Devlog #4: My tower defense looked like a prototype. Six updates later, here is 1.3.
Version 1.3
of PolyTowerz went into Apple review this week. It is the biggest update I have shipped, and honestly, it barely resembles the game I launched. So this devlog is the whole story. Where it started, what went wrong, and what is about to go live.
WHERE IT STARTED
PolyTowerz began as a simple idea: a tower defense where combinations beat brute force. Place two towers next to each other, they link up, they get stronger. The first version worked. It also looked like what it was, a solo dev prototype. Flat colors, default fonts, silent menus. Players told me the mechanics were fun and the presentation was not. They were right.
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THE REBUILD
Instead of stacking new features on a shaky base, I spent the last months rebuilding layer by layer.
The look came first. Every screen moved to a warm amber style, dark backgrounds, glowing geometry, new icon. The game finally looks like the light show it always wanted to be.
Then sound. The game was basically mute. Now there are over 20 custom sound effects and a full soundtrack with battle tracks, a menu theme and a boss theme. Turning the volume on actually matters now.
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Then the feature I am most proud of: the Foundry. You fuse two towers into one hybrid. The chassis parent keeps its attack style, the infusion parent adds a second ability on top. Dozens of combinations, each with its own name and look. Watching players hunt for their favorite fusion is the best feedback loop I have had.
And then Sol, the new eleventh tower. Fun story: the first version of Sol was a boring pulse tower. I looked at it for a day and could not ship it. So I rebuilt it completely. Sol now charges solar energy, fires one sustained beam that melts everything in its line, then vents heat and starts over. It went from my least favorite tower to the one I place first.
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WHAT IS IN 1.3
The update bundles all of it: the Sol tower, the Foundry, the full redesign, the sound overhaul, plus new particle effects on every synergy and a reworked Storm Forge lightning triangle. On top of that: 40+ achievements, daily challenges, survival maps and an endless mode.
WHERE THINGS STAND
The build is approved in TestFlight and sitting in App Store review right now. The current live version is 1.2, so if you install today you will get the update the moment Apple waves it through. If you want to see what a solo dev can squeeze out of SpriteKit, this is the moment to jump in.
PolyTowerz is free on iOS, no forced ads. Grab it via the store link on this page, or just open the App Store and search PolyTowerz.
One question for the devs and players reading this: if you could fuse any two tower archetypes, which combo would you pick first? I read every reply, and a few Foundry hybrids already exist because someone suggested them.
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