate Dev Team

fixed steam achievements

Hey friends, Bzk Ball playtest as part of DevGAMM Portugal 2025 is LIVE!

When: November 3rd 00:01 → November 9th 23:59 CEST

Where: Steam (PC + Steam Deck)

Bzk Ball is a physics-driven sports shooter where every play revolves around the ball, and precision decides the winner.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

• Game modes: Bzk Soccer, Bzk Tennis, and a chaotic, random, endlessly fun Tornado Mode that is exclusive to Bzk Soccer

• Victory Road: Play matches, earn points, advance on the road, and unlock titles, cosmetics, and exclusive skins

• Online multiplayer 1v1 and 2v2 with an arsenal of strategic primary and secondary gears that define your playstyle

Grab your friends, join the chaos, and show us your best moves!

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☑️ Sign up for playtest today. Be ready when the doors open!

💬 Join the conversation on Discord and help shape the future of Bzk Ball.

👉 Follow us on X/Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to stay updated.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3871040/Bzk_Ball/

It is time for the fourth content update for the Early Access phase of Wreckfest 2! Watch the trailer here:


Also, if you have not bought Wreckfest 2 yet, or you still have some Wreckfest 1 items on your wishlist, keep an eye on the store tonight, as our Midweek Madness Deal starts soon, with a 20% discount on Wreckfest 2, and 67% on Wreckfest 1!

For now, here are the changes/additions in today's update:

NEW FEATURES

Introducing CRAP-IT™: New unique bodywork tools to customize the appearance of your cars just the way you want. Add rust, damaged paint, dirt, decals and more to your car! Of course your creations are visible to everyone in multiplayer.

NEW CONTENT

• New track: Crash Canyon 2.0.
  
• New car: Buggy.

SYSTEM

• Crash fixes and stability improvements.
  
• Improved shadows.
  
• Car loading optimizations.
  
• Improved input handling.
  
• Support for extreme resolutions (multi-monitor setups).
  
• Reduced VRAM usage on low resolutions.
  
• Added GPU crash reporting on Nvidia for better crash analysis.

ONLINE

• Improved multiplayer input handling precision with server jitter buffer and better network time synchronization.
  
• Improved matchmaking QoS measurement to reduce chance of players getting matchmaked into wrong region.
  
• Cars are no longer unnecessarily reloaded between switching tracks in multiplayer.
  
• Quitting a server while track is loading no longer results in incorrect track loading screen being shown.
  
• Implemented tire and engine temperature network synchronization for telemetry use.
  
• Added dedicated server telemetry support - server can send specified player ID's car data in main packet as well as participant packets.
  
• Added sector times to multiplayer telemetry (was already supported in single player).
  
• Event rotation config is now saved to the server save folder and is both changeable and configurable at runtime.

GAMEPLAY

• Increased simulated tire resolution.
  
• More precise tire collision, improved deflection and better surface normals.
  
• Revised all cars' suspensions for more realistic response and better handling.
  
• Increased tire behavior consistency between cars, with light cars in particular now being less twitchy.
  
• Fixed a bug which caused stability control to be partially enabled even when fully disabled by user.
  
• Reduced throttle sensitivity at low RPMs to make throttle application more fine-grained and less on/off.
  
• Improved engine startup in high gear, greatly reducing time it takes.
  
• More realistic engine behavior below idle RPMs so it's easier to stall with manual clutch.
  
• Fixed player car AI control not using automatic shifting.
  
• Improved front shock animation for visual suspension.
  
• Increased visual damage (deform) precision, should yield less glitchy results.
  
• Fixed a bug which caused lingering damage to the car after restarting an event.
  
• Improved driver deformation to keep it inside the cabin.

AI

• AI now better matches the selected difficulty level so Novice and Amateur AI is easier.
  
• AI starts the races more naturally and does not dive into the racing line right away.
  
• Various improvements to AI turning and jump preparation.

AUDIO

• All cars: Exhaust limiter one-shot sounds now become increasingly muffled, the more the pipe exit is pointing away from camera.
  
• All cars: Reconfigured response of exhaust sound models against physics throttle pressure (IMEP) for slower rate of change through mid-range throttle. Effectively offsetting sound transitions between partial and full throttle to require slightly more throttle input than previously.
  
• All cars: Re-designed all starter motor sounds to track physics simulation throughout the start sequence, to add more dynamic behavior to sound.
  
• All cars & manual clutch: Fixed issue on all car sound models where engine idle would go silent while engine is stalling.
  
• Bravion & Gizmo: Implemented dynamic effect to car exhaust sound that is applied during partial throttling (constant speed), to more precisely replicate tonal changes that are present in the original source car recordings.
  
• Crusader: Fixed pitch tuning issue between engine & exhaust objects which occurred during over-revving (money-shifting).
  
• Rammer: Versioned motor start assets for slightly longer duration.
  
• Switchback: Fixed minor pitch calibration mismatch between engine & exhaust sound objects.
  
• Added a bunch of new starter motor models to pool of shared engine objects.
  
• Mixdown, cockpit view: Adjusted track-object-to-car collision mixdown for more dry sound (less cockpit reverb).
  
• Mixdown, driver view: Fixed configuration issue that caused car engine sounds to play at a very low volume compared to other camera angles.
  
• Target car tire: Added tire roll & slide sounds for Offroad_Foliage and Offroad_Rocks materials.
  
• Target car tire, rim (damaged tire): Adjusted lateral slide screech intensity and response on asphalt surface and overall mix levels.

UI

• Minor UI improvements.

The next several updates will be small patches working on fixing the multiplayer functionality.

Right now main focus is fixing the following:

• Client players taking damage

• Dead players becoming spectators

• Fixing spawn and character possession in multiplayer game modes.

Mapmaker Monday Stream is LIVE🔴 Join our Community Manager Mac for a map-building session as we tackle a themed build and answer your questions in an AMA format.

You can also watch The Mapmaker Monday stream on the following platforms:
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook
Tik Tok
Twitter
And of course, right here on our Steam page!

Hi Fellows!

Right now, our team is working hard to identify and respond to some of the major issues that are technically preventing play.

Today, we’ve pushed out a minor update to ArcLite and Epic Online Services (EOS) which aims at addressing the reports we’ve been hearing regarding black screens on launch, and EOS connectivity or certificate errors.

If you’ve been suffering from either of these issues we’d encourage you to get this new update. If you are not seeing the update on Steam, please ‘verify your files’ to force the update.

Unrelated; we’re aware that there are packet-loss and connection timeout issues in the EU servers at peak hours. We are working with our server partners to resolve the issue.

Thank you for playing Fellowship and for sending us your feedback and reports of problems you're encountering. They are incredibly valuable for us and help us tackle any issues in these first weeks of our Early Access journey!

Hey everyone!

After months of prototyping, feedback, and polish, we’re thrilled to announce that Housing Market will release on November 7, 2025, at 7 PM Central Time.

Housing Market is a minimalist real-estate management sim built around a modern MLS-style interface.
Match clients to homes, upgrade properties, and gain profits in two distinct playstyles:

• Agent Mode – Relax and manage listings at your own pace

• Investor Mode – Focus on stats, budgets, and long-term strategy

With its clean, web-inspired UI, it’s a calm yet strategic experience for sim fans.

• Launch price: $3.99

• Launch discount: 20% off during Week 1

• Agent & Investor modes

• Property cards, upgrades, and client matching

• “Ship-it-fast” UI with clean, web-style panels inspired by real MLS systems

• Will there be updates?
  We’ll fix major issues and may add new content based on community feedback.

• Languages?
  English.

• Platform/OS?
  Windows (PC).

• Controller support?
  Mouse only.

• Who made this?
  Mainly one developer (hello). I worked on the game while holding a full-time factory job, mostly on days off. It took about 4–5 months, with help from a few testers.

• Why a real-estate sim?
  My sister worked in real estate for several years, and I once hooked up an MLS feed to a website. That experience inspired me to turn the concept into a game that captures the feel of managing real listings, just without the stress of real clients or the extra work that comes with the job. I found the gameplay loop surprisingly fun and thought others might enjoy it too, even if it’s a bit niche.

— Sunny Island Studio

Dear Cleaners!

Today we have something special for you! Another round of playtests has just started, but this time we have a whole new room for you to play and (hopefully) share your feedback :)

We've also reworked the UI a little bit and added saving/loading to the game. On top of that, we've made some changes to the inspect mechanic, along with many other small tweaks and fixes.

We wish you a pleasant playthrough, and if you have any questions, we’ll be happy to answer them :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3577020/Poof_Cleaning_Services/

Our Discrod server: https://discord.gg/ZphRQxBeNT

The Anno veterans among you will remember: back in 2009, Anno 1404 introduced the item mechanic for the first time to the series. Items are objects or people in the game that you slot into specific buildings or ships to modify some of their values, for example:

• Increase the productivity of all sheep farms within a certain radius

• Increase the happiness of all residence buildings near a market building

• Increase the sailing speed of a ship

• And many similar effects

The idea behind the introduction of this mechanic back then was, to deepen the puzzle aspects of an Anno game by letting you boost certain productions further, specialize your fleet for e.g. higher speed, or simply get the most out of a densely packed city. They are a tool that provides more choice for you, the player, on how to tackle the challenges in the game.

How items were handled differed a bit from game to game: Anno 1404 allowed slotting items in ships and your trading post, while Anno 1800 not only greatly expanded the number of items in the game but also added special buildings (Townhall, Harbor Master and Trade Union) where these items would be slotted to affect buildings in their vicinity.

Following the release and throughout post-launch we eagerly followed the discussions around the item mechanic (and the sheer volume of different items) in Anno 1800 and decided to adjust it on some levels for our next game – but don’t worry item-lovers, there’s still plenty to tweak and puzzle.

Let’s take a look at how we’re tackling the topic in Anno 117: Pax Romana then.

Firstly, we did a small renaming: “items” are called “specialists” in Anno 117: Pax Romana. The reason is that all items are now people who you invite to work for you and who provide their services and special skills to your cities – therefore: specialists!

The specialists can mainly be obtained via quests or by visiting traders – they usually have some specialists visiting who you can hire for a certain sum. Additionally, the Discovery Tree and the Hall of Fame also offer ways to obtain specialists.

These specialists can then be slotted into either your villa and officia or your ships.

There are a total of 4 rarity categories for items. Higher rarity specialists have stronger effects but are – as their name suggests – harder to obtain. Specialists can affect residences, production buildings, public service buildings and ships.

We acquired a few specialists, let’s put them to good use and take a look at where you can employ them.

As probably the first places you will slot a specialist in, your governor villa is your home as a governor and – especially in Albion – a symbol of Roman power and prestige. It has a large effect radius for items slotted here and provides other benefits, for example allowing you to recruit some personal guard units to defend your city in case of war.

It’s important to protect your own villa on each island, since capturing the villa is the way to overtake other player’s islands.

A villa comes with several slots to put specialists in. The higher your Prestige attribute, the more slots you unlock. Prestige is earned via certain needs and public buildings, as well as your city status and ornaments (incl. the beautiful marble roads).

If we look at two examples of specialists that you may want to employ in your villa, we’d have:

• The Vesseler: Reduces the needed workforce (-25%) and upkeep cost (-50%) of taverns in range

• Iain Thespis, Brightener of Days: Increases the Happiness of all residences in range by 1.8

With the villa having a large but limited radius, the way to affect other parts of your islands with the buffs from specialists is by building Officia.

An Officium is a smaller administrative building with a smaller radius and just two item slots (later three, when you've progressed far enough in the Discovery Tree). The radius of a villa and officium, or multiple officia, cannot overlap.

How many officia you can build per island depends on how many “permits” you have acquired. Additional permits are unlocked via your island prestige, as well as the Discovery Tree.

Some specialists are experts at guiding ships. These captains can only be slotted in naval vessel, with each ship having exactly one slot for such a specialist. Things are rather straightforward here, so, let’s also check out two such captains:

• Thunderous Bolter: Increases the accuracy of ship scorpiones (+15%) and their attack speed (+20%)

• Unburdener: Decreases trade prices (-5%) and reduces cargo weight slowdown (-25%)

How and to which degree you are going to make use of specialists is up to you. For us it was important to provide another mechanic for you to specialize your cities and fleet but also further boost production buildings or tax income and this way enabling you to squeeze the most out of the limited space you have on each island.