- Autumn Sale - 1 October 2026
The Steam Autumn Sale is here. Now is a good time to give the challenging Heli-Cats a go, even if you are a beginner to shoot'em ups. You can get it with my other games as a bundle as well. https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/45275/The_DrearyWeary_Collection/
- 1.3.5 Update - 13 May 2026
This small update changes the Audio volume scale down to 10. Players may have to readjust the audio options if they changed it before. It also adds a Catalog section on the title screen to view other games.
- Advanced Tips 2: Shot Level & Scoring - 7 April 2026
A Heli-Cat shot level is inversely related to its scoring potential. At max level 3, damage output is highest but all shots are only limited to the base hit and destroy score. At level 1, damage output is lowest, meaning more hits are needed to destroy enemies. However, every hit has a multiplier bonus applied, even more if its the main center shot AND it is at point blank range. Scores go up quickly. Level 2 is somewhere in between. Since any level above 1 will drain the shot meter, those starting to play for score can allow their normal shots to power down in areas they feel confident in to get more score. Powering back up is fast since orbs are easily obtainable outside of boss battles by destroying enemies with focus shots. Even if just playing for survival, players can deliberately power down to increase score if its close to the next extend of every 400,000.
- Ver 1.3.4 Update - 25 March 2026
Heli-Cats has been updated to bring back reliable detection of the left and right analog triggers as buttons on controllers. If they used to work before and stopped during one of the past updates, they will work now. Ver 1.3.4 Update Notes: Restored reliable button detection of controller analog triggers (may require a remap for your current controller). Updated shaders for more consistency across older hardware.
- Yellow Trouble Out Now! - 13 March 2026
Hello, everyone. My next game Yellow Trouble is out now for Windows and macOS at the biggest discount during launch like all my other titles. If you enjoy Heli-Cats, you will probably like this one too. Get that 1CC in Arcade or that best speed run timing in Quest. See you on the leaderboards. And thank you for your continued interest in my games! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3091520/Yellow_Trouble/
- First Person To Beat Entire Game - 7 March 2026
Today marks the first time someone has beaten the game with a 1CC on Another Mode without any assists, and getting all the current achievements in the game. Congratulations to Yama-san (やま様)! Here's the video of that Cat D Another 1CC run.
- Advanced Tips 1: High and Low Elevation Speed - 23 February 2026
Welcome to a new series of tips that go into more advanced techniques that can push survivability and scoring even further. Starting this off, could you tell that there is a slight difference in speed between high and low elevations? If you did, you probably are already subconsciously utilizing it in your runs. The player helicopter moves slightly slower when on a low elevation. In addition, all bullets from the player and the enemy also move slightly slower. Micro-dodging enemy bullets on the low elevation is, thus, a little easier. But changing elevations is still faster and safer if the high elevation has no bullet threats. Because traversing the game area is slightly faster if you use the high elevation, it can greatly improve your repositioning. Now that you know this, utilize this in your strategy and use that elevation change to your advantage!
- Ver 1.3.3 Update: Improved Controller Support - 12 January 2026
Heli-Cats has been updated to include support for more controllers, especially on macOS where support was previously not as good. I am now able to use more older controllers that did not even register before. Do note that players on macOS are still better off WITHOUT Steam Input, due to the phantom X360 controller issue that appears or Steam Input simply not allowing the controller to work at all. Ver 1.3.3 Update Note: Updated controller support (may require a remap for your current controller) Changed button 1 (Shot) to confirm during a Continue screen (in addition to Start), while changing button 2 (Elevation) to cancel or speed up the Continue countdown. Removed the arcade ending bonus for non-1CC endings since the final score is not going to be valid for leaderboards
- Game Details: Another Mode - 1 October 2025
With a few more players discovering this game in recent months, it's time to provide details about Another Mode. Another Mode is Hard Mode in Heli-Cats. It is unlocked by beating mission X in Arcade Mode without continuing and with the good ending. This very challenging mode features more aggressive enemies (enemy health remains the same), denser bullet patterns, suicide bullets from popcorn drones... textbook hard mode tweaks. But the main goal of Another Mode is to reveal and beat the True Last Boss, which requires the same 100% beacon destruction unlock criteria as Arcade Mode's Hidden Last Boss. Defeating the TLB will get you secret Ending E. I can currently 1CC Another Mode by using assists such as Armor Mods. Check the linked posts to learn more about all these tips. So for an above average player like myself, the most efficient way to achieve the ultimate objective of Top Cat (1C…
- All 18 Beacon Locations - 3 September 2025
Learn where all 18 hidden beacons are in Heli-Cats' Arcade Mode with this video. Some of these are trickier to destroy because beacons need focus shots to take damage, but knowing their locations helps prepare your attack. Destroying all of them in a single run will expose the hidden last boss at the end of Mission X!
- Revisiting Trial Mode After the 1.3.2 Bullet Visibility Update (No Miss Run) - 27 July 2025
I recorded a no miss Trial Mode run after the enemy bullet visibility update. It's much easier for me to do this than before. The demo also has this unlimited armor mode featuring the first two missions, but a fun challenge is not getting hit at all (no miss). Can you do it too?
- Ver 1.3.2 Update: Improved Bullet Visibility - 25 June 2025
After several months of experimenting and borrowing what I learnt from my other shoot'em up Yellow Trouble, I have finally found a set of color changes that improve enemy bullet visibility across the 10 stages without needing to dull or dim the backgrounds, all while still retaining the yellow-red or blue-red combinations. This should boost overall survivability, especially for those having a harder time differentiating between two elevations.
- Game Details 10: Beacons - 20 May 2025
Ever noticed these strange structures scattered around the battlefield when going through an Arcade run? Perhaps you may not even know they exist? They're known as "beacons" and they are sort of hidden in plain sight. The example shown above can be found at the beginning of mission 5 just before the solar farm. There is a trick to them, though. They are normally invisible but can be hit by normal shots (which briefly expose their locations). In order to fully reveal and destroy them, they must be damaged by focus shots. What are these beacons exactly? It seems the enemy is using them to conceal and enhance its military operations. That green glow they emit suggest they may have something to do with the crystals that are being excavated from the desert as well. More importantly, destroying all 18 of them in a single run reveals the true last boss in mission X! Continues are allowed, but…
- Heli-Cats Original Soundtrack - 8 April 2025
Listen to the entire Heli-Cats original soundtrack on Youtube. It is known to be very 90s jungle and drum n' bass inspired... Full Album Playlist by Track https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA7FncH_bN3J_YI8elt8uDL8xpz9OyH8H
- Ver 1.3.1 Update: Cat C & D Buff - 18 March 2025
This update increases the damage of the two bonus helicopters, Cat C and Cat D (as seen in the No Miss Cat D video),. Both of them require some getting used to in order to reach their full potential. But it should be evident quite quickly how high their DPS can be at max level. To unlock Cat C, get the Victory Is and Illusion objective by getting Ending A after beating the mission 8 boss. This can be done with Novice Mode (regardless of continues) or Arcade Mode (must use a continue and have a cumulative destroy rate below 80%). To unlock Cat D, get the Hungry for Napalm objective by obtaining at least 13 additional bomb drops in a run (continues are allowed). Some changes were made to the backend graphics rendering as well and should improve the performance on lower spec machines. If you have a high refresh rate monitor, the game should have little trouble hitting that stable rate. Ver…
- Developer Attempts No Miss - Cat D - 17 March 2025
It's now time to showcase the bonus helicopter Cat D (unlocked by getting the Hungry for Napalm objective). This variant based on the older Cobra platform features a main shot that pivots in the vertical direction the helicopter is moving, allowing for a forward aiming shot angle. The shots themselves are not that powerful, but the special factor of this gunship is the missiles it auto fires with every 10 shots, akin to the sub weapons in the Strikers 1945 and AeroFighters / Sonic Wings games. These are fire and forget hellfire-like missiles that hit BOTH air and ground! In addition to their versatility, they are also incredibly damaging at max level, making Cat D possibly the most powerful helicopter in the right hands. And this No Miss Novice Mode run proves it! (Turn on subtitles for commentary.) (The damage seen in this video will be rolled out in the upcoming 1.3.1 update that will…
- Major Update Ver 1.3.0 - 13 February 2025
Heli-Cats's third major update is here with changes that aim to give the player a slight edge on the battlefield, several quality of life improvements, and better compatibility for those of us on macOS! Version 1.3.0 Notes: Added a 5-frame window to the player helicopter for split second emergency bombing before a hit is registered. Slightly reduced the collision size of enemy bullets to allow for more leniency. Added a "Restart Run" option in the pause menu and single player continue screen to instantly redo a run from mission 1, which also counts the previous run for Steam leaderboards up to that point. Using a "Restart Run" with armor mods active will deduct any armor lost from the current run for the new run if it is still above 3. (e.g. An initial run with 30 armor mods that restarts after losing 5 armor will begin the new run with 25.) The new run will never be lower than the defa…
- Ver 1.2.1 Update (More Credits) - 14 November 2024
This update increases the credits received when players reach any ending across all difficulties, with higher difficulties granting even more. This should incentivize players to credit feed to the end in order to learn the layout of the later missions. The credits received for completing the game should compensate for the added credits needed to beat it. The non-1CC entry criteria for mission 9 has also been reduced from a cumulative destroy rate of 90% to 80%. Players will still need to be aggressive when credit feeding, but it should be doable with familiarity of the missions. Beating mission 8 without continuing in Arcade difficulty or higher will always grant entry to mission 9 regardless of destroy rate. Time to get back to the battlefield and complete those objectives! Ver 1.2.1 Update Notes: Increased the amount of credits received upon reaching an ending across all difficulties.…
- Developer Attempts 1CC - Cat C - 22 October 2024
With Novice Mode added to version 1.2, I can now showcase one of the bonus helicopters, Cat C (unlocked by getting Ending A). I am not as proficient with this more technical helicopter which allows altering the firing pattern between Cat A's and B's, but the much easier difficulty lets me achieve that 1CC, albeit with some silly mistakes that the commentary will highlight. Try out Novice Mode or Cat C if you haven't played the game in a while!
- Major Update Ver 1.2.0 (Novice Mode + More Credits Earned) - 9 September 2024
Heli-Cats's second major update adds Novice Mode and increases the amount of user credits earned! Novice Mode is an easier difficulty that is tuned for those new to shoot'em ups. Press up at Arcade Mode to select it. It is much easier than Arcade Mode and does not have a rank difficulty increase, but players still cannot sleepwalk their way through in the later missions. It cannot access Mission 9, secret items. nor qualify for the 1CC achievement. There is also no leaderboard for Novice Mode. Players can still earn credits for every mission cleared, although these missions won't show up in Training Mode. Only Arcade Mode mission clears count for those. Use it to learn the layout of the 8 main missions and enjoy the dual-elevation gameplay. User credits earned has been increased based on difficulty. Players can earn more user credits based on the difficulty selected and ending attained.…
