Hey friends! We’ve been hard at work on our next major content update – the Encore Update! – and we’re ready for those of you in the beta branch to take your first swing at it. We’ll be adding a lot more to it in the next few months, but we’ve made so many balance changes already, we’d love to hear some of your feedback now. So get playing and let us know what you think!

• After you beat the game for the first time, we now unlock Encore ranks for each hero. Each rank is a higher tier of difficulty with tougher enemies, a more valuable scarab, and new rules that change up the game, adding new boss variants, a limit to how many trinkets you can carry, and a dangerous Wheel of Woes.
  
• Stay tuned for new ranks, relics, enemies, achievements, and… more!
  
• All of the new content is in English only at the moment and some of the text is missing or placeholder. You can still play in other languages, but it will show English strings where we’re missing translations for new content.
  
• With this build, we're splitting off the beta leaderboards from the main leaderboards, because y'all are about to get some wild scores. You can't show off to the whole world just yet, but you'll all be able to see how awesome other beta players are. I want to see your highest scores! Share them with us!

• Reduced the number of times you have to hit a broken peg before it poofs to 3 (from 5).
  
• Troll & Ice Giant regen amount lowered.
  
• Added +10 to the Warrior's starting health and increased the amount of health he gets on most level ups.
  
• Changed Gold Lust to give health immediately on use as well as per pot.
  
• Changed quests with longer form goals so that they can't be given too close to the end of the game.
  
• Changed the trigger conditions on the Gel Tamer and the Goblin Poet quest dialogues so that it's now more likely that you'll encounter the giants / spiders required to complete their quests.
  
• Increased gold value of Summoner Skeletons and Dark Elf Illusionists to make up for lost gold pots they replace on the board.

• Added "Take no negative effects from Gelly Cubes" to the Cube Whistle.
  
• Added "Equipment in Brutes rooms is 1 level higher" to Grandma's Pearls.
  
• Added "+5 mana per skull smashed" to Lich's Spell Book.
  
• Changed Lyric Book to ALWAYS make orcs vulnerable (instead of first turn).
  
• Increased Ballet Slippers evade chance to 10% (up from 5).
  
• Added "Skeletons are no longer immune to Weaken" to Talisman of Mild Softening.
  
• Changed the Gel Tamer's trinket Cube Whistle: "Take no negative status effects from Gelly Cubes. They only move when you fast forward."
  
• Added an additional new trinket to the Gold Wheel of Wonders pool: Remove all negative status effects when you land on the cushion.
  
• Moved Good Luck Charm and Protector's Ring into Blue Wheel of Wonders pool (from Red and Gold respectively).
  
• Moved Fluffy Robe of Restoration and Pendulum Power Pendant up to Gold Wheel of Wonders pool (from Blue).

• Enabled opening the map and equipment screens while receiving the trinket from the Wheel of Wonders.
  
• Fixed Druid Thornbirds not passing through the tricky disappearing Grim Grifter presents.
  
• Fixed Druid Thornbirds not passing through the Cycloptopus’s big eye when it's closed.

• Fixed druid blooms sometimes not appearing after switching armors (until you save/load again).
  
• Fixed druid treant charge cooldown time being slightly too long if you didn't have the "charge further" bonus property.
  
• Effects that target the nearest enemy now pick a random direction if there are no enemies to target (instead of always going to the right).
  
• If you're playing with a short aimer rule and you get the long aimer trinket, those rules now cancel each other out and you have a normal aimer (instead of keeping the small aimer)
  
• Druid wild vines properties & trinkets that make it target more pots now stack correctly if you have multiple copies of those bonus properties/trinkets.
  
• Fixed final boss so all enemies' health & damage scale with level appropriately now. (Previously only relevant if using Relics to boost enemy level)
  
• Fixed Concentration relic logic so that your streak isn't broken if a minotaur hits the scarab before the start of the first round.
  
• Fixed Diligence relic logic so it no longer deducts health for the turn you actually clear all gold pots.
  
• Fixed save/load issue with cycloptopus that could make the big eye not become vulnerable after hitting a little eye anymore.
  
• Fixed Rogue arrow property "double damage vs poisoned enemies" and Woodland Garb's double damage not stacking correctly.
  
• While pausing/quitting, the game now stays frozen if you quit mid shot (rather than resuming the bounce and making weird things happen).
  
• Fixed soft lock that could occur if you skipped the Gift Giver's final reward dialog.
  
• Made beam conductor dark elves not connect beams to/from any elves who are blind.
  
• Fixed rune totem to show correct visual state after save/load
  
• Fixed blind feedback (besides the icon) not showing up after save load
  
• Fixed Cycloptopus not save/loading all the eye states correctly.

Here's a few juicy bug fixes courtesy of super helpful folks providing details and log files in our discord, which made it easy for us to track down some rare (but major when you hit them) nuisances. Special shoutout to Paradoxica (you may know them by their leaderboard dominance the last couple weeks). Thanks for all the help tracking these down!

• Fixed a rare save data memory leak that was leading some machines to hitch worse and worse with each shot on an affected run. (could eventually lead to a crash)
  
• Fixed rare soft lock when the final boss reveals itself if you saved and then loaded up again at the wrong time.
  
• Fixed a couple rare issues where the Wheel of Wonders could get stuck either counting up your score forever, or spinning the wheel for so long you could easily assume it would never stop.
  
• Fixed a bug with pegs getting saved/loaded up in an invincible state and not counted as defeated if they were brought to zero health during that little window between peg tally starting after a shot, but before loading into the ballista for the next shot... and you had to save and quit right there without taking another shot.
  
• Hopefully improved the rare issue where your hero disappears mid shot and gets stuck spamming the gold platform off the bottom of the screen every frame. This one is pretty elusive though, so if you see something weird in this territory, please let us know! We didn't find and fix the root issue, just hopefully protected against the worst outcomes.

Hope these help some of you have a smoother experience while we keep baking the next major content update. I'm pretty excited about what we've got cooking. Can't wait to share it!

Roundguard is back with an expanded Halloween event this year!



From Oct 24 to Nov 1, the whole dungeon will be celebrating with fun costumes, spooky vibes, and tons of candy. Each day during the event, there will be a unique Halloween-themed daily challenge. And this year, the Druid is joining in too, bringing fresh challenges and ghoulish greenery! Bonus points to those who catch the 80's horror-musical reference.

Have fun, stay safe, and eat lots of candy!

<3
Andrea, Wonderbelly Games

Polish features and bug fixes:

• Current seed displays in the settings menu for easy copy/paste if you want to run that exact dungeon layout again.
  
• Smashing skull pegs now gives gold.
  
• You now get the gold from the final shot against the final boss in your final score.
  
• Skills now give the same gold as armor and weapons when sold.
  
• Fixed bug where Rat King and Orc Bard elites wouldn't spawn if encountered on floor 2.
  
• Fixed rare Druid save/load bug.
  
• Fixed a few localization bugs.
  
• Pre-emptive improvements for the upcoming Halloween event.

Those of you who've played the Druid class know that when it comes to gold high scores, Sprig knows how to make it rain. Well, get prepared, because this week Sprig is ready to absolutely break our leaderboards and blow our minds with the Great Harvest event! ːmind_grownː

From September 27th to October 3rd, the Weekly Challenge rules will be:
- All armor types have 100% chance to bloom.
- There are lots of treasure chests and lots of mimics.
- The scarab multiplies gold by an additional 5x.
That's right, Sprig is going to be swimming in blooms and treasure and the scarab is worth DOUBLE!

We're predicting a bountiful harvest with the highest scores to ever grace the Roundguard dungeons happening during this event, and we want to see how you do. So please! Post a screenshot of your high score in the Community hub. (Extra points rewarded if you include an excellent joke or pun -- plants, druids, dungeons are all fair game.) At the end of the event, we'll select a few winners and send out an enamel pin pack with three Roundguard-themed pins!



Remember: during Weekly Challenges, the dungeon seed is locked, so everyone in the world will face the same rooms, loot, and enemy placements every time they play. That means you can practice as many times as you like to get the highest score possible! You can even share tips and strategize with each other. Only the first score you get will be pushed to the in-game leaderboards, but we want to see your scores no matter if it was your first or your fiftieth attempt. Just remember to grab that screencap on the end results screen!

And for those of you who haven't got The King's Hoard achievement yet, now's the perfect time to break 3 million.

<3
Andrea, Wonderbelly Games

We've got trading cards along with all the other goodies: badges, emoticons, and backgrounds! Now you can show off your love for gelly cubes ːgelly_cube_loveː, give someone the Cycloptopus side eye ːside_eyeː, or deploy a Rogue-like eye roll right when you need it ːrogue_eye_rollː. Earn a badge and tell the world that you're an Absolute Treasure, A Real Gem, or possibly... a MIMIC! And of course, if card collection is not your thing (scandal!), you can pop by the Steam Points Shop to find those goodies up there.

And now that I have your attention, please take a look at the excellent Seattle Indies Expo (SIX)! Every year, they celebrate awesome up-and-coming indie games from Pacific Northwest developers. The first time we ever showed off Roundguard was at SIX, and they have a special place in our hearts. (Thank you SIX!) Check out the SIX 2021 Steam sale page that has an awesome collection of SIX alumni and new demos. The SIX folks will be streaming let's plays and developer interviews all month, so keep an eye on them!

ːFrogChamp_ː Oh, and quick update on the hall of famers over in our Discord: They've managed to break 11 million high score and they're hot on the heels of 12 million. Y'all keep surprising us. ːmind_grownː

<3
Andrea, Wonderbelly Games

Hey friends!

Bob finally put together an official soundtrack release of the original music he wrote for Roundguard!

Besides all the familiar tunes from the game, some other surprises await you in the 13 tracks here, including:

• An extended version of the Wheel of Wonders music that takes that jaunty little loop and lets it evolve into a more complete song with an extra danceable climax… so watch your butts.
  
• A couple prototype tracks from earlier versions of the game, if you wanna peek behind the curtain a bit.
  
• The music Bob wrote for the PAX 2019 trailer, which he later modified (read: added Ode to Joy references) to become the new victory music we shipped with.

We made a bundle too, so folks can pick up the game and soundtrack for an extra discount. If you already own the game, you can still complete the bundle by getting the soundtrack if you just want to support us / kick out the jams.

Also, now that it's been over a month since the new Druid hero, Sprig, joined the Roundguard, we've been seeing some WILD high scores! 9.6 million? Just incredible. Even though the in-game leaderboards cycle every week, we've made a hall of fame over in our official Discord to keep track of all time records. Come join the fun, especially if you wanna pick up hot high score strats from the best of the best -- which on Steam, as of writing this post, is Melly20XX!

As always, thanks so much for playing (and now listening!), and we really hope you enjoy the music!

<3
Andrea, Wonderbelly Games

Today we added a new playable hero, Sprig the Druid, in a free content update!

Sprig is more than just your garden variety druid. Every time she smashes a gold pot, she plants a fresh sprout in its place, changing up the rules of the board and spreading the wilds everywhere she goes. Her new skills give her tons of control, allowing her to jump, teleport, and summon friends across the board to smash that treasure scarab wherever its hiding. She's still a tender-shoot, so keeping her alive can be a challenge, but her score potential is through the forest canopy.


New skills! Sprig can summon vines and birds, teleport between her sprouts, and even transform into a giant, angry tree. Her skills make you think about bounce angles and board possibilities in a whole new way.

New items! Sprig comes loaded with a new set of weapons and armor. Her equipment creates new combo opportunities with her sprouts, changing their flower effects and growing more powerful as her sprouts spread across the board.

New quests! Test your green thumb and prove yourself to the Elder Tree to earn new trinkets. Each quest comes packed with a freshly-picked peck of plant puns.

And more! New daily & weekly challenges featuring the Druid, and six more achievements!

I want to give an extra big shout out to everyone who helped with the beta test. Sprig has really bloomed thanks to your feedback. Hope you all have a lovely, flower-filled summer! And hey, look at that: It's Summer Sale time! Roundguard will be 51% off, so now's the perfect time to pick it up / gift it to a friend / play the Druid while you're killing time deciding how much you can stuff in your cart. 😎

<3
Andrea, Wonderbelly Games

• New playable hero: Sprig the Druid! She has an all new collection of skills, weapons, and armor brimming with mystical powers fresh from the wilds.
  
• New peg type: Sprouts! Whenever Sprig smashes a gold pot, it is instantly removed and replaced with a friendly little sprout. Sprig can do all sorts of things with her sprouts, including teleport between them, summon critters from them, and change which type of helpful flowers bloom from them.
  
• New status effect: Barkskin! Someone with barkskin will block that much damage on their next hit. It’s only removed when it is used. It never wears off on its own.
  
• New status effect: Thorns! Someone with thorns takes bonus damage for each thorn whenever they are hurt. This status effect never wears off.
  
• New quests and trinkets! Meet the Elder Tree, find out what Sprig thinks about watching grass grow, and add to your trinket collection with new items like Sticky Sap, Pruning Shears, and every dryad’s favorite: the Pocket Greenhouse.
  
• New daily puzzles and weekly challenges featuring the Druid!
  
• Six new achievements! Can you get 3 million gold? Or win a run in less than 75 shots?

• Random encounters between boards are slightly less frequent.
  
• Mimics can now be bubbled, just as the gods intended.
  
• Dropped max health on Glutton's Fork.
  
• A couple of powerful trinkets can now only be found deeper in the dungeon.
  
• Removed "gold per skill use" bonus property. Bye bye, infinite mana / infinite gold exploit.

• Added difficulty ratings to daily puzzles and weekly challenges.
  
• Fixed a bug in achievements so Payback should now work consistently for all players.
  
• Equipping a new skill over an old one with only one skill equipped will automatically bump the old one into the empty slot.
  
• You no longer take damage from the spikes if you're petrified.
  
• Fixed a bug not getting slo mo drama cam when approaching the spikes sometimes.
  
• Now using a skill will override drama cam zoom, so you can see your targets better.
  
• Fixed rare soft lock if you polymorphed the last spiked blaster in the final boss fight.
  
• Fixed issue with getting blocked at the bosses when swapping between save slots and continuing runs under certain conditions.
  
• Fixed a couple of boards that didn't have enough medium peg spots to support the Undead biome.
  
• Fixed some Japanese text overruns.
  
• Fixed bug where boards with snowballs would break the run if you had the Brilliance relic equipped. This bug involved an epic interaction between snowballs being melted by mana burn, and the ballista being unable to handle the resulting mass change in the snowballs. Long story short: roguelikes are wild, man.
  
• Fixed bug where a phantom snowball would rarely show up on non-snowball boards.
  
• Fixed bug where some normal run equipped relic properties would still be active during weekly runs when they shouldn't be.
  
• Fixed soft lock if you paused during peg tally and opened and closed menus and then waited a minute.
  
• Fixed trinket UI getting stuck on screen if you opened the map after a quest giver dialog delivered a trinket.
  
• Fixed bugs that could cause loading some saved boards to put some pegs on top of each other.
  
• Fixed bug where Cycloptopus boss could break if you had a VERY high attack stat and hit the little eyes too much.

Hey friends!

You know what they say, April showers bring May… sales and beta invites? Something like that. Anyway, we got out our gardening shears and did some heavy pruning on the Roundguard price for a nice two week sale! Why, you ask? To celebrate that we’re ready to invite you all to playtest the new hero: The Druid!

First, it’s time for an introduction. Sprig is not your garden variety druid. She’s a tender-shoot fresh from the wilds, and she’s ready to plant grass and take names. She brings with her plenty of forest friends, including butterflies, hummingbirds, and semi-sentient briar vines, but her best friends are the sprouts she plants everywhere she goes. Her brand new skills, weapons, and armor work together with her sprouts to create fresh combos and ways to think about the board.



Sprig and the rest of the Druid update is not fully bloomed quite yet, but it is ready for your feedback. I’d especially love to hear your thoughts on balance, polish, confusing bits, etc. Please, please join the beta and take the Druid for a spin!

To join the beta, all you need to do is:

1. Own the game. (Oh look, it’s on sale right now!)
   
2. Right-click on it and select Properties, and then the Betas tab.
   
3. Enter the password supersecretbetabranch .
   
4. Select the beta branch from the dropdown menu.
   
5. You did it!

We have lots more info about the beta in our Discord, so please join that as well. It’s the perfect place to share your feedback, brag about your high score, or share your best / worst plant pun.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

<3
Andrea, Wonderbelly Games

Hello friends!

It's been one year since we launched and I believe the traditional first anniversary gift is a sale, isn't that right? Or is it loafers? Well, either way, we're celebrating with a big sale for Roundguard just about everywhere, so now's a good time to tell a friend to pick it up.

Yeah, so... One whole year, huh? It's hard to sum what the last year has meant for us. This was the first year Bob and I got to be full time indies -- a dream come true! Although with our daughter's preschool shut down due to COVID, it hasn't really been full time at all... It's been a stressful year, as I'm sure it's been for all of you. But it's also been so rewarding. Hearing stories about how Roundguard has been a fun activity for cooped up families, a way to introduce your partner to your love of roguelikes, or a kind distraction in a time of pain has consistently warmed our hearts. Thank you all so much for sharing with us.

And we've been completely blown away to see Roundguard nominated for a ton of lovely awards, including "Mobile Game of the Year" by the Golden Joystick Awards, "Best Mobile Game" by Destructoid and the New York Game Awards, "Best Apple Arcade Game" by the Pocket Gamer Awards, "Excellence in Game Design" by DevGAMM, and "Best Family Game of the Year" by the NAVGTR Awards.

But we haven't been resting on our round little laurels. In the last year, we've released the Treasure Hunter update, Halloween & Winter seasonal events, and the Gift Giver update, adding more game modes, monsters, unlocks, and tortured puns. And we're not finished yet! Spring is coming and there's new life sprouting up in Roundguard...



We've been working on a new hero! I'll give you a hint: her class type rhymes with "fluid"... which is fair, because we're still working out the details, but I'll be talking more about her soon enough. And in about a month or so, we'll be running a beta test to get the new hero tuned and polished and we'd greatly appreciate your feedback. If you're interested in helping, please come sign up for the beta in our Discord and we'll let you know as soon as we're ready.

Thanks again for hanging with us this last year. I'm feeling hopeful for the next one. Let's chat again soon!

<3
Andrea, Wonderbelly Games