Dev diary: why Turbo Tap Masters makes you tap

The loop we love, and the part we left out

Tap games have one of the purest loops there is: hit, get stronger, hit harder. Many of them then hand the hitting over to the game and let the numbers grow while you are away. That can be a fine game. It just is not the one we wanted to make.

In Turbo Tap Masters nothing happens while the app is closed. Every coin, every item and every level comes from a round you actually played. We call it an active tap RPG, and every other decision follows from that one.

Monsters hit back

If the player has to be there, the round has to be worth being there for. So a round is a fight, not a counter. Some monsters wind up and strike at your shields, and if you tap them during the wind-up, the strike never lands. Others hide under shells that bite back when you break them, unless you crack them with a critical hit or an area spell.

That means rounds can be lost. It sounds harsh for a casual game, but losing is what makes the next upgrade feel like something. A sword that turns a lost round into a won one is a sword you remember.

Your damage is what you wear

We wanted one honest answer to the question "why am I stronger now?". In Turbo Tap Masters the answer is your gear. Your damage is mostly the sum of what you wear: weapon, armour and hat, the gems in their sockets and the card in each item. Health grows with your player level, and DEF comes from gear.

When an item is better than the one you are wearing, its card says exactly how much better before you equip it. There is no hidden multiplier to guess at.

One build, everywhere

The build you take into the campaign is the build your opponent faces in a ranked duel. We never wanted a separate PvP character with separate stats that you have to grind twice. A gem you socket for a boss fight helps you in the arena the same evening. Duels add the decisions a round cannot: each turn you choose where to strike and where to block, and the duels page shows exactly how the damage is worked out.

A game that explains itself

The rule we gave ourselves for onboarding is simple: no popup that explains a feature. Instead, Tuk the guide introduces each part of the game at the moment it opens, one thing at a time. If we need a wall of text to explain something, the thing itself is too complicated.

What is next

More biomes and bosses are on the way, and we will write about them here first. If you want to see them before anyone else, follow us on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, or grab the RSS feed.