diff --git a/core/build.gradle b/core/build.gradle
index 84362f142..a0f680d97 100644
--- a/core/build.gradle
+++ b/core/build.gradle
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ android {
         release {
             shrinkResources true
             minifyEnabled true
-            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android-optimize.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
+            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/core/proguard-rules.pro b/core/proguard-rules.pro
index 807fedc79..5ad72d735 100644
--- a/core/proguard-rules.pro
+++ b/core/proguard-rules.pro
@@ -2,10 +2,4 @@
 -keepnames class com.shatteredpixel.** { *; }
 -keepnames class com.watabou.** { *; }
 -keep class com.shatteredpixel.shatteredpixeldungeon { *; }
--keep class com.watabou.noosa.game { *; }
--keepattributes SourceFile,LineNumberTable
-
-# overrides default in proguard-android-optimize.txt, which is:
-# -optimizations !code/simplification/arithmetic,!code/simplification/cast,!field/*,!class/merging/*
-# This is because code/simplification/arithmetic is safe to use on android 2.0+
--optimizations !code/simplification/cast,!field/*,!class/merging/*
\ No newline at end of file
+-keep class com.watabou.noosa.game { *; }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..92814f878
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# enables the new experimental R8 optimizer
+# this will be the default starting in android studio 3.4
+android.enableR8 = true
\ No newline at end of file