We’ve been really hard at work since our last playtest. There were some key areas we needed to touch and improve. The way movement worked for the player had some unnecessary friction on a core foundation of the game. This needed our full focus for improvements. We also worked on the removal of lane buffs, the effect of the doom counter when it expires, a brand new weapon, and finally the game’s tutorial. Having a tutorial in place is especially important to us as it sets the stage for smoother future playtesting.
1. Movement: Changed for Good
During our first playtests, players felt some frustration with how movement worked. We had two systems. Jumping and linear movement. The cost structure didn’t really make sense. Jumping was almost always better, since for just 2 energy you could move up to three platforms at once. That made single tile moves inefficient. Players were forced into a clunky two step process for something that should have been simple and core to Gotogra.
So we decided to completely rework movement. In the new version, linear movement always costs just 1 energy and can be done with a single click on the target tile. Available tiles are highlighted in green. The only time movement costs 2 energy is when you jump over an enemy. Even then, you just click your destination tile and the game automatically handles whether it’s a simple move or a jump over an obstacle.
This change removes friction. It makes movement more intuitive and reinforces it as one of the game’s core mechanics.
2. Farewell to Lane Buffs
During playtests, lane buffs were mostly ignored. When they did trigger, many felt too mild since they only impacted the lane where they appeared. Others were too strong, and that created frustration. The main problem was that lane buffs were abstract elements of gameplay. Players had no real agency over them.
For this reason we removed lane buffs and introduced caster enemies. They work like normal enemies with a preparation turn before casting. After that they cast one of the same effects that lane buffs used to create, but now in the form of spells. Spells are selected at random. A crucial difference is that these spells affect everyone on the field, both enemies and the player, no matter what lane they are on.
This makes the effects feel fairer and more interactive. It also creates new tactical challenges since you can deal with caster enemies directly.
3. The Doom Counter Reworked
In the old system, when the doom counter reached zero the player died instantly. This felt really bad. It made the player’s remaining HP useless. Dying suddenly no matter how much health you still had was never pleasant.
Now the system works differently. When the doom counter reaches zero the player starts taking fatigue damage. This damage ramps up each turn. It allows the player to still finish clearing the room, but they cannot waste too many turns. The longer they stay, the faster their HP will go down. Fatigue damage is pure damage and goes through armor.
4. A New Weapon: The Bow
When you meet the vendor for the first time you will now see a new choice. Along with the sword and shield you can also pick the Bow. This is a fresh new experience for Gotogra. The bow is a ranged weapon and it makes the player manage an extra resource. A quiver with three arrows.
When you use cards called “shot” they consume an arrow on top of their mana or energy cost. At first this might look weaker compared to the simple sword and shield. But arrows are regenerated at the start of the player’s turn, just like mana and energy. On top of that there are many ways to reload the quiver with cards or rings.
The most important part is that each arrow can be enchanted with different effects. These enchantments combine with shot cards in fun ways. For example there is an enchantment that makes your next shot a guaranteed critical strike. Imagine using this with a shot called Drill Shot. This card pierces through a line of enemies. If there are three enemies in a row and you fire a critical Drill Shot, all three take guaranteed critical damage.
This is just scratching the surface. The bow has many possible synergies left for the player to discover. We will not spoil more here since a dedicated devlog will be made for the bow in the future.
5. First Tutorial Implemented
A first version of the tutorial is now in the game. It introduces players to the basic mechanics of Gotogra. The design is simple on purpose. We do not want to fully hand hold players. We believe our audience enjoys the process of learning new skills. The tutorial gives enough guidance without taking away that joy and magic.
The biggest benefit for us is practical. From now on it is easier to hand Gotogra to new testers. In most cases we can simply send them a build and rely on the tutorial to do the first teaching. This saves us from having to always set up virtual calls. It is a real step forward.
The tutorial will need improvements, but now it is there and this is an important milestone.
Outro
These updates mark a huge milestone for Gotogra. Movement is now set in stone. Lane buffs have evolved into more engaging enemy abilities. The doom counter has been reworked for fairness. A new weapon joins the arsenal. The first tutorial is in place. Together, these changes make the game more strategic, accessible, and fun to play.
In the next blog post, planned for the first days of September, we will share an important update. We will be applying to some local financing opportunities. The outcome is uncertain, as there are many talented developers with the same needs, but it is an opportunity worth pursuing. More details about this coming soon.
As always, thank you for following along. Your feedback shapes Gotogra every step of the way.
gotogra.com 
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