- Missing Steam reviews: How Muffles went from 150 to 10 reviews overnight - 1 September 2026
Hello gamers,In this very special (and short) Bossy devlog, prepare to have your socks knocked off.As you may or may not have noticed, we have a Steamy mystery on our hands. It's the case of the missing Steam reviews... \What the heck are you talking about Bossy?A few weeks back, the >150 reviews that Muffles' amazing fans posted on the Steam page vanished from the ALL REVIEWS section at the top of the Steam page. But hold up- if you scroll down, the reviews you all wrote are still THERE, they just aren't showing up in the most important place! What gives?!So what the heck happened?Well, the other big change is that Muffles' Life Sentence is now just ONE game (with a free Ep. 1 demo), instead of a bunch of DLCs. And guess what happened when we combined the DLC into the base game?!All hell broketh loose, that's what. Our reviews went POOF. Kapuut. Adios.The aftermathDoes Bossy wish his p…
- Don't use RPG Maker to make an RPG- a cautionary tale - 1 August 2026
Hello gamers,With very simple tools, you can create things that emotionally resonate with people. It doesn’t take a degree, money, or a team of people, but it does take a lot of vision, motivation, and the RIGHT tools. And today, I want to talk about one of my favorite tools- RPG Maker!Today, I’m going to try to convince Muffles and RPG Maker fans alike that it’s a game engine that should be used to make all sorts of amazing things- but please for the love of Gabe, don’t make an RPG with it. What’s the DEAL with RPG Maker games?Muffles’ Life Sentence was developed in a little game engine called RPG Maker MV. It is one of the newer versions, but at this point is 10+ years old. It’s an incredible engine with many peculiarities that you discover 2000 hours deep, crouched over your computer at 11:00 PM, saying ‘ohhhhhh THAT’S how it works?!’RPG Maker games get a lot of flak for being cookie…
- Consolidating DLCs + Lower Price - 27 July 2026
Hello Muffles enjoyers!I'm making a small change to make the Steam page simpler.Beginning on August 3rd, 2026, Muffles will no longer be marked as "Free to Play" with DLCs for Episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5. Instead, new buyers will be able to purchase the entire game as one product for a set price. In other words, you won't have to buy each DLC separately!If you already own some of the DLC- THERE IS NO NEED TO FEAR! I've been assured there should still be an option to purchase each episode individually.Those who already own all of the DLCs, first of all thank you
- Destroying the world: The story behind Muffles' darkest ending (Devlog) - 1 July 2026
Hello g-g-gamers,Endings are freakin' hard. You're writing, writing, writing and in the flow and you're peeling back layers and building on concepts and just when you think you're getting the hang of it- BAM! Time's up. You have to bring all the loose threads together in a coherent way that is satisfying and doesn't feel rushed.When I wrote the last chapter for Muffles, I was intimidated. It is by far my biggest story and I wanted to end strong, focusing on the main themes, and doing right by the cast of characters we met on our journey.And I ignored ALL of these instincts when writing the secret ending, and I'm going to tell you all about it!Muffles' Secret EndingWEE WOO WEE WOO spoilers ahead!I am going to be talking about Muffles’ secret endings, so if you want to remain untarnished by my wicked little secrets until you’ve had the chance to discover them yourself…Turn back.Or else. ……
- Making boss music- The Ballad of Jack (Devlog) - 2 June 2026
Hello everyone!I was thinking about Muffles today and about all y'all and what might be a good topic for this month's devlog.The topic of music has been coming up in the Discord recently, so I thought I'd break down one of my favorite Muffles' tracks- The Ballad of Jack from Episode 2!I try to do something unique with each boss track, and this one's no exception. Follow along with the audio tracks and I'll walk through how I built this song up from nothing but vibes and a rage against Odessa Grudge (I was channeling some Jack energy).Let's DO IT!Why this song?(Spoiler) Jack is the final boss for Episode 2 and I needed to make sure he had a suitably intimidating theme song to accompany the fight. After writing most of the dialogue immediately preceding the fight, I had a strong idea for how I wanted the fight to feel, and I wrote the song on acoustic guitar in a matter of minutes (I was…
- Devlog: How I spent 1.5 years learning pixel art to make a Muffles RPG - 1 May 2026
(A little music to accompany your reading if you want)Hello gamers,Big things are coming. Big, exciting, Muffle-tastic things.Aaaaaand I can’t talk about any of those things yet so I wanted to share some early Muffles' Life Sentence with y’all and talk about how I went from never having made pixel art to being the sole artist for an RPG.As always, thank you to all of those leaving comments- I read them all!Starting with DeeThe first ever character portrait I made was of Dee! This was before I really knew anything about Muffles. It was also before I knew anything about character proportions, perspective, dithering, and using symmetry. This is why Dee looks so different from almost every other character in the game- I was still figuring out my style and what the look of Muffles should be.I ended up having to have another go at a Dee portrait when I made the ‘young Dees’ at the start of Ep…
- Devlog: The Big Problem with the Muffles Music Menu - 1 April 2026
Hello gamers,It’s finally kind of settled in that the full story of Muffles’ Life Sentence is done and out there in the world. My brain has been working to process it all and right now I’m feeling… great about it!There’s a few BIG things and features still on the horizon for Muffles (some that are still a bit too secret to talk about) but the full story being out and most of the bugs being fixed has instilled me with some peace as of late. I hope y’all out there enjoy the game, and thank you so much for the kind comments and reviews- I read them all and they mean a lot.Speaking of features on the horizon… what’s this about a Music Menu? And how did it nearly BREAK Bossy’s brain to make it?What is the Muffles music menu?I’d been toying with the idea for a way to listen to the game’s music from in game for a while. There’s the jukebox in Your Mind that you can unlock, but its tedious menu…
- MLS Hotfix (3-9-26) - 10 March 2026
Hello all! Turns out the some of the optimizations made for the new card library menus had a new little side effect... of making the game crash after the credits :O. I've disabled the optimization for now while I check it out. It shouldn't make much of a difference for y'all! Bug Fixes: Crash after end game credits fixed.
- MLS Patch (3-9-26) - 9 March 2026
Hello gamers, Guess what NEW PATCH! And it's a big one. New Features: New card library menu + deck editor UI and optimization fixes! If you've used the Pete Mind Refurbishment ring, the TV in Your Mind now has a few channels to watch... Bug Fixes: Card types (the ones listed at the top) have been reordered to put attack/skill at the bottom Some cards with overflowing desc shortened Credits updated Misc text issues fixed Episode 2: Fixed some Dee sprite issues in Deepwater Episode 4: E4 added a sign to the peak to make it a liiiiiiittle more obvious that you can jump off Changed one of the dream crimes Episode 5: island on the far right was unreachable (causing issues with getting all Stashes) Moved one of the mirror saves on Jangus and fixed issue with being the wrong char coming back from the mind Solved issue with Undoom room not staying dark
- Devlog: Muffles is a Beautiful Failure - 1 March 2026
Hello gamers,In case you haven’t heard the word on the street… Episode 5 of Muffles’ Life Sentence is live! That means you can now play the entire story, front to back—no more waiting for future releases.Huge thanks to all of you who have been playing and spreading the good word about Muffles. I’m inspired by so many of you who have reached out with support, stories, questions, and fan art. It keeps me going when things get hard. And sometimes game dev gets pretty hard (I’ll get to that in a minute).Muffles on the MindUnlike those of you playing E5 for the first time, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on it. Even after it was implemented, we had almost two months of testing before release, which gave me and testers time critique and analyze things.It now feels like the perfect time to do a mini postmortem and reflect on what I did right—and wrong—in making Muffles. I’m going to focus ma…
- E5 Hotfix (2-27-26) - 27 February 2026
First hotfix post the E5 release! Yaaaaay General: - 'Eye of Mad' now works as intended. - Reworded some of the options when setting up New Game+ to be less confusing E5 (hidden for spoilers): - Final Warden fight HP adjusted 350 -> 300 - Fixed softlock in Elder Fred/Nash battle (related to killing one with Eye of Lashing) - Elder Fred/Nash battle made them less likely to attack when at 0 HP - Added rain sounds to the blob fights - Fixed some clipping visuals -Bossy
- The Final Episode of Muffles' Life Sentence is live - 26 February 2026
Hello gamers, I just pushed the big green steam button, and you know what that means.Episode 5 is here! You can now play the entire story of Muffles RIGHT NOW!Wow, what a journey it's been. I feel proud of what I, testers, and players have been able to accomplish. I'm so excited for people to be checking out Muffles and getting to see it through to the end.We've got a bit more in store after E5, but by and large Muffles is now released. As always, I love hearing your feedback and comments- let me know what you think! And if you find any bugs, PLEASE let me know and I will fix them. I don't deserve you all. You guys share Muffles with your friends and make amazing fanart and play trying to get every achievement- it is really special getting to make this game for you all and start a career in game dev. Thank you.-Bossy
- Pre-E5 release hotfix (2-23-26) - 23 February 2026
Another E5 hotfix with some small E1-4 changes too! - Combat crash fixed (TypeError: Cannot read property 'cardActionSubject' of null). - Tutorial text changed so now Dee pulls up the Guide to help you learn about it. - Fixed naming issues in the input hotkey/gamepad menus. Xbox controller format is now the default - E2 Odessa hallucinating crabs issue fixed - Tzino memory count is corrected to 2 instead of 4 -Bossy
- Pre-Episode 5 Patch - 17 February 2026
Hello everyone!This is a pre-Episode 5 patch that fixes/updates a lot of stuff. It even has some new features for E1-4!Reminder that E5 is coming SO SOON (2/26/26) and if you run into any issues at all, please reach out here on Steam OR in the discord! :)FEATURESSecret Cult Rooms: there's a safe puzzle that unlocks a riddle in each episode that grants access to a secret lore room. Get them all and in E5 you can unlock a secret (horrific) ending!Swirlitzer Jukebox: Now works totally differently! Punch it to play a random song, turn the dial to change the pitch.New Input: Using an entirely new input system that should make setting hotkeys and using controllers much easier.New Nightmare FIght: The Episode 4 Nightmare fight (#3) is now unlockable.BUG FIXES:Overall Fixes:Visual indicator for accessible NightmaresPoncho training dummy battle songSome cards/fights rebalanced or changed entirel…
- Pick music for Muffles' New Game Plus - 1 February 2026
Form to pick boss music for NG+ here (spoilers!)Hello gamers,Wow it’s a new month already. Episode 5 of Muffles' Life Sentence has been in testing for a few weeks and let me tell you- things are… mostly... going well there!Endings are hard. And I want to give this game the best final chapter possible. You all deserve it. I want to deliver the best game I can- it’s just a matter of figuring out the right way to make it all happen.And today, I want to talk about an exciting part of episode 5- and how everyone reading this can (legitimately) make an impact on Muffles' New Game Plus!The end isn’t the endFor those who don’t know, New Game+ (NG+) is a way to replay a game, often ones with substantial story and game progression, while carrying over your levels, skills, stats, etc. In order to balance things, the ‘plus’ part of NG+ adds some changes to the game, often scaling enemy difficulty u…
- How the hell do I make an RPG? - 1 January 2026
Hello everyone and Happy New Year! I am definitely NOT going CRAZY thinking about how fast 2025 flew by and wondering how I'm going to get everything I want done in the new year.Today I want to talk to you about something front of mind- playtesting Muffles' Life Sentence. Why? Because playtesting on the final episode is set to start REALLY SOON! I'd give an exact date but trust me, it's coming very soon.How have playtesters impacted Muffles? How do I use feedback to make the game better? And what about RPGs necessitates a lot of player involvement during the creation?I have no idea. Just kidding I got some ideas.Players are the secret weaponOur playtesters have much more impact on Muffles than they even realize. It's not just about bugs and typos- they help guide the pacing, flow, balance, and focus of the entire experience. And for an RPG, these things are absolutely critical!I joke wi…
- How Episode 5 is going (Spoilers!) (Devlog) - 1 December 2025
Hello gamers,Another month, another devlog! And instead of my usual ramble I figured I'd share some of the progress I've been making on Episode 5! The final chapter for Muffles' Life Sentence is going to be INSANE and I can't keep it all to myself for so long so... let's dive into it!New Song: Half-DevouredHalf-Devoured (New Song)Apparently Bossy couldn't get enough of recording music live and so he's back again with a death metal song for Episode 5. His goal- go as heavy as he possibly can.It's so fun writing these. The entire writing and recording process only takes about an hour, but then picking the best pieces, stitching them together, and mixing everthing takes FOREVER.I wonder how this song'll be used in Episode 5...New Large Portrait: Onyore Since I teased Onyore's portrait art recently, I figured I'd come clean and share the battle art too. It might still need a llittle touchin…
- Horror is for more than just horror games (Devlog) - 1 November 2025
Hello there gamers,And happy belated Halloween! It’s spooky season and I want to talk about something I love love love. Spooky games!I’m talking about:What makes a spooky game vs. a horror gameHow I make Muffles’ Life Sentence a spooky RPGSome of my favorite spooky inspirationsPrepare for a scare!AAAGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!Something spooky this way comes…Off the bat I want to establish the chasm of difference between a game with spooky/horrific elements or themes or aesthetics vs. a true horror game. These lists are not prerequisites for these kinds of games or anything, they’re just what come to mind when I compare them. Spooky game:Pulls from horrific source material to establish the darker side of your worldProvides moody/creepy settings (dark forests, creepy mansions, caves, etc.)References horror tropes and visualsHorror game:Using imagery or sound effects to momentarily shock the player i…
- E4 Hotfix (10-23-25) - 23 October 2025
Bossy created a softlock towards the very end of the new content and to atone he's fixed it. What a hack.Fixes:Using the Maddox Island mirror to save/go to your mind will no longer softlock you.-Bossy
- E4 Hotfix (10-22-25) - 22 October 2025
Hello MLS enjoyers!We gotta ourselves a new patch! Mostly fixing bugs and rebalancing some cards. C'mon Bossy where's Episode 5?!?Before the E5 elevator ride added a short Dee cutscenePrediction card no longer causes errorFortify -> Guard UpDeath Gripe is now: Deal +5 dmg for every -10 HP you have. Exhaust.Broken Binary now requires not ShockedPetty Pots analyze addedSwitching faces in Jangus desert makes step count disappear fixedFixed some dialogue portrait display issuesE3 Softlock talking to Elder Fred from the side fixedE4 Train chase NPC collision/normal dialogue fixed-Bossy
