Dev Logs

🔧 Build Update

Squashing Bugs & Turning Up the Heat

It's been a busy couple of months since the first devlog, and v0.2 is comfortably the best version of War of Whiskers to date. Every known bug from v0.1 has been hunted down and fixed, the economy is live, the Codex is built, and the AI actually puts up a fight now. Here's the full rundown.

Bug Fixes

Rainbow piece interactions now work exactly as intended — no more phantom matches or missed triggers.
Forward Dash agility perks that move into Match-4, T-shape, or Match-5 positions now correctly grant an extra turn. Previously they'd just… not. Fixed.
Line Attack & Striker Ultimate explosions now interact properly with special pieces on the board, triggering their effects as they should. Chain reactions feel properly devastating.

AI Overhaul

The AI has been seriously upgraded. It reads the board better, chains matches together, and has an uncanny ability to find extra turns you didn't see coming. Games are genuinely close now. That said — it still has a habit of leaving high-value special pieces sat on the board when it shouldn't. It plays tactically but not greedily, which honestly makes for more interesting matches. You can exploit those gaps if you spot them.

Economy & Progression

The economy is switched on. You can now earn and spend both coins and gems. The reward loop is in and functional — win games, earn currency, open chests, build your collection.
The Codex screen is fully built. Power bars display correctly, character cards show names beneath them now, so you can actually tell what you're unlocking. Previously, without all the card art in place, it was a guessing game.

Card Art Preview

I've been working on card art designs for the alpha. The artwork will be fully finalised once we've proven the game is fun and engaging, but for now the alpha needs something solid to look at. Here are two of my top picks for the Common card style — Scratch and Rampage.

If you've got thoughts on the style, I'd love to hear them. This is the direction I'm heading — once the look is locked, the full roster gets the same treatment.

Challenge: Beat My High Score

Quick note for anyone who's been playing: I set a new personal high score of 32,500 points in a single game. The secret? King positioning. Kings score double points on every match — so if you manoeuvre your King into the right spot and land the finishing blow on an enemy King, you're banking 2,000 instead of 1,000, plus any cascades on top. It adds up fast.

Here are my current stats for proof. If you've managed to beat any of these — especially the win ratio of 1.91 — I'd genuinely love to see it. Share your stats screen on socials and tag War of Whiskers.

What's Next

Right now I'm working on chest opening artwork, the in-game store, an updated splash screen, and the game board design itself — HUD and UI elements are the next critical pass. Every update gets the game closer to something I'm proud to put in front of a wider audience.

If you're playing the alpha, thank you. Every session helps shape what this becomes. See you in v0.3.

— See you in the next one.

🎯 Design

The Game I Wish Existed

This is the first official devlog for War of Whiskers, and the easiest place to start is the why. I love match-3 games. I have lost more hours than I'd like to admit to swapping gems on a phone. But every one of them eventually breaks the same way: the moment you realise the game is mostly luck, the magic dies. So I started building the version I wished existed — a match-3 with the soul of a strategy battler.

What's New This Build

Kings on the board: four coloured King pieces with HP, prototyped and now reading damage from same-colour matches.
Anti-RNG cascade rules: cascades still trigger existing specials, but no longer create new ones. Massive feel-good change in playtests.
Two-action turn system: replaced the old "infinite swaps" prototype. Decisions matter again.
First pass on Striker class: Heavy Ordnance Ultimate now fires a row beam — deeply satisfying to land on a low-HP King.

Balance Notes

Rainbow tile damage 120 → 150. Previous value rarely closed games out. New value makes the Match-5 setup feel earned.
Tactician Tactical Reset perk drain reduced from −25 → −20 at level 3. Late-game Tacticians were too oppressive.
Bomb tile blast radius locked at 3×3 after testing 5×5. Bigger felt cool for ten seconds, then dominated every match.

What I'm Working On Next

Wiring up the Trophy Road and Ship visuals for Progression mode. A first combat-readable pass on Guardian's Iron Slam Ultimate. And an onboarding flow that teaches the King-on-board concept in under 30 seconds.

If you're reading this, thank you. Genuinely. Drop into the beta signup on the home page if you want to be on the early testers list — feedback from the first wave is going to shape the next three months of work.

— See you in the next one.