It's been a little while! Have you missed us? We've missed you. But we have returned, and we bring some *very* exciting news. As usual, I know. What can I say? We have a lot of exciting news here at the exciting news factory. That's what I like to call my office.
Exciting News #1
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, sorry, it's just... this is very exciting for us. And me, personally. Okay. So.
WE'RE DOING A BUNDLE WITH SLAY THE SPIRE STARTING ON MARCH 14th!!!!!!!!
(What? WHAT?!)
YEAH!
(No, seriously, what? What's a bundle in this context?)
So, Moonstone Island and Slay The Spire have teamed up to create a card-loving, deck-building, lil-guy-fighting bundle, which means that you can buy Moonstone Island AND Slay The Spire as a bundle to get 10% off both! Even if you have one of the games in your library already, you still get the bundle discount if you buy the other!
But wait! THERE'S MORE!
We're also adding a Slay The Spire creature to Moonstone Island, free for all players! It was really hard to pick which one to add... because, like, who wants to befriend a teeny version of Gremlin Nob? Not me, that's for sure. That guy has kicked my arse too many times for me to ever consider being his friend. I promise I am good at Slay the Spire and I don't lose to Act 1 mini-bosses on a regular basis. I'm on Ascension 11! I just... sometimes make mistakes, y'know? And I have a personal grudge against Gremlin Nob. SUE ME.
ANYWAYYYY, the new lil guy is the "Fat Gremlin" from the gang of gremlins that you fight early on, but we've renamed him Spyreling, as a tribute to the game itself, and to the fact that he's fire-type. It took us a long time to come up with a name, because we already have one gremlin-esque named Spirit (Gemlin - yes, it's pronounced gem-lin, no one seems to know that!) so we needed something unique.
This bundle and new addition to the game will go live the same day as the Spring Sale (March 14) so make sure to combine the two discounts, or tell all your card-loving friends to get all the discounts. Better yet, tell all your friends who AREN'T into card games. I recently got my friend into Slay The Spire, so I promise it can be done.
Exciting News #2
Remember earlier when I said "more on that later"? Or are you just skimming this page? That's okay. I wrote a lot.
IT'S SPRING!
Well, nearly. Spring starts officially on March 20th. But still! That's soon! And the reason that's exciting is because Moonstone Island launches on Switch in Spring 2024, which is SOON! We haven't confirmed an exact date yet (still workin' on it), but some time between March 20 and June 20, you'll get to see Moonstone Island on the Nintendo Switch. VERY COOL.
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That's all the exciting news I can tell you right now, but it's NOT the only exciting news I've got cooking up. There are more cool things around the corner!
– Kate, Community Manager and VERY BIG SLAY THE SPIRE FAN WHO HAS OVER 400 HOURS IN THE GAME
Our Biggest Sale Ever!
Welcome, Alchemists!
Did you see?? We're having a major sale on Moonstone Island, our DLC, Soundtrack, and Art Book right here on Steam until the 22nd!
Moonstone Island - 25% off
Delightful Little Comforts DLC - 35% off
Eerie Items DLC - 35% off
Artbook - 25% off
Soundtrack - 25% off
December's Lovely Cozies DLC - 35% off
Designed for Lovers DLC - 20% off
We also just dropped a brand new, love-themed DLC called Designed for Lovers! Let’s get into what you get for just USD - 3.99 USD/18.00 CNY/3,99 EU/3.39 GBP:
Box of Chocolates
Heart Archway
Love Lamp
Heart Rug
Loveseat
Heart House
Here's all the new furniture that comes FREE in the recent Valentine’s update, which also allows you to MARRY the partner of your choosing:
Flower Petals
Heart Bed
Heart Tub
Villager Portraits
Heart Window
Champagne
Lava Lamp
Item Frame
Red Bouquet
Blue Bouquet
White Chair
Runner Rug
Street Lamp
Lovebird House
Grab items to your heart's content and have a LOVELY, LOVE-FILLED WEEK!
~ Studio Supersoft
Updates & Bug Fixes - Feb 14, 2024
Fixed a bug that was causing fish from the Dark biome to be displayed incorrectly
Love Has Come to Moonstone Island!
IT'S HERE, ALCHEMISTS!
Well, to be accurate, several things are here.
Number One: Valentine's Day!
Number two: Our new Valentine's-themed DLC, which is full of things shaped like hearts, is live and available to buy right now.
Number three: Our latest update, which is also live, brings a ton of love-themed things, like new furniture, new Villager dialogue, and the most Valentiney thing of all: being able to marry your favorite person in Moonstone Island!
Let's talk about the things that you'll be getting in this FREE Valentine's Update!
Marriage! You can now marry your sweetie with the new Moonstone Ring. Propose to them and see what they say!
Wedding ceremony! You and your boo will get to have an intimate, cozy ceremony on the Moonstone Island cliffs, overlooking the skies. There's new dialogue here too!
Wedding outfits! Choose from three wedding outfits to suit your style!
Move in together! Once you're married, your spouse will move in with you. This also means new dialogue and new animations, which are custom to each character :)
New Spirits! Largely themed around the Electric type (because, uh, love is... electric), these new Spirits include a robot dog, a toaster mouse, and a stinky sock!
New Dark fish! Woo!
New achievements! Double woo!
Transparent pixels on the loom!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRIPLE WOOOOO
There are a lot of cool, smaller changes that we'll be highlighting in patch notes later this week, too!
DLC We also have a new DLC: the "Designed for Lovers" Collection! It comes with five romance-themed items and a new house:
Box of Chocolates
Heart Archway
Love Lamp
Heart Rug
Loveseat
AND a Heart-Shaped House Exterior
Here's all the new furniture that comes FREE in the Valentine’s update:
Flower Petals
Heart Bed
Heart Tub
Villager Portraits (put a pic of your beloved in the frame!)
Heart Window
Champagne
Lava Lamp (it's animated!)
Red Bouquet
Blue Bouquet
White Chair
Runner Rug
Street Lamp
Lovebird House Exterior
The DLC will cost 3.39 GBP / 3.99 USD / 3.99 EUR and releases the same day as the update! There will be a 20% launch discount too!
That's all for this post, my loves, so I hope you enjoy this new update and pleeeease show us the things you make with the transparent pixels on the loom. You have no idea how excited I am to see what everyone does with them!
– Kate, Community Manager, and Your Valentine
Valentine's Day Has Come to Moonstone Island!
IT'S HERE, ALCHEMISTS!
Well, to be accurate, several things are here.
Number One: Valentine's Day (which is tomorrow, in case you forgot).
Number two: Our new Valentine's-themed DLC, which is full of things shaped like hearts, is live and available to buy right now.
Number three: Our latest update, which is also live and brings a ton of Valentiney things, like new furniture, new Villager dialogue, and the most Valentiney thing of all: being able to marry your favorite person in Moonstone Island!
Let's talk about the things that you'll be getting in this FREE Valentine's Update!
Marriage! You can now marry your sweetie with the new Moonstone Ring. Propose to them and see what they say!
Wedding ceremony! You and your boo will get to have an intimate, cozy ceremony on the Moonstone Island cliffs, overlooking the skies. There's new dialogue here too!
Wedding outfits! Choose from three wedding outfits to suit your style!
Move in together! Once you're married, your spouse will move in with you. This also means new dialogue and new animations, which are custom to each character :)
New Spirits! Largely themed around the Electric type (because, uh, love is... electric), these new Spirits include a robot dog, a toaster mouse, and a stinky sock!
New Dark fish! Woo!
New achievements! Double woo!
Transparent pixels on the loom!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRIPLE WOOOOO
There are a lot of cool, smaller changes that we'll be highlighting in patch notes later this week, too!
DLC We also have a new DLC: the "Designed for Lovers" Collection! It comes with five romance-themed items and a new house:
Box of Chocolates
Heart Archway
Love Lamp
Heart Rug
Loveseat
AND a Heart-Shaped House Exterior
Here's all the new furniture that comes FREE in the Valentine’s update:
Flower Petals
Heart Bed
Heart Tub
Villager Portraits (put a pic of your beloved in the frame!)
Heart Window
Champagne
Lava Lamp (it's animated!)
Red Bouquet
Blue Bouquet
White Chair
Runner Rug
Street Lamp
Lovebird House Exterior
The DLC will cost 3.39 GBP / 3.99 USD / 3.99 EUR and releases the same day as the update! There will be a 20% launch discount too!
That's all for this post, my loves, so I hope you enjoy this new update and pleeeease show us the things you make with the transparent pixels on the loom. You have no idea how excited I am to see what everyone does with them!
– Kate, Community Manager, and Your Valentine
Major Content Update + DLC Incoming!
Hello, Adorable Alchemists!
The winter is here, the new year has come, and it's almost time for everyone's second favorite holiday about buying things, eating rich foods, and trying to impress all the cuties in your life: Valentine's Day!!!!
Speaking of cuties, just take a look inside this heart-shaped box right here, and you'll find a few tokens of our love coming to you on February 13th...
💝 LOVE TOKEN #1
It wouldn't be a Valentine's update without being able to show your undying devotion to the person who means the most to you. In the game, I mean.
💖💖💖 THAT'S RIGHT MOONSTONE ISLAND WILL HAVE MARRIAGE 💖💖💖
Moonstone Island has jumped on the new trend of "getting married", and that means you'll now be able to propose to your partner, hold a wedding ceremony (with cute outfits and a range of options for you to wear), have a reception with friends and family, and then your spouse will even move into your house!
We've written lots of new dialogue and made new animations for your spouse!!!! This is something we've been dreaming of doing for aaaaages, and we’re super excited about the new NPC content :D
💝 LOVE TOKEN #2
It's DLC!!! And this time, it's themed around the most romantic time of year, as dictated by greeting cards companies.
Our Valentine's DLC will allow you to go ALL IN on the heart-shaped theme, with a heart rug, a heart house skin for your house, a heart box of chocolates, a heart archway (or "heartchway") and a heart lamp, as well as a loveseat. It's not shaped like a heart, but it has "love" in the name!
The DLC, which launches on February 13th, will cost $3.99 with a 20% launch discount. 💖
💝 LOVE TOKEN #3
A new update is here, and much like love, it don't cost a thing! As with all our big updates, this one contains a LOT of stuff that will improve the life of the game, as well as your enjoyment and fun-having time.
Some highlights:
Five new Spirits!
An updated taming system
Magic Man attends festivals now
A new home exterior skin - An adorable Bird House!
Lots of new items
...and moooooore????
I'll be telling you the details about all those free items soon 🎁👀
💝 LOVE TOKEN #4
I can't tell you what this one is yet, but I can tease the heck out of it, right?
We've got a collab in the works. It's a REALLY good one.
That's all.
See you next time for more deets!!!
– Kate, Community Manager and lover of love
The Village Post, Jan 25 - 2024 Retrospective + Future Teaser!
I am usually so good at knowing what newsletter number we are on, but it's been a while since the last newsletter, and over the Christmas break, I forgot how to count, so... Welcome back! How's it going? How was your Christmas/New Year/non-denominational winter holidays? Or summer holidays, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere? You know, I've actually never been south of the equator. Maybe I should make that my new year's resolution!
Our break was great, and we're already working on some COOL STUFF FOR SOON TIMES. Can't tell you about it yet, but maybe I'll give a little hint: I had to write a lot of new stuff! It's the first time I've done a significant amount of non-item-description writing since the game released!!!!! How exciting. New Year, New Meeeee!!
I wanted to do a little retrospective of 2023, because I saw other games studios doing it, and it looked cool. So! Let's go! 2023 retrospective!!!
Sandy and Kate (the lead dev and the writer, AKA me) met for the first time at GDC, and we got to show off the game as part of The Mix
I wrote about 100,000 words of dialogue and we sent it to localisation ON TIME 😎
We had a demo in the Steam Next Fest
We announced our release date
We ran multiple closed betas to make the game really really good
We released Moonstone Island on September 20th (how has it only been 4 months what)
We got Steam Deck Verified ✅
We announced the Switch version (coming Spring 2024!) at Nintendo's Indie World in December
We released three DLC packs (Decor, Halloween, and Winter)
We did 12 big patches that added tons of content, too
We hit 50k Twitter followers which honestly feels less cool now that Twitter is in the toilet but STILL
Our Discord hit 4,000 members
We met all of youuuuuuu
I can't believe we got so much great fan art in the last few weeks! I honestly expected it to get real quiet on the fan art front, but no! There's so much!!!
Okay, admittedly, this first one is not technically fan art. It's commissioned emotes, made by Briggyea for Eylime's Twitch and Discord, themed around YOURS TRULY. Look how cute these are! There's a chad Fishbo, a sus Ribbite, and a "This Is Fine" Bonfire! Amazing work, 10/10.
And you know what else we love to see? People's OC Spirit designs! Seriously, it's probably the cutest fan art we get to see, and we wish we could make them all real! This lil guy is by TenaciousTurnip, and he's an ice Spirit that lives in a stocking. I want to eat him.
*contented purr* Meow. (Mr Morris had a great break, thank you for asking. But now, it's back to CEO duties for this sleepy kitty.)
And that's all for this week! Welcome back, and happy 2024!
– Kate, Community Manager and Writer of Many Secret New Words
Updates & Bug Fixes - Jan 19, 2024
It's time for our 14th patch notes! It's mostly bug fixes today, but one fairly exciting addition...
Three new island shapes, including everyone's favourite, COOL S
Hopefully fixed the soft-lock bug when playing Sacrifice and similar cards, so you'll no longer have to SACRIFICE (heh) your day
Pasting a large image into the loom will no longer crash your game
We turned down the bridge sound in the Infinidungeon, which was previously playing at max volume. Sorry for all the heart attacks we gave you
Fixed the fertilizer collision mask, so now you can till the ground around a fertilized tile
The descriptions for some abilities were too long in some languages and didn't fit in the box! That's fixed now. Looking at you, German
At the end of the tutorial, the screen is supposed to fade out, but it didn't. Now it do
There was a bug with Spirits going into storage – basically, if your Spirit took damage or had its stats modified somehow, the game is supposed to reset the stats again when you go to sleep. But if you put those Spirits into the Science Center storage, they would keep the stat changes. Way too OP! We fixed it 👍
And that's it! Enjoyyyy!
Updates & Bug Fixes - Jan 09, 2024
We're kicking off 2024 with a lucky number 13 – it's our thirteenth patch notes!
And boy howdy, this one's a doozy. Yeah, this is how I talk now. This is the 2024 me. I use words like "doozy". Don't make fun of me, it's patch time:
UPDATES
Fluffybutt. Big Steppy. Sir Lampsalot. These are all excellent suggestions for what you can call your favourite Spirits, because you can now RENAME THEM. YEAH
Also, you can use arrow keys to navigate in the Spirit renaming dialogue
Spirit resources in the barn are now "magnetic" and you can pick them up just by moving near them. That's right! Spirit Poop will now fly towards you! You're welcome
Active potions are now displayed above the stamina bar, like how some students keep all their empty beer cans lined up at the top of their kitchen cabinets
The big map in the main menu is bigger than before
Shiny Spirits will not spawn until you unlock Beginner Spiritmaster in the skill tree (unless you use a Holo potion)
The Spirit Research screen now fits four Spirit cards
Using a Study Talisman to add a card to your Spirit's deck now has a "skip" option, just in case you change your mind
After using a Talisman, you now return to the Spirit interaction menu
We hired a new guy to hold the camera, and he's much better at his job, so now the camera movement is improved (and should jiggle less when you stop moving)
BUG FIXES
Fixed a bug that was causing the tavern to run out of Coffee and other items (the bug was Ossono forgetting to refill the coffee)
Fixed a soft lock that happened if you saved the game while standing next to the trophy case
Fixed a bug where Pressing Y+X at the same time on gamepad (or inventory+sort keys) can sometimes clear all items from the inventory rows 2-4.
Apparently no one was getting XP for opening chests in mines and dungeons!!!! We fixed it, and everyone should be getting retrospective XP awarded to them as well
Fixed a soft lock that happened when you changed some of the keybinds
The Poinsettia plant was being sold on the first day of Spring, which it shouldn't be. We locked it back in its winter prison
Fixed an issue with Spirit storage screens not scrolling on gamepad
Fixed the Fallen Foe card – it should replenish energy now
Fixed a bunch of issues with scrollable windows
Fixed the map auto-centering on the player
Fixed duplicate island bugs
Fixed a bug with feeding vitality crops to Spirits in battle
And the best fix of all for those of you who hate notification badges: the "unread mail" icon on the mailbox now properly goes away when you read all your mail
The Village Post, Dec 21 - Steam Winter Sale Edition!
The year is almost over... and that means that we're about to go on holiday, which means that this is the LAST NEWSLETTER OF 2023. I can't believe it! 2023 has been an amazing year for us, with the launch of Moonstone Island on PC, all the updates we've been doing, the Switch release announcement... and that's all been in the last three months, even though it feels like a LOT longer.
2024 is, of course, our Switch launch year, so here's hoping it'll be even more amazing – a lot of cozy gamers are Switch-only, so I'm expecting it to get a little busy! But with all of you kind, generous, and patient Moonstoners, I'm not too worried. Thank you for all your lovely responses to the game so far 😊
STEAM WINTER SALE
We're on Sale again, because we LOVE A GOOD SALE!
Dec 21st to Jan 4th
Moonstone Island - 20% Off
Delightful Little Comforts DLC - 10% Off
Eerie Items DLC - 10% Off
December Lovely Cozies DLC - 15% Off
Artbook - 20% Off
Soundtrack - 20% Off
DLC RE-CAP
We have more DLC, this time themed around the winter festivities!
There's a big, friendly snowman house to live in, with a carrot nose, coal buttons, and a festive string of lights around his twig arms. He's very traditional, right down to the top hat that may or may not be magic.
Alongside Mr Snowman House, you'll also get two more snowmen (Frostopher and Snowmelia), a snowboard (decorative only, soz), a few different types of icicles, and a fuzzy rug for ultimate by-the-fire coziness. And don't worry – we'll never lock away new features or content behind paid DLC. It'll only ever be cosmetic decor!
Big patch notes this time! But we've posted them separately already, and they're LONG, so I'll just recap!
Spirit Barn largest upgrade is now DOUBLE the size it was before
Paolo sells stone and wood
Ferra sells coal
Zed can store tamed Spirits at the Science Center
Warp Totem functions like the Warp Statue in town, but can be placed anywhere on the map
The Infinidungeon is LIVE
The Spirit level cap has been removed
Invisible wall in dungeon 21 has been fixed
Removed an invisible item appearing in shops
Picking up gates no longer turns them invisible
We can now send items to you in the mail
All letters that send crafting recipes will now have the recipe attached
A new icon appears on letters with items attached that have not been claimed
Combat is now less random, and Speed has been made more useful
Targeting NPCs in the Tavern is easier
Earth and Water biomes have their own sets of exclusive fish to catch
Item names that were overflowing the text box in the end-of-day recap will now take up two lines
The Poinsettia plant will now be sold every day at the Conservatory during winter
Trees can now be festooned with twinkly lights. Festooned, I say!
Wow! So many cool things! And that's not even counting the FIVE new Ice Spirits, the new decor, and details on the Infinidungeon... which you'll just have to find out for yourself 😈
First off... THANK YOU. You're all so talented and good at making beautiful art, and also showing off your love for certain things in the game. We weren't sure we'd get fan art at all, because it's not a guarantee, but we've had so much that it's been hard to choose what to show off in these newsletters! Here's a rather scary and intense version of Capacibee from Kirby, which looks like the kind of metal album cover we'd pick up and listen to:
Here's Quirky's adorable plush Womr, WITH DETACHABLE WOMR:
Incredible work. As an amateur crocheter myself, I know how much work these were, so well done. VERY well done.
*sleepy cat noises*
Aww, Mr Morris is sleeping. Well, even CEOs get tired. Don't wake him!
Thanks for making these last three months since launch the absolute best. 2023 was a wild ride. Let's make 2024 even better! WOO!
– Kate, Community Manager and massive fan of crochet plushies
