The road to beta
What it took to turn a prototype into something strangers could play: saves that survive, a first session that teaches, and honest results.
Written in retrospectCovers: 3 – 4 October 2026
A prototype only has to work for the people building it. A beta has to work for someone who has never heard of it, on their own computer, the first time. In the first days of October we set ourselves a date, the evening of 4 October, and a list of what the game needed before anyone else should see it.
Don't lose anyone's progress
On 3 October we worked through the list one item at a time:
- An older save is migrated, not wiped. As the game changes, your progress comes with it.
- Export and import your whole progress as one save file.
- A first visit opens How to play, and the developer tools leave the public site.
- A performance mode: one switch for slower computers.
- Accounts and cloud save, so your progress is safe if your browser is cleared; a feedback form; a mailing list; and a plain-language privacy page.
- Crash reports, so we hear about problems even when nobody writes in.
None of this is glamorous. All of it is respect for your time: an hour of practice should never vanish.
A first session that teaches
On 4 October we rebuilt the first few minutes:
- A welcome where you choose guitar, bass, or music theory, then microphone or on-screen fretboard. Choosing music theory leads to picking intervals, chords or scales, with a few easy starter answers.
- A guided first battle of a minute and a half against four basic squads, with twice the usual answer time, that pauses to explain your first question, your first miss and your first soldier.
- Short tips the first time you open Planning, the Collection, your Fretboard stats and Settings.
- A field manual with scoring, decks, practice options, microphone tips and a glossary.
- A Getting started checklist of 13 small goals with points: a first win, a look at Planning and the Collection, trying each exercise, using the microphone, a first mastered note, and three days of practice.
For the beta, only the classic battlefields are open. The others are to be earned or given out later, so there is always something ahead.
Results that mean something
Also on 4 October, every battle got a result: a grade, your personal bests and a history of your battles. The grade has since become a school letter, A to F, and an A has to be earned with real accuracy and pace. We wanted the result screen to tell you the truth about how you played, because that is what helps you improve.
Kaastle is in public beta now, and it is still changing every day. That is why this log exists: so you can see what changes, and why.