- The Rite of Sharpening v0.16 - Essence overhaul & Forest enemy rework - 31 August 2026
It's been a heavy few weeks of mostly-invisible work. A forest playtest threw up a long list of things that were broken, and most of this update is me working through that list.The one of the biggest fixes was the Ancient reveal, the cinematic where an Ancient wakes up and marches onto the map. It turned out the roll that triggers it never actually fired in a normal run (three separate bugs stacked on top of each other), so most players would never have seen it. That's fixed, and I rebuilt the whole sequence while I was in there: the map fogs over, an eclipse rolls in, the Ancient's silhouette looms up behind it, then it stomps onto the board from below in three heavy steps with the camera framing the entrance. There's a new screen-wide Threat presence layer too, the screen darkens and the corners close in when your Threat crosses a threshold, with a lighter pulse on every point in or o…
- The Rite of Sharpening v0.16 Teaser - 30 August 2026
Threat used to be a number ticking up in the corner. Now the dark moves with it, the edges of the screen pull inward, the light thins, and past a certain point the map drops into full eclipse. When it lifts, the biome's Ancient has dragged itself onto the path. And it's marching toward you.You do not want to still be there when it arrives.Full patch notes 31/08/26.
- The Gathering Dark v0.15.1 - Enemy re-works & big visual update! - 14 August 2026
Two weeks of mostly forest-biome and combat-feel work. The headline is the battle visuals rework finally landing on main; new impact camera work, scene lighting, and an enemy death crescendo, alongside a real pass on making the forest enemies feel distinct from each other instead of reading as the same fight in different skins.Also fixed a genuinely embarrassing bug: enemy AI was drawing from a filtered copy of its own deck instead of the real one, so it never actually emptied and reshuffled... around 44% of enemy rounds were just generic attack/defend/charge on repeat instead of their unique cards showing up. That's fixed now, and cleared the way for a proper identity pass: every forest enemy owns one signature status instead of half of them all rolling Stun or mind-debuffs.Escape got reworked too, it's no longer a coin flip you could lose after already committing your whole turn to it…
- The Gathering Dark v0.15 Live! - 31 July 2026
This one's a shorter stretch than usual, about six days since the last post, so it's mostly shop and feel work plus one bigger system change under the hood.The shop got a major pass. There's now a reroll button under the shop title, gold cost starts at 50 and goes up 50 each time you reroll in a visit, and it plays out with a fancy animation: the current wares get swept off the table with a random spin, fresh ones generate, and they drop back in from the top one at a time with a bit of wobble. First version had a bug where the new items could fly clean off screen after a reroll (a top-level/global-position mixup), that's fixed now, along with a two-frame layout timing issue in the same flow. Shop card slots also got a "?" info button explaining colourless vs. subclass cards, and cards are now colour-coded by subclass in the shop. There's a new hand-painted wooden table render behind the…
- Menagerie pets, a rebuilt Essence Altar, and a pile of juice v.0.14.1 - 25 July 2026
Menagerie pets, a rebuilt Essence Altar, and a pile of juiceBeen heads-down since the last post re-working a lot of the scenes, so here's everything that landed in the meantime.The Menagerie pet system got its first real pass: seven pets - Bird of Prey, Dino Raptor, Drake, Eldritch Squid, Fennec Fox, Hunting Hound, Snow Leopard - each with a base card plus two upgrade tiers (two card options per tier), so 35 new pet cards in total, plus portraits and placeholder sprite sheets for all seven. Alongside that, the Essence Altar event room got fully built out (gem display, upgrade paths, the works), essence upgrades all got unique icons and colours instead of sharing generic ones, and a new Mirror Barrier status went in alongside a reworked Ignite.Enemy kits got rebalanced across the board: every enemy now runs one power card plus three unique cards, and their base attack/defend/charge cards…
- Soul's Reckoning v0.14.0 Live! - 7 July 2026
This is a big one, combining a couple of weeks I didn't get a chance to post about, so there's a lot here.The mountain biome now has an actual roster: 12 base enemies and 5 guardians, all built from scratch, on theme, to spec. Combined with reworked desert and forest guardians and a fully built new boss, that's 27 enemies added or reworked this update, each with its own power, card set, deck, AI, and stats. All of this is currently in testing and will be available in the full release, but it's a huge step towards a complete game.The forest guardians needed more than a touch up. Several were stubs pointing at the wrong enemy's cards, so I had to create 19 missing .tres files and rewire every deck to actually point at the right content, then bring the scripts up to spec. Desert guardians were closer to done, I edited those in place and gave them real pile mechanics (bury, draw scramble, s…
- Eclipse Dawn 0.13.1 - Anointed Subclass, Artefacts, New lore - 22 June 2026
Last devlog I flagged that the Anointed's animations were placeholder while the kit itself was playable. That's done now, full anims and VFX are in, including a batch pass across all 20 of the Anointed's card files so they're wired up consistently rather than one at a time.The bigger change this update is to relics, which aren't called relics anymore, they're Artefacts. Artefacts are now weaker in their base form, and you upgrade them at the Reliquary in the hometown using meta currency, with the base version sitting at about half effectiveness until you do. I'd rather have the room to tune the early-game power level down and let upgrades be a real decision than have everything front-loaded and nothing to spend currency on later.Each of the 3 planned characters now has a starting Artefact with its own playstyle and lore attached. The Bloodcurse one grants temporary HP, lets you overheal…
- Eclipse Dawn - 0.13.0 Live - 15 June 2026
This is probably the biggest internal milestone since the demo launched, meta-progression has been added in a skeletal state, placeholder assets for now, but fully functional. Please feedback your thoughts, it's still in need of a lot of testing. What's new:The Hometown — There's now a persistent hub scene between runs. This is where meta-progression lives: your unlocks, your blessings, your level. It's not fully stocked yet, but the infrastructure is there and it already makes the game feel meaningfully different to launch into rather than just hitting "new run" from a menu.Blessings — A new meta-loop mechanic. You can now spend currency earned across runs at a blessings shop in the Hometown. These carry into future runs as persistent passive upgrades. Early days on the variety, but the system is in.Unlock system — Subclass cards for the Anointed, Guardian, Martyr, Stormguard, and Spir…
- THE WHISPERING DREAD V.0.12.1 - Major Update is LIVE - 28 May 2026
The THE WHISPERING DREAD update is now live for Hunter's Hand! If you've been waiting to try the game, now's a good time to jump in.What's new:The Guardian Subclass - Now fully playable in the demo with completed artwork. Three subclasses are in the game. The Guardian plays differently to the Stormguard and the Martyr with a more measured, defensive pressure style. Worth trying if you've been sticking to one class. Card visual overhaul - Cards now communicate their state much more clearly. Playable cards glow differently to unplayable ones. The cost gem has VFX that scale with the card's cost. Instant cards have their own new visual indicator. The rarity colour scheme is back to the Lovecraftian palette. And there's a new card frame, with new frames planned for each character & enemies.Accessibility options - Added colourblind modes, a dyslexia-friendly font, and 4× text scaling. All to…
- Visual Polish, Threat Tooltips, and a Complete Difficulty Overhaul v.0.12.0 - 12 May 2026
It's been a busy few weeks. Most of the work this sprint was polish and systems I'd been putting off, VFX that were half-finished, animations that existed but weren't wired up, and the difficulty system which had been sitting at 5 levels for way too long. Here's everything that changed:ChangesRe-added blood spatter VFX, and added new armour sparks on hurt and block animations for both players and enemies. These were stripped out at some point during refactoring and I finally got around to putting them back properly.Enemies now have Threat threshold up and down animations, these were actually built weeks ago but weren't linked in the enemy scene. They have SFX now too. The card tooltip formatter now shows Threat actives with a glowing effect (so you'll see "At 10+ Threat:" highlighted properly), and I've added the "Threat" keyword itself to the formatter so it's colour-coded in tooltips…
- Crimson Bloom - Major Update is LIVE - 30 April 2026
The Crimson Bloom Update is now live for Hunter's Hand!If you've been waiting to try the game, now's a good time to jump in.What's new:The Martyr subclass - Built entirely around sacrifice. Spend HP to deal damage. Break yourself to break the run. High risk, devastating ceiling.20 new cards - Including Sacrificial Icon and Grim Resolve, designed around the Martyr's playstyle but usable across classes.The Desert - A new biome previewed in this update, arriving in full at release. Arid, hostile, full of things that want you dead.UI improvements - Several QoL changes based on your feedback. The game should feel much cleaner and faster to navigate.This update represents a new chapter for Hunter's Hand. The Martyr changes how you think about taking damage, every hit becomes a resource, every wound a choice. Combined with the Desert's hazards, runs will feel different in a way I couldn't full…
- The Martyr arrives. Here's everything in the update. - 27 April 2026
Time for the first new subclass reveal!New Class: The MartyrA class built around sacrifice. Spend your own health. Break your own body to break your enemies. If you've been playing the demo you've already seen a glimpse, the next update fully delivers on the concept.Here's a teaser of some of the new cards coming (subject to balance changes!): Abyssal GuardIf Fading: Gain 10 DEF for each round passed. TenuousDoom's DefenseIf Moribund: Gain +10 DEF & 1 Spectral.Faith's BastionIf Fading: Gain +15 DEF.Grim ResolveIf Fading: Gain +5 DEF.Hope's BeaconHeal 5 HP. If Fading: Heal an additional 10 HP.Resolute DefenseIf Fading: Gain +10 DEF.Shield of FaithIf Wounded: +5 Def.Avenging BlowIf Healthy: Lose 10 HP. If you have less HP than target, this card has 2 x ATK.Dark ReckoningIf Fading: ATK x 2Echo of PainATK = HP lost last turn.Frenzied AssaultGain 5 Bleed.If Fading: +15 ATKMartyred StrikeIf W…
- Something is coming. - 25 April 2026
Something stirs in Hunter's Hand.The Crimson Bloom is spreading.A new way to play is close... A new place to die in is closer than you think.That's all for now.
- Threat System Overhaul & UI Refinements – Patch 0.11.2 - 13 April 2026
Thanks again to everyone playing the demo and sharing feedback, it’s been incredibly helpful in shaping both the direction and feel of the game!This week’s update focuses on a major overhaul of the Threat system, alongside UI refinements, new gameplay interactions, and general polish.A lot of this work lays the foundation for future content, with Threat now becoming a much more central and reactive system.Threat System OverhaulThreat has been significantly expanded and is now integrated across enemies, rewards, and encounters.Threat is now colour-based, tracked via a dedicated systemRefactored into a new ThreatManager global for better scalabilityAdded functions for adding, removing, and querying Threat cleanlyUI now pulses and updates dynamically to draw attention to changesAdded VFX to Threat icons and skull thresholds Gameplay IntegrationAll Forest enemies and the Black deck now inte…
- Big Visual Upgrade + Desert Biome Tease - Patch 0.11.1 - 2 April 2026
Thanks again to everyone who’s been playing the demo and sharing feedback! It’s been incredibly helpful in shaping the direction of the game and tracking down issues. This update mainly focused on visual improvements, battle presentation, and continuing to stabilise systems after recent refactors. A lot of work also went into improving animation quality and performance across the board.What’s Coming NextOver the next few months, development will be shifting toward some major content and system updates:Threat System Overhaul Reworking threat into a core gameplay system, fully integrated across combat and mechanics rather than a background calculation for the ancient reveal.Threat value increases with certain items, relics & eventsThreat reveals ancient, but also affects games difficulty, and may also offer greater rewardsI'm toying with the idea that threat also affects how enemies behav…
- Patch 0.10.13 - Thanks for the feedback! - 20 March 2026
Weekly Devlog – UI Improvements, New Mechanics & Major FixesThanks everyone for the feedback over this past week! I've been frantically trying to improve the experience, and have squashed as many bugs as I can in the first week of the demo go-live. There's likely still more that I haven't even encountered yet in my testing, so please send me bug reports if you come across anything! (There's now a button in game in a few places, most accessible being the pause menu)Anyway, this past week has been a productive one for Hunter’s Hand, with a mix of gameplay improvements, bug fixes, and balance adjustments. Here’s everything that’s new:Changes & ImprovementsStatus UI now displays both stacks and duration simultaneously (when applicable).Status icons now flash white on activation for clearer feedback.Fury now spawns a card at the start of each turn that deals damage equal to its stacks.Added…
- Hunter’s Hand Demo Now Live - 12 March 2026
Hunter’s Hand Demo Now Live!You can now play the opening region of the game and face the first Ancient.Hunter’s Hand is a turn-based tactical roguelike deckbuilder where every card sequence matters. Build your deck, follow branching paths across a corrupted land, and manage rising Threat as you hunt — or are hunted.The demo includes: • Opening biome • 1 playable class • A limited card and relic pool • The first Ancient encounter • Runs around 15-45 minutesIf you enjoy the demo, wishlisting the full game helps a lot and lets you follow development.Thanks for taking the first steps into the hunt.Trailer:
