We're back with a small but hopefully fun update! The "thank you for playing" playground level at the end of the game has been replaced with a new Endless Mode. This mode randomly picks a level and sub-challenge and continues indefinitely until you quit. There is also an accompanying leaderboard so you can keep track of how many challenges you were able to complete in a single run. Enjoy!

[ 2024-09-22 12:53:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Well, I finally have access to a Norwegian laptop, so I wanted to at least come back to this game and add support for Nordic keyboard layouts. The settings now differentiate between QWERTY (US) and QWERTY (NORDIC), with AZERTY and QWERTZ still being options, too, of course.
I know there are still many more keyboard layouts out there that I could be supporting, so don't hesitate to let me know what you all need!

[ 2023-04-21 16:56:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Well, we've finally tweaked On Key Up enough to consider it "done" and ready to leave Early Access. We'll be making the switch in the next week or two, along with another price increase, so grab the game now if you haven't already! In this latest update, we've also made the following changes:

• A new playground level unlocks after finishing all of the regular levels. We hope to do more with this "playground," so let us know what you'd like to see!
• The order of the levels has been adjusted, so the difficulty should scale more reasonably now. This is based on average times from players during Early Access and is still subject to change.
• Sound effects have been improved.
• Top 10 leaderboards are available in-game. After you've completed a level, click on the icon that appears next to your score.

We know development of this game has taken longer than it should, so we really appreciate everyone's patience and support. And, as always...

[ 2022-02-21 22:24:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Whew! It has been a long wait, but the last set of six levels is finally ready to play. This update brings the total level count to 24 and adds some interesting new challenges that include chains, lasers, balloons, and race cars:
These levels have been placed right before the notoriously difficult Make a Picture level. So you only need to have beaten the Toss Rings level to access the new content. Make a Picture is now the last level in the game, though the level order is still subject to change. However, we have no plans to add any more levels at this point. On Key Up will remain in Early Access for a little longer, though, while we continue to make other improvements and adjustments. As always, thank you for your support, and thanks for playing!

[ 2021-11-02 22:23:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

To celebrate the upcoming Halloween season, we've released a new Dark Mode that changes the background and UI colors. Check it out:
In other news, we're finished with four of the next six levels. We expect the entire level set to be ready sometime next month. Stay tuned!

[ 2021-10-10 17:00:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

New Keyboard Layouts

On Key Up now supports AZERTY and QWERTZ keyboard layouts! The layout can be changed under Settings in the main menu. Please note that these layouts come with caveats, however. Due to how the game engine reads key inputs, some keys can't be pressed simultaneously, and others require a double tap. But this should still make the game much more playable than sticking with the default QWERTY layout.

Other Improvements

Version 0.8.4 makes a few other adjustments, including:

• It's now more clear that the timer is supposed to stop at 1 hour.
• Collision detection has been improved to cut down on objects glitching through each other and/or getting stuck.
• The Make a Picture level has been slightly tweaked. Most notably, you can rotate the picture pieces by tossing them in the air like so:
  

Price Increase

Now that we're back on a regular development cycle and getting closer to the finished version of the game, the price will start increasing alongside major updates. The first increase will take place in about a week, with the next one coinciding with the release of the last set of levels later this year. Thank you for your support during Early Access!

[ 2021-08-29 22:13:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

New levels are coming, we promise! In the meantime, we're working on smaller improvements like localization, the first of which is for Simplified Chinese. The language can be changed under Settings in the main menu. This update also does the following:

• Changes the "paint all vowels" challenge to "paint the letters K-E-Y-S."
• Updates the behavior of the balls to (hopefully!) prevent them from getting stuck in the corners of the keyboard.
• Adds a halfway setting for music and sound effect volumes. This is a stopgap measure until we're able to rebuild the UI with full-blown volume sliders in mind.

[ 2021-08-23 23:15:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

The latest update adds two more levels to the game, bringing the total to 18! The first new level tasks you with tossing rings onto one of the keyboard keys. The second level requires you to move pieces of a picture into place to form a complete animal. This also means two more achievements and leaderboards have been added.
Our original plan was to wait until we had eight levels to show off. However, we've hit a creative slump and wanted to release these two levels now to even out the third page in the level select screen. So you won't see the "More Levels Coming Soon" message anymore, but that doesn't mean there won't eventually be more! We do still plan on having a total of 24 levels before calling this game "done." We're just going to momentarily shift our focus to improving what we currently have. Namely, we want to smooth out the controls to prevent issues like objects getting stuck in the corner of the keyboard. This might mean adding a "nudge keyboard" option; we're not sure yet how it will play out. We're also fixing bugs (like objects glitching through the keys), balancing the difficulty, and looking into supporting other languages and keyboard layouts. Thank you so much for playing On Key Up while it undergoes these growing pains. Keep sending us your ideas and feedback!

[ 2021-04-28 02:31:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

The next set of levels is finally here! This update includes six new challenges that range from sorting ball colors to flipping over playing cards to stacking hamburger ingredients. Each level also comes with a new achievement and leaderboard.

The levels have been added after the current ten levels. You'll need to finish those first if you haven't already. In the final version of the game, though, these levels will most likely be interspersed with the original levels so the difficulty scales more appropriately. We plan on releasing one more set of levels before leaving Early Access. Keep sending us ideas, and thanks for playing!

[ 2021-02-26 01:20:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

On Key Up has been out for a month now, and we're really excited by how many people have already downloaded it. Thank you for the support! We wanted to let you know that we're hard at work building a new set of levels, which will hopefully be ready within a month or two. In the meantime, we've made a few small adjustments to the following existing levels:

Ball in Bowl

We removed the box from the third phase with the intention to make a separate level that uses the box more extensively. The third phase for the bowl level now requires getting two balls into the bowl. Please note that your local high score for this level, if you have one, will reset after the update.

Balance Cylinders

Based on the leaderboard scores, this level seemed too easy! So we added a few more obstacles to the second and third phases to make it a little more interesting / challenging. --- Enjoy, and keep sending us your ideas for more levels!

[ 2021-01-14 03:48:37 CET ] [ Original post ]