Hello! Frankie here, thank you all for the support so far!

Following some suggestions I\'ve added support for custom words, this is currently available in a beta branch, eventually it will get rolled out to the main branch.

This works by placing an audio file of the word in a specific folder next to the games exe called \"CustomWords\" . If that all makes sense to you go ahead and jump right in, otherwise here\'s a step by step guide

1) Switch to beta branch by right clicking on Squash and Spell in your library and picking \"Properties...\"\n[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45528413/b474e4d023aa841f0e8514c2fe02aa4b202be033.png\"][/img]

2) Go to the \"Betas\" tab and pick \"customwords\" from the list\n[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45528413/817d47a888cdf2c8c687d6aa0aa5a6c1f778642b.png\"][/img]

3) You now should see this in your Library,

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45528413/09e9f53f3a6c9ecd46de7b61c8334dbfd274fcd1.png\"][/img]

4) Run the game and check you have 1.04 in the top right. Running the game creates the folder, meaning if you delete the folder it will come back again ready for use!\n[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45528413/95922a95d58628b06d5de0ca40afa58402e4e9a9.png\"][/img]

5) Now we need to go to the location the game is installed on your hard drive, the easiest way to do that is right click on Squash and Spell again, then go \"Manage\" and \"Browse local files\"

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45528413/f9de9e191e8a61df466d39db75216ed62959ba74.png\"][/img]

6) Find this folder and open it! Inside is an instructions.txt.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45528413/5e73372e2e88a7de84288a3454165add44dd4255.png\"][/img]

7) I\'ll paste the instructions.txt contents here;\n\n--- Welcome to the custom word system for Squash and Spell! ---

How to Add Your Own Words:

- Place your audio files (.wav, .ogg, or .mp3) directly into this folder.

- Name each file after the word you want the game to spell. For example, a file named \'hello.wav\' will add the word \'hello\' to the game.

- If you don\'t want the custom word sounds, move the files to another folder (the game does not check subfolders).

Important!

- Words must be 7 letters or shorter.

- This system is for whole words only, not individual letter sounds.

And that\'s it! If you make any good sound packs and you want to share please post in the community section.

-Other Games-

As well as Squash and Spell we\'ve been hard at work on some other cool projects, If you like the look of them please wishlist to show your support.

\n[dynamiclink href=\"https://store.steampowered.com/app/3917020/Pigeon_Hunter/\"][/dynamiclink]A hidden object game called Pigeon Hunter, we just started a public play test so you can check out a sample environment!

\n[dynamiclink href=\"https://store.steampowered.com/app/3816400/Super_Carpark_Walking_Parking_Simulator_Turbo/\"][/dynamiclink]Super Carpark Walking Parking Simulator Turbo is the definitive animated carpark chaotic parking simulator!!! Park cars before its too late!

-Discord-

Weve set up a community Discord and would love to hang out, chat, and hear your thoughts:

https://discord.gg/7ChNhjwJjx \n\n

-Frankie

As we get closer to release, we've been making sure Squash and Spell runs smoothly on as much hardware as possible.

The game includes an automatic graphics setting feature that balances performance and quality, so well, in fact, that it runs on a 10-year-old mid-range phone (Nexus 5X)! Prefer manual control? You can turn it off and adjust the sliders yourself.

The minimum specs on the store page are a bit vague, not because were hiding anything, but because we simply dont have a device slow enough to stop it from running. (It wont look quite as fancy on low-end hardware, of course.)

And yes, Squash and Spell runs at a solid 60fps on max settings on the Steam Deck, with full touchscreen support, including finger tracing!

Hello! I'd like to introduce myself and my game. I'm Frankie and I've been a game developer for over 20 years.

I designed Squash and Spell for my young daughter. She would often see me using the computer and want to join in. She loved imitating me by pressing the keys but was a little disappointed when nothing fun happened. I couldnt find any games suitable for her age so I decided to make one myself!

Ive tried to make Squash and Spell a fun and welcoming space for young children to spend time in. There arent really any ways to fail, it gently supports children from the moment theyre curious about computers through to when they start learning letters, words, and spelling.

This game turned out to be much more complex than I expected, but Im really pleased to have finally set a release date: 28th of May, 2025.

This is my first release as a solo developer, and Im so happy to be able to share it with other families. I hope it brings some fun and joy to your children too!

A big thank you to Ian Buckley for providing the voice acting.