Deeper Into the Grid - Level 6, Signal Roulette & Risk Contracts

Hey Gridbreakers!

This is one of our biggest updates yet.

The demo now goes deeper into the Grid with Level 6, while Anomaly Caches and Patch deals have been completely reworked. Permanent progression is easier to understand, reward screens and the HUD received a major visual overhaul, and we've added a new cursed mutation, Ukrainian localization, accessibility improvements, controller polish, performance improvements, and a long list of gameplay fixes.

NEW CONTENT & PROGRESSION

• The demo now extends through Level 6.
• Added a new cursed mutation: Endless Burden.
• Endless Burden grants x4 regular score, but your exact Snake length now follows you between levels.
• Permanent progression has been reorganized into clearer Upgrades and Calibrations trees.
• Newly unlocked Calibrations are now marked as NEW until you visit them.
• Upgrade states, dependencies, effects, maximum levels and refunds are now much easier to understand.
• Several class mastery and upgrade unlock positions have been adjusted.
• Added dedicated music for meta screens and the Options menu.

ANOMALY CACHES - SIGNAL ROULETTE

Anomaly Caches have been completely redesigned around a new 5-option Signal Roulette.

• Opening an Anomaly Cache now pauses the action while available signals cycle.
• The selected signal locks in before the cache opens.
• The entire presentation has been rebuilt with new visual feedback and sound.
• Improved controller navigation.
• Better support for different screen sizes and aspect ratios.

PATCH RISK CONTRACTS

Patch's Contraband system has been redesigned into physical Risk Contracts.

• Rewards and risks are now clearly separated.
• Accept and Refuse states are much easier to read.
• Purchased contracts clearly show their acquired reward and current state.
• Improved controller navigation and action hints.
• Improved the Patch Deal reward reveal.

HUD, OBJECTIVES & REWARDS

The gameplay HUD and reward presentation received one of their largest redesigns so far.

• Major visual overhaul of the main HUD.
• Health, currency and shields now live inside a clearer dedicated status panel.
• Abilities and temporary effects have been reorganized.
• Timed power-ups now show their remaining duration.
• Power-up timers correctly stop while the game is paused.
• Objectives have been redesigned for better readability.
• New objective types now receive a stronger first-time introduction.
• During Alarm Heist, the normal objective temporarily changes to guide you through opening the cache and escaping.
• Reward selection has been completely redesigned.
• Upgrades, mutations, curses and power-ups now have more distinct cards and rarity presentation.
• Reward screens adapt better to standard, portrait and ultrawide resolutions.
• Compatible rewards now show stack progression more clearly.
• Controller players can use X / Square to inspect additional stack details.
• Current Build information and rerolls are now better integrated into reward selection.

FORGOTTEN CACHES

• Forgotten Cache rewards have received a major presentation redesign.
• Power-ups, mutations and coin rewards now have clearer visual categories.
• Base power-up durations from Forgotten Caches have been doubled.
• Improved responsive layouts and localization support.

GAMEPLAY & BALANCE

• Self-collision damage has been adjusted for extremely fast builds to reduce situations where several damage ticks could happen almost instantly.
• Hunters now commit more reliably to their attacks instead of repeatedly changing targets at close range.
• Hunter attack timing and telegraphs have been refined.
• Frozen non-boss enemies can now be safely devoured, including armored enemies.
• Crash Save now activates only when the collision would actually be lethal.
• Newly acquired Crash Save charges can be used immediately.
• Phase Hunger and Borrowed Phase now grant their advertised phase charges immediately.
• Crawler Feast no longer wastes its healing effect when a Crawler dies for unrelated reasons.
• Crawler Feast healing is now represented more clearly on the HUD.
• Floor Rift exits are safer and require a valid destination.
• Floor Rifts can create additional space around difficult corner exits while preserving protected terrain.
• Objective keys should no longer become obscured by enemies.
• Afterburner Tail no longer floods the system feed.
• Health recovery pickup feedback has been improved.

CODEX, TACTICAL SCAN & STORY

• More mechanics now include clearer gameplay previews.
• Crawler devouring, Hunter guard breaking, Splitter survival, Turret targeting and class abilities are easier to understand.
• Tactical Scan and Codex previews have been reframed for better readability.
• Pause screens now provide better inspection information.
• Patch and Gridmaster transmissions now have more distinct visual identities.
• Patch's identity reveal is tied more naturally to your first encounter with the market.
• Story transmissions have been repositioned and resized to interfere less with gameplay.
• Many Codex descriptions and gameplay explanations have been rewritten for clarity.

ACCESSIBILITY, CONTROLS & SETTINGS

• Added a new Eye Comfort visual preset.
• Eye Comfort and Reduced Motion now affect more gameplay effects.
• Improved controller and Steam Input support across reward selection, Tactical Scan, Risk Contracts, achievements and modal windows.
• Fixed controller input not restoring correctly after Tactical Scan.
• Added controller text input support in modal windows.
• Improved display-setting confirmation and recovery.
• Native Resolution now displays the detected monitor resolution.
• Improved support for ultrawide, super-ultrawide and compact layouts.
• The default Master Volume for new settings is now 50%.

LOCALIZATION

• Added full Ukrainian localization.
• Improved localization layouts and font fallbacks across the HUD, objectives, rewards, Codex and progression screens.
• Clarified multiple descriptions and gameplay terms across supported languages.

PERFORMANCE & STABILITY

This update also includes a broad optimization and stability pass.

• Reduced unnecessary processing during gameplay.
• Improved performance around temporary hazards and collectible handling.
• New Run and Continue initialization should feel smoother.
• Loading screens now communicate progress more clearly and transition more reliably into gameplay.
• Reduced several sources of mid-run hitches and stalls.
• Improved leaderboard-related processing during runs.
• Fixed a rare issue that could block the transition after defeating Gridmaster.
• Improved cleanup of temporary gameplay effects.
• Fixed multiple popup, transition and input-state conflicts.
• Many smaller performance, controller, UI and stability improvements.

THANK YOU

Thanks for playing, testing, breaking things and sending feedback.

See you deeper in the Grid.