Playtest notes 15 Jan 2026

Internal playtest164 entries51 wording fixes36 balance changes25 audio updates20 bug fixes17 interface changes8 art updates5 content additions2 performance fixes

This is a pre-release internal note from the closed playtest, quoted as it was written for testers. It describes a build that no longer exists; treat it as history, not as a description of the current game.

This patch is as beautiful as it is big!! We've got TONS of new relic art, some new card art, and some shiny new VFX for Defect's Hyperbeam move! There's also a LOT of new SFX for various enemies and NPCs. Finally, this patch includes The Relic Renamening: Part 2.

Items in this note

25 cards

The first time you play a
0 Attack each turn,
return it to your Hand.

Osty deals 6 damage.
Deals additional damage equal to Osty's current HP.

Whenever you play a card, gain 1 Block.

Whenever you gain Block on your turn, other players gain half that much Block.

If the enemy has Poison, apply 9 Poison.

Add 3 random Colorless cards into your Hand.
Exhaust.

Whenever you draw a card this turn, apply 2 Poison to ALL enemies.

Deal 8 damage.
Deals 4 additional damage for each card drawn during your turn.

Lose 1 HP.
Give another player Block equal to your Block.
Exhaust.

Choose 1 of 3 random cards to add into your Hand. It's free to play this turn.
Exhaust.

Deal 9 damage.
Gain 1 Focus this turn.

Deal 13 damage.
Apply 2 Weak.
Apply 2 Vulnerable.

ALL players add 3 Souls into their Draw Pile.
Exhaust.

Whenever you Forge, all allies Forge as well.

Deal 28 damage to ALL enemies.
Lose 3 Focus.

Infinite Blades

At the start of your turn, add 1 Shiv into your Hand.

Gain Block equal to the Block on another player.
Exhaust.

Minion Sacrifice

Gain 8 Block.
Exhaust.

At the start of your turn, gain 4 Vigor.

Osty deals 10 damage.
Deals additional damage equal to Osty's Max HP.

At the end of combat, gain 30 Gold.

Choose 1 of 3 random Attacks from another character to add into your Hand. It's free to play this turn.

Osty deals 25 damage.
Deals 5 additional damage for ALL your other Osty Attacks.

Relics, potions and powers

Enemies and events

Content

General

Ascension 10 reworked -> Double Boss (returning from StS1)

Ironclad

Reworked Grapple card

Silent

Reworked Graceful card

Enemies

Reworked Test Subject
Reworked Infested Prism + is now a single-enemy elite

Balance

Silent

Changed Trophies Epoch unlocks: replaced Corrosive Wave card -> Bubble Bubble
Changed Infinite Blades card: upgrade changed back from upgrading Shivs -> gaining Innate

Defect

Buffed Focused Strike card: damage increased from 8(11) -> 10(12)

Necrobinder

Buffed Death March card: upgrade now also increases base damage by +1
Buffed Protector card: Energy cost decreased from 2(1) -> 1(0)
Buffed Squeeze card: upgrade now also gives +1 to the additional damage modifier
Buffed Unleash card: Energy cost decreased from 2 -> 1

Regent

Buffed Gamma Blast card: upgrade damage increased from +4 -> +5
Nerfed Minion Sacrifice card: Block decreased from 11(14) -> 9(12)
Buffed Royalties card: Gold increased from 25(30) -> 30(35)
Nerfed Bundle of Joy card: no longer reduces cost of the generated cards to 0
Changed Terraforming and Prep Time cards: swapped mechanics

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Colorless Cards

Changed Splash card: upgrade changed from cost reduction -> upgrades the generated card

Potions & Relics

Buffed Bone Brew potion: Summon increased from 10 -> 15
Buffed Potion-Shaped Rock potion: damage increased from 10 -> 15
Changed Bellows and Art of War relics: swapped rarity
Nerfed Forever Ice relic: Block decreased from 7 -> 6
Nerfed Ripple Basin relic: Block decreased from 5 -> 3
Nerfed Starter Flare relic: damage decreased from 10 -> 9

Enemies

Buffed Decimillipede: Writhe move damage increased from 3x3 -> 5x2
Changed Louse Progenitor: Web move changed from applying Weak -> Frail
Nerfed Mytes:
- Suck move damage decreased
- Moveset is no longer random
Buffed Silk Bowlbug: Thrash move damage increased from 3(4) -> 4(5)
Changed Weak Bowlbug encounter: can no longer spawn a Silk Bowlbug
Changed Spiny Toad:
- Explosion move damage changed from 4(5)x5 -> 23(25)
- Second Tongue Lash move removed
Buffed Tunneler: Block gain now scales at A7, increased from 32 -> 37
Changed Vine Shambler:
- Swipe move damage decreased
- Chomp move damage increased
- Moveset is no longer random
Changed Queen: Chains of Binding power can now also afflict Curses and Statuses with Bound

Ancients

Changed Crimson Pendant relic: HP cost changed from 10% of max HP -> 9 max HP

Art

Added hyper beam VFX
Added or updated about 87 relic assets
Added portrait art for the following cards:

User interface and experience

General

Abandon Run quote now has priority over the monster that killed you quote in Run History
Added horizontal scrolling support for Timeline and made scrolling snappier in general
Added a small label in card rewards saying you can inspect cards via Y
Bestiary entry text is now red to make it feel slightly more placeholder
Ceremonial Beast's Ringing power now only visually afflicts cards after your first card has been played
Ceremonial Beast now has a full list of moves and SFX in the Bestiary
Card Library now defaults to Ironclad when opened from main menu
Card Library pool filters are now mutually exclusive
Bestiary buttons no longer play generic SFX when hovering or clicking
Updated save profile icons and positioning
Added controller support to custom runs screen
Added controller navigation for the Bestiary

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Multiplayer

Players' hands are now grayed out and cards are unable to be played during another player's extra turn
Adjusted text and removed faint black panel in player status UI
Added a controller hotkey for Join Friend refresh button
Added controller navigation to player expanded state screen
Added controller navigation to player nameplates

Audio

Added card transform SFX
Added or updated SFX for the following enemies:
- Fabricator (hurt)
- Cultist (CAW CAW)
- Kin Priest (rally)
- Infested Prisms
- Seapunk (hurt)
- Magi Knight
- Lagavulin Matriarch
- Soul Fysh
- Terror Eel
- Two-Tailed Rat
- Fat Gremlin
- Gremlin Merc
- Sneaky Gremlin
- Parafright and Obscura
- Kin Follower
- Turret Operator

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Added SFX for the following Ancients:
Added Merchant SFX
Added Fake Merchant SFX

Writing

Renamed the following relics:
- Fable -> Bing Bong
- Ancient Booster Pack -> Scroll Boxes
- Apex Instinct -> Tri-Boomerang
- Blessed Antlers -> Blessed Antler
- Chain Links -> Gorget
- Cleric's Headpiece -> Massive Scroll
- Discovery Totem -> Sea Glass
- Vibrant Halo -> Archaic Tooth
- Dust Bunny -> Biiig Hug
- Electrified Shard -> Electric Shrymp
- Seeking Tentacle -> Driftwood
- Gift Box -> Large Capsule
- Glamorous Brooch -> Glitter
- Golden Idol -> Cursed Pearl
- Neow's Note -> Golden Pearl
- Heap of Coals -> Nutritious Soup
- Kaleidoscope -> Lava Rock
- Magic Pot -> Pael's Tooth
- Pael's Friend -> Pael's Legion
- Miniature Lab -> Radiant Coffer
- Oddly Heavy Stone -> Sai
- Oracle Bone -> Throwing Axe
- Pitch Black Oil -> Yummy Cookie
- Matchbox -> Very Hot Cocoa
- Pungent Poultice -> Leafy Poultice
- Replicator -> Pael's Growth
- Retractable Claws -> Claws
- Scissors -> Precise Scissors
- Severed Gill -> Radiant Pearl
- Recursive Core -> Touch of Orobas
- Shiny Monocle -> Arcane Scroll
- Smoldering Wick -> Storybook
- Spiraled Lens -> Precarious Shears
- Rusty Chest -> Small Capsule
- Sturdy Brace -> Nutritious Oyster
- Tanx's Might -> Iron Club
- Tezcatara's Candle -> Pumpkin Candle
- The Throne -> Divine Right
- Translucent Frond -> Delicate Frond
- War Effigy -> Crossbow
- Hungering Belly -> Meat Cleaver
- Wax Choker -> Toy Box

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Renamed Cloning Capsule enchantment -> Clone
Renamed After Image card -> Afterimage
Renamed Infested Prism moves
Renamed Vine Shambler Thrashing Vines move -> Swipe
Big Mushroom and Fragrant Mushroom relic hovertips now include both of their upsides and downsides
Spiral enchantment now properly says "Replay 1" instead of "1 Replay"
German (Deutsche) translation has been added for some of the game's text
Korean translation has been added for some of the game's text

Bug fixes

General

Fixed shader-related crash when entering a Rest Site
Card transform in combat now correctly filters out cards that cannot be generated in combat
Fixed cards getting stuck at the end of combat
Fixed crash when closing capstone submenu stack with empty stack
Fixed crash when opening relic collection before content loads
Fixed crash when Relic Collection container is disposed during access
Fixed game not launching on macOS Tahoe 26.2+
Fixed text auto-sizing using wrong default line spacing (was 3, should be -3)
Fixed issue with main menu hover reticle when using controller
Made Godmode persist across combats
Old Run History is no longer restored after profile deletion
Osty, Byrdpip, and other pets now properly turn around when you attack the enemy behind you in a Surrounded encounter
Controller navigation is now prevented from relic top bar to player hand when in map screen

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Defect

Feral card's power icon now properly shows a "0" on it if you play Feral after playing a 0-energy-cost attack

Potions & Relics

Blood Vial and Blood Vial??? relics now properly trigger after Royal Poison relic

Enemies

Ceremonial Beast's Ringing affliction now properly applies to all card types
Fixed the timing of the Decimillipede SFX

Ancients

Fixed Vibrant Halo wording
Orobas Transcendence blessing now transforms Unleash instead of Bodyguard

Multiplayer

Only the effects from a player with an extra turn are processed at the end of their extra turn

Performance

Card Library now opens ~30% faster
Removed a large amount of unused relic assets

Newer: 22 Jan 2026 All patch notes Older: 8 Jan 2026

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