Devlog #2: the meme king moved into the game

Quick update first: version 1.2 is in App Store review right now. If you read devlog 1, I promised the synergy deep dive next. That one is still coming, but something funnier happened this week and I have to tell it.

For my TikTok marketing I invented a character: King Cedric, a medieval king with a comically oversized crown who behaves like every tower defense player ever. "One more wave, then the kingdom sleeps." The clips work way better than anything else I post.

So I asked myself: why does this guy only exist in marketing?

In 1.2 he lives in the game. As an easter egg. If you hoard your gold between waves instead of building (400+ credits, you know who you are), His Majesty personally strolls across the empty enemy path, nags you to SPEND IT, and if you tap him he hands you 100 credits and a hidden achievement.

The fun technical part: PolyTowerz has zero image files, every unit is procedural vector code. So Cedric is too. Oversized crown, ermine robe, scepter, all CGPath. Drawing a comedy character in code was a very different exercise than drawing towers.

Why I did it: people who install the game because of a TikTok character should find that character in the game. Marketing that feeds the product, product that feeds the marketing. I have no idea if it converts, but it made the game better either way.

Also in 1.2: shareable daily challenge results (spoiler-free emoji grid, Wordle style, everyone plays the same seeded map), and weekly mutators for the endless mode, picked deterministically from the calendar week so every player worldwide gets the same twist with zero server.

The game is free on iOS if you want to poke at it. I am one person and I read everything.