A lot has changed since the last devlog. Here’s what happened.
Morale
Easter Defence Force units now have feelings. Specifically, they have morale — and it affects how hard they hit.
Morale rises when waves go well and drops when things fall apart. Lose a tower and the troops notice. Finish a wave without casualties and they’re emboldened. The current morale level is shown in the top bar, and hovering over it shows exactly what’s been affecting it — “Wave completed (no losses): +5%”, “Structure destroyed: -3%”.
This isn’t cosmetic. At high morale, your units deal more damage. At low morale, they deal less. A bad run of waves creates a downward spiral — you lose towers, morale drops, damage drops, you lose more towers. A good run compounds the other way.
It adds a layer of consequence that wasn’t there before. Losing a single tower in wave 3 can cost you the game by wave 7.
Night 1 and 2 rebalanced
Both nights have been retuned from scratch. The old balance was… generous. Too generous. Towers were too effective too early, and the resource economy let you build your way out of most problems without thinking.
The changes:
- Wave composition tightened — enemies arrive in more deliberate patterns rather than random clumps
- Resource generation tuned down — you can’t afford to build everywhere, so placement decisions matter more
- Camera improvements — a new cutaway system gives a better view of the action during intense waves, keeping the important parts visible without losing the isometric perspective
Night 1 still teaches you the basics. But Night 2 now feels like a proper step up — the kind where you need to think about where your towers go and whether your supply lines can keep them fed.
The playtest is open
If you’ve been following along and fancy giving it a go — the playtest is live on Steam.
What you’ll get:
- Nights 1 and 2, fully playable from briefing to Morning Truce
- The full engineer logistics system
- Three difficulty modes
- Commander Eggustus. He’s been looking forward to meeting you.
What to expect:
This is a work-in-progress build. Art is still being finalised, balance is actively being tuned, and some rough edges remain. That’s the point — we want feedback while there’s still time to act on it.
What we want to hear about:
- Does the difficulty feel right? Too easy? Too punishing?
- Are the tower types distinct enough? Do you have a favourite?
- Does the Morning Truce make sense on first play?
- Anything that confused you, frustrated you, or made you laugh
How to join:
- Head to the Clearance Defence Steam page and click Request Access on the playtest
- Join the Discord — that’s where feedback lives and where we’ll be most responsive
We read everything. Even the rude bits.