After millions of play sessions upon its explosion onto the arcade scene in 2013, Killer Queen is back in black.

BumbleBear’s Nik Mikros and Joshua DeBonis, the original creators of Killer Queen, have fine-tuned the experience with new mechanics suited for home play. Up to eight players split off onto blue and gold teams ready to fight for their hive.

One player on each side takes on the role of the Queen, and the others play as drones. Cunning reflexes and keen tactical planning are the key to reigning supreme over opponents. Each team’s Queen starts armed with a stinger to defend herself and attack the contending team. Be wary when controlling her, as her dangerous attacks and heightened agility come with the trade-off of limited lives.

Drones are the best units for the job when it comes to completing non-violent, game-winning objectives. Though drones begin unarmed, they don’t have to remain defenseless for long. Gates on the map empower drones in exchange for berries, transforming them into warriors with flight capabilities. Depending on which gate the drone enters, they gain powerful upgrades such as speed boosts and new weapons, including maces, lances, swords, shields, and laser rifles. But bee careful, as the Queen simply needs to fly over these gates to claim them for her team.

Killer Queen Black introduces a new map, sweeping improvements to party systems, gameplay and more in the Betelgeuse Update available now on Nintendo Switch and Steam. Follow the Roadmap to see how the game will continue to improve.

The Nesting Flats, a new level that separates weapon and power-up gates, encourages soldiers to cause trouble for Queens focusing solely on claiming weapon gates. The short snail track can lead to a quick victory, but berry-throwing pros can secure a rapid economic win unless met with strong defense. Steam achievements, new gameplay visuals, and a new party system make it even easier to play new content together.

Quickly access party members, online friends, and privacy with the new Party Widget. Set up custom matches by toggling “friends only” for instant join, or create invite codes. Choose between Invite Only, Friends, and Friends of Friends with the new Party Privacy settings. New Custom Match voice options include Team Chat and Match Chat: the former only allows communication during matches, while the latter keeps chat active during matches and in the lobby.

Adjustments to the core game experience make Killer Queen Black feel better than ever. Tweaks to how berry throws earn points make the game feel fairer and more deliberate. Speed upgrades now affect soldiers’ vertical momentum. Changes to the Helix Temple map include spacing out the gates, making the top berries just a bit harder to reach, and making the central berry pile harder to deplete quickly. For much more detail, check out the official patch notes.

Swarm the battlefield with this latest update and fight for the hive. Two teams of four enter but only one queen and her brood shall emerge victorious. Secure victory by defeating the enemy queen three times, gathering berries as quickly as possible, or riding the stalwart Snail to the goal. Turn chaos into communication with Killer Queen Black’s new Betelgeuse Update.

“Killer Queen Black is a great game to spend time with people and connect,” said Mike Chorak, Chief Architect at Liquid Bit. “With that in mind, we’ve made it easier than ever to play together.”

Three types of victory and a sky-scraping skill ceiling mean each match offers near-infinite permutations to persevere and complications to conquer. Economic Victories require drones to scoop up berries on the battlefield and bring them back to their base faster than the other team. Snail Victories involve slowly riding the snail on the bottom of the screen into a goal post, hoping that other team members ward enemies away. To earn a Military Victory, the adversary’s Queen has to be slain three times, making warriors highly sought-after.

Killer Queen Black has four game types: Quick Matches for those eager to leap into the fray, Ranked for those who want to rise to the top, Custom games with adjustable rule sets, and Arena. Arena requires a ticket to enter, earned through victory or purchased via in-game currency, and tasks players with going for victory streaks that earn awesome rewards. A notch is added to players’ swords for every victory, and reaching 100 earns them a fancy sword to brag about. Liquid Bit plans to continue supporting the game with additional maps post-release.

At any given time, there is one single “Black” team. Any team that defeats the Black team dethrones them and becomes the Black team themselves. Liquid Bit hopes to broadcast these fierce competitions and encourage the Black team to remain a constantly-shifting, coveted position.

Killer Queen Black is available digitally for Switch, and PC, coming to Xbox One at a later date.