Tape to Tape 1.0: Wild Hockey Action Hits the Big Leagues

Good skating, accurate passes, and powerful shots might not be enough to win in Tape to Tape. Sometimes, bribing the referee deserves a spot in your game plan! With its playful cartoon visuals and hockey matches full of dirty tricks, Excellent Rectangle’s game brings arcade sports into a roguelite adventure. After more than three years in Early Access, version 1.0 officially arrived on October 23, 2026, bringing substantial changes. And with the celebrations barely underway, the team has already released a hotfix to give players an earlier taste of the game’s more unconventional ways to play.

From a Ragtag Roster to 19 Ways to Shake Up the Rink

First released in Early Access on May 3, 2023, Tape to Tape follows Angus McShaggy on a quest to restore hockey to its former glory. You recruit players, choose your route, and collect abilities to take on teams with little interest in fair play. On the ice, passing, positioning, and well-timed shots still demand skill; off it, your player combinations and upgrades shape your team’s strength. Lose, and you start another run with the options you have unlocked along the way.

If you enjoy the sporting chaos of Blood Bowl 3, you may recognize a familiar mischievous streak here, although this time every collision unfolds in real time on the ice.

The charm of Tape to Tape is that one moment you are laughing at a dirty trick, and the next you are seriously considering who to recruit so your team stops getting pushed around. Behind those goofy faces lies the pleasure of combining abilities and turning a makeshift roster into a formidable squad. Even defeat leaves a little anticipation behind: perhaps a different combination will turn things around next time? That interplay between on-ice antics and off-ice planning gave the game its appeal throughout Early Access. Its Very Positive reception from the Steam community lends further weight to the idea that this formula has helped it carve out a charm of its own.

On October 23, 2026 the game officially left Early Access with version 1.0, bringing substantial additions and improvements:

• A rebuilt campaign with changes to routes, encounters, and bosses.
• 19 Squads, each with its own rules, advantages, and restrictions.
• Challenge-based unlocks replacing the puck currency, alongside expanded bench and injury management.
• Adjustments to Relics, Power-ups, puck physics, AI, and goalies, plus Nightmare difficulty and audiovisual upgrades.

Each Squad presents a different puzzle, from recruiting players to making the most of their abilities. Switching squads is therefore another chance to find a new way to wreak havoc on the rink.

Not everyone, however, was getting to try all those toys soon enough. In hotfix CS13985, announced on October 25, 2026 the developers explained that data from the first 24 hours showed many players spending hours unlocking just one or two additional Squads. Three more are now available from the start:

• 16-Bit: blue ice, speed bursts, and nostalgic sound effects.
• Modern: offsides and manual pokechecks.
• Violence: explosions and bone-crunching bodychecks.

Some unlock requirements have also been eased, with 13 Squads still waiting to be earned.

The patch comes with a heartfelt thank-you: after six years of development, the team is delighted to see players enjoying the result, sharing the game, and offering feedback. They continue to read bug reports and monitor gameplay data to guide further adjustments. To me, letting players explore more of those distinctive playstyles sooner is a sensible move. With this much fun happening on the ice, why keep everyone waiting to join in?

Visit the game’s official website for the latest updates, and don’t forget to check our price comparison platform to buy Tape to Tape with the best deals available.