Testers have been doing a great job tearing through the content in Krumit's Tale and I decided it would be worth focusing on some more challenging content to keep the experienced players engaged.
Like Meteorfall, Krumit's Tale features a similar New Game+ system - beating the game once unlocks a 'New Game+' mode which adds a difficulty modifier to the run. In the case of the first level, it's pretty minor - your max health is reduced by 2. If you beat that level, Krumit tacks on another modifier *on top of* the original modifier - now shop items are more expensive. My favorite modifier so far is one that adds 'curses' to your deck - negative abilities that have an effect while on the board and cost health to remove.
I decided to put this feature on the 'beta' branch instead of the general release because it may not be as stable as the current default branch. Even more so than other content in Krumit's Tale, this new difficulty mode is much more likely to change (even significantly). Difficulty modifiers might be moved around, added, removed - or maybe the whole system will be overhauled.
I'd love to get some feedback on how far up players can get, and if there are any hard blocks for either hero. I've tested up to NG+ 5 or so, and can barely scrape by. By far, the modifier I've had the most trouble with is the one that increases enemy HP by just 1 point - it throws off all of your muscle memory.
To switch to the beta branch, it's fairly easy - I'll link to this really helpful support article from Klei (Oxygen Not Included) http://support.kleientertainment.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2776550-how-to-change-branches-in-oxygen-not-included-steam-. Basically, you just need to right-click Krumit's Tale in your Steam library and go to the 'Beta' tab.
Just a warning that the beta branch is going to be inherently less stable than the main branch, so use at your own risk! If you ever feel it's too unstable and you prefer to go back to the default branch, you can do that the same way as switching to the beta branch.
Thanks, and can't wait to hear how everyone enjoys the new mode!
Note - If you've beaten the game before, you'll need to do it again with this new update in order to unlock NG+