WOW!

This week I picked up Desktop Defender on Steam, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how well this kind of idle defense game play would fit my other game, SurvivalScape (Steam, Itch)

On Thursday night (11/6/25), I decided to give it a shot and started prototyping a new project: Survival Idle. It came together shockingly fast, the core loop was playable in just a few hours and I was having so much fun that I couldn’t put it down. By Saturday (11/8/25) I uploaded it to Itch, worked on a web build, and shared it on Reddit, Bsky,  X (Twitter) and incrementaldb looking for feedback.

Within 24 hours of release, Survival Idle has become my biggest launch ever on Itch.io, reaching over 1,000 players! The feedback has been incredible and I've implemented every requested change today!

And don’t worry, I am not stopping work on SurfsUp. This came out of nowhere and had a massive response!

That said, I am planning to slow down on game development a bit while I focus on finding a job. Unfortunately, income from game dev hasn’t been sustainable enough to continue full-time. 😕 I'm grateful for everyone who’s played and supported me,  it really keeps me motivated to continue. ❤️

Please join the SurfsUp & SurvivalScape Discord Server for feedback and updates!

Thank you,

Mark

Patch Notes:

Changes

• Gold can now be clicked on to be instantly collected
• Auto upgrades now stay selected between runs
• Game now starts at 2x speed

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where auto purchased upgrades were resetting the player's current health
• Fixed a bug where enemies could get behind the projectile spawn point, taking no damage at point blank range
• Fixed a bug where the main menu's crystal count was not updating when spending crystals

Ability/Meta Changes

• Ability upgrades have been moved from the in-game Upgrade Shop to the main menu Meta Shop.
• Traits now have their own tab in the Meta Shop, and are only visible once an ability is unlocked.
• Pickup speed is now a meta upgrade
• Attack range is now a meta upgrade

UI

• Shop close buttons are now red
• The quit button is now hidden on the web build
• Margins added to options menu
• Resolution options hidden on web
• Audio options tab hidden (there's no audio implemented yet)
• The auto check button is now always fully visible even when you can't afford the upgrade
• Auto check button turns green when enabled
• Added pause label to in-game upgrade shop