Happy Wars is now free-to-play without Xbox Live Gold, with some exceptions

Happy Wars developer Toylogic has released the game's eleventh update, making it free to all players without the need for an Xbox Live Gold subscription. There's a few exceptions however. We've got the patch notes here.

In a press released issued today, Toylogic confirmed that Happy Wars is totally free to play to both silver and gold Xbox Live members, except for multiplayer, missions and the treasure map feature. So not entirely free, then.

Also new is Bounty Hunters mode, which teams compete over total bounties earned, and strive to win by reaching a certain bounty amount. Bounty can be earned by killing players, conquering towers and destroying the opponent's big tower. You can rack up more bounty on your head by chaining bounties. The mode will run from today until January 29.

Here are the Happy Wars update 11 patch notes in full:

• - Added a new game rule: Bounty Hunters.
• - Happy Wars is now playable by Xbox LIVE Free members.
• All game modes are available, except for Multiplayer, Missions, and the Treasure Map.
• - Training Mode has been changed into Skirmish Mode.
• Skirmish, unlike Training, gives players score, items, and Happy Stars.
• - Item Level-Up mechanism has been changed.
• Items now have an "Item Experience point" value. Items gain experience through "Item Level-Up" as before, but can also gain experience by being used in Multiplayer.
• When the item accumulates a certain amount of experience, it levels up.
• - Fixed an issue that was preventing the game from progressing in "Castle Defense" mode.
• - Fixed various other known issues.