While we were waiting to hear back from the publisher, we continued developing our game.
New Spell Cards
The more spell cards we add, the more variety each match can offer — so we decided to introduce a few new ones:
- Spy. This spell makes the player invisible for 5 seconds. However, the effect immediately ends if the player performs any attack or casts another spell. It's perfect for escaping a chase, or for sneaking up on a target unnoticed.
- Cage. This card lets you place an invisible trap on the map. If an enemy steps on it, the trap turns into a small cage area that lasts for 5 seconds before disappearing. Any enemies caught inside are trapped and can't leave the area, though they can still move freely within it, attack, and use spells.
- Interception. Since the game now features quite a few invisible elements — traps, cages, spider eggs, and spy heroes — we decided to add a counterspell: the Interception. This area-based spell reveals all invisible enemy objects within its radius. It instantly exposes spies and interrupts their teleportation home. Additionally, any enemy structures placed by the Forester — even if invisible — are captured. For example, if a Forester sets an invisible trap cage and the opposing player correctly guesses its location and casts Interception there, the cage will switch ownership to the second Forester and become invisible to the original one.
We also gave Gnome-archers a new ability: they can now see all invisible objects around them — traps, cages, spider eggs, and spies. Gnomes now work well in tandem with the Radar spell: they can detect hidden traps, while Interception allows them to take control of them.
Here’s a recording of a game session where we tested the Spy and Interception cards:
New Hero: Shaman
We also got tired of playing Foresters with the same old matchups — Poison Warlock vs. Bomber — so we decided to introduce a new Forester: the Shaman.
Here are his abilities:
- Q – Dart. At regular intervals, the Shaman gains a dart, up to a maximum of three. He can throw a dart in a chosen direction at any time — even while stunned. Darts can be fired one after another with no cooldown between throws.
- W – Spikes. The Shaman unleashes a wave of spikes from the ground. These spikes deal physical damage and travel through terrain, including buildings and mountains. The damage increases the longer the wave travels. If you hit an enemy at close range, the damage will be minor. But if you manage to hit them after the wave has traveled some distance, the damage ramps up significantly. However, this also gives enemies more time to react and dodge.
- E – Control. The Shaman pushes all nearby enemies in a chosen direction, covering a fairly wide area. This spell can be used both defensively — to push enemies away — or offensively, to pull them closer. You can also use it to shove enemies into traps, under towers, or toward a Gnome.
- R – Stupor. The Shaman summons thorny vines from the ground that grab and immobilize all nearby enemies. While affected enemies can still attack and cast spells, they’re unable to move.
New Death Mechanic for Foresters
When one champion kills another, they’re faced with a clear choice on how to use the time while their opponent is off the map. They can either return to base to heal and buy items, or push the lane while uncontested. It’s a conscious decision with well-understood consequences — a deliberate gameplay choice.
For Foresters, the situation is a bit different. When one Forester kills the other, they also get a window of opportunity while their opponent is dead. They can return to base to recover and shop. But what if they don’t need healing and have no desire to go back to base? How should they celebrate their victory?
If it’s currently their gathering phase, they can freely collect their three resources. But that doesn’t offer the same impactful reward as, say, a champion pushing a lane and damaging the enemy tower. And if it’s their purchasing phase, they have nothing useful to do — and they can’t end the phase early either.
Sure, they could attempt a gank on a lane, but that takes time and usually has limited impact — after all, a Forester isn’t really meant to be a fighter.
To make killing an enemy Forester more meaningful — and to add an element of deliberate choice — we decided to rework the reward system. Now, defeating a Forester grants much less gold than before. However, five treasure chests appear randomly on the map. Destroying these chests yields bonus gold, with the amount increasing for each successive chest: 2, 4, 6, 8, and 20 coins. The chests disappear the moment the defeated Forester returns to the forest.
Teammate champions of the fallen Forester can also destroy the chests — but they won’t receive any gold. Instead, doing so denies the enemy team the extra reward.
These chests give the victorious Forester a choice. Going after them is risky — the enemy champions know where the chests are and will likely intercept you. But if you succeed, you can turn a modest reward into a significant payoff.
This also adds new dynamics for the champions: they know it’s worth destroying as many chests as possible to deny the enemy Forester their reward. However, the chests are located in the forest — and without their own Forester alive, the forest is shrouded in fog of war. They’ll only see a small area around themselves. Meanwhile, the enemy team’s Forester is still alive and provides full vision of the forest for their allies.
Scenario Events
Like in other MOBA games, we wanted to introduce global events that occur independently of the players' actions — similar to dragon spawns in League of Legends or Roshan in Dota. These events act as focal points, drawing both teams together and often triggering large team fights.
We decided to add a similar mechanic to our game. At the 20th and 30th minute marks, a crystal appears in the center of the map, at the location of the central teleport. Initially, the crystal belongs to no one. Any player near it begins to pull a “tug-of-war” bar of ownership toward their team. If both teams have the same number of players nearby, the bar remains still. But if one team outnumbers the other, it slowly shifts in their favor.
Once a team fully captures the crystal, all its members receive powerful aura buffs. However, when the crystal first appears, it releases a burst of energy that instantly kills all nearby heroes. So teams should avoid standing directly on the spawn point — it’s safer to wait a little farther away.
Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to save any footage showcasing the most recent changes — the new hero, treasure chests, and the crystal event — so in this post I’m only sharing gameplay featuring the two new cards: Spy and Interception.
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