First a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has played the OOLO demo to date. And an extra special THANKS to all the playtesters who devoted significant amounts of time to give their feedback and help shape this game for the better.

OOLO underwent several major changes after the original short demo launched late last year, and as the game gets close to its final release I wanted to give you a chance to play with a lot of the updated changes.

First, immediately off the bat, you'll notice the graphics have undergone a significant upgrade. Gone are the plain textures, the out-of-place pushable blocks, and the flat lighting in many areas. Everything's been carefully reworked to be more detailed while still maintaining that retro vibe.

Second, you'll notice there are now gameplay modes when you go to start a new game. These modes are Classic and Casual. In Classic, you get the original OOLO experience: three lives, refill lives at cauldrons, lose them all and it's game over--reload your save.

In Casual mode, however, things are a bit different. You never get a game over--you simply restart the room from whatever entrance you came in at. Cauldrons serve as save points still, so make sure you visit one before shutting the game off.
Another massive change is the content of the demo itself. The original demo was a tiny curated slice of OOLO's gameplay, with significant changes to some rooms and the overall map layout. The updated "Demo 2.0" contains the entirety of the Catacombs of Despair and the Forge of Misery--including both epic boss battles--as well as a significant part of the Lost Forest--OOLO's hub area. The only major difference between the full version of the game as it currently stands in development? Three doors are blocked from the central Portal room.
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You'll even get to experience the story of OOLO--at least the opening few beats!

And on top of all of that are the various bug fixes, gameplay tweaks, audio updates, and more that have gone into the game since last year.

This revamped demo release leads directly into Steam Next Fest, which leads directly into the Summer of 2025, which leads directly to the push for launch.

While there's no release date to announce just yet, an announcement *is* imminent.

You won't have to wait *too* much longer to get your hands on the full game.

Thanks for coming along on this journey! Hope you enjoy the updated demo!

In the last Environment Focus we took a look at the OOLO's hub region, the Lost Forest. This time we're going to take a look at one of the earlier regions you can fully explore, the Catacombs of Despair.

The entrance to the Catacombs is tucked away in a corner of the Lost Forest. You'll know you're getting close when you see the undead roaming about. (Don't touch, they're dangerous!)

Where the Lost Forest serves as a sort of training ground for the basic controls and activities in OOLO like navigating rooms, jumping gaps, and avoiding hazards, the Catacombs of Despair are all about solving puzzles.

First and foremost, puzzles with switches and gates. Some rooms have a single switch. Some rooms have multiple switches. No matter how many there are, though, you'll need to hold them all down to open the gates and move forward.

There are also new types of spikes here--touching them from any direction is lethal. And to make matters worse, some of them move. There are enchanted spikes that hover up and down, and also enchanted spikes that can sense intruders--and fly directly at them!

Deep within the Catacombs you'll find the second most important artifact in the game--the Bag of Holding. This allows you to stash a single block you're standing on and drop it back under you anywhere else in the room.

It's a key ability that will enable you to solve even more of the Catacomb's puzzles by taking blocks to new places you couldn't simply push them, for example.

And after you've mastered dodging ghosts, block-jumping across spike-filled chasms, and pushing absolutely every button in sight, you'll be faced with the first of OOLO's boss battles--the Eldritch Lich! You'll need to use every skill you've learned so far to defeat this ancient menace and find out what's on the other side of his chamber.

But... who is the Eldritch Lich? Why is he down here in the Catacombs? How did they get their nickname? And whose spirits and skeletons are scattered all over this dark abode?

That's a mystery for another time...