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Some of my favorite games growing up were tower defense games, with Bloons TD taking the cake. Later, I migrated to playing Sanctum, which allowed me to interact more and actually build the maze that the units would have to go through. Emberward is another evolution of that, adding in roguelike elements and using Tetris-like blocks to create the path they will go through. In the game's newest update, we have some new improvements to make playing on the Steam Deck a bit easier.

EmberwardStock1

In the 0.3.1 update, we have a couple of new hotkeys specifically added for the Steam Deck:

  • Draw Card: O
  • Decrease Game Speed: K
  • Increase Game Speed: L

These hotkeys can be customized, but they are only available on the Steam Deck. I am not sure why it's only configurable on the Steam Deck, and not every controller or gamepad, but that's what the log says! There is no controller support formally available yet, so these changes should make using Steam Input and creating a controller scheme much easier.

The hotkey changes are a small part of the update overall, though! We have a new character, four new towers, six new relics, and a new Electric Element mechanic. This means when monsters take electric damage, they will accumulate a charge that will stun them if it builds up enough. We also have less complicated math paths; you can now see the relics you own when you are in the shop, and poison damage speed is doubled to three seconds.

You can view the full changelog over on the Steam Community Post.

EmberwardStock2

Emberward is available on Steam for $14.99 and is rated Playable due to showing incorrect controller icons, small in-game text, and needing to set the display resolution manually.

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Noah Kupetsky
A lover of gaming since 4, Noah has grown up with a love and passion for the industry. From there, he started to travel a lot and develop a joy for handheld and PC gaming. When the Steam Deck released, it just all clicked.
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