IKARUS

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• Patch Notes·23 Aug 2026Official

  August 24 Patch: Difficulty nerf, shocking augments and more!

  Hello! Summer rages on and so do the IKARUS updates - another update hot off the press this week! BalancingPlayer feedback suggested that the Level 1 Boss (X-TERMINADER), also known as Hefty Chungus in our files, was too difficult and causing a bottleneck. Level 2 and 3 are a lot of fun so we wanted to make sure people can more consistently clear Level 1 when they’ve got a feel for the game - so we’ve nerfed the boss. It still has the same attacks and health but the rate of attacks is a lot more forgiving, giving the player more time and space.(God gamers need not worry as the upcoming Ascension system will bring new levels of challenge - and you can always equip more Burdens as the leaderboard is still very much up for grabs!)Level 2 (Factory) enemies have also been rebalanced, including some bullet sponginess reductions for some enemies.New augments: Shock and Prey get some loveShock is a powerful mechanic but needed a bit more love to make it to go hard in the late game - so we’ve added some augments that make shock more powerful but also make it synergise better with volatile - making Shock/Ignite combos become more viable for the Catalyst archetype. Prey needed some more love too - so we threw a couple in (one of which is defo a boss killer).High Voltage: Reduce shock explosion trigger point (from 5 to 3 stacks)Volatile Spark: Shock damage triggers VolatileElectrofishing: KOI missiles deal +1 damage to shocked enemiesNeural Spark: On Draw: Shock nearby enemiesFood Chain: On kill enemy with Prey: Overgrowth 1Relentless Pursuit: Prey damage is doubledOther updatesVSync option added to Settings menuInitial wave card draw / redraw will no longer activate card draw effectsCritical chance now applies to attacks more consistently (Strikes, Slashes, Lasers, Grenades, Missiles and player bullets can all Crit now).Ignite felt too weak so has had a big buff - it now ticks 3 times before reducing its value by 1 - making ignite last longer and do a lot more damage.Reactive ...
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• Patch Notes·16 Aug 2026Official

  August 16 Patch: Major Factory Bug fixed, improved Japanese and other bits!

  Hello! Thanks to everyone who has played IKARUS this first week and for giving us incredibly valuable feedback. A new patch which fixes some issues raised by players: Fixed bug in Factory (Level 2) that could soft-lock the game - sorry for anyone who experienced this! Boss names will now appear correctly - so they won't all have the same name anymore. Improved Japanese localisation - cards and augments will now be native language of quality Factory (Level 2) enemy balancing Expect more fun updates soon, including new context and features. We will also be looking to improve localisation for other languages, including Chinese. We think all bugs have been ironed out now but please do tell us if you see anything that needs fixing or have any suggestions for improvements - use the Steam Community page or our Discord (link below!) The journey continues - thanks for coming along with us :) Magical Something, Sam and Dan
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• Patch Notes·9 Aug 2026Official

  Day One Patch

  Hey! Thanks to everyone who has played IKARUS so far - have just pushed a quick “Day One” update: Leaderboard will now only display times for runs where the game is cleared Fixed issue where closing Shop could sometimes open the Pause menu Tweaked the Architect gun so it can hit enemies more consistently Decreased the score/XP conversion rate as levelling up was a bit fast Uncommon/Rare cards now have a higher probability of appearing in card rewards to increase variance Various small UI tweaks We will be putting out bigger updates with more content on a regular basis, but do let us know if you say anything that needs fixing or suggestions for improvements on the Steam Community page or our Discord (link below!)
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• Announcements·7 Aug 2026Official

  IKARUS is now in Early Access!

  Hey everyone!The day is finally here - IKARUS is officially out in Steam Early Access!We’ve poured everything into this massive update to crack the game wide open. If you played our previous demo, you already know we’ve been highly focused on making the game feel faster, punchier, and intensely rewarding. Now, we're taking the mashup of classic arcade shoot 'em ups and roguelite deck-building to a whole new level.Here is a taste of what’s waiting for you in today's launch:An Enormous Arsenal: Build game-breaking synergies with 70 unique cards, 45 augments, and 25 weapon upgrades across 3 distinct archetypes (Architect, Berserker, and Catalyst).Two Brand-New Levels: Push far beyond the demo with completely fresh stages packed with unseen enemy variants, intense mini-bosses, and two epic new level bosses to test your mettle.More Lasers & Critical Combos: We completely replaced cannons with lasers because they are simply great fun (keep an eye out for the new echo laser!). Plus, critical hit chances now apply to lasers, grenades, slashes, and strikes, opening the door for wildly powerful new build paths.Expanded Boon vs Burden System: Adjust the difficulty with 10+ Boons and Burdens to refine your runs and secure huge score multipliers for the leaderboards.Challenging Steam Achievements: Prove your mastery with full achievement support. Try completing a run with 3 Burdens active, or pulling off the ultimate combo by inflicting an enemy with mark, shock, and ignite simultaneously!Player-Requested Features & Polish: We’ve added FPS limit options, an upgraded standalone weapon shop, tweaked starting combat styles, and sweeping audio/visual improvements across the board.The Road Ahead: Today is a massive milestone for us as a two-person team, but this is where the real fun begins. From here on out, we are planning to put out regular updates. You can expect ongoing polish and balance tweaks to keep the gameplay tight, but we are also bringing a ton of entirely new content -...
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• Patch Notes·30 Jun 2026Official

  Another Big Demo Update!

  Massive thanks to everyone who played the game during Next Fest and all those who Wishlisted the game - we really appreciate it! We have taken feedback on board from players and have made some big changes to the gameplay to make the game even better - focussing on game feel, more bullets (hell and heaven!) and getting those bonkers card synergies popping off faster. Some of the main updates: Improvements to a bunch of cards (including more lasers!)Bunch of visual and audio feedbacks added across the gameMore powerful starter decks - to help synergies pop off soonerTutorial now shows off the power of synergiesMore enemies (and bullets!) but enemies have lower health - more intense gameplay without spiking difficultyMore interesting bullet patterns for all enemiesIncreased card cooldown to discourage sub-optimal wave-start spamming but also improved ability to see when next card is ready (or if you’ve played a card that isn’t ready).Improved readability of cards across all languages with more use of icons/keywords.Weapon upgrades shop made its own thing - increases awareness and engagement with this mechanic (e.g. sacrificing cards to apply powerful passive effects/attacks)“Rage” mechanic reworked so health sacrifice build is more rewarding (player now fires powerful rage missiles when they take damage instead of just small flat damage to all enemies)And we've been hard at work on the full game too - we can't wait for you to try out the new enemies and bosses we have in the full game - it only gets crazier! See you on the leaderboards :)Magical Something (Sam and Dan)
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