Earlier in the month we announced that we've working on a new game mode for That's Nuts. The big day has arrived and the Scavenger Mode update is now available! The update introduces several new mechanics that build on top of the original That's Nuts game, which we're now calling Endless Mode. When selecting Play from the main menu, you'll be able to choose which game mode you want to play.
The main features of Scavenger mode are the introduction of a Coin power-up and the ability to spend coins at a shop to improve your run. Coins spawn randomly during game play and can be collected by hitting them with a nut, just like other power-ups. An upgrade shop will appear every 90 seconds, with three upgrades for sale chosen at random. Upgrades have three rarities -- common, uncommon and rare -- which affect how likely they are to appear in the shop. If you have extra coins you can re-roll the cards in the shop to see a different set of upgrades.
The shop is operated by a shifty raccoon named Scooter, who's happy to sell you whatever junk he's found around the neighborhood. At the start of a new game Scooter will let you choose one free starting upgrade. The starting upgrade pool can't be re-rolled, but it will always consist of uncommon and rare upgrades.
Upgrades have a wide range of affects. Some of them will improve the duration, size, or behavior of obstacles, and others will let you fire your slingshot faster. All of them will help you defend Hank's park for longer and reach higher scores. The in-game Nut-o-Pedia has a list of all of the possible upgrades and their typical cost.
Scores and stats for the new game mode are tracked separately. This also applies to the global leader boards, and the platform-specific leader boards on Steam, Android and iOS. We hope you enjoy playing Scavenger Mode! The full release notes for the update can be found below:

• Added Scavenger Mode
• Added a game mode selection screen when selecting Play from the main menu
• Changed the Timestop power-up so it also pauses active obstacle effects, i.e. walls or puddles
• Changed the look of the Achievement page to make it more closely match the rest of the UI
• Changed the personal stats and leaderboards so they have menus for switching between game modes
• Fixed slingshot max distance so it can hit the far right edge of the screen
• Fixed slingshot guide rendering so it always stops at the ground level
• Fixed an issue with the life display not updating properly when restarting a game with more than 3 lives
• Fixed an issue with the slingshot's next nut display not upgrading correctly when restarting a game

We're excited to finally announce more details about what we've been working on for the last few months. Our next update to That's Nuts! will be the largest since the initial release of the game and will feature a brand new game mode -- Scavenger Mode!
Scavenger Mode introduces rogue-like elements that let you create a unique build and scale faster than the critters invading the park. You can collect Coin power-ups to earn income and use the coins to buy upgrades at Scooter's Shop.
The first release of Scavenger mode will have over 40 upgrades to choose from. Each one improves existing game mechanics, one of the nuts or power-ups, or your ability to earn more coins. Upgrades are designed to work together in interesting and useful ways. For example, you could get your hands on the Electric Fence upgrade to turn all walls into deadly obstacles, and then combine it with Spare Boards to the increases the duration of the walls.
You might want to look out for a Spire as well so that you can also hit Meese and Mike with the walls too.
Or, you could pick up a Pacemaker to gain a surplus of lives, and then turn those lives into damage by combining it with Aspirin.
All of the upgrades are supposed to fit a common theme -- small items that a raccoon could perhaps find in the park or from somebody's garbage can. They each have a distinct cover art that's at least somewhat related to the effect it provides and the item associated with the card. Anything that affects in-game mechanics also has a unique visual indicator, to help your remember what bonuses you have. In-game the Electric Fence and Spare Boards upgrades mentioned earlier would both change the way that walls look.
Creating custom card art and composable visuals for all of the upgrades has been one of the largest tasks for Scavenger Mode. There's still lots left to do, but we're on the home stretch now. We're aiming to have the game available as a free update on the mobile app stores and Steam by the end of March. Stay tuned!

A new version of That's Nuts! is now available for download on all supported platforms. The update includes a handful of small bug fixes, UI tweaks, and some internal changes in preparation for our larger update coming in March. The most noteworthy bug fix is that critters will now only be counted as missed/escaped if their body fully crosses the right edge of the playing area. In previous versions of the game, once a critter's body was more than half way off the screen the player would lose a life and the critter would disappear. This wasn't the intended behavior, but it existed for so long that we just got used to it. For example, the dog below would have cost a life in v1.5.5, but is still hit-able with a nut in v1.5.6:
The new update also fixes a visual issue with the Meese and Mike bonus critters losing their animations after using a Clock power-up. We've also added a custom cursor and fixed a menu selection bug when using a controller to navigate the pause menu. The internal changes actually make up the bulk of the update, although they shouldn't have any immediate impact on game play. We've updated the system we use to track personal and global stats so that it supports multiple game modes. That includes high scores on the global leader board, as well as your own personal scores and game play stats show in the Progress page. The 1.5.6 update will automatically port your data over to the new system so that's ready for the big update in March, which will introduce a brand new game mode! The full release notes for the update can be found below:

• Added a custom cursor graphic
• Added a Steam download link to the official homepage
• Added a Bluesky social link to the main menu, next to the existing Instagram link
• Changed the name of the Default theme to Meadow
• Fixed an issue with Mike and Meese losing their animations after using a Clock power-up
• Fixed critters so they only count as missed when their entire body crosses the right side of the screen, instead of only the first half of their body
• Fixed an issue with pause menu buttons not automatically re-selecting when controller input is received

Welcome to That's NUTS! -- a casual tower defense game where you help Hank the Squirrel defend his park from invaders. Fire four different kinds of nuts with your slingshot, each with its own special ability. Grab power-ups that fall into the playing area for a quick boost when things get chaotic. Race against the clock and survive for as long as you can!

At the beginning of the game a steady stream of critters will try to make their way across the screen. Critters start off on foot, but over time they'll learn to use parachutes and drop into the middle of the map instead of starting on the edge. The game ends if too many of them successfully make it to the other side.

As your score gets higher, your chances of encountering a rare Hawk, Grasshopper or Mangolin go up. All three of them have ways to avoid your regular defenses and pose an extra challenge!

Each time you fire your slingshot a random nut is chosen -- you can tell which type is coming up next in the game interface. The most common type is the Acorn which bounces up to 3 times on the ground before disappearing. The Coconut breaks and creates a slowing puddle as soon as it hits the ground. The Pistachio explodes on impact with the ground, hitting all nearby critters and power-ups. Lastly, the Walnut creates a vertical barrier that blocks critters. All nuts can bounce any number of times after hitting a critter, but they lose speed from each bounce.

Hitting a power-up using any kind of nut will collect it and earn you a small, temporary advantage. The Clock power-up freezes time for 5 seconds and stops all critters in their tracks. The Heart grants you an additional life, and the Skull eliminates all critters currently on the map.

You can pick a theme to customize the appearance of the world and the outfits worn by critters. Keep track of your personal scores, stats and achievement in the game itself, and fight for a spot on the global leader board.

Best of luck!

• OS: Ubuntu 20.04 or newer
• Processor: 2 GHz Dual Core CPUMemory: 4096 MB RAM
• Memory: 4096 MB RAM
• Graphics: Shader Model 4.0. 2GB VRAM
• Storage: 150 MB available space