ChainStaff is Out Now!

It's out on Switch 1 and 2, Xbox One/Series, Playstation 4/5, and Steam! 

Yup, the game I've been working diligently on for 7 years, starting back in 2019, is ready to play! 

If you enjoyed the demo on Steam for ChainStaff there's 9 more giant levels, weird parasite upgrades, and over a dozen giant bosses some of which are hard to figure out! And plenty of weapons too shoot at bunches of completely bonkers monsters while you go for the 6 different endings. 

 

If you didn't play the demo, check out this review: https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/75127/chainstaff-... 

Who am kidding, stop reading, go get the game!:D 

My publisher went out of business and I did not have marketing support from a big company. Instead of waiting to get the game 2 years from now, if you get the game at launch and leave a review, it helps sooooooo much more than getting it in the future. 

Plus you get to join in talking to other people on the discord about it while everyone's playing it together https://discord.gg/8PYEmJWxAT

This will help ensure I get to make extra content for it too. (I hope to release some free updates.) 

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2976260/ChainStaff

Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/chainstaff-switch/

Playstation: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10014011

Thank you! -Nathan  

Added New Ability to ChainStaff - Launch Getting Closer

Vault Ability 

As we continue to polish ChainStaff for the April 8th release date, I've got cool news. 

After loads of playtesting I realized we needed just a little bit of extra polish in the game. 

Behold--the "Vault Ability"!

This is a new, automatic move that happens to the player in the game. 

Any time you are next to a ledge, and you press towards it (left/right), you will automatically try to climb it just a little bit.

You don't climb all the way up walls.But you do kick off of them twice, giving you a tiny boost. 

You do not do a full ledge grab. That I feel would slow down the pace of the game. But you quickly do a small wall-hop and it lets you over loads of tiny spots you'd fall normally. 

Want to try it out? It's in the free demo on Steam right now! Is it better than a ledge-grab? Let me know what you think. 

Final Playtesting

If you are interested in playtesting the game before its release this April 8th, join my discord and ask around and I'll hook you up. 

The game is 90-95% complete and I am now smoothing out rough edges and looking for more bugs. 

We are getting close and I could use all the help I can get to find bugs in the game. Thanks! 

 

ChainStaff Launch Date, Pre-Order, Price, and Cheats Menu

Launch Date Revealed

 

I have cool news! We finally have a release date for ChainStaff. Steam, Switch, Playstation, Xbox, everything...the game is coming out April 8th. Check out the trailer for new monsters, weapons, and levels. 

Pre-Order Open 

Also big news--we have a price now: $14.99. And pre-order options are available! We worked really hard to get the game through all the annoying systems for Nintendo and Microsoft. (Sadly Sony doesn't let smaller games like mine get a pre-order. I did try though! ) Please wishlist it or pre-order it. It's a big help! This page has all the store links: https://chainstaffgame.com/ 

Cheat Codes Now in the Demo 

I just updated the demo on Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2976260/ChainStaff It is still the tutorial training level and level 1, but there is now also a Cheat Menu. 

How's it work? Well it takes simple words. But you have to *know* the words. And I put all kinds of wacky, helpful, powerful cheats in there. Letter-case does not matter. Spaces do matter in between words. 

Just go to Options->Cheats in the demo to add them. How do you find out the Cheats? You should join the Discord server. Also I will reveal a few sometimes in the newsletter.

I add some cheats on the Discord server. https://discord.gg/8PYEmJWxAT 

Enjoy! 

How I Built a Life-sized ChainStaff for MAGFest

I will be at MAGFest this weekend in Washington DC! It's June 8th to 11th. It's absolutely packed with awesome indie games, arcade games, and lots of amazing game music. Come out to the show and tell your friends about it!

ChainStaff was accepted to be shown in the "MIVS" division of the show. It's an indie-only section where cool indie games are previewed for the gaming public. You get a 10x10ft booth and you design it all yourself. 

My first idea was... what if you could hold a real ChainStaff?!? 

What would it be like? Check out this video as I detail the construction of it. 

 

It ended up being over 7 feet long, but thankfully only weighs about 5 pounds so anyone can wield it.

I also printed a backdrop of the main game box art, and you'll get to pose in front of it with the ChainStaff! 

This is inside my office; it barely fits! I'll do a new blog post when we get the real booth set up at MAGFest. The banner is 10x8ft. We had to take the picture sideways because the room is too small to fit. Thankfully the convention center is huge, so this will be awesome when we get it set up there.

The light fixture at the top obscures the game logo, but my idea was you'd get to "pry open the monster's mouth" on the box art with a real ChainStaff.

ChainStaff is due to come out to consoles and Steam this spring, so I'm working hard to get the word out for it. Thanks for following along on my journey! 

ChainStaff Demo Update - Difficulty and Story

 

Here's a video showing off some of the details from the new update. 

Updated Demo

I've gone ahead and added some cutscenes from the main game to the free demo that's on Steam. There are now two new story cutscenes at the beginning of the demo, where you can see the origins of the Star Spore invasion.

The demo update also has the ability to pick between Easy and Normal difficulty modes. The difficulty is hand-tuned for each level. There will be new attacks and more enemies in Normal difficulty. Easy mode might have more platforms to land on, plus you start with more player shields.

Here's the list of demo changes

1. Cutscenes added

2. Difficulty modes added

3. Now has 3 Save Slots

4. Dual Stick controls fully supported

5. Better button remapping

6. Game balance changes: Players don't retract ChainStaff on Damage. You now need a full heart to take an extra hit (not just a subheart).

7. Many more balances and game polish.

Want to join the Beta Playtest?

Come help steer the direction of the game balancing! I'm slowly finishing up the rest of the game and will be doing playtests soon. Join my newsletter to get in on it!

https://subscribepage.io/Mk6GOH

Let's Chat

And finally, I check Discord more frequently than most places:

https://discord.gg/8PYEmJWxAT

I'd love to hear from you there.