- First maintenance patch! - 10 April 2026
Sorry for 2 updates back to back, but I realized an error right as soon as I published the previous update. Here's the patch notes: 0.1.1 patch notes - Lobby music loops properly - Players can now choose how long to wait before a session auto-fills with bots - All play sessions have the option to be filled with bots to create a 1-5 player flex lobby. - Human Class selection is no longer visible before the lobby is filled/ready to be played in.
- Release Patch 0.1 - 8 April 2026
Hey everyone, We actually did it. What started as a dumb joke about raccoons stealing burgers somehow turned into a full game, and it just launched. It’s a bit chaotic, a little buggy (especially multiplayer), but we’re actively working on it every day and we’re really proud of what it’s becoming. If you decide to check it out: seriously, thank youif it makes you laugh even once, leaving a review helps us more than anythingWe’ll be playing today on and off if anyone wants to hop in with us. Appreciate you all being here for this. Signed, A very happy (and very tired) husband/wifeKnown Issues:The UI for raccoons attempting to escape acts up when first captured.There's a very specific combination of events that will cause caught raccoons to fall through the bottom of the map. I'm currently unsure what the exact combo is and have been unable to replicated it.The volcano and glacier effects…
- Next Fest Update 4 - 27 February 2026
Hey everyone, this update has a few quality of life updates, and a revamped way overtime handles remaining ingredients:Removed some shadows to improve performanceFixed lighting to give night mode more shadows to hide inAs overtime progresses, there's a higher chance for remaining ingredients. The recent changes to raccoons paired with this should fix the overall gameplay timing for raccoons.Maya should no longer stop patrolling when you play as a raccoon, and will continue doing all tasks needed.Fixed a few sound effects so they're not nearly as loud anymore.
- Next Fest Update 3 - 26 February 2026
A handful of new changes coming out, targeting some pretty interesting bugs:You will no longer fall through the map when you get caught while jumping.Humans will need a clean line of sight now when catching a raccoon, making those corners all the more important for dodging and fleeing to safety.When a raccoon gets freed/jailed, you no longer get haunted by the sounds of the gate itself.You can no longer see the ominous, T-posing shadows of the guests as they roam around the museum.There are a couple errors that seem to pop up randomly, so if you're able to find a way to consistently replicated it please let me know so I can start tackling them more head on!
- Next Fest Update 2 - 25 February 2026
After much frustration, I was finally able to get the build I wanted to show off today. There were a few notably changes:Visitors have hitboxes finally!Visitors have to go the restroom way less. With their brand new hitboxes, they kept running into each other in the doorways and it was just getting sad to watch.Human NPCs can repair broken restrooms now.Raccoon NPCs are notably more picky in their ingredient choices, choosing to instead simply drop the ingredients they have collected enough of.There are more guests in the museum at any given point.I think I found the root source of the stack overflow bug, and have addressed it directly.I'll be broadcasting for a few hours showcasing the new version of the demo, as well as the game overall!
- Quick Next Fest Update - Round 1 - 24 February 2026
Good evening,I made a couple fixes to the game, with the biggest one hopefully tackling a stack overflow error that started showing up recently:Fixed an issue causing stack overflowsFixed the garbage can to almost guarantee you get an ingredient every time you scavenge.Fixed 2 sounds that were not attached to the volume settingsThere are a few other changes on the way, but these are the pressing ones that couldn't wait.
- Pre-Next Fest Demo Update - 23 February 2026
Good evening everyone,In light of Next Fest coming up in less than 12 hours, I have one quick update that consists of only a couple changes designed to give a slightly more accurate view of how destruction impacts overtime:NPCs are no longer scared of doors and have been taught how to use themRaccoon NPCs will attempt to destroy the men's restroom every few minutesHuman NPCs will attempt to fix the men's restroom every few minutesovertime related to restroom damage will affect overtime every 5 seconds, but the overall impact is the same per minute.So if you hear random explosions, or see overtime gradually increasing, you're not going insane. More fixes to come, but I'll be streaming the demo during Next Fest as well as discuss the road map in it's updated form, so drop by and say hi if you have the time!
- Demo update 2 - New Feature - 17 February 2026
Good evening, This next patch is actually a feature I didn't plan to roll out for a bit, but the opportunity presented itself in a way that was too good to give up: bathroom destruction! This is a small part of a larger feature I want to implement, which is the ability to create a handful of ways humans/raccoons can provide incentive to not just constantly patrol the cans.Raccoons can now destroy bathrooms one toilet/urinal at a time. When an entire room's plumbing is ruined, the overtime will start to increase proportional to the amount of items destroyed to trigger it (5/10/15 second extension every minute).Humans are able to repair bathrooms. When an entire room is repaired, then the overtime increase directly contributed by that room is reduced proportional to the amount of items repaired to trigger it (5/10/15 second reduction every minute). When that particular room's contribution…
- Demo Update 1 - Improved stability, NPC Raccoon training. - 14 February 2026
Good evening everyone, happy immediate patch after demo release! There are 2 notable fixes in this patch, but while small they're important: 1) I think I finally fixed all the errors ending in "df" but I've also thought this before, so hopefully this time I fully did it!2) The NPC raccoons that are spawned during the demo no longer have an odd obsession with that single elevator in the back left of the museum. Additionally, they went through rigorous training to learn how to actually save you if you are a fellow raccoon, however it was at the cost of some of their own self-preservation.Again, a pretty small patch but 2 things that will very much improve your playthrough of the demo! There will be some new features added in the coming days as well, so be sure to keep an eye out.
- Demo Launch and Hello World! - 12 February 2026
Hello World!We are Cinderforge Studios, and this is the demo for our debut title, Trash Can Tactics. About Us: We are a small, family-run studio, comprised primarily of a husband and wife developing this game. Trash Can Tactics actually started as a joke we told our toddlers about three raccoons in a trench coat sneaking into a museum to steal food. That idea stuck, grew, and eventually became the game they've loved watching us build. And now after a lot of care, personality, and late nights, we're finally getting ready to release it to the world on early access!About Trash Can Tactics:This is the demo release for Steam Next Fest, which runs February 23 - March 2nd. While the game itself is a multiplayer game, please note the demo is essentially a tutorial on how to play each faction. It also serves as a way to try out new abilities and classes than what you'd normally be used to in a c…
