This is the second monthly update of Archa, and focuses more on QoL changes and the Third Boss.

Changes made in this update:

• Added the Kunshutori boss fight (Boss 3)
• Added “Archouse” and “Portable Portals”, which have a chance to play in the title screen.
• Changed the Title Screen to now include the Obsidian Ruby mentioned in the Manual.
• Slightly modified the Setting’s background.
• Fixed a few floating lamps in both acts of Level 5.
• Fixed a bug where the player would sometimes be unable to jump on the blinking platforms in L5-A1.
• [Browser-Only] Actually fixed a bug where the music would cut off this time.
• Added a loading screen before the game starts, which is meant to fix the bug mentioned above.
• Slightly modified the font seen in the player’s Score.
• Added a few skeletons in the background of the Lobby.
• The new music for the Ruby Dragon has now been de-experimentified.
• The Gamepad Rumble setting now has “Not supported on this device” next to it when the game isn’t being played on Windows.
• Removed a single platform from the Lobby.

Experimental Changes: These changes are only available with Experimental Features turned on.

• Added a very early version of Level 6, which is subject to change.
• Changed the way the camera works.
• Added flying text to the Title Screen.

This is the first monthly update of Archa, and is also the first Gamma build. This means that Archa is currently half-way done in development progress.

Changes made in this update:

• Added Level 5: Calamari Bar & Bistro and its two acts.
• Added “Sight”, which has a chance to play in the title screen.
• [Browser-Only] Added “Mobile Mode”, which adds on-screen buttons seen in the Android build.
• Added Control Hints, which can be toggled by pressing H or Select.
• Added a Phase 2 to the Ruby Dragon boss fight.
• Changed the Ruby Dragon’s music.
• The settings menu selection can now wrap, meaning that pressing up at the top takes you to the bottom.
• Fixed a bug where L2-A2’s music would overlap with L2-A1’s music.
• [Browser-Only] Fixed a bug where the music would cut off.

This is the first major update of the Newgrounds version of Archa, which mainly adds a new level and makes QOL changes.

Changes made in this update:

• Added Amphibian Atmosphere (L4-A1)
• Added shielding, which can be done by Focusing and using an item at the same time. It has a dedicated button on Android.
• Changed Archa’s bow to purple and made her scarf darker in order to make it feel less cluttered. The 30 Lives Mode counter and the Windows app icon have also been changed accordingly.
• Changed the Snow City, Boss 1, Red Pyramids, and Cherry Shrine tilesets.
• The Spiked Circles in Cherry Shrine Act 1 are now easier to defeat.
• Fixed a bug where the player would stay transparent when focusing in full meter.
• Fixed some of the transitions between rooms.
• Unactivated checkpoints are now purple instead of red.
• The invisible objects that replace your cards with Checkpoint cards have been replaced by smaller, visible objects.
• Added the Start Fullscreen setting.
• Added the Obvious Enemy Projectiles setting, which adds a white outline to the Enemy projectiles.
• The Use Arrow Keys setting no longer makes the player jump when Up Arrow is pressed unless the Press W to Jump setting is on.
• Changed the Tekihana sprites.
• Pressing W, Up Arrow, or tilting the left Control Stick up now lets the player see on top of them when the Press W to Jump setting is turned off.
• “Jump with W” is now renamed to “Jump with W or Up Arrow” when the “Use Arrow Keys” setting is turned on. This setting is no longer PC-only, and is named “Jump with Up” in Android.
• “4:3 Aspect Ratio” now says “Not recommended on mobile” when played on Android.
• Fixed a missing tile in Cherry Shrine Act 1.
• The Red Dragon now has slightly less health.
• Bombs can now destroy the Red Dragon’s projectiles.
• Added Camels to Red Pyramids Act 2. These were previously unused.
• Changed the Camel Spider’s speed from 9 to 6.
• The title credits at startup are now slightly faster.
• Tekihebis now have a unique sprite depending on the level.
• Slightly changed the Boss 1 Portal’s position in the Lobby.
• The Thig’s projectiles are now slightly brighter.
• Fixed a bug where shooting the first boss would give the player an extra bar in the meter.
• Added the “Allow Debug Mode” setting, which allows the player to press F3 or to toggle Debug Mode.
• The Enemy Juice has been changed to purple.
• Added the “Show Healthbars” setting, which will hide all enemy healthbars when disabled. When updating, Show Healthbars may be turned off.
• The “Jump Twice to Double Jump” setting is now on by default.
• Changed the attack cooldown for the robot enemy seen in Cherry Shrine Act 1.
• Changed the copyright information to “© 2025 OPagel”
• Changed Archa’s hair to be slightly darker.
• Added a sound effect for collecting Shards
• The Lobby’s background has been made darker.
• Added sound effects for choosing between Title Screen options, Pause menu options, and the Settings.
• The title screen buttons now move around. The arrow buttons only move in the Windows, Linux, and Browser versions in order to make them easier to tap on Android.
• The color for the title screen background and settings selection have been changed to a darker purple
• Changed the “UI Bobbing” setting to “HUD Bobbing”
• Added the “Remove Background Elements” setting
• Added Pause Music, which can be toggled with its corresponding setting.
• Added Gamepad Rumble (only on the Windows version due to current GameMaker limitations)
• Added the Obvious Enemies setting, which adds a white outline to the game’s enemies. May impact performance when enabled.
• Added the “Save and Exit Settings button” and removed the touchscreen “Exit” button on Android.
• Changed the sprites for the Portals in the lobby.
• Changed the color of the guard’s clothing
• Added pink flowers to the tall cactus in Red Pyramids
• Added an attack done using M and Crouch.
• Added a phase 2 to the Shardecahedron (Boss 1) when it loses enough health. This was always in the game’s code, but went unused due to a bug. It has been overhauled for this release.
• The player now spawns with less health than before during the Shardecahedron fight.
• Changed the background of Snow City
• Added level and act information to the top left corner of the Pause menu
• The Pause menu now says “Exit Lobby” instead of “Exit Act” when in the Lobbies
• Added the Compass, which points to the nearest end of the act when the player has collected 100% or more points.
• Slightly changed the color of the Mammoths
• The score counter now shows the percentage of points.
• Improved the “See Below when Crouching” setting
• Fixed a few missing pixels in the uncollected checkpoint flag’s animation.
• Big Shards now give 4 Shards instead of 1.
• [Android Only] The touchscreen overlay now disappears when a Gamepad is connected.
• sfxEnemyDefeat now plays every time oCoinDropped is spawned, except for on rooms where Pause.bosslevel is set to true.
• Added “Place Three”, “Mused Reverie” and “Avant la Sortie”, which have a random chance of playing in the Title Screen.
• Added a heatwave effect to L2-A2.
• Changed enemy placements and health in L2-A2.
• Added more checkpoints to L2-A2.
• Ruins music no longer fades.
• The D-Pad can now be used for menus when using a Gamepad.
• Made several changes and improvements to L2-A1, L2-A2, and L3-A1 in order to make them less confusing for new players.
• Added a few arrows to the Settings Menu.
• Added “Lobby (Alternate Version)”, which has a 50% chance of playing in the Lobby.

Experimental Changes: These changes are only available with Experimental Features turned on.

• Added the Shop, accessible after the player completes the game’s first 2 levels. It currently only contains 2 items, which can be spent with Shards and can also be refunded.
• Added Lobby X, accessible after completing Snow City.
• Added Snow City Act X, which is currently unfinished.
• Gamepad Rumble for using propellers and selecting an option on the Title Screen are still experimental.
• Made slight changes to L5-A1’s background and tileset.
• Added grindrails to L5-A1 with a new sprite for Archa.
• Ending a level now has better fading.

I'm in newgrounds now! You may know me from my Scratch projects, my Youtube videos, or the announcements seen on GameJolt and Bluesky. If you don't, I'm a game developer and sometimes I make music for the games I make. I might release a few of my games on here.