Hello everyone!

I'm thrilled to announce that a major update has just gone live, adding a core pillar of brand-new content to the game: Puzzles and Missions!

Inspired by chess puzzles, these offer a fresh challenge compared to standard AI matches. Puzzles feature:

• Pre-set starting conditions on the board.
  
• Specific objectives to achieve within a limited number of turns.
  
• A focus on finding optimal strategies and solutions – efficiency is key!

Missions are similar in structure to Puzzles but emphasize thematic scenarios and often involve competing against AI opponents of varying difficulty levels to meet specific goals.

Both Missions and Puzzles use a 0-to-3 star reward system:

• 0 Stars: Objective failed.
  
• 1 Star: Objective met (generally achievable).
  
• 2-3 Stars: Awarded for exceeding the basic objective, often requiring more optimized play and presenting a significant challenge depending on the specific mission or puzzle.

These additions aim to bring more variety, replayability, and engaging challenges to the game!

Over the next two months, I'll be dedicated to further improving these new modes, adding a significant amount of new Puzzle and Mission content, and diligently fixing any bugs that arise. The road to the full Q3 release is busy, but exciting!

Your feedback is invaluable! If you encounter bugs, have suggestions, or want to discuss the game, please join the official Discord server:
https://discord.gg/zQC4H3RbZ7

Your input helps shape the game and make it the best it can be for the full release.

Now is a great time to add the game to your library if you haven't already! The game is currently free during this development phase.

With the planned full release in Q3, the game will transition to a paid title with a small price tag. However, anyone who has the game in their Steam library before the full release launch will keep it forever, completely free. Grab it now while you can!

• The game currently defaults to 1920x1080 Windowed mode, as this provides the most consistent experience with the current UI layout.
  
• You can press F11 to toggle between Windowed and Fullscreen Windowed modes.
  
• The game is primarily designed and tested for 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios (like 1920x1080, 2560x1440 and so on). Most resolutions matching these ratios should work well.
  
• Ultrawide monitor support (e.g., 21:9) is not yet implemented. In Fullscreen Windowed mode on these monitors, the game view will likely be cropped at the top and bottom, as letterboxing (black bars) is not currently active.
  
• As a potential workaround for fullscreen on ultrawide displays, you could try setting your monitor's resolution in Windows to a standard 16:9 or 16:10 resolution (like 2560x1440 or 1920x1080) before launching the game. This isn't ideal but might provide a temporary solution until dedicated support is added.

• The game is primarily designed and intended to be played with a mouse.
  
• Several keyboard shortcuts have been added for actions like quickly selecting companies for trading.
  
• While basic keyboard-only and gamepad support exists, allowing the game to be technically played without a mouse, these input methods are considered experimental. They haven't undergone extensive testing beyond my own, so behavior might not always be perfect. Feedback on these alternative input methods is welcome via Discord!

Thanks for playing and testing! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the new content.