Playtest notes 5 Feb 2026

Internal playtest114 entries39 bug fixes23 balance changes21 interface changes13 art updates10 wording fixes4 content additions2 audio updates2 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.

Welcome to the first patch of February 2026! This one is more medium-sized, with a few balance and logic changes, a couple of reworks, and some art and UI additions.

Items in this note

42 cards

Relics, potions and powers

Enemies and events

Content

Silent

  • Added returning card from StS1, Expertise
  • Deprecated Graceful card

Necrobinder

Regent

Balance

Ironclad

  • Changed Grapple card: now applies a debuff to the enemy instead of a buff to the player

Defect

  • Changed Signal Boost card: when played twice, it now doubles the next two Powers played, rather than increasing the doubling to tripling

Necrobinder

  • Osty now uses the player's block when he is dealt damage directly (for example, when using an Osty attack on an enemy with Thorns)
  • Buffed Bodyguard card: Summon increased from 4(6) -> 5(7)
  • Nerfed Calcify card: damage decreased from 5(7) -> 4(6)
  • Changed Friendship card:
  • Buffed Unleash card: base damage increased from 5(8) -> 6(9)

Potions & Relics

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Enemies

  • When playing Hellraiser card against the Queen boss, Strikes are now auto-played before Chains of Binding power afflicts them with Bound, meaning they no longer count as the Bound card played this turn
  • Nerfed Knowledge Demon: Ponder move Strength gain decreased from 3(4) -> 2(3)
  • Nerfed Magi Knight: Bomb move damage decreased from 40(45) -> 35(40)
  • Buffed Spectral Knight:
    • Soul Slash move damage increased from 13(15) -> 15(17)
    • Now always does Soul Slash after Hex move

Ancients

  • Nerfed Neow's Fury card: no longer heals HP
  • Changed Vakuu's Potential blessing:
    • Can no longer give 2 of the same curse
    • Can no longer give Greed curse

Events

Art

Audio

User interface & experience

General

  • Added input remapping
  • Added Cook Rest Site icon
  • Updated patch notes icon to be high-res
  • Added pause menu open/close SFX
  • Added the ability to launch the game without mods
  • Added support for European and Latin American Spanish
  • The game now defaults to the current Steam UI language
  • Added Power Saving Mode with paused banner
  • Added controller support for map drawing
  • Updated eraser tool hotspot so that it erases more cleanly
  • When the Forge hovertip is shown, the Retain hovertip is now shown along with it

Necrobinder

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Potions & Relics

  • Relic icons are now only grayed out if their effect is used up for the entire run (for example, after Bone Tea relic upgrades your starting hand next combat)
  • Added Cook tooltip to Meat Cleaver relic

Enemies

  • Two-Tailed Rats now spawn closer to the right side of the screen

Ancients

  • Ancient event choices now display the relic they will give you
  • Yummy Cookie relic now switches which character it shows based on the local character

Multiplayer

  • Closing the map no longer removes your vote for the next node
  • Hovering over cards in hand when it's not your turn now displays them fully
  • Multiplayer vote icons now utilize an outline asset rather than a shader

Writing

  • Renamed Forever Ice relic -> Permafrost
  • Renamed Screamer Pod potion -> Potion of Binding
  • Astrolabe and New Leaf relic descriptions now say "Transform cards" instead of "Choose and Transform cards"
  • Effects that set a card's energy AND star costs to free now say "free to play" instead of "cost 0 Energy"
  • Fixed ordering of effects in Convergence card description
  • Forbidden Grimoire card now specifies that its card removal is optional
  • More relics with "Upon pickup" effects now include "Upon pickup" in their descriptions
  • Orrery relic description now says "Gain card rewards" instead of "Choose and add cards to your deck"
  • Reaper Form and Lethality card wording changed to imply Osty attacks also benefit
  • Removed character spoilers in character select screen

Bug fixes

General

  • Players can now alt-enter from anywhere
  • Card type label now auto-sizes to fit longer translations
  • Fixed delay when game unpauses after regaining focus
  • Fixed issues with game window only partially fullscreen-ing
  • Fixed crash related to Korean text font
  • Fixed an issue where cards' displayed types (Attack, Skill, etc.), some settings menu text, and the "View Upgrades" label in various card selection screens stayed in English after switching languages
  • Fixed a softlock that would occur after starting a fresh profile and abandoning your first run before entering the first point on the map
  • Fixed not being able to left click to preview card when you hit right click first
  • The history of the combat you were killed in no longer states it lasted "0 turns" in the Run History
  • Hovertips no longer overlap with option buttons in combat-style events
  • Poison and Doom health bars now show correct proportions
  • Strength and other in-combat value modifiers are now properly included in the values shown on in-combat card upgrade previews from effects like Armaments card
  • You no longer see relic tooltips for unknown relics in the Compendium
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Ironclad

  • When Stomp card is played after Juggling card, its clones now properly receive the cost reduction from itself being played

Silent

Necrobinder

Regent

Colorless Cards

Potions & Relics

  • Art of War relic now properly disables Energy gain for the turn when an effect like Mayhem auto-plays an attack on turn start
  • Added missing relic icons for Looming Fruit and Sea Glass relics
  • Hand Drill relic now properly triggers when breaking an enemy's block with non-attack damage
  • Intimidating Helmet relic no longer triggers when playing normally-2+ Energy cost cards whose costs have been reduced to 1 or 0 by global effects like Pounce
  • Tuning Fork relic no longer triggers when Mayhem power autoplays an attack the turn after you've played 2 attacks

Enemies

  • Interrupting Insatiable's Salivate move no longer makes sand VFX continuously play

Ancients

Events

  • Luminous Choir event can no longer appear if the player can't afford the "Offer Tribute" option
  • Selecting the Nap option at Dense Vegetation event no longer causes you to lose 5 max HP when you have the Night Terrors modifier
  • Selecting the Nap option at Dense Vegetation event now properly triggers Stone Humidifier relic

Multiplayer

  • Players can now target allies with shared potions outside of combat
  • Oblivion card no longer applies Doom for cards played by other players in multiplayer
  • The run victory screen now works properly in multiplayer

Performance

  • Compressed map assets
  • Made various other performance improvements
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