Fool's End — patch notes and updates
Stored observation / content update:
Dated developer announcements recorded from Steam. Open the source for the complete update.
| Update | Date | Excerpt / source |
|---|---|---|
| Next on the agenda... | 2026-08-01 | Back in 2024 I released Fool's End. Now it's time for Fool's Metal. Check out Fool's Metal on Steam.It's a new underground adventure, with even more destruction, even more undies, and even more tomfoolery than Fool's End. You still have a pickaxe, but this time your main weapon is...your bulk. Every time you jump you break the ground below you. Every jump is consequential. Be careful or you'll bring down the whole cave with you. Or maybe you wanted to do that? Either way, Fool's Metal is all about destroying stuff and getting out alive on the other side.It'd be awesome if anyone that enjoyed Fool's End checked out the Fool's Metal trailer, an |
| 1 year of Fool's End | 2025-02-28 | Today marks the one year anniversary since Fool's End released on Steam. Thanks to everyone who has played and supported the game over the last year. It blows my mind that people from over 50 different countries have bought and played the game! If you haven't checked out the game in a while I've added a lot since launch. The main highlights include the Daily Challenge mode to compete against other player's high scores every day, and a Level Editor to make your own levels. Thanks for supporting indie games, ːMCCHELMETː |
| Hotfix: 1.52 | 2025-01-10 | -Fixed a rare issue causing the game to crash sometimes when Steam user details couldn't be retrieved for leaderboard integration. |
| Minor Patch Notes: 1.51 | 2024-12-19 | Fixed issues with the Daily Challenge leaderboards not sharing scores. Caused by an update in the GameMaker Steamworks SDK plugin changing how leaderboard functions work. Have downgraded the plugin version to fix. |
| Major Update: Level Editor | 2024-12-09 | Fool's End LEVEL EDITOR is out now! Use the full Fool's End kit set and mechanic pieces to make and play your own levels. Key tools (Left Click / R2/ RT to use) Pencil / Create: Use this to place tiles, enemies, and other mechanics throughout the levels. Eraser: Destroys the selected tile. Can be used at any point by right clicking (or L2/LT). Damager: Damages the tile as if the player had lightly mined it. The level editor is fully compatible with Gamepads, Steam Deck and Keyboard/mouse setups. Check out a full video tutorial of how to use the Level Editor: At the moment you are able to share levels on Steam but not quite download and play o |
| Nominate us for a Steam Award? | 2024-11-28 | I wanted to make a game where players can destroy everything, run away from their problems and spend a few hours embracing the chaos of a connected world. Turns out, it fits perfectly at home on the Steam Deck. I hope you're enjoying it! ːMCCHELMETː |
| Minor Patch Notes: 1.21 | 2024-09-29 | Steam Deck: -Improved readability for pixel fonts at Steam Deck screen size. Menu: -Levels that aren't yet unlocked are greyed out in the Level Select. |
| Update: 1.20 | 2024-09-25 | The biggest changes in this update are to the Daily Challenge mode. Some other little but long-requested features are packed in here too. Daily Challenge Algorithm Update: --Fatsploders added to daily rotation. --Firesnakes added to daily rotation. --Patrol towers added to daily rotation. --Fireball shooters positioning reworked. https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/44695780/a1f6bdc3d72fbc6f459a55198805e6fbcff60196.gif Stat changes: -Dirt and other gravity affected tiles now fall more slowly (gravity turned down from 0.6 to 0.2 for those tiles) -Player gravity remains. Fixes: -Jumping after hanging is now much smoother (this was a commo |
| Get Fool's End at a discount and celebrate pixel art games! | 2024-07-29 | Super excited to share that Fool's End is part of PixElated Festival from July 29 - August 5. This festival features some of the best pixel art games on Steam. From retro-style classics to contemporary indie gems all in one place. Check out the official line-up and more information about the event here: http://pixelatedfest.com/ |
| Patch Notes: 1.13 | 2024-07-18 | Daily Challenge: -Fixed an ongoing issue which would cause scores not to register on the Daily Challenge Leaderboard. There are still some complications with Steamworks that requires you to open the Leaderboard in the Main Menu to see your score on the Leaderboard. Other: -The text rendering on the Main Menu is improved when players return to the menu after playing the game. |
| Soundtrack Announcement 🎵 🎶 | 2024-07-04 | Hey there. It's Alan from Pickled Cactus with some exciting news about the Fool's End soundtrack. The Fool's End Official Soundtrack is now available to listen to on Youtube and Spotify! All 16 tracks were composed and created by New Zealand-based musician Chris MacClure. It'd be awesome if you could help support a fellow local artist by giving the soundtrack a listen. Hope you enjoy the album - ːMCCHELMETː Spotify Album Link |
| Patch Notes: 1.12 | 2024-05-23 | It's been a few weeks, but we've got some nice little changes today. Gameplay: -Pickaxe can now be thrown in a one block high corridor without hitting the roof or floor. -Level timers increased on level Ossuary 9, 4 & 7. -Gargoyle now displays the correct biome sprite when destroyed. Daily Challenge: -Fireball shooters added to Jungle levels (will cause chaos). -Variation added to some of the level creation. |
| Hotfix: 1.11a | 2024-05-04 | -Fixed a bug that prevents playing the main game levels if you play a Daily Challenge level before the main levels. |
| Keyboard "DROP" controls clarification | 2024-04-29 | Upon popular request, the CTRL key now serves as the only way to drop while hanging from a block. You may still jump up off a block, but now the CTRL key (for keyboard and mouse users) and the B button (Circle for PlayStation controllers) are the only ways to drop directly from a block. Users can configure their own controls in the settings if they prefer a different key to drop. I'm open to further feedback, but for now this is the preferred setup from the feedback I've heard. |
| Patch Notes: 1.11 | 2024-04-29 | Some minor additions to Daily Challenges, UI, and general quality of life improvements: Players can now restart any level by pausing the game and choosing to 'Restart' There's now a small chance that Rats will appear on top of dirt blocks in a Daily Challenge. Colour of Mines is now changed in Cave-based Daily Challenges to be more clearly distinguishable. Previously was hard to spot mines in Caves biomes, as mines don't appear until the later Jungle levels in the core game. The mines art remains the same for Jungle and Ossuary levels. Spikes are now destroyed by the pickaxe at the correct frame of contact. Ctrl key (left and right) now make |
| Hotfix: 1.10b | 2024-04-25 | -Added Leaderboard as an option to the main menu. -Fixed issue where the Leaderboard wasn't showing more than once per session. -Slight tweak to Daily Challenge seed generation. |
| Hotfix: 1.10a | 2024-04-25 | -When gold coins and gems are obtained in Daily Challenge mode, the score shakes in the top right corner. |
| Daily Challenges out now - Fool’s End version 1.10 | 2024-04-25 | Daily Challenge is out now! Each day one new level is generated for players across the world to complete and compete in. -Players gain points when playing the Daily Challenge by picking up gold and gems from the ground. -After completing the challenge, your score is calculated and compared to other players. -The player’s with the top 5 scores for each day go onto a leaderboard, visible on the Steam Community page and in-game. -The Daily Challenge and its respective leaderboard reset each day and are tied the user’s local time/date. To mark this new content update, I've also added a new achievement for players to earn: Gems and other shiny thi |
| Patch Notes: 1.08 | 2024-04-17 | Hmmm, bigger number but not a very exciting update for y'all unfortunately. Behind the scenes I've updated the project from running on a 2022 version of GameMaker's LTS engine, to now the most up-to-date version of GameMaker. Some things broke in the process and have since been resolved, but ultimately it has been worth it enable some more cool stuff that I've got cooking. So, for some more behind-the-scenes insights: -Daily Level Challenges: Procedural level gen is working perfectly, just needs a little balancing and that side of it is ready. Still working on integrating Steam Leaderboards into the Daily Level Challenge. All 3 biomes will be |
| Hotfix: 1.07c | 2024-04-09 | -More sound effects added for the snake enemy. -Minor stability improvements. -Logo updated in main menu. |
| Hotfix: 1.07a | 2024-03-19 | -Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent the achievement "Mr. Diggs" from being earned. Now players who have mined 1000+ dirt tiles will get the achievement next time they complete a level. -New minor metallic ring sound effect added when mining rock-based tiles. |
| Fool's End Roadmap 2024 | 2024-03-19 | There's more mining mayhem to come. Here's what's planned for the rest of the year: Q2 / Soon: Daily Challenge Levels: Every 24 hours, players will be presented with a randomly generated level. The players who can finish the level with the fewest deaths and in the quickest time will go to the top of a daily leaderboard. Linux version: Hoping to get a native Linux version built soon, with the goal of optimizing for Steam Deck use. Customisable Gravestones: Choose between a selection of gravestones to express yourself a little bit. Vultures Update: More content, including vultures (to say the least). Q3/Q4: Level Editor: The big one. A fully-fl |
| Patch Notes: 1.07 | 2024-03-17 | Hello again. Aside from the brand new cover art and logo redesign, there's been a couple more changes to the game: -Pickaxe attacks on enemies have been improved. The player now locks onto the closest enemy when attacking. -VFX added to highlight the impact of player attacks on enemies (when locked on). -Sound added when player swings axe at enemy. -New animation variant for player attacks on enemies. -New logo featured in main menu. -New addition to credits thanking GameMaker. |
| Patch Notes: 1.06 | 2024-03-15 | Just a small one. -Blood spurt visual effects improve when you defeat Dr. Deeds. -The level layout on Jungle 10 has been modified to add more explosions and reduce gargoyle stoning. -Music track has been changed and sped up on Jungle 10 to make the level more hectic. |
| Patch Notes: 1.05 | 2024-03-06 | -More variations added to the tiling backgrounds. -Extra juice in the post-game credits. Game roadmap to be announced in the coming days. |
| Hotfix: 1.04b | 2024-03-04 | -Ossuary 7 lava timer extended, and a couple cheeky mines removed. |
| Hotfix: 1.04a | 2024-03-03 | -Time trial completion stats calculate correctly on the Stats submenu. This means the last of the known issues is now resolved. Please leave a comment here or in the Discussion Boards if you encounter further issues. |
| Patch Notes: 1.04 | 2024-03-03 | -Achievements added for each level's time trial. This also assures that the saving of time trials will work, as it is tied back to data on Steam. -TNT detonation fix (previous hotfix prevented player from mining TNT at all, oops!). |
| Hotfix 1.03 | 2024-03-01 | Some important fixes here Gameplay notes: -HANGING DROP TIMER now prevents player from accidentally dropping for 10 frames when they first start hanging and press (or pre-press) jump. -Falling TNT cannot be mined straight away, giving the player 2 seconds of TNT explosion immunity upon a TNT's change of location. Other: -Time trial saving error fixed! Now the game ALWAYS successfully saves completed time trials and displays them correctly in the Level Select menu once completed. -Time trials are always rounded to the nearest second. If you finish a time trial at the same second as the PAR TIME, it will now always count as a success. |
| Hotfix 1.02 | 2024-03-01 | -Timetrial Par Time for Caves 6 increased by 4 seconds. -Timetrial for Caves 10 increased by 3 seconds. -Jungle 6 simplified based on player feedback. -Bosses now display as X on level select -Landmines now activate correctly upon explosion. -Rat saw God achievement progression now behaving more consistently. -When full suit unlocked, the full suit now persists (previously the suit pants would disappear). |