The 4 new Challenge Levels are now available!

The S-Rank paths in these levels are designed to incorporate some of the tricks that speedrunners have discovered since the release of the game. Check out some of the awesome runs being posted to the Speedrun.com page if you want to see some of these techniques in action! All new Challenge level gates, marked with the golden leaf icon in the title, will become accessible in Amethyst Ascent Hub World when you have gathered all the leaves in the main game. We added a special pop-up prompt to warp you directly to the first Challenge Level once you gather all other leaves, but just in case you dismiss the prompt;

Using the Level select screen to access the levels:

• Continue a file where you have collected every other Golden Leaf
• Open the Pause Menu
• Open the Level Select
• Click the "W1" tab
• Select Level 1-2
• Exit Level 1-2, Challenge Level 1 is just below it in the W1 map!

We hope you enjoy the additional Challenge Levels! Please share your thoughts on our Discord. Thanks again for your interest in Unless! [spoiler]Can you find the hidden Crewmate in the background art of the new levels?[/spoiler]

[ 2025-04-25 19:40:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone! Gabriel here. Having completed the first round of play-tests for the new Challenge Levels, we now consider them ready for an "open-beta" round of feedback! Check the following post for instructions:

How to Access the New Levels

• Right-Click Unless in your Steam Library and select Properties
  
• On the left side, select Betas
• Enter the code: 4bonuslevels
• Click "Check Code"
• If you have typed the code correctly, you'll see a blue button appear that says "Opt into: bonus-levels - 4 New Levels!"
• Click "Opt into: bonus-levels - 4 New Levels!", then you can close the Properties
  
• If done correctly, you'll now see "Unless [bonus-levels]" in your Steam Library and text that says "Selected version bonus-levels" next to the green PLAY button
• Select PLAY to begin

Once You Are In-Game

• Select Continue
• Open the Pause Menu
• Open the Level Select
• Click the new tab "Bonus" at the top-right
• The 4 Challenge Levels can be opened from this menu

The leaderboards are temporarily active, so you can compare your times against the scores of the dev-team and other play-testers, but keep in mind they might get reset if the levels are changed. Also, please note that the new levels are not yet decorated while we continue to collect feedback. Please share your thoughts in the #unless-beta-testing channel of our Discord. It would be extra-helpful to record your very first attempt of each level and share it, if possible. The new Steam Game Recording feature makes this rather easy to do! Thanks again for your interest in Unless! I hope to share the new levels with you all soon!

[ 2025-03-21 18:36:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

As a big thanks to everyone who has supported the game so far, we're excited to announce that we're adding 4 brand-new levels to the first World of Unless! These levels will be exclusive to the full version of the gamethey wont be available in the demo. Were inviting players to help us test these new levels before release! Heres how:

• Alpha Test First, well run a closed alpha for those who want an early look. Keep in mind these levels will be undecorated, since their layout may change over the course of testing.
• Public Beta After the alpha, well open up a public beta so more players can jump in and try them out.

Want to join the Alpha?

If you haven't already, please consider joining the Bellwood Studios Discord server. Get the Unless-tester role from the #role-pick channel of our Discord and make sure your DMs are open. We'll reach out to small batches of players at a time. Keep in mind, we're looking for casual players as well as speedrunners! Your feedback will help us fine-tune these levels before they officially launch. Thanks for being part of this journey with us, and see you on the leaderboards!

[ 2025-02-25 01:23:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Gabriel here with another small set of fixes. If you haven't already, please consider joining the Bellwood Studios Discord server. It's a great place to chat with fellow players and share your best runs! Here are the changes introduced since my last post:

• Added a new feature to detect sub-60 FPS gameplay and automatically reduce the VFX level to compensate to ensure a smoother play experience. Please let us know how it works for you! We only have access to so many devices to test on, so we are open to feedback and ways to improve this feature.
• Implemented a fix for timing of World Speedruns which falsely reported incredibly short times
• Implemented a fix for ultra-wide monitors displaying art beyond the regular screen bounds (Thanks to herbesdeprovence for reporting the issue!)
• Fixed an issue on the Level Complete screen where buttons could become unselected
• Fixed an issue which caused a crash with Japanese dialogue (Thanks to for reporting the issue!)

Please note that localization remains an ongoing community effort, which you can contribute to via our CrowdIn project page: https://crowdin.com/project/unless I've read every review so far (even translated the ones that aren't in English!) and every post in the Steam community, so rest assured, I've seen every bit of feedback you've shared with us! As always, the fastest way to notify us of bugs or crashes is via the Bellwood Studios Discord. Enjoy the game, and see you on the Leaderboards!

[ 2025-02-11 16:47:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

"Couch Co-op" Steam Key Giveaway!

Were participating in the "Couch Co-op" fest on Steam, and we're doing another give-away to celebrate! This time, we want to reward players who own the game with a chance to earn a Steam key for Unless to share with a friend!

How to Participate:

1 Join the Bellwood Studios Discord server (if you havent already) and select the @UnlessFan role in the #role-pick channel (react with the Golden Leaf to get the role) 2 Make an account on Speedrun.com - Check the rules for submitting a run before recording one! 3 Record a Full-World Co-op Speedrun using the Helper Bird in every level - This can be any of the 4 Worlds in the game, or a Full-Game speedrun - Try using the Helper Bird together with a friend or family member! Who knows what short-cuts you'll discover? 4 Post your speedrun on Speedrun.com - It's a huge help if you share your runs on Social Media or Reddit communities like r/speedrun, but be sure to obey the rules for posting in each specific subreddit! 5 Let us know! Share the link to your Speedrun.com submission in the new #unless-contests channel on our Discord. ---

Event Details:

• You must own a full copy of Unless in order to participate; runs of the Demo will not count as submissions
• You don't need a 2nd Player in order to submit a run; you can submit a run where you use the Helper Bird solo
• 1 Entry per person
• Start Time: February 10, 2025 at 1:00 PM EST
• Event End: February 17, 2025 at 1:00 PM EST
• Please expect to wait up to 24h to receive your Steam key.
• We will verify entries during work hours; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Note: Cheaters will be banned from the server.

[ 2025-02-07 18:00:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Gabriel here with another small set of fixes. If you haven't already, please consider joining the Bellwood Studios Discord server. It's a great place to chat with fellow players and share your best runs! Here are the changes introduced since my last post:

• Implemented a fix for Berry times not getting submitted to the leaderboards; we are still testing this, so please let us know if you experience any issues!
• Added Full Restart keybind; use this to quickly restart Full Game / Full World speedruns if the "Triple-Press Restart shortcut" is uncomfortable to press
• Updated Screenshot System to include GUI elements
• Fixed crash related to gathering "All Berries" in a level
• Implemented a fix for Rank badges flickering between ranks when you are 1 frame off from the goal time
• Fixed crash when credits are viewed in Vietnamese
• Added partial translations for Finnish (thanks to Patrik Selin) and Ukrainian (thanks to Daries UA)

Please note that localization remains an ongoing community effort, which you can contribute to via our CrowdIn project page: https://crowdin.com/project/unless We'll continue to keep an eye on the Steam Community, but the fastest way to notify us of bugs or crashes is via the Bellwood Studios Discord. Enjoy the game, and see you on the Leaderboards!

[ 2025-01-31 20:57:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Were excited to announce our "Speedrun to Win" event, where you can earn up to 2 Steam keys for Unless! This is a first-come, first-serve giveaway, with only 0 / 50 keys remaining so act fast!

How to Participate:

1 - Join the Bellwood Studios Discord server (if you havent already) and select the @UnlessFan role in the #role-pick channel (react with Golden Leaf to get the role) 2 - Choose one (or both) of the following ways to earn keys:

Option 1: S-Rank the Demo

- Download the Unless Demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3027380/Unless_Demo/ - Earn S-Ranks on all 6 levels of the Demo (including the Tutorial) - Take a screenshot of the Demo Complete screen showing your results
- Share the screenshot in the #unless-speedruns channel on Discord. - Important: Make sure your Discord profile is linked to your Steam account so we can verify your achievements!

Option 2: Share Your Speedrun

- Record a video of achieving an S-Rank on any level (Demo or Full Game). - Post your speedrun on Speedrun_com: https://www.speedrun.com/Unless [strike]Reddit Speedrun Community: https://www.reddit.com/r/speedrun/[/strike] We have been asked by a user of r/speedrun not to spam the reddit for the purpose of this giveaway. We appreciate anyone who shares speedruns of their games on r/speedrun of their own volition, but we cannot award keys for this. - Share the link to your post in the #unless-speedruns channel on our Discord.

Bonus: Earn 2 Keys!

Complete both tasks (Option 1 and Option 2) to earn 2 keysone for you and one for a friend! ---

Event Details:

- Start Time: The event starts NOW! - End Time: Once all 50 keys are claimed, we will make an announcement that the event has ended. - Please expect to wait up to 24h to receive your Steam key. We will verify times during work hours; 9:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST - Discord is no longer allowing us to send Steam keys (we are getting blocked for spam) so expect a Friend Request on Steam from BluishGreenPro who will share the Steam key with you in a private message. - Note: Cheaters who try to share videos or screenshots of other player's end screens will be banned from the Discord and prevented from participating in future giveaways. --- See you on the Leaderboards! And if you like the game don't forget to leave us a review!

[ 2025-01-27 19:05:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Gabriel here with another small set of fixes. First of all, a big thanks to everyone who has left a Review for Unless on Steam! We're 20 reviews away from the "Very Positive" status, which we will reach once we hit 50 Reviews (that have not received the product for free). If you haven't left a Review yet, please take a moment to do so, as it really is a huge help for us! I've read every single review so far (I've even translated the ones that aren't in English) and the feedback people have been leaving has been quite helpful. Here are the changes introduced in v1.0.10:

• Fixed UI Layout on a few languages
• Fixed End Screen crash caused by getting the *exact* time required to get a ranking
• Fixed various issues with swapping between Full Screen and Borderless Full Screen
• Removed broken borderless options from Linux
• Improved various translations
• **New Language:** Netherlands (special thanks to Ailko Claeys!)
• **New Setting:** You can swap the target monitor when full screen (if you have multiple monitors)

Please note that localization remains an ongoing community effort, which you can contribute to via our CrowdIn project page: https://crowdin.com/project/unless We'll continue to keep an eye on the Steam Community, but the fastest way to notify us of bugs or crashes is via the Bellwood Studios Discord. Enjoy the game, and see you on the Leaderboards!

[ 2025-01-22 14:54:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Steam Key Giveaway - Terms of Entry

Were giving away 10 Steam Keys to members of our Discord community! Enter for a chance to win by following the steps below:

How to Enter:

• Join the Bellwood Studios Discord server (if you havent already).
• Select the Unless Fan role in the #role-pick channel. This role is required to participate in the giveaway.

Key Dates:

• Entry Deadline: Friday, January 24th, 2025, at 11:59 PM EST.
• Winners Announced: Monday, January 27th, 2025.

Additional Details:

• Selection Process: Winners will be chosen at random from participants who have completed the steps above by the deadline.
• Eligibility: You must have the Unless Fan role at the time of the giveaway to qualify.
• Winners will be contacted via Discord, so make sure your DMs are open to server members or moderators.

Good luck, and thanks for being part of our community!

[ 2025-01-21 15:32:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Gabriel here with another small set of fixes. Also, if you're on the fence, this is your last chance to get Unless while it is 10% off during the launch discount window. We aren't planning to discount the game beyond 10% for the foreseeable future, so please take advantage of the discount now! Here are the changes introduced in v1.0.7: - Fixed leaderboard display issues - Timers now display 3 decimal places - Leaderboards now display the date the score was achieved (if that score was uploaded on v1.0.6+) - Added French & Spanish (Spain) - 100% completed Italian, Traditional Chinese, & Arabic Please note that localization remains an ongoing community effort, which you can contribute to via our CrowdIn project page: https://crowdin.com/project/unless We'll continue to keep an eye on the Steam Community, but the fastest way to notify us of bugs or crashes is via the Bellwood Studios Discord. Enjoy the game, and see you on the Leaderboards!

[ 2025-01-17 03:38:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Gabriel here with another small set of fixes. Here are the changes introduced in v1.0.4: - Updated W2 Wind zones with some lighter leaves and made the edges sharper to tell exactly where they end - Dialogue fix if you run to W2 before having entered W1 - Show the count of leaves to be collected above World Trees in the Forest of Worlds - Fixed leaf count in World Speedrun mode We'll continue to keep an eye on the Steam Community, but the fastest way to notify us of bugs or crashes is via the Bellwood Studios Discord. Enjoy the game, and see you on the Leaderboards!

[ 2025-01-13 01:45:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Gabriel here with a small set of fixes. Here are the fixes introduced in v1.0.3: - *Hopefully* fixed MacOS from instantly crashing on Intel CPUs (if we have any players on OSX, please comment and confirm if the game is now working for you!) - Fixed leaderboard display issues where sometimes 00.00 appears in the top spot and issues related to scrolling too quickly -Updated German We'll continue to keep an eye on the Steam Community, but the fastest way to notify us of bugs or crashes is via the Bellwood Studios Discord. Enjoy the game, and see you on the Leaderboards!

[ 2025-01-12 21:08:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hi everyone! Gabriel here. Thanks for your patience as we iron-out some of the early bugs in Unless. Here are the fixes introduced in v1.0.2: - Level 2-3 Updated (moved over Jellies on 2nd screen to make getting S-Rank more consistent) - Level 2-5 Updated (raised ceiling over slow / fast Jelly for better flow and less head-bonking) - Using the Bird in 1 - 1 no longer makes your run count as "Co-op" - Added better handling for enabling the Friends toggle on Leaderboards when you have no other friends who have played Unless - Fixed issue where Shuffle Mode attempts were counting as Daily Challenge attempt - Added error handling for missing dialogue; we are still hunting down the root cause, but the game should no longer crash - Reduced count of dialogues checked for The Full Story Achievement - Fixed error where dying after collecting the last Leaf in a Shuffle Mode attempt could cause the timer to start again - Fixed an issue on the results screen of Shuffle Mode where pressing "B" would cause the screen to reload - Fixed an issue where sometimes the results screen of Shuffle Mode would show a broken leaderboard - Minor updates to Japanese and Portuguese localization text - Credits updated We'll continue to keep an eye on the Steam Community, but the fastest way to notify us of bugs or crashes is via the Bellwood Studios Discord. Enjoy the game, and see you on the Leaderboards!

[ 2025-01-12 02:32:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone, Gabriel here! Today, were proud to announce the 1.0 Release of Unless! As you may or may not know, I had two main goals when designing the levels of Unless; - Create levels that are fun; not frustrating. This meant including frequent checkpoints to reduce the amount of content that you would have to repeat if you died, but also implementing a huge amount of Accessibility Features such as the Co-op Assist mode. - Create levels that are challenging to speedrun. I love watching skilled players speedrun Kaizo Mario levels, so while I ensured the game would be accessible to players of all ages and skill levels, I specifically designed every stage to push players to their limits when it came to playing them quickly. With the help of our talented play-testers, weve set S-Rank times for each level that will require a bit of puzzle-solving to figure out the optimal route, and a fair amount of mastery to actually execute. Id say the game really comes to life when you pursue these goal times, so please give it your best try!
To highlight everyones accomplishments, weve got Leaderboards for every Individual Level, each of the 4 Worlds in the game, and Full Game categories so you can test your mastery against players from across the world. Plus, there are All Berries variants of each Leaderboard! Wed like to encourage players to submit recordings of their runs to our official Speedrun.com site, on r/speedrun or other appropriate subReddits, and on the Bellwood Studios Discord where you can also chat with fellow players and look forward to some game-key give-aways and speedrun bounties in the coming weeks. Were also excited to announce a brand new feature; Shuffle Mode! This mode takes the carefully crafted levels of Unless and randomizes the links between every level gate in the game. It also shuffles the position of Golden Leaves and Crystal Berries within each level.
Youll find yourself hopping between Worlds, unlocking Berry Gates, and playing levels backwards as you try to gather all the Golden Leaves. You can configure how many levels are included, as well as a few other settings, then share seeds so you can race a friend! Were looking forward to seeing players attempt the daunting fully randomized mix of every level in the game. This mode is unlocked when you complete the base game, and also has a Daily Challenge that you can attempt only once to try and place on the daily Leaderboard. Youll need skill, but also a fair bit of luck to succeed in Shuffle Mode, so I hope everyone feels like theyve got a shot at placing #1! Well be doing our best to support the game post-launch with some extra polish and bug fixing. Please reach out to us on our Discord if youve spotted something awry, and well try to get a fix implemented ASAP. Please note that localization remains an ongoing community effort, which you can contribute to via our CrowdIn project page: https://crowdin.com/project/unless The release of Unless is the culmination of many years of effort (the initial prototype is from way-back in 2018!) I hope youll appreciate all the effort and polish that has gone into the game from our many talented team members. Thank you, and enjoy the game!

[ 2025-01-10 14:00:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey there! Gabriel here, with another update to the Demo that brings a few more improvements.

• First of all, the layout of the background art has been tweaked so that individual levels in the Amethyst Ascent now look more distinct!
• Weve added new UI themes and the ability to customize your own! Theme files must be edited externally, and as such, you can easily share them.
• We now have support for increased refresh rate monitors. Well continue testing this feature with the community to make necessary adjustments and try to support even more refresh rates.
• And of course, there is now support for even more languages thanks to the folks who have been helping out to translate the game on CrowdIn. If youd like to contribute, you can do so here:

https://crowdin.com/project/unless If youre enjoying the Demo, please Wishlist the game and share the game with any friends who you think would enjoy it! Thanks for playing, and see you on the leaderboards!

[ 2024-11-16 22:14:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hey everyone, Gabriel from the development team here. Weve begun localizing Unless via the CrowdIn platform, but we would like to support more languages so everyone can enjoy the game in their native language. If youre fluent in another language and love the game, please visit our CrowdIn project page here: https://crowdin.com/project/unless Everyone who contributes to the localization effort will be added to the in-game credits sequence. Thanks so much for your support and dedication! ~Gabriel

[ 2024-11-05 21:04:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today, wed like to introduce the Oops, all Crystal Berries! update to the Unless Demo as part of our participation in Steam Next Fest!

• The biggest new feature is updated Crystal Berry positions and a new All Berries category on the Leaderboards. For those looking for an extra challenge, this brings a little bit of extra complexity to familiar routes.
• Weve also revamped the final screen of the Tutorial to make it slightly more welcoming to new players while having an even faster possible route. This means youll be able to get even better Full Demo record times!
• Also, this update finally adds control remapping for Keyboard and Gamepad as part of our general overhaul of the Options UI.

If youre enjoying the Demo, please Wishlist the game and share the game with any friends who you think would enjoy it! Thanks for playing, and see you on the leaderboards! Cheers! ~Gabriel

[ 2024-10-14 19:29:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Next Fest is soon upon us... For the occasion, we have made a new gameplay Trailer :) on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StqBP2mARgY Don't forget to Wishlist and hope to see you all are ready to set some record times! Cheers!

[ 2024-10-09 17:35:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Everyone. Unless Demo Is Available Now :D We would like to take this opportunity with the launching of the demo for Unless to thank those who have been playtesting the game, getting in those record times and helping us find any bugs that cropped up. Thank You! To set some expectations, Unless is not a story rich game nor does it have any gimmicks. The goal of Unless is pure platforming, its just you, the tight level design and the clock. The aim is to provide the thrill and adrenaline of honing your skill and finding the quickest path through each level and world. We hope the demo will demonstrate this addictive gameplay. And we hope you will enjoy it as much as we have competing with each other on the leaderboards. Whilst the game is all about skill and precision, there are a slew of accessibility options available and you can play the game at your own pace in the non speedrunning mode. As a closing note, dont hesitate to join our Discord, share your runs and if you encounter any issues feel free to chat with us there. Cheers & see you all on the Leaderboards ;)

[ 2024-08-22 15:37:35 CET ] [ Original post ]