Dear Community,
Have you all been well? Empires & Puzzles is entering its sixth year soon — and what a journey it has been! Whether you’ve been here from the beginning or hopped on along the way, thank you for staying on for the ride and making this special community what it is today.
As always, we’re looking to properly kick off the new year by first taking a look back at how the game evolved over the past twelve months, then sharing what the near future has in store. We hope you’ll be as excited as we are for what’s coming next!
In 2021, the game saw the following additions:
- “League of Villains" Challenge Event, Valhalla Forever, Friendly Raids, Raid Formations (February)
- Season IV (March)
- Valor Chests, more Raid Formations (April)
- “Starfall Circus” Challenge Event, Hero Limit Break (June)
- “Slayers of Fell Shadows” Challenge Event (August)
- “Tower of Magic” Event (September)
- “Alliance Quest” Event, Legends Families (October)
- Ninja Tower update (November)
- Clash of Knights update, “Challenge Festival” Challenge Event (December)
…and now, coming up in the first half of 2022:
War of the Three Kingdoms
Many players have told us that the interactive multiplayer experience in Alliance Wars is the most exciting content that Empires & Puzzles has to offer. This year, we’re looking to take this element of the game one step further by introducing an ambitious new PvP format: War of the Three Kingdoms.
In this new War, participants will fight not for their own Alliance but in matchmade Warbands, each consisting of a whopping one hundred players. Intrigued? Then keep an eye out for further announcements — more details about the feature will be shared very soon here on the forums, as we’re planning to hold a global beta over the second week of February!
Season V
Another year means another new Season — for our fifth adventure into the great unknown, Heroes will navigate an ancient land full of dunes and pyramids to face off against an undying threat that makes even rulers cower in its wake! Expect unique new maps, enemies, Heroes, and gameplay elements befitting the blinding glory of the historic setting.
Season V will unlock once players reach Season IV Province 5.
Soul Exchange
Our veteran players have long been requesting the addition of a worthwhile way to use Legendary Heroes that don’t fit into their teams. We’re happy to finally announce the creation of the Soul Exchange — an event that allows you to "trade in’’ a number of Legendaries for a Hero of your choice.
Thanks to our beta testers, the Soul Exchange is already nearing the end of its development and is set to see daylight this February. Due to the sheer rarity and value of Legendary Heroes, we expect you will have a variety of questions regarding the details of the feature. We plan to address many of them in an FAQ post once the Soul Exchange launches!
…and further away, but on the horizon:
The following features are a bit further down the line — these ideas are yet to be fully fleshed out, but if all goes well on our end, you’ll be able to see them in the second half of the year!
“Monster Island” (working title): Explore a huge island shrouded in mystery with fellow Alliance members, felling monsters and finding treasures along the way!
Base update: We will once again increase the maximum level of the Stronghold so that veteran players can further their progress. We also hope to release a completely new Building alongside the level cap update, although this will depend on how the design process goes.
More Costumes: Heroes from Season III and Springvale will finally start receiving Costumes this year — can you guess which ones?
New events: Remember the two Gargoyles that randomly flew by during the Black Friday event? As mentioned at the time, a new event featuring grotesque beings of their likeness will soon be coming to the game.
Another exciting event planned for 2022 is the “Elemental Quest” (working title), which will introduce a unique set of rules and challenge players to use their rosters in fresh new ways!
This wraps up our Sneak Peek for 2022. As always, please feel free to share your first thoughts on these previews here on the forums — we may not have the bandwidth to respond individually to everything, but we’re always reading and listening to all of your feedback.
Thank you for your continued interest and support. Stay safe, healthy, and happy, everyone!
Sincerely,
Small Giant Games staff
…one last thing:
"Dominion of Dragons’’ (working title): This feature will be our biggest and most ambitious update to date; its scale will be beyond anything we’ve previously brought to the game. It might take quite some time for them to arrive, as so much needs to be prepared, but keep an eye on the skies — dragons are coming to Empires & Puzzles en masse!