Hey friends! Over the weekend we’ve launched a new update for Bibidi Bibidi! We’ll talk a little about what exactly changed, and why this update feels so pivotal, as well as what’s next on the docket.

How Am I Doing?

I’m pretty good! We’re hard at work, even though it’s vacation season here in France. On one hand, I’m a bit jealous of all the folks that share beautiful vacation pictures, but on the other, I love Paris when it’s empty. For those of you who don’t know, Paris completely drains out in August. Most mom and pop shops and restaurants close, schools are closed and there’s a lot less tourists.

It’s a great vibe, because it means all the locals who don’t have the money to go on vacation (me included) get the city all to themselves! The parks are filled with drinking students and barbecueing families and feel a lot less metropolitan overall. I’m taking frequent breaks to walk and enjoy the city while it lasts! We’ll also be catsitting in the coming weeks, we’ll be even closer to the city center.

What Am I Doing?

Now for the meat of the matter: the Bibidi shop update! I keep forgetting that videos aren’t supported in the mail plugin that I use, so here’s an image that hopefully redirects to a YouTube video of the little trailer we made:

Now, I mentioned this update is pivotal, and why exactly is that? Even though the Shop is front and center as content for the returning playtesters, it’s hardly the most important aspect of this update. I think there are two major points that make this version feel so different.

First, Jonas has updated the art for the cards to be more varied and representative of their effects. Together with the big UI update we did over the past few weeks, the game just looks a lot more visually coherent.

Second, the wizard finally shouts the incantations of the spells you cast! This was something we wanted from the very beginning of the project. When we played the pen & paper prototype, I had Jonas shout the names of the cards to cast a spell, as a sort of stand-in for game juice. We stuck with that idea for the whole devolpment process, but it’s finally at a point where it kind of works well enough.

What’s great about these two changes is that we’re now more confident about sharing the game around. The hook is a lot clearer, the visuals more appealing and the fantasy of being a silly little wizard more realized. I’m really happy about this one.

What’s next?

So what’s on the schedule for Bibidi Bibidi in the future? The next update will focus on gameplay and new content. New cards, effects, enemies and most importantly: Sigils. Sigils are our take on the relics/artifacts mechanics that are so ubiquitous in roguelike deckbuilders. They are equippable passive upgrades that you collect throughout your run to really get your build together.

We’re still in discussion about what exact approach to take, but they’ll pretty likely take the form of magic circles you equip into your spellbook. I’m pretty stoked to work on it, because it’s been a while we’ve really dug into the meat and potatoes of game design. It’s also a chance to really expand the core card set into wacky territory.

Why Am I Doing? (this)

I’m pretty proud on this update, and really happy to be able to share it via this newsletter. I’ve talked about winding down the newsletter to once every two weeks and for now it does feel like a way more reasonable pace. I reckon I will stick to this at least during the development of Bibidi.

That being said, I really enjoyed writing every week. Hopefully, when my Bibidi is done and I’m not looking for the next paycheck, I’ll have enough silence in my life to sit down and reflect every week again. In the meantime, keep on truckin’!