Hey Rockhounds!
Time flies when you’re having fun, and we’ve been having fun working on a massive update. Our main goal right now is participating in Steam Next Fest this June, which means the official Rockhounds Demo is dropping very soon!
But before we get to that, let’s talk about the recent Playtest.
Playtest retrospective
Over the past couple of months, thousands of you tried out the very first playable build of Rockhounds. Your feedback was incredible, and the data showed something fascinating: your initial play sessions are long and engaging, but we have a retention problem. Players aren't returning for a third or fourth session.
We always planned to build a robust meta-game loop to drive long-term retention, but we didn’t expect to do it this early. However, we realized that if we didn't fix this leak now, our Next Fest demo wouldn't successfully grow our audience, putting our upcoming Early Access launch at risk.
So, we pivoted, and focused on building features that give you a reason to jump back into the game time and time again.
What’s New: The Meta-Loop & Feature Overhaul
Here is a breakdown of the major systems we’ve just implemented to fix the leak and deepen the Rockhounds experience:
Economy: You can now mine and extract rare minerals during missions. Use them to purchase, craft, and upgrade your gear between contracts.
The Hub Overhaul: The base ship has been completely redesigned to align with our narrative direction. It is now more compact, gritty, and feels like a true, worn-down freighter.
Unique Personalities: Rockhounds now have individual voices, making them sound unique and way more interesting.
The Crafting Loop: Introducing the Crafting Table and Fabricator. You will now use minerals to craft items and attachments (which are consumed after each contract, keeping the resource loop active).
Vendors: New interactive vendors are available, where you can trade minerals and buy new weapons.
Difficulty & Anomalies: We’ve expanded the difficulty curve to reward upgraded gear. Furthermore, contracts can now be modified with Anomalies (voluntary modifiers that increase both the risk and the reward).
New Mission Types: We are introducing new contract types focusing on different core pillars: Exploration, Base Building, Combat, or Resource Collection.
First-Time User Experience (FTUE): Added in-game guides to smoothly explain the primary mechanics to newcomers.
Performance Polish: Alongside dozens of small fixes, we’ve executed huge memory optimizations to slash loading times (even on low-end systems similar to our office test rigs!).
Early Access Roadmap Teaser
As soon as the demo drops, we will officially publish our Early Access Roadmap!
To tease you just a little bit, here is a glimpse of what the future holds:
There is a ton of exciting content planned, and we can't wait to have you join us on this journey into Early Access.
Don't forget to Wishlist and Follow Rockhounds to get notified the exact second the demo goes live!