- Threads of War is now available in Polish! - 18 August 2026
Threads of War tells the story of the first year of the full-scale war in Ukraine. Throughout that year, Poland's humanitarian, military, logistical and political support meant a great deal to our people - and we are deeply grateful to our Polish friends for it.That's why this localization is special to us. I'm truly glad that Polish players can now walk through the first year of the war in their own language.Special thanks to Krystian "Krishakh" Pruchnicki for his excellent work on the translation. Thank you, my friend, for bringing Threads of War closer to players from Poland!
- Get an Extra 10% Off with the Threads of War + Death From Above Bundle - 17 August 2026
Our game, Threads of War, has joined forces in a joint Steam bundle with Death From Above: A Ukrainian Drone Warstory. Both projects focus on resisting russian invaders. While Threads of War features tank battles with rogue-lite mechanics and traditional Ukrainian embroidery aesthetics, Death From Above puts you in command of a Ukrainian military drone to destroy enemy armor and positions.The bundle uses Steam's "Complete the Set" format. If you already own one of the games, you can buy the other with an additional 10% discount. If you don't own either, the discount applies to the full set.Both our team and the developers of Death From Above donate a portion of sales proceeds to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine and charity funds (including "Come Back Alive" and "Army of Drones").By purchasing the bundle, you get two Ukrainian games at a better price while supporting Ukrainian troops.…
- Threads of War is now available in Italian! - 10 April 2026
Every new language in the game is an opportunity to share Ukrainian culture and tell the story of our struggle to more people around the world. We are truly grateful to our community for supporting this mission.Special thanks to Leonardo Raimondi for his wonderful work on the translation. Now, Threads of War is one step closer to our players in Italy!
- Fixed a bug with an “invisible” block. - 20 January 2026
It turned out that the texture of the damaged block wasn’t rendering in the embroidery-style theme. As a result, after destroying a block, it could look like you were running into an invisible block.We’ve fixed the bug. Everything now renders correctly.As a reminder, you can shoot a Special Bullet, which destroys blocks in a single shot but doesn’t damage enemies, and a Combat Bullet, which destroys enemies but takes two shots to break blocks. Use these bullets tactically.And if you’re enjoying the game, please consider leaving a review on Steam - it really helps us become more visible to other players.
- The “Creative Freedom” update is now available! - 19 January 2026
Want to trade battles amidst embroidery for dogfights in space? Or maybe go underwater? Whether you want to return to a classic 8-bit style or recreate the battles of WWII, the choice is now yours.Threads of War now lets you completely redesign your enemies and environments. You can share your unique creations with the world, or simply download mods made by other players to enjoy a fresh gameplay experience.We’ve prepared two official mods to demonstrate what’s possible. Head over to the Steam Workshop (https://steamcommunity.com/app/2917630/workshop/), subscribe to the mods, launch the game, and pick your new style:Once activated, jump into the Single-player or Co-op Campaign, or fire up Skirmish mode. The new visuals will be applied wherever possible.Want to build your own modification? Check out our guide - and start experimenting!If you enjoyed our game, please consider leaving a re…
- Soon you'll be able to create your own worlds within the game! - 29 November 2025
Before becoming a developer, I loved modding my favorite games. I enjoyed it when developers allowed you to redraw graphics, rebalance gameplay, or create your own piece of the game world within the game.So in the games I develop, I try to give players the ability to mod the game. In my Football, Tactics & Glory, there are extensive possibilities for modifying the game world.But in Threads of War, there have been no such options until now. Over the past few months, we've been working on allowing players to redraw the game's graphics, making it possible to create a mod inspired by classic Battle City or let your imagination run wild and create your own universe. While my 13-year-old son, who is a programmer on the game, was developing the tools and rewriting the game code, I worked on the first graphics mod. Here are some screenshots of what will be possible in Threads of War: For now, I…
- Update and freebies for Ukraine's Independence Day - 24 August 2025
Happy Independence Day of Ukraine!Our game reflects a part of the great struggle that the Ukrainian people are waging in defense of their independence. So, to celebrate this occasion, we would like to share a small surprise: desktop wallpapers. They depict major Ukrainian cities that took the first blow of the full-scale invasion, but did not surrender and instead repelled the invaders.We also decided to delight you with an update that focuses on new features in the level editor.What's New in the GameAbility to Play Random LevelsWe have essentially transformed the level editor into a new mode that allows you to customize the game to your liking, generate a level, and play. New features:You can choose up to 6 bonuses, allowing you to create your favorite combo and turn your tank into an unbeatable victory machine.You can click the level generation button, which will automatically generat…
- Game Update - 20 August 2025
Controls improvementsNow in the settings you can assign mouse buttons to different actions.This can be convenient, for example, to shoot a regular bullet by pressing LMB, and a special one - by pressing RMB.You can also assign the middle or side mouse buttons. Level editor improvementsAdded the ability to select inspiration bonuses in the level editor.Now destroying command tanks will cause a red flag to appear on the location. Pick it up to receive an inspiration bonus.ATTENTION! Don’t forget to place spawns for inspiration bonuses. Bug fixesAfter one of the previous updates, bonus shops appeared very rarely on the map. Instead, most shops only sold insignias. Fixed.When the player pressed different direction buttons chaotically, the tank could start shooting sideways. Fixed.Sometimes the player’s tank could be trapped by enemies, making it impossible to leave the cell. We made adjustm…
- Minor improvements - 18 August 2025
Thank you to the players who report various issues and for your kind reviews on Steam. We can see that you're enjoying the game, so we're continuing to improve it.Quality of Life ImprovementsAdded a “New Game” button to the defeat screen in both co-op and single-player modes. It allows you to instantly start a new campaign with the same difficulty, tutorial, and intro settings as the previous one.Bug FixesIn some cases, it was impossible to close the shop window using a gamepad. Fixed.In certain situations, the gamepad could open extra UI windows. Fixed.Previously, some achievements were only awarded on the first difficulty level. They now unlock on all difficulty levels.After winning a solo game, the tank was displayed as black in the side panel. Fixed.Fixed a bug with incorrect boost bonus notifications after reaching level 14.Minor visual issues with some windows have been fixed.Enjo…
- Minor balance changes - 17 August 2025
In general, when we spot small bugs, we fix them without publishing a news post. But today, along with several fixes, we’ve made a balance change that we decided was worth sharing.We noticed that some players get a false impression early on that the game lacks depth and variety.So, we’ve decided to adjust the tank spawn order in early locations to show something more interesting almost right from the start.Previously, Werewolves (fast tanks) appeared in the second location, while Wights (mine-laying tanks) only appeared after the first boss, one location later. Now it’s the opposite: Wights will appear as early as the second location, and Werewolves will come much later.These changes apply only to the first and second difficulty levels in both single-player and co-op modes.Enjoy the game!P.S. If you're enjoying the game, please consider leaving a review on Steam. It really helps us by m…
- Update with minor game improvements - 15 August 2025
Thank you for your reviews on Steam and your comments on the forum! They inspire us and help us get better.We’ve made a few fixes and updated the game:Added the option to enable fullscreen mode in the settings.Added the ability to play the intro cutscene before starting a co-op game.During the tutorial, some players didn’t notice that brick blocks could be destroyed with a special shell. So we’ve removed regular shells in that section, making it possible to proceed only with the special one.Fixed a minor bug that allowed the player to keep shooting when the level completion window appeared.Friends, if you enjoyed the game, please take a minute to leave a review on Steam! In the first days after release, this really means a lot to us.Enjoy the game! ːheartpendantː
- Threads of War – a rogue-lite tank game in the style of embroidery – is out now! - 14 August 2025
Two years ago, 11-year-old programmer Askold and his father—a game designer, artist, and musician—decided to remake the retro game Battle City, adding lots of variety and more modern mechanics, and turning the gameplay into a rogue-lite journey where players choose their route on the map while trying to upgrade their tank.They also wanted to tell a story about war—touching on themes that are rarely discussed or not discussed at all: that in war, it's not faceless units that die, but real people who had dreams, planned their lives, and were then forced to take up arms. And the game doesn’t convey this through text or cutscenes—the player can feel it through metaphors and the way the gameplay mechanics are built.Two years later, the game is launching on Steam. Meet Threads of War—a game about how Ukrainians embroider the fate of their country with threads of war. 👾 A reimagining of the B…
- How 13-year-old Askold Kostyushko and his father created “embroidered tanks” - 12 August 2025
Recently, the website dev.ua interviewed me and my 13-year-old son about Threads of War. There we share many interesting details about the game itself as well as the story of its creation.If you’re interested in how I made various creative decisions in the game and how my son and I worked on it together, I recommend reading (in English): https://dev.ua/en/news/interviu-z-rozrobnykamy-threads-of-war-1753951625
- Oh, the Roaring Battle in the Meadow - New Melody from the Game Soundtrack - 2 August 2025
In the first month of the war, Ukrainians were horrified by kilometer-long columns of enemy tanks advancing on Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities. Various rumors spread among the people, panic raged, and tens of thousands of men and women went to military enlistment offices to join the defense of their country.Amid all this madness, the Ukrainian army and volunteers did everything they could to stop the enemy. In those days, the song “Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow”, performed by Andriy Khlyvnyuk on Sofiyska Square of Kyiv, became a symbol of resistance. In 1914, it was the anthem of the Sich Riflemen, and in 2022 it was given a new life.So I decided to use it as the main theme for the first phase of the 2022 war - the liberation of Northern Ukraine.Like all other soundtrack melodies, it is performed in 8-bit style. In this track, alongside the main heroic theme, I composed another mel…
- The Cossack Rode beyond the Oskil - New Melody from the Game Soundtrack - 26 July 2025
In the early days of autumn 2022, Ukrainians began receiving news they could hardly believe - as a result of a rapid counteroffensive, the entire Kharkiv region was liberated in a very short time. That’s 12,000 square kilometers!For the musical accompaniment of this counteroffensive in Threads of War, I chose the song "The Cossack Rode beyond the Danube", reworked it into an 8-bit version, and titled it "The Cossack Rode beyond the Oskil".When I work on adapting Ukrainian songs, I explore their history, contexts, arrangements, and underlying ideas. To my surprise, I discovered that this Ukrainian romance has a fascinating history. It was written in the early 1700s and, about a century later, gained popularity in the Russian Empire and Western Europe. The song was translated into German and French, becoming the basis for many musical works by renowned composers.One of them was Beethoven,…
- Help Needed with Game Translation - 24 July 2025
We’re planning to release our game soon, but we thought it would be a good idea to share the story of our war with people from other countries as well. So, if you’re fluent in another language and would like to help with the translation - we’d be truly grateful.We're especially looking for translations into:PolishGermanFrenchBut we’d also welcome help with other languages.There isn’t a huge amount of text. However, a strong command of the language is important, as some dialogues need to convey a stylised “archaic” tone (for instance, a Cossack describing enemy tanks in the way he sees them).As a thank-you, we’ll include your name in the credits and provide two game keys.If you can help, please write to andrey.kostyushko @ gmail.com (remove the spaces around the @).
- How Death Looks in Embroidery - 15 May 2025
In honour of Ukrainian Vyshyvanka Day, I wanted to share a story about how I depicted the death of enemy soldiers in Threads of War. Most of the enemies in the game are tanks. What’s the simplest way to show that a tank is destroyed? Create an explosion animation. Additionally, we leave behind charred remains for a while. If you played the demo version, you've seen what that looks like. To add variety, we needed to come up with other types of enemies. So we added soldiers who crawl on the ground and shoot at us with anti-tank weapons. There’s only one way to destroy them — by running them over. But how should their destruction be portrayed? Explosion — illogical. Blood — doesn’t match the game’s style. Stylised black blood — unreadable. Breaking into pieces — crude. Some kind of pattern — no clear connection. Eventually, we came up with a great idea. There was a video at the start of th…
- What a Moonlit Night — a New Melody from the Game Soundtrack - 24 February 2025
On the night of 24 February, most Ukrainians were sleeping peacefully until explosions shattered the silence outside their windows. From that moment, our lives changed forever. I've tried to capture the anxiety of that night, disrupted by the sounds of air defence systems and explosions, in a reworked melody of "What a Moonlit Night": About Creating the Game Soundtrack: My 12-year-old son Askold and I are developing a game about the first year of the full-scale war in Ukraine—Threads of War. We aim for the game to be engaging independently of its theme. At the same time, I want to reflect and communicate the feelings of war through visuals, specific game mechanics, and music. To create the soundtrack, I decided to adapt well-known Ukrainian melodies into an 8-bit style reminiscent of late-1980s gaming consoles. My objectives were: Preserve the beauty of the original melody. Convey the e…
- Desktop Wallpapers for Ukraine's Independence Day - 24 August 2024
On August 24th, Ukraine celebrates Independence Day. Our game reflects part of the struggle the Ukrainian people are waging to defend their independence. In light of this holiday, we would like to share a small surprise: desktop wallpapers featuring major Ukrainian cities that faced the initial impact of the full-scale invasion but did not succumb and instead repelled the invaders. You can liberate part of these cities in the currently available demo version, which showcases just a small portion of all the future content. The demo can be downloaded from the main game page. Meanwhile, my 12-year-old son and I continue to work on developing the full version of the game. About the Wallpapers The wallpapers are available in resolutions of 1920 x 1080 and 2560 x 1440 pixels. Each wallpaper is available in light and dark tones. To download, right-click on the desired resolution under the imag…
- 🎮 Threads of War - Live Stream by an 11-year-old Programmer and His Father - 11 June 2024
Join the live stream on June 15 at 14:00 EEST (2PM UTC +3) to: See the demo version of Threads of War in action; Ask questions to the 11-year-old programmer who wrote 100% of the game's code; Listen to commentary on game design and the unique mechanics that make Threads of War special. Threads of War is not just an exciting game but also a way for the developers to reflect on the horrors of war they live in. Along with engaging gameplay, the game demonstrates that war is a human tragedy.
