What Are Cosmetics
Cosmetics are ways of permanently altering the appearance of your character, their weapons, and their carried equipment.
Each can be applied to distinct categories - such as character outfits, weapons, and bags (including hip bags, back bags, and weapon bags).
Cosmetic Categories
Weapon Cosmetics
In time, additional item types will receive cosmetic support - to be revealed in later updates.
At present, Hunger includes more than 70 distinct cosmetics. They are built to reflect the materials, wear, and strangeness of the World After the End.
All cosmetics in Hunger are permanent. Once crafted, they are bound to your account forever and will never be wiped. They can also be applied at will. Once applied, it will stay until you either remove it or apply a new one.
We will continue to expand the cosmetic library after release, adding new cosmetics that both enrich the look of your character and deepen the storytelling of the world itself. Each cosmetic is a fragment of history - a trace of a person, place, or event, told through design.
Some examples are included below.
Eva - Prestige I: Mademoiselle Rouge
What are Schemas?
Every cosmetic begins its life as a Schema - a craftable blueprint representing the knowledge of how to create it.
We offer fair warning - Schemas behave like any other inventory item until redeemed.
If you found, plundered or looted a Schema in an Expedition - be warned - until you reach the safety of the Château, they remain part of your carried possessions - and thus, may be taken from your body.
To use a Schema, you must return to the Château.
Once in the Château, using a Schema consumes it and permanently adds it to your Appearance Menu.
The cosmetic must then be crafted to be able to apply it.
All discovered cosmetics are account-wide: however, Character cosmetics appear only on the menu of the matching hero.
Marie: Matriarch Cosmetic
How do I find Schemas?
You might acquire a Schema by:
Levelling up your character.
Completing quests for NPCs - from storylines to rare daily, weekly, or monthly tasks.
Unlocking situational questlines hidden behind specific choices or other NPC progressions.
Simply finding them in the world: tucked into a bundle of firewood, lodged behind a desk, or hidden in a roadside crate.
Looting bosses or rare enemies, including certain Hunger that guard unique rewards.
Prestiging a character.
Stumbling upon unique fixed locations with low-chance spawns, such as a bedside table in a ruined farmhouse that might, just once, yield something extraordinary.
Purchasing Schemas from rare vendors, using in-game currency or tradeable resources.
Purchasing Schemas from other players through the in-game Auction House (which will be introduced during Early Access), using in-game currency or tradeable resources.
Purchasing Schemas as paid content, which will be introduced after Early Access to help sustain and expand Hunger long into the future. Schemas bought with real money will already be applied in the Appearance menu. They will need to be crafted but cannot be on-sold within the game.
War Axe Cosmetics
War Axe: Sacrament Cosmetic
Crafting
Once you’ve returned to the Château and used the Schema, the cosmetic will be ready for you to craft. You can craft this cosmetic over time, and ingredients can be drawn from your Inventory and Stash.
Clicking an ingredient commits it permanently to the recipe - it cannot be reclaimed.
The system dynamically tracks progress, showing which ingredients remain. Once all are gathered, the Craft button becomes available. You can also choose to bookmark ingredients to allow you to keep easier track of any particular Schema you’re compiling.
Crafting finalises the cosmetic - transforming knowledge into ownership.
Once crafted, it is yours forever, bound to your account and available to every eligible character. Even if you perish in an Expedition, you shall still retain the cosmetic.
Cosmetic Crafting
Duplication & Trade
If you already possess a discovered Schema, you cannot redeem another copy.
Such items retain trade value - sell them instead.
Dagger: "Misericorde"
Design Intent
We understand that in most games, cosmetics are either purchased directly or awarded automatically for completing achievements.
In Hunger, we wanted to take a different approach. Cosmetics are not just aesthetic choices - they’re tied directly to what players do in the game.
Like any strong RPG system, character appearance should reflect a player’s performance, choices, and capability. The goal was to make cosmetics feel earned - a reflection of experience, not simply ownership.
Cosmetics in Hunger are designed to be earned, crafted, and permanent.
They exist as artefacts of understanding that players discover and construct through play.
These are the main ideas that drove our design of this system:
Expression: Cosmetics are an avenue for creative and narrative expression. Each piece contributes to worldbuilding through its design, material, and lore context.
Permanence: Once crafted, cosmetics are permanently bound to the player’s account. They are never wiped or lost between seasons. In effect The Appearance Menu acts as a persistent record of a player’s progression - tracking what they’ve learned and unlocked over time.
Skill: The ingredients required to craft cosmetics are often tied to meaningful gameplay challenges - such as defeating specific Hunger, completing difficult encounters, or reaching remote locations. Acquiring a cosmetic is as much a measure of skill and persistence as it is luck or exploration.
Process: Discovery and crafting are distinct steps. Players must first find the Schema, then gather materials to complete it. We wanted it to be a core part of our Extraction gameplay loop, rather than something done afterwards or with a different system.
Economy: Duplicate Schemas retain value through trade. Schema ingredients will also take on specific value depending on the perceived value of the cosmetic that they craft.
Longevity: After Early Access, some Schemas will also be available as paid content to help support ongoing development and ensure Hunger can continue to grow.
Identity: Certain Schemas are map- or activity-specific, acting as markers of playstyle and achievement. They help tell the story of how each player has experienced Hunger.
Abel: Cosmetic Concept Art
Like all systems in Hunger, we approached this from the perspective of an RPG (permanent character appearance changes that reflect in-game action/discovery/achievement) and then worked to make it a core part of our Extraction loop. We’re excited for you to experience it for yourselves in the coming tech test.
Wishlist Hunger to follow the journey and join our upcoming tests.
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