Another patch. Mostly cleanup, readability fixes, and finally sorting out the minigame mess.

Readability

Switched the default font from Alkhemikal to Noto Serif. A lot of you said the old one got rough to read during longer sessions, so here we are. The pixel font still looks great in screenshots, it just wasn’t doing your eyes any favors at 2am.

Audio

Combat was playing menu musics again. Fixed. (Yes, again. We thought we caught this last patch. We did not.)

Minigames

Did a big pass on these:

• Minigame intros added. A popup now appears before every minigame explaining what it is, what you win, and what happens if you fail. You press a button to start it. No more getting blindsided by a mechanic you’ve never seen before.
• Count the Flashes was telling you to press LB on gamepad. It’s actually LT. Fixed.
• Hold to Charge said “Hold E” on gamepad when it should’ve said “Hold A”. Fixed.
• Collection minigame wanted 22 lights to complete. That was a lot. Dropped to 10.
• Balance minigame showed “balance” as raw placeholder text in every language, and the info description was scrambled. Both fixed.
• The minigame info descriptions had “A button” written out as plain text, jammed right up against the next word. Cleaned up across every language.
• The “cancel minigame” prompt was tiny enough to need a magnifying glass. Bumped it up to a normal human size.
• Sequence minigame (the one where you click the numbered balls): suggestion balls are bigger now.

Stats Panel

The top-left stats overlay didn’t fit at smaller resolutions and was clipping off-screen. Rebuilt the layout from scratch: numbers go in column one, labels in column two. If it still overflows because you’ve stacked a ridiculous amount of buffs, a third column opens up and the background expands to fit. Should hold together at any size now.

Localization

A whole pile of stuff:

• HP, CD, XP were sometimes translated, sometimes not, depending on where you ran into them. They’re now consistently HP / CD / XP everywhere, in every language.
• Failed pylon minigames had untranslated debuff text, and the debuff itself wasn’t even showing up in the stats panel. Translated, and now correctly appears in stats.
• Special names weren’t being converted properly anymore. Fixed.
• Seizure warning is now translated into every supported language.
• General optimization pass on all localized text. Lots of small fixes: awkward phrasing, missing punctuation, line breaks in the wrong place, that sort of thing.

UI

• Difficulty select screen had buttons shifted out of place, plus three strings still sitting there as raw English (“best”, “current”, “total”). Buttons are re-centered and the text is properly translated now.

Join Our Discord

We’re actively improving the game based on your feedback.

https://discord.gg/jg3js5GztX

A big one this time. New enemies, five new languages, a reworked tutorial, and a long list of fixes. Thanks to everyone who reported bugs. Most of this list exists because of you. Thank you so much for your feedback 🙂

New Features & Options

• Easy Aim added. Toggle it on in Options, and targeting gets simpler. Light attacks only hit dark enemies (if there is no light enemy between the player and the dark enemy 🙂 ), and dark attacks only hit light ones (if there is no dark enemy between the player and the light enemy 🙂 ).
• Key Bindings screen added. You can now remap your controls.
• Tooltip toggle added to Options. Turn off tips once you know the ropes.
• Minigames are now deduplicated and run through a proper randomized rotation, so you won’t see the same one back to back.
• Added a “simple click” sound on every menu navigation for cleaner UI feedback.

New Languages

• Simplified Chinese
• Japanese
• Korean
• Russian
• Polish

New Enemies

• 2 new tank enemies – slow, durable, and built to soak up your attacks.
• 6 new standard enemies to keep encounters fresh.
• Sniper enemy added. Its arrival is announced with both a spawn indicator and a dedicated SFX cue.
• Wraiths now circle and defend the Pylon. They have their own flight SFX so you’ll hear them before they reach you.

Tutorial Overhaul

• Tutorial text consolidated. Instructions that previously needed action button prompts are now delivered in a single line.
• Reworked on-screen tutorial text for clarity.
• The tutorial boss now changes form, shifting between dark and light phases. You’ll need to handle both forms to bring it down.
• The tutorial boss now spawns standard enemies BUT always in the opposite form of its own current phase.

Bug Fixes

Visual & UI

• Logo fully reworked in pixel art.
• Fixed the leaderboard not fitting on screen.
• Fixed the Pylon description pop-up appearing faded beneath the minimap.
• Fixed a dark upgrade incorrectly reading “light sphere expand.”

Enemies & Combat

• Removed attack collision from enemy death animations. Dead enemies can no longer tank the damage for any other enemy.
• Fixed a sniper bug where the player took no damage when dodging away and returning while the attack sprite was still active.

Pylon & Buffs

• Fixed a Pylon that could grant 2 Death Wards in a single run. It’s now capped at 1.
• Buff values are now displayed and stack correctly.
• Pylon debuff durations are no longer altered; buff durations are now permanent.

Minigames

• Fixed a confirm button conflict in “Count the Flashes” that clashed with RT/Tab. The new buttons are LT and R.
• Fixed several Pylon and Soul minigames continuing to run while the game was paused.

Progression

• XP now drops before the death animation plays.

Audio

• Fixed a track intended for the main menu that had been mistakenly assigned as combat music. It has been removed.
• Fixed broken healing text in Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Korean, and Polish.

Join Our Discord

We’re actively improving the game based on your feedback.

https://discord.gg/jg3js5GztX

Come hang out, share feedback, and help shape the next updates.

Gameplay

• Fixed multiple pylon-related progression issues
• Improved elite enemy visibility and attack readability
• Fixed several minigame interaction and timing problems
• Adjusted orb and effect brightness for better clarity
• Improved boss projectile and attack feedback
• Fixed remaining sprite visibility after certain boss fights

UI & UX

• Fixed incorrect in-game tips and reminders
• Improved popup timing and wording clarity
• Fixed difficulty setting descriptions
• Improved intro and map flow readability

Audio

• Fixed repeated button hover sound effects

Collision & AI

• Fixed enemies getting stuck on walls in specific rooms
• Improved chase tool and collision behavior for elite enemies
• Fixed streamer push interaction issues

Visual Fixes

• Fixed green star display after completed pylons
• Improved pylon countdown visual feedback
• Adjusted elite mark and attack indicator visibility

Join Our Discord

We’re actively improving the game based on your feedback.

https://discord.gg/jg3js5GztX

Come hang out, share feedback, and help shape the next updates.

This update focuses on visual polish, audio consistency, and enemy improvements.

UI & Quality of Life

• Trophy claim button added (its absence was causing a visual bug in the boss fight)
• Map info pop-ups expanded horizontally for better readability

Audio

• Light missile attack sound now matches the dark version (otherwise it sounds louder than dark)
• All SFX standardized to 192 kbps / 16-bit / 48 kHz

Visuals

• Splash screen updated
• Branding icons updated

Gameplay & Content

• New enemy type added (Exploder)
• Enemy spawn animations added
• Enemy death animations added

Fixes & Improvements

• Fixed sun and moon overlapping issue in the HUD

If you want to report any issues or contact us, join our Discord Channel!

Discord: https://discord.gg/jg3js5GztX

This update brings competitive play to Torch of Shadows.

Achievements are live, leaderboards are active, and it’s time to prove yourself.

Step in, push your limits, and show what you’ve got against players worldwide.

New Features

• Achievements are now live
• Global leaderboard is now active! Compete with players worldwide!

UI & Quality of Life

• Boss phases are now displayed in the UI
• In-game control key reminders have been added
• Skill tree UI, minigames, and trophies polished
• The tutorial voice-over has been added

Gameplay & Content

• Fixed various bugs in boss fights
• Map tilesets visually improved
• Bosses’ health has been reduced

Disclaimer

• If your Shift or RB key breaks, it’s not our fault (This was suggested by our community member HK.)

Important

• Your progression has not been reset due to the addition of achievements and leaderboards. This means that you may need to replay certain sections in order to unlock some achievements.
• Alternatively, you can use the ‘Reset Progress’ button that we have added to the main menu to start again and enjoy an enhanced experience. (Recommended)
• Sorry about that… but now you’ve got a real reason to climb again.

Climb the leaderboard.
Unlock every achievement.
Show the world how far you can go.

If you want to report any issues or contact us, join our Discord Channel!

Discord: https://discord.gg/jg3js5GztX