- Progress Update: v0.9, 2026-06-30 - 30 June 2026
I hope you're all doing well! I've been keeping busy as always, and managed to make some pretty solid progress on Polymino's Puzzle Mode this month. I mentioned in the last update that the level editor was advanced enough that I could pivot to working on the game itself again, making sure it was able to support everything implemented in the editor. Turns out, it didn't take long at all to get to that point: the game can now load levels exported by the editor, and junk modifiers from Junk Attack are now supported by the game's engine regardless of mode, allowing junk pieces in puzzle mode to use them! This is going to open up a lot of possibilities for hand-made puzzles, like chain reactions being set off by explosive junk, or using blocker junk to create indestructible obstacles (by making them a color which isn't used for any blocks in the puzzle). I also have an early prototype of how…
- Progress Update: v0.9, 2026-05-20 - 21 May 2026
First of all, I'm sorry for the delay in updates, I want to aim for doing monthly community updates and I definitely let it slip. However, I have some exciting news this time: Polymino's level editor is finally at a point where all of the basics are implemented, and I can finally switch to working on the game itself once again! There are still some things left before the editor will be completed. However, its features have surpassed what is supported in the actual game, meaning I can use it to create test levels while I overhaul the code for Polymino's Puzzle Mode. I'm super excited to take a break from web development and start coding in my beloved C++ again. By the way, if this is your first time hearing about the level editor, it's open source and you can check it out on GitHub! In the future, it'll also be hosted on Polymino.net where you'll be able to create your own levels! Level…
- Progress Update: v0.9 - 27 February 2026
If you're not already in Polymino's Discord server, you probably missed the news: the next version of Polymino will be Version 0.9, The Puzzle Mode Update! As the name suggests, v0.9 will be the long-awaited overhaul of Puzzle Mode, featuring hand-made levels instead of randomly-generated ones, multiple types of objective for solving puzzles, and the introduction of junk modifiers from Junk Attack to bring more variety to the table. Lately I've been working on a level editor that will allow me to create the mode's puzzles, which is publicly available GitHub! Once it's closer to completion, I'll host it on Polymino's website so anyone can create their own puzzles. I may even add Steam Workshop support to the game! Until then, anyone who's curious about development can take a peek at my activity on GitHub, and even download and run the project themselves before it's hosted on polymino.net…
- Update: v0.8H - 29 December 2025
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! I'm alive, and I'm excited to bring you an update that's going to shake up gameplay across all of Polymino's game modes! This update features tricks (special moves), which reward stylish play with points, Ability Meter, and more! I've also added a few audiovisual effects and some UI improvements to this update, check out the full patch notes below! Oh, and Polymino is 75% off for the Steam Winter Sale! Added tricks, special moves that grant rewards such as points, combo, and Ability Meter All available tricks are documented on the wiki, but you'll stumble upon most of them by playing well and playing with style B) Added a sound effect for swapping blocks Added a bit more visual flair to the animations in multiplayer lobby chat "Play Again" now goes to difficulty selection instead of immediately starting another round at the same starting dif…
- Update: v0.8G - 15 June 2025
Back in the saddle! Version 0.8G focuses on rebalancing Junk Attack's loadouts based on the feedback I've received since Puzzle Wednesday's Polymino tournament back in... JANUARY!? But it's not all changes to existing content; v0.8G introduces some all-new abilities and a brand new loadout to Junk Attack (and Gauntlet) too! Changelog Added two new junk effects available in Junk Attack: Blocker junk: as the name would imply, blocker junk prevents any projectiles from travelling through it. If you hit blocker junk with a correctly-colored projectile, it'll shatter as usual, but your projectile won't pierce it. If you hit blocker junk with a projectile of the wrong color, your projectile will be destroyed outright. Heavy junk: the most powerful junk modifier yet, the only way to shatter heavy junk is by making it fall to the bottom of the board by clearing space below it. Of course, you co…
- Minor Update: v0.8F - 4 May 2025
Hey everybody! This update is very, very minor, but I felt it was important to put something out so you know the project is still active. The majority of my free time last month was spent on a side project which is finished now, so the next update will have more content and come out much sooner! Version 0.8F adds a new menu after finishing a local game which includes options to play again, save a replay (which was moved from the game stats screen), or go to the player/game settings. It also updates the appearance of the Steam leaderboards for Classic mode: ranks are always centered so they don't get shifted when the name and score take up 2 lines, and custom leaderboard colors are only applied to player names instead of also being applied to the ranks and scores. Next up, I'll be improving the balance of Polymino's loadouts and adding some new abilities suggested by players. Stay tuned!
- Update: v0.8E - 16 March 2025
Hi everyone! Development has slowed down on Polymino, as I recently got a new job. This does unfortunately mean that updates will slow down for the rest of the game's development. However, Polymino has come a long way, and I'm determined see it through! I'm very excited about version 0.8, as it features some very important fixes and new content I've been dying to release! New Content added two new projectile types: "Wave" and "Beams" added a new debris effect: "Split" added the song from the Steam trailer, "Flurry", to the game overhauled an existing song ("Defibrillator") removed the song "WTF" (name says it all, honestly) Quality of Life added a setting to autosave replays the replay selection menu includes the duration of the replay added an option to show player names in-game during online matches and replays the difficulty selection screen for local Junk Attack games has received t…
- Update: v... wait WHAT? - 16 January 2025
Surprise! I decided to revisit the Genesis version of Polymino today and fix a bug which eluded me for ages! I also updated the menus for good measure, replacing the OPTIONS menu with an ABOUT screen that has information about the PC version. The only thing that was actually in the OPTIONS menu, the toggle to enable/disable music, was moved to the main menu. Feel free to download the ROM at https://polymino.net/downloads, and share it around all you want, with attribution of course!
- Minor Update: v0.8D - 15 January 2025
In the days leading up to Puzzle Wednesday's tournament (see this community post for more info), I've had multiple opportunities to test online multiplayer with several people. To those who I have had the opportunity to play with, thank you! Version 0.8D is based on your feedback and the issues we've stumbled upon together. There are still outstanding issues which will be addressed in v0.8E, along with anything we find in tomorrow's tournament. Changelog You can now move the cursor left and right in text boxes Text inputs now support character limits beyond their physical width, by scrolling their contents with the cursor Added new hotkeys to text boxes because I can't live without them 'Delete' deletes the character at the cursor (as opposed to before the cursor, like 'Backspace') 'Home' jumps to the beginning of the text input 'End' jumps to the end of the text input When a text input…
- Puzzle Wednesday is running a Polymino tournament, January 15th! - 11 January 2025
ATTENTION GAMERS! This Wednesday, January 15th, the Twitch channel and Discord community Puzzle Wednesday will be hosting the first-ever Polymino tournament using the new online multiplayer functionality! You can find more details about the event on the Challonge page. Puzzle Wednesday's tournaments are very beginner-friendly, as is their community as a whole, so I highly recommend you sign up at their Discord server! You can also watch the tournament live on their Twitch channel! I hope to see you there!
- Update: v0.8C - 9 January 2025
Hello everybody! Version 0.8C is finally here, featuring important improvements to online multiplayer, as well as a whole bunch of bugfixes and quality of life improvements which will benefit all players! Changelog Click here to jump to multiplayer-specific changes. Added replays! The replay system is based on the online multiplayer code, so only Junk Attack and Gauntlet are supported for now There is now a "Save Replay" button in the post-game stats screen Replays can be viewed under OPTIONS > Game Updated the intermissions between Gauntlet rounds Slightly modified the timing of animations Added a new sound effect for the shutter retraction animation Added a new animation for the game speed decreasing Added a button to switch between the Default and Beta Steam builds of the game under OPTIONS > Game Added copy/paste support for text inputs with CTRL+C and CTRL+V Tooltips for "Fast Slid…
- Update v0.8B + Online Multiplayer Beta - 20 November 2024
This version features some additions to Gauntlet mode, some audiovisual changes such as more animations and sound effects, and lots of bugfixes. However, I am most excited to announce that online multiplayer is now live on the beta branch of the game! Accessing Online Multiplayer There are two ways to access online multiplayer: Launch the game, go to "PLAY" and select "Online." The game will give you the option to automatically switch to the beta branch. Select "Yes" and restart the game. Find Polymino in your Steam library, right click it (or select the gear icon in Big Picture/SteamOS), select Properties, then the Betas tab, and choose the "beta" branch from the drop-down menu. Changelog Gauntlet Changes Each time a round is cleared, it is unlocked as a starting round (up to round 10) Added bonus points awarded after clearing each round Audiovisual Changes Added multisample antialiasi…
- Minor Update: v0.8A - 21 October 2024
Fixed a bug in the falling blocks logic where columns of blocks on the board would rotate Added a gameplay demo which plays when the game is left idle on the main menu
- v0.8 Hotfix: Junk Attack Tutorial Typo - 8 October 2024
Fixed a typo in the Junk Attack tutorial Minor rewording of other text in the tutorial to improve clarity
- Update: v0.8 | Bots! - 8 October 2024
Hello everybody! I'm very excited to announce that version 0.8 is finally ready, featuring a lot of new content and improvements! Bots! Version 0.8 introduces Gauntlet Mode, a variant of Junk Attack where you face off against a series of bots, each one more difficult than the last. Pick a loadout and get ready for an intense fight against a brutally efficient AI. Can you survive enough rounds and earn enough points to climb to the top of the mode's leaderboard? Profiles Profiles allow you to customize the menus and save your cursor settings both locally and on the Steam Cloud. If you save a profile in your copy of the game and join another player's Remote Play session, your profile will automatically appear, allowing you to use your profile no matter whose game you're playing! Profiles can be accessed by going to "Extras" from the main menu. Balance Changes The difficulty curve in Class…
- Minor update: v0.7A - 4 July 2024
The latest Junk Attack playtesters have been added to the credits Added controller rumble Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when toggling beta loadouts Added an option called "hold swap while moving," where holding the swap button while moving the cursor will repeat the swap action Added "Plasma" block theme Made "Bolted" a junk piece theme instead of a block theme (the block version required the textures to be too high resolution compared to other textures in the game) The game now fades to black when you quit through the menus instead of exiting immediately Fixed custom controller axis binds not saving correctly Modified 'Sniper' loadout to have smaller third ability segment Fixed a bug in the lobby menu where the "press any button to connect" prompt was placed incorrectly
- Update: v0.7 - 24 June 2024
Hello everyone! In version 0.7, Junk Attack is finally being properly introduced to the public! You no longer have to switch to the beta branch to play it, and there is plenty of in-game information to guide you through how the mode works! In celebration of this milestone, Polymino is on sale for 75% off, so make sure you encourage your friends to check it out so you can test your mettle against each other in Junk Attack ;-) In other news, there will be another chance to get your name in Polymino's credits in the coming days -- another Junk Attack playtesting session in the Discord Server! In a couple days, I will make an announcement there with more information, and there will be a poll to determine what date will work for the most people. I hope to see you there! Now for the specifics of what v0.7 is bringing to Polymino: Junk Attack is enabled in all builds. Currently, the default an…
- Sneak Peak: Junk Attack Loadouts & Info Menus - 5 June 2024
While Junk Attack has been publicly accessible on Polymino's beta branch for some time now, a big problem is the lack of in-game information on how the mode works. Since version 0.6E I've been working towards making Junk Attack user-friendly, and in this post I'll showcase the menus for selecting loadouts in the upcoming update. BEFORE Currently, loadouts have to be selected for one player at a time in a rather unpolished menu: When selecting a loadout, the information displayed is far too brief to be helpful for new players: AFTER In the next update, players will be able to pick loadouts independently, and access detailed information about them. Clicking "Info..." brings up the following menu: And clicking the "Details..." for an Ability brings up a thorough description of it: These menus are auto-generated using the loadout's data. They do a good job of showcasing how flexible the Loa…
- Minor update: v0.6E, Junk Attack aesthetic changes - 9 May 2024
Added animations to junk pieces affected by the Explosive and Ink Bombs on-shatter effects Added textures to all junk themes and the existing overlays (bomb-proof and bomb-only) for single-block junk pieces and junk rows Fixed laggy animations in lobby menu Alerts when abilities are used in Junk Attack are now capitalized properly Fixed bug where changing the volume in the pause menu would apply the changes to the current session but not save them permanently
- Update: v0.6D, the soundtrack overhaul - 22 April 2024
This update features a total overhaul of the soundtrack, which now features 10 songs! Additionally, instead of a single song playing for the entire duration of a run, each song has a finite length and the game will play them on shuffle during gameplay. The game's pause menu now also allows you to adjust the music and SFX volume, and skip the currently-playing song. If you want to preview the songs and customize your playlist, don't forget to check out the song list menu in the audio options. Headphones are highly recommended ;-) Other changes: Fixed bug where the button to disable sound effects (independently of SFX volume) would have no effect SFX volume slider in the audio menu applies immediately, without having to click "DONE" and exit the menu Improved the appearance of the song list menu Fixed a bug introduced in v0.6C where the game would attempt to access an out-of-bounds block…
