Patch Notes - 0.2.9

Hey everyone, big update for you today: 0.2.9

First off, thank you for all the positive reviews and constructive feedback. We're really happy with how the game has been received, and we do listen. One thing we've heard from more experienced deckbuilder players is that the game can feel a bit too easy and too repetitive, with not much left to do once you reach the last biome. This patch is our response: new modes, a rework of Horror mechanics, and a rework of dish mechanics. And for anyone who likes the game as it is, Vanilla mode keeps things close to how they were, and all your existing saves are automatically set to it.

🔥 New Features

Game Modes

• Vanilla Mode: the standard experience; all existing saves default to this

• Spicy Mode: harder adventure for experienced players: potions and seasonings don't persist on death; biomes scale up on revisit

• Culinary modifier: dishes are consumed when served; draw Pottage if deck runs out; Horrors drop ingredients

• Gourmet modifier: no more RNG tastes, you know all Horror preferences

• Achievements for Spicy Mode

Horror Moves Horrors now follow attack patterns instead of chance-based moves. Some have multiple phases. Move intentions are split into separate categories. New moves:

• Tremor: replaces dishes with rock cards

• Faerie Flame: adds ember cards to your deck

• Faerie Magma: adds magma cards to your deck

• Faerie Plasma: adds ember and magma cards to your deck

• Goldeater: feeds on gold and hunger

• Scratch: incremental damage phases

• Fortify: casts fortification for X turns

• Munchies: casts munchies for X turns

• Enshroud: casts cloak for X turns

• Glutton: casts greed for X turns

• Bait: if Horror gets this ingredient dish, steps forwards

• Diet: casts Portion Control for X turns

• Gnaw: casts Nibble (hunger dealt is capped)

• Snappy: casts Bite Back (if fed, lose stamina)

• Weaken: casts Fragile, Princess debuff takes more stamina damage

• Curiosity: adds lure cards to deck

• Spoiler: casts Spoil Curse, one dish in hand gets zero hunger

• Will Power: removes X dishes from a craving chain

• Craving Strike: removes one item from craving chain, deals % damage for the same value

• Drain Life: -X stamina, +X hunger (smaller for hunger)

• Siphon: Horror gains hunger equal to Princess stamina

• Cast Haste

• Spice Hit: Horror does damage equal to 50% of total spices collected

• Cookware Curse: all cookware disabled

• Resistance: casts Resist, Horror negates debuff X times

• Infect: adds spore cards to your deck

• Potion Curse: cannot use any potions

Dish Abilities

• Melting: destroyed on discard

• Ingredient Love: dishes with X ingredient will be loved next turn

• Reheat: on discard, choose a dish from discard pile to add to hand

• Forage: on discard, choose a dish from draw pile to add to hand

• Disposable: free to discard

• Dodge: gain X evasion on discard

• Sidestep: gain X evasion on serve

• Elusive: gain X evasion on self-serve

• Anticipate: gain X evasion when left in hand

• Fortify: gain X shield on discard

• Plated: gain X shield on serve

• Sustain: gain X shield on self-serve

• Brace: gain X shield when left in hand

• Hearty: gain X hunger boost on discard

• Filling: gain X hunger boost on serve

• Nourish: gain X hunger boost on self-serve

• Retain: dish returns to hand after use

• Humble: removes Horror buffs

• Appetiser: gain X hunger next turn if first dish served

• Light: gain X evasion if first dish served

• Robust: gain X shield if first dish served

• Rich: gain X gold if Horror fully fed

• Tart: gain X stamina if Horror fully fed

• Rustic: gain X ingredients if Horror fully fed

• Glazed: gain X potions if Horror fully fed

• Gold Flakes: hunger scales with total gold

• Slippery: gain evasion based on deck size

• Rampart: gain shield based on discard pile size

• Pantry: hunger scales with draw pile size

• Scraps: gain hunger per free discard

• Doubt: change Horror's move on discard

• Reshuffle: triggers shuffle

• Deep Freeze: x2 hunger if craving is frozen

• Indulge: retrigger craving chain on self-serve

• Scoff: x2 hunger if Horror is X steps away

• Endure: gain X shield if Horror is 80% fed or more

• Nimble: gain X evasion if Horror is 20% fed or less

• Rooted: X hesitate if Horror has no craving

• Apothecary: X hunger next turn based on total potions

• Banquet: doubles the feast applied to a Horror

• Trim: gain X free discard on serve

• Digest: gain X free discard on self-serve

Potions

• Dispel: removes Horror buffs

Cookware

• Honey Dipper: start combat with X evasion

• Costrel: start combat with X shield

• Piggin: start combat with double hunger

• Mazer: start combat with hunger boost

• Ewer: gain 10 shield when monster 2 steps away

• Firkin: shield equals number of free discards

• Spurtle: boosts hunger by % evasion

• Skimmer: craving freeze applies x2 hunger

• Flesh Fork: on lost stamina, add 50% of value as shield

🛠️ Changes and Improvements

• Craving Strike now hits for craving chain size and no longer removes a chain item

• Loot filters by biome; harder biomes yield better loot

• Feast stacks; hunger dealt scales with stack size

• Hunger, stamina, and flavour seasonings no longer take up a dish slot and now stack

• Some seasoning effects stackable

• Seasoning levels removed (Mint II becomes 2x Mint in inventory, etc.)

• Some dish abilities can no longer be overwritten by seasonings

• Multiple seasonings can now drop from chests

• Compendium: pagination added to Horror preference lists

• Crossing dish chests will never show starting dishes

• Banquet modes start with scrolls instead of gold

• More Info button can now be bound to spacebar

• Seasoning Station moved out of the kitchen (crossings only)

• Performance improvements across: cooking, starting a battle, discarding, opening chests

🐞 Bug Fixes

• Dealt cards sometimes animated from the discard pile incorrectly

• Null card no longer appears after using Reheat or Forage

• Mired cards no longer show tooltips

• Overlay z-index fixed when randomising Horror tastes

• Can no longer move around during boss/Puka reveal animation

• Brahan Seer taste test fixed

• Controller/Steam Deck: can now select a dish after using Reheat or Forage

• Controller/Steam Deck: can now select yes/no after removing a dish at vendor

• Blight total copy updated

• Puka can no longer steal more gold than you have

• Cast Fragile icon now matches the Fragile icon

• Mire no longer shows a stamina value on tooltip

• Mug no longer incorrectly shows -20 stamina

• Shell Out no longer incorrectly shows -3 stamina

• Acid no longer incorrectly shows a stamina value

• Recipe loot More Info no longer fails to select the recipe

• Gold Plate and Gold Dust dish abilities now calculate correctly

• Craving Strike was hitting for double the intended amount

• Will Power bugfixed

• Hue shift for monsters above level 2 fixed

• Monster level cap in Vanilla Mode corrected

• Curse Ingredient, Curse Flavour, Cast Bait, Cast Dislike, Cast Hate move values corrected

• Appetiser hunger boost calculation corrected

• Marool fight capped at 4 seagulls

• Monster move could sometimes be set to nothing: fixed

• Loot rewards per act corrected in Banquet Mode

• Culinary Mode state now persists correctly between campaign and banquet

• Tutorial stamina deduction on discard fixed

• Monster scaling in Banquet Mode corrected

• Move values now correctly reflect incoming damage

• Empty tooltip no longer appears when hovering a dish card ability

• Puka scaling fixed

• Dish removal popup in shop now retains focus correctly

• Spice inventory now auto-expands for new spice types

• Seasoning Station warnings now show correctly when an ability can't be overridden

• Dish ability tooltips now display correctly during cooking

• Pudding Basin hunger boost now persists

Thank you for playing and for helping shape Hungry Horrors during Early Access.