v0.8.18

27 Sep 2026

Runners already have a certain amount of personality in the game, but most of it lives inside the mind of the player. Which is great and all, but I wanted to push some updates to make some of that character and personality come through in the game and mechanics a bit more.

This update is all about bringing some extra mechanical depth and life to the runners!

Runner cards at ROOKIE, SILVER and GOLD, with the XP bar to the next star

Runner Veterancy

Runners now collect XP that progresses them from a rookie to a Silver star at 8 XP, and then finally a Gold star at 20 XP
Working any mission no matter the outcome earns a runner 2 XP and handling an event grants 1 XP. Running a Hack from The Switchboard also grants 2 XP
When granted a Silver star a runner gains either +1 HP or +1 in one of their stats, weighted towards their strongest stat
When granted a Gold star a runner gains either +1 HP (with a max of +1 HP from the Silver and Gold stars together), +1 in one of their stats, or, about 1 time in 5, a new magenta tag
If a runner gains enough stats to move up a Tier they will be promoted, and implants count too. Now you can hire a green T1 or T2 runner and have them promoted up a tier instead of having to hire a new one
Hired runners will come with some XP / stars depending on the tier and stats that they have (a star they arrive with gives no bonus), so it still makes sense to hire runners, but the choice is now more about do I want to save money and grow a runner or hire a good one now

A runner's tooltip: their career record and timeline

Runner Histories

Runners now track their own career statistics, which you can view on their tooltips when you hover over them
Number of missions, number of events, share of rewards, wounds and healing etc. is all tracked now
Some special events like earning stars, promotions or getting implants also show on the runner's timeline

The Hall of Fame in ARCHIVES

Runner Hall of Fame

In a newly grouped "ARCHIVES" screen available from the Main Menu you can now see runners memorialized in the Hall of Fame for their individual achievements
This picks out the best runners from all of your runs to fill out the slots for accolades like "Most Missions", "Most FAILs", "Shortest Career" and etc.
Run History, Achievements and the Almanac have all moved into the new ARCHIVES section. How to Play is now called Help Docs and stays on the Main Menu

A Wanted runner, and the Safehouse on The Block

Wanted Tags

Runners who survive a MESSY or FAIL mission outcome now have a chance to get a 'Wanted' tag: 10% on a MESSY and 20% on a FAIL
'Wanted' generates 1 Heat per turn until it can be removed
To remove 'Wanted' tags you need to purchase the "Safehouse" upgrade on The Block for 5 Intel and park your runner there for 1 turn. They do not earn Credits but it will remove their 'Wanted' tag

Other miscellaneous changes

Contract fixes: Nothing Fancy only fails if you hire a Tier 3 runner before 40 REP, so a promotion can't break it, and it pays 4 REP instead of 3. Deep Bench asks for 2 Tier 3 and 2 Tier 2 runners and pays 2 REP instead of 5. Deep Three pays 5 REP instead of 2 and Ghost Line 8 instead of 4
Runners you hire come with a magenta tag less often, from 6% at Tier 1 up to 12% at Tier 3, now that Gold stars can hand them out
Anything you can't afford fades out with its colours kept, instead of turning grey
Stars and promotions get their own lines in the LOG, and a stat gain reads like +1M in the stat's colour
Fixes: the Daily Run signs the contracts you picked (it signed none before), the LOG no longer files the end of a turn under a second ASSETS heading when the Pub worked, and tooltips and floating numbers stay on their card when a row scrolls

Thanks again as always for playing!

Let me know how you feel about this update in the comments or join us on Discord to discuss!