🐰 December Playtest Recap: What we learned from our latest playtest

December Playtest Results, Exciting Updates, and What’s Next

Hi everyone,

Happy New Year from all of us at Caldera Interactive! We’re starting 2025 with a look back at the December playtest for The Rabbit Haul. It was an incredible week, with over 70 players testing new features, submitting feedback, and helping us shape the future of the game.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. Here’s what we learned, what we’re working on, and how you can continue to be part of the process.

What you Loved

• Art Style: The cute visuals stood out as a highlight, with many players praising the vibrant look of the game.
• Engaging Gameplay: The mix of farming, tower defense, and combat kept players entertained and eager for more.
• Sniper Violet: This new tower addition was well-received and proved to be a favorite among testers.
• Extended Inventory: Players appreciated the added organization and flexibility this brought to gameplay.
• Community Events & Interactions: The live Q&A during the playtest was a hit, with players enjoying the chance to connect with the developers and share ideas, and also chatting strategies with other playtesters in the Discord. Want to join the fun? Join our Discord.

What Needs Work

• Combat Challenges: Combat was the most commonly mentioned area for improvement. Issues with hitboxes, weapon upgrades, and interactions between players and enemies made combat feel less polished.
• Stink Bombs: Players liked the concept but noted odd hitboxes behaviour and limited effectiveness during later waves.
• Sprinklers: While useful in theory, these were often replaced by Beehives, which provided more value for their cost.
• Controls: We received a few reports asking for more flexibility around remapping controls to make the game more accessible.
• Bugs: We received 51 bug reports, ranging from small UI issues to gameplay mechanics. We’ve already started working on fixes to address these for the next playtest.

Who Played

This playtest brought in many new players—73% were first-timers, introduced through events like Gamescom, word-of-mouth, and social media.

Our audience’s favorite genres, including Survival and RPGs, align well with The Rabbit Haul’s design. It’s exciting to see how well the game resonates with its intended audience.

Community Highlights

We love hearing your ideas! In our Discord, players can suggest new game features and vote on others’ submissions through our Feature Leaderboard. The top three suggestions right now are:

1. Ranged enemies (and more explosions) with 8 votes.
2. Ability to destroy or move plants and towers with 7 votes
3. The ability to pet the pig with 6 votes. 🐷

These suggestions not only inspire us but also help us prioritize what’s most important to you. Want to share your ideas or vote on your favorites? Join our Discord to participate!

We also hosted a live Q&A session during the playtest, answering questions and diving deeper into The Rabbit Haul’s development. Thank you to everyone who joined and participated—it was a fantastic discussion! If you missed it, you can watch the recording on YouTube: Live Q&A Session.

We’re planning to host more live Q&As in the future, so stay tuned for announcements!

What's Next

Based on your feedback and our roadmap, we’re focusing on the following features and fixes for the next playtest:

• Boss Fight: Get ready for an epic challenge! The next playtest will introduce The Rabbit Haul’s first boss fight, adding a new layer of excitement and strategy to the game. Will your defenses be enough to take it down?
• Symbiosis Crystals: These will reward players for creating symbiotic relationships in their gardens, encouraging creative and strategic layouts.
• Haul Upgrades: Symbiosis Crystals will also unlock Haul Upgrades, letting you customize your strategy. These upgrades will add a new dimension to how you approach each run.
• Safe Zone Town: We’re replacing the current main menu upgrade store with a safe zone town. Between runs, you’ll be able to upgrade towers, manage your resources, and prepare for the challenges ahead. This immersive addition will deepen the game’s roguelite elements and give players more reasons to keep coming back.
• UI Updates: We’re continuing to refine the user experience with UI improvements such as the HUD.
  Custom Music: We will be working with a composer to bring fresh sounds to the game!
• Ability to Move Plants and Towers: Based on your feedback, we’re adding this highly requested feature to make gameplay more flexible and strategic.
• Balancing: Tweaking towers, crops, waves, and upgrades to be more fun and accessible.
• Bug Fixes: We’re actively addressing the 51 bug reports submitted during the last playtest to ensure a smoother experience.

Unfortunately, we can’t get to everything for the next playtest. We love reading all your experiences and ideas for the game. Please understand that as a small team, we have to prioritize balancing, bug fixes and new feature implementations. But I promise we take all your feedback seriously and will get to it eventually.

Support the game

If you haven’t already, please wishlist The Rabbit Haul on Steam. It’s a simple way to support the game and stay updated on future playtests, announcements, and updates.

Want to be more involved? Join our Discord for discussions, sneak peeks, and a chance to shape the game through feature suggestions and live events.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Your feedback and enthusiasm make all the difference, and we’re excited for what’s to come in 2025!

-- Until next time! 👋