The 5th patch is here! Sorry for the delay - work was really hectic this week. We're a week away from the 1-monthiversary, and only 13 reviews away from the magic number of 50 required for "Very Positive". Please continue to help spread the game around to other puzzle enthusiasts. Puzzle changes

• Added hints for remaining levels. I am done! Feedback for improvements is still welcome, of course.
• Moved the yellow goal location on Lemniscate. The old version was straight-forward from the starting position, but it was very easy for players to accidentally fall into an impossible state without realizing it. This is one of the biggest sins in puzzle design, and it should not occur unless the "realizing it" step is part of the main idea of the puzzle. In this case it wasn't.
• Added 2 fog tiles to Pivots. This increases the uniqueness of the puzzle, making it more deducible.

• (Post-Inception) Unused [spoiler]exit spirals[/spoiler] now animate by being pulled to the center instead of flashing.
• Increased the size of grid lines because the lowest nonzero setting was unusable with FXAA, and barely usable with TAA/TSR.
• Changed the look of the grid lines to be more "natural". You can still increase "Grid darkness" if you like the artificial look. I like the lowest nonzero thickness with darkness turned all the way down. I'm considering making this the default in a future patch. Thoughts?
• Hint menu in puzzle editor now has a scrollbar so there is no longer a soft limit to the number of hints that can be added to a puzzle.
• Don't show the journal entry tag icons in the "Required for current level" menu for undiscovered journal entries.
• Added mention of font under assets in credits.

• Prevent animation of [spoiler]exit spirals[/spoiler] when first loading a puzzle in the puzzle editor.

I'm pushing this patch earlier than planned because I think some of the changes warrant it. As a result I'm not finished with hints for all bonus levels yet. Puzzle changes

• Replaced Trapeze (level in post-Accumlation world [spoiler]Crowdsurf[/spoiler]) with a completely new puzzle. The old version wasn't an amazing puzzle, and its idea also had already appeared in a similar form in another level. So I made a completely new level that explores a novel idea. I'm granting anyone that beat the old puzzle progress on this one because I don't want to spoil 100%-ers, but there is no relation between the old Trapeze and this new Trapeze. Give it a try!
• Added blue wall to hub puzzle. This prevents another scarlet herring (see 1.0.3 notes), and should better hint at how to reach one of the endgame areas.
• Hints for a couple of levels added.

• Flashing [spoiler]export spirals[/spoiler] are now much bigger. I noticed players were having issues finding out what to do immediately after completing Inception. Hopefully this helps!
• Fade "undo or reset" message when pause or warp menus are opened.
• Tweaked tile shader to not show grid lines (when enabled) on the sides of tiles.

• Fixed flashing "water" in the black background of the space biome when using "Medium" graphics settings preset.
• Using the "quick exit" bind while the end popup and journal are both up will no longer close the end popup.

It's almost 2 weeks since launch and I'm embarrassed to say that all levels still do not have hints. But I'm almost there! The only missing hints are for bonus levels, and those will be done in the next patch within the next few days. I keep saying it, and it keeps being true. The support and enthusiasm from the puzzle community is overwhelming. I'm glad you're liking the game and spending 30+ hours of your life to playing it. Please keep telling others about the game. I want to watch more YouTube videos and Twitch streams! I also want to start playing your custom levels, so please join the Discord server to share them! I might even make it a regular thing where I stream some user submitted levels. (Eventually I'll add Steam Workshop support, but for now Discord will have to do....) Here's the 3rd patch. Puzzle changes

• Removed a block on the left side of the hub puzzle because it created a possible scarlet herring; i.e., a red herring that is especially attractive. As much as the penguins like herrings, I do not.
• Renamed puzzle `tmp` to `Temporary` to make it fit the naming style of the rest of the game.
• Added hints for all puzzles in Replication.
• Tweaked hints for a few other levels based on feedback. Please keep sending feedback my way!

• Keep Warp bind prompt hidden until a sublevel has been seen. This is only relevant for a single level in the very late-game.

• Scroll wheel binds are given a special exception to not trigger "menu back" because of collisions with normal scrolling. However scroll wheel down could mistakenly trigger "menu back" from menus like warp, journal, pause, and settings if the end popup was visible. Now it cannot.

I've noticed many players are already well past the 20+ hour mark and have finished, or are closing in. Others are just getting started and still wondering what that color spirally thing is for. I really love reading all of your comments about the game in reviews, on forums, and on social media. The more buzz around the game the happier the penguins will be, so keep it up! Without further ado, here's patch number two. Puzzle changes

• Added hints for all initially reachable puzzles in Attraction and Contraband. This came with a few very very minor puzzle tweaks that I'm confident objectively improve the design.
  • Removed unnecessary fog from Attraction.Hurl.
  • Removed unnecessary tile from Attraction.Tractor.
  • Changed the starting state of Attraction.Wrecker. This was done because the new version will do a slightly better job at encouraging the player to try an idea that [spoiler]would work if there were no magnet: move green down onto blue's target, and then hit it with a blue move right[/spoiler]. This isn't just a bait, but it shows off why this puzzle is interesting while hinting at the main idea for how to solve it. The old version, where blue started in the far left of the middle row, was further from revealing the key idea [spoiler]despite being technically closer to the solution[/spoiler].
  • Added colored wall to Contraband.Deeper to fix cheese that let players skip ~2/7 of the puzzle.
• Refined journal entry unlock conditions for a few fog related entries to not include grey animals in fog. This affected the "Required for current level" entries for Ground_Rules.I and Liftoff.Extinction.
• The following levels had some errors in their "Required for current level" entries, unrelated to the above change: Attraction.Fledging, Exchange.Displacement, Exchange.Stwap, Exchange.Timing, Exfiltration.G, Foreboding.Jackhammer, and Sustain.Chumming.
• Added new (post-Replication) [spoiler]bonus solution[/spoiler] and reworded existing one for Lemniscate.EYO. Thanks to Mikan for discovering the new one!
• Reworded (post-Replication) [spoiler]bonus solution[/spoiler] for Ground_Rules.Blockers.
• Moved the position of Walk.Threading.

• Added "LMB double click" bind prompt to sublevel button on hover. On unhover it goes back to the keyboard bind. Mouse-only is an option that the game doesn't teach very well, so hopefully this helps.
• Removed "Awards" and "Challenge" sections from buttons corresponding to backup saves.
• Achievements all marked as secret to avoid spoilers. I don't think anything there is super spoilery but just staying on the safe side since players can reveal hidden achievements on Steam. This was done through Steam, so it is not part of the build and actually went in Sunday night (PDT).

• It was possible to use the quick exit bind to exit from a puzzle while the journal menu was opened if the end popup was also opened.

Many players are accumulating insane playtimes, and I've been reading all sorts of excitement about the game. I appreciate this so much! I don't have any funding for advertisements, and to be honest, what makes the game special is hard to advertise. So I am incredibly grateful for your continued support in spreading the game to other players. I'm super proud to have no major bugs, no broken puzzles, and not even any reports of puzzle cheese! A large part of this is due to the many amazing playtesters. Hopefully this trend continues through future patches. Without further ado, here are the changes. Puzzle changes

• Added (post-Replication) [spoiler]bonus solution[/spoiler] for Ground_Rules.Movement. This will take away 100% from the couple of people that have earned it so quickly. :( There aren't any Steam achievements for 100% completion and it is just there for your own satisfaction, so I don't mind doing this very sparingly. This one in particular will take 30s to complete, so definitely no worries here. I'm open to adding more (post-Replication) [spoiler]bonus solutions[/spoiler] if anyone happens to discover something that is both interesting and not purely a subset of an existing puzzle. I'm certain there are some wild end-game things still remaining for the community to discover.

• Lightbulb submenu icon now turns yellow when the current level requires a journal entry that isn't unlocked. This gives an easy check that something new is needed without risking a spoiler that could happen if you actually read through the journal entries needed for the current level.
• If the journal/hint menu is opened while the journal popup message is on screen, then it will open to the most recently unlocked journal entry.
• The journal entry popup message is now a button which opens the journal.
• The journal/hint menu can now be opened while the end popup is visible.
• If a new journal entry is unlocked while the message for the previous entry is showing, then the previous message is hidden and a new message is shown immediately. The old behavior would not show anything for the 2nd unlock.
• Slightly reworded journal entry descriptions involving (Implant/Contraband) [spoiler]imports to use the word "import" instead of "level variation"[/spoiler].

• Allow exiting the puzzle select screen using undo/redo binds.
• Added warning to puzzle select screen that a mouse is needed.
• Added gameplay settings toggle "Enable solver", which defaults to off. The solver function in the puzzle editor is very resource intensive and may cause crashes.

• Added hints for all initially reachable puzzles of Liftoff.
• Unbound mouse bind prompts will no longer show the mouse button icon unless the 'Mouse buttons' option is enabled in gameplay settings. If 'Mouse buttons' is disabled, then it will show a keyboard bind.
• (Post-Replication) [spoiler]Bonus solutions[/spoiler] now more clearly indicate when they have not been completed with text that is more faded.

• Under very rare cases it was possible to (Implant/Contraband) [spoiler]import without landing on the puzzle using the warp menu[/spoiler].
• The level name for a loaded level would not display if (Implant/Contraband) [spoiler]the only known variation seen was not NONE[/spoiler].
• If you were at the start of the hub puzzle and had not completed Ground_Rules (possible with 'Allow skipping' toggle), then reloading your save would mistakenly autoload you into Ground_Rules.
• The second journal entry in the "Advanced" section was mistakenly being unlocked on any (post-Inception) [spoiler]export from menu[/spoiler].
• Redo bind in warp menu while end popup is up will now correctly close the warp menu.
• Reset bind in warp menu now correctly does nothing.

Firstly I want to emphasize that the game is content complete. There are no missing achievements, no missing mechanics, no missing puzzles, and I have no intentions of doing any major redesigns. However, there is a never-ending list of things that I've wanted to do, but could not afford to either for monetary or time reasons. Custom level support The puzzle editor is available and functional, albeit with some lack of polish. Your created puzzles go to /Puzzles/ as JSON files (that use a custom string format for puzzle parsing). I do recommend making a new folder (which can be done in-game) to separate out different puzzles, since puzzle name collisions within the same directory can cause issues. You can manually place JSON files in this directory, and play them through the puzzle editor using the "Test" button. This isn't great, and will be the main focus of post-launch development. The game is very long, so I expect to have some time before people really start going crazy with custom levels. The main things I intend to add here are:

• A special menu option for playing custom levels packs. You shouldn't have to go through the puzzle editor, and you should have basic QoL like the ability to save your progress - which the editor's "Test" function doesn't provide.
• Level sharing through Steam Workshop. I don't expect many players will want to manually transfer files around. Plus this is very important for custom level pack discoverability!
• Puzzle editor polish. I'll be making improvements based on feedback. I will be happy to write-up some detailed documentation on Discord if anyone is interested.

• Support for MacOS.
• Localization. Outside of menus and the journal/hints (which are optional), the game is fairly text-free. Nevertheless, players with very limited English skills will struggle. If the game does well enough and it makes financial sense, then I would like to slowly add more languages as it makes sense. I've received a lot of feedback for Simplified Chinese, but am curious, what other languages should I prioritize?

It's time to dive in and get your mind melted by penguin absurdity! Gentoo Rescue will have a 10% launch discount for 2-weeks, which takes us through the upcoming Cerebral Puzzle Showcase. I hope this game brings you as much joy as it has brought me. If any issues arise, please don't hesitate to reach out to me on Discord (preferred), the Steam forums, or social media. I've taken today and tomorrow off work so that I can be extra responsive to any feedback.

Mark your calendar! The wacky penguins will be sliding onto Steam later this month on Thursday, May 22nd at 9AM PDT. If you want to follow development more closely, please join the Discord server and follow my personal account on BlueSky, and my Gentoo Rescue account on X.

Gentoo Rescue Demo is part of the Box-Pushing Festival, running April 21-28 at 10 AM PT! Gentoo Rescue is not a traditional sokoban game. The player controls multiple animals that move independently, and the "boxes" are the animals themselves. The animals move by sliding, and they can pick up items to gain new abilities - some of which allow for pushing, pulling, and other ways to manipulate other animals. The game plays like traditional sokoban games with: - Grid-based movement. - Discrete state-space. - Puzzles that can be deduced by working backwards from the "solve" state. Of course there non-sokoban influences as well, such as: - Many emergent mechanics for a rule-discovery focus. - Open-world of nested puzzles. - Meta elements, including recursion, [spoiler]redacted[/spoiler], and [spoiler]redacted[/spoiler]. If this sounds interesting, be sure to leave a wishlist, try the demo, and join the Discord server. I'm eager to get any and all feedback I can while extra eyes are on the game during the event, so don't hesitate to reach out. You can also follow my personal account on BlueSky and my Gentoo Rescue account on Twitter/X.

I am sorry to say that I will not make the "April 2025" release date that has been on the store page for the last few weeks. Gentoo Rescue is a passion project that I have worked solo on for over 2 years. The game is gigantic with 50+ hours of hand-designed content, which is not even including the puzzle editor that will be available on day one. The decision to delay launch has not been easy, but ultimately I do not want to jeopardize all of this hard work by releasing the game before I feel that it is perfect. Gentoo Rescue is also being developed on the side, and unfortunately the original date is not playing nicely with my full-time job and other life obligations. It's not far off, but there are still some things that still need a bit more time. For now the store page has been updated to read "Q2 2025". If you want to follow development more closely, then please join the Discord server and follow my personal account on BlueSky, and my Gentoo Rescue account on X.

Gentoo Rescue is part of Steam NextFest! This comes with another round of many small improvements. Here's some of the more noticeable ones that appear in the demo: [olist]

The previous demo was intentionally long so that I could gather as much feedback as possible. This new version has a much more appropriate length of only 17 puzzles. The full game will have nearly 300. The demo covers: [olist]

I've gathered a lot of feedback on the previous demo, and the consensus is that it was still too difficult. I agree, and I've identified that this was not because of the mechanics or the puzzles themselves, but because the progression was too fast. Demo version 0.4 completely reworks the world puzzles and the overall organization of puzzles. The early experience is now much more representative of the full release. With 30 puzzles, there is more room for tutorial puzzles without sacrificing too much of the post-game bonus content. Don't worry! There are still difficult puzzles and teases of late-game mechanics that come without any on-boarding. It's just that they are now 100% optional. The full version of the game is coming along nicely, but I wanted to take this detour to update the demo. It's very important that I get as much feedback as possible, and now that the demo is a better representation of the full game, the feedback will be more valuable. Want to join the conversation? Join the discord! After discord, our twitter is the next-best place to get updates and follow development. Be on the look out for an announcement later this year!

The new demo features a journal system, which will track the discovered mechanics and interactions. Once unlocked, each journal entry reveals a description and video demonstration. Players can be confident about what they've learned, and they no longer need to worry about forgetting old mechanics. Additionally, the journal features a lightbulb "hint" button, which will show all journal entries that are needed for the current level. This will remove uncertainty about whether the current level needs a new discovery, or if it just uses old mechanics in a new way. The main hub levels "The Beginning" and "Vignette" were also tweaked to be a bit easier. "The Beginning" was particularly difficult for its place in the demo, and this difficulty was not very interesting, so it's been greatly simplified to make it easier for the player to reach new puzzles. It still features all of the same bonus content as the previous version, except the sub-puzzle "Siblings" has been removed. "Siblings" was not a great reward for the amount of secret discovery that the player needed to do to reach it. The demo also already has way too much secret and bonus content as it is. The change to "Vignette" was much smaller. We just removed one crucial step from it, which was done because "VIgnette" already introduces a lot of new mechanics - including the meta elements. We hope the journal system and simpler hub puzzles will round out the difficulty curve a bit. The on-boarding is still quite a bit rushed compared to the full game, but we believe the new demo is much closer than the old version. Please join our discord for feedback!

Demo has been updated! The new demo features metroidvania-esque elements, where backtracking is rewarded and different levels can influence one another. This demo contains 15 puzzles, and will take roughly:

• 30+ minutes to reach the end screen
• 100+ minutes to complete all puzzles
• 150+ minutes to obsessively complete literally everything (don't do this)