Why Early Access?

“As of right now, TopplePOP is already a great game we're proud to share with everyone. We could release and walk away, but we're committed to making it even better - we see the potential for even more fun in the long-term, and so do our players!

TopplePOP is developed by a core team of 3 with occasional help from friends and associates. We've come this far thanks to passionate and dedicated closed-beta testers. Player feedback continues to play an essential role as we aim to include - by popular demand - a variety of optional party features.

Early Access is the best way to validate our project goals and manage player expectations. A similar approach brought us this far and now we're ready. We're opening up so everyone can join the fun!

Early Access allows our small team to:
- Open up our playtest to anyone who wants in
- Engage with more players to discuss their experience of the game in greater detail
- Incorporate more user feedback as we brainstorm and validate ideas for cool party features
- More effectively find and squish any lingering bugs
- Achieve a shared vision alongside players for the future of TopplePOP”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“It will take approximately 3-6 months to finish the Story campaign, refine eSports balance and iterate on novelty Party Mode features alongside community feedback.
Party Mode Modifiers are unique and the biggest unknown here, since this feature relies heavily on community involvement in the design - in fact, it's the whole idea.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“We aim to:
- Enhance Party Mode. TopplePOP is already fun with friends, but by popular demand we aim to include a suite of 'mix & match' Modifiers that change the core gameplay in novel, unexpected and hilarious ways for maximum laughs and endless replayability. There's tons of possibilities - so many we could never make them all - so player feedback is crucial in guiding development of these features.
- Improve the Solo/Co-op Campaign. Currently around 60% complete, story Mode is planned as a grand heroic adventure of comedy, surprise and delight - the ideal introduction to the world and gameplay of TopplePOP.
- Further refine TopplePOP's competitive balance for expert PvE challenges and pro-level PvP / eSports in the long term.
- Polish rough edges - improve art and audio, fix bugs and generally make the game a smoother experience.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“TopplePOP is currently:
- stable and moderately optimized with few / minor / rare expected bugs
- a versatile PvE, PvP, couch & online multiplayer experience
- an infinite variety of accessible and challenging physics puzzles
- a well-balanced competitive eSport
- a mostly polished user experience with some minor rough edges
- for PC and SteamDeck players. Gamepad recommended but not required.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Helpful playtesters are worth a lot to our core team of 3 developers. Sharing detailed bug reports and constructive feedback helps us massively toward our development goals - that's a big win for us. We appreciate this and want to make it a Win-Win for early adopters; easier for players to get in early, make their voice heard and opinions count toward a better full release. For this reason TopplePOP will likely increase in price upon exiting Early Access.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We run monthly Playtest Events and invite all testers to join in. We post updates and read comments on Steam, and discuss via the Steam Community Forums and especially on the TopplePOP discord where there are dedicated spaces for feedback and bug reports. We post polls and surveys, do private focus testing with individuals and small groups.
We also do outreach and gather anecdotal feedback via streaming friends on Twitch, online tournaments, and through associated puzzle game and party game special-interest groups like Puzzle Kingdom. We'll continue to grow our Early Access playerbase and evolve our community engagement practices to ensure players are heard and everyone's in the loop with planned improvements toward v1.0.”