Hearts' Game (historical)

This is how Hearts' Game has developed as time has gone on. Hearts' Game has been released in different seasons and expanded on on a regular basis. For the guide see Hearts' Game (Guide)

Season of Nascency

A constable strikes a pointed conversation with you outside your doorstep. Been out much, lately? See any masked packs of man-hunters on the streets? Ingest any unanticipated poisons?

The Season of Nascency saw the launch of Hearts' game on April 13th, 2023 as a new activity run by Mr. Hearts out of the Gamekeeper's cottage. In its inception, you needed to raise Poisoner's Progress to 8 before or concurrently with Elusiveness of your Target to 8 in order to win. Each action during the game itself would award Hearts' Game: Exploits. You could build up your Poisonous Preparation for larger plays, which was a pyramidal quality. Each accomplice you picked added 2 cards to your deck. Elusiveness would lower the efficacy of your cards.

This saw the introduction of the following accomplices:

• Page of Teeth who was more effective before you gained Elusiveness. Dangerous checks.
• Page of Roots who would always increase Elusiveness, but whose progress was not affected by it. Kataleptic Toxicology checks.
• Knight of Livers who gained a lot of Poison Preparation using Shadowy checks.
• Knight of Talons who gained Poison Preparation using Kataleptic Toxicology checks.
• Queen of Loins who could clear your hand or grant poison preparations with no check.
• King of Spines who, after a lot of Preparation, gained a great deal of Progress using Shadowy checks.
• King of Tallow who, after a lot of Preparation, gained a great deal of Progress using Kataleptic Toxicology checks.

Rewards:

• Soothe & Cooper Long-Box - 11 x Hearts' Game: Exploits
• 100 x Bessemer Steel Ingot - 14 x Hearts' Game: Exploits
• Honest Butcher's Tool - 60 x Hearts' Game: Exploits
• Intriguer's Compendium - 65 x Hearts' Game: Exploits
• Leviathan Frame - 65 x Hearts' Game: Exploits
• Elemental Secret - 65 x Hearts' Game: Exploits
• Starstone Demark - 65 x Hearts' Game: Exploits
• Scrap of Ivory Organza - 80 x Hearts' Game: Exploits
• Winning 7 times in one run would award you a A Heart-Shaped Trophy

Day 1 Changes:

• Originally Exploits were not awarded when recruiting accomplices, but this was quickly patched to make it so losing was not more rewarding than winning.
• Originally the Soothe & Cooper Long-Box could be gotten as many times as one wanted, but that was limited to 1 after realizing how profitable it was.
• Advanced Skill Checks tuned down from 14 to 12.

Season of Excess

Mr Hearts is purring […] "My thanks to you all […] Much is learned, and […] accomplished. […] It is time for the rules to become more... permissive. Indulge your obsessions. Pursue your desires. The Season of Excess is upon us."

The Season of Excess began on May 25 2023 and saw a number of major overhaul changes. Poison Tolerance of Your Target was added to decouple the clock from the effectiveness of your poisons, and Poisonous Preparation was changed to a discrete quality.

Medals for the first season were doled out, and will continue to be doled out according to these categories:

• Distinction of Hearts, Bronze for winning 1 round.
• Distinction of Hearts, Silver for winning 7 rounds.
• Distinction of Hearts, Gold for winning a trophy during the season.

4 new accomplices were added:

• Page of Lures who consumed Poison Preparation for Progress using Watchful checks.
• Knight of Skin who gained lots of Poison Preparation using Watchful checks.
• Knight of Ribs who gained Poison Preparation using Dangerous checks.
• King of Roses who, after a lot of Preparation, gained Progress scaling with your Preparation using Persuasive checks.

One Reward was added:

• 1 x Salt Steppe Atlas & 5 x Puzzling Map - 25-32 x Hearts' Game: Exploits (price depending on your Gains qualities in the four main stats)

Season of Dares

Mr Hearts paces the parlour. [...] "You have not been sufficiently audacious. [...] I have made adjustments to the rules [...]. Become more – more savage, more ruthless [...]. Thus the Season of Dares begins.

The Season of Dares began on July 20th 2023 and saw a number of minor tweaks and the introduction of yet more accomplices.

Beginning this season, players with at least seven wins this season were allowed an audience with the Cottage’s shames beneath the cottage, where they could inspect a crowded cell to gain hints to the purpose of the Game.

4 new accomplices were added:

• Page of Gambits, who gained a lot of Progress in exchange for guaranteed Elusiveness gain with Shadowy checks.
• Page of Papers who gained Progress using Persuasive checks.
• Knight of Flames who gained Poison Preparation and lowered Poison Tolerance using Watchful checks.
• King of Knuckles who, after enough Preparation, gained Progress scaling with Elusiveness using Dangerous checks.

The following Reward was added:

• Whirring Contraption & Brass Ring - 6 x Hearts' Game: Exploits

Season of Devotions

Mr Hearts [...] "Yes, yes. It is time again for a new season." [...] "Guard your hearts. Aid your fellows. Shrive yourself of foulness. Commence the Season of Devotions."

The Season of Devotions began on September 4th 2023 and saw a number of minor tweaks and the introduction of even more accomplices. Notably the Knight of Skin was nerfed and the Knight of Ribs, King of Tallow and King of Spines were all buffed. Boons were added this season, given by the new queen and by priests to enhance your play. These boons are all Aces. To account for the growing number of Accomplices, during the recruiting phase the hand size was increased from three cards to four.

Beginning this season, players with at least seven wins this season could again visit the Cottage's shames and inspect an unquiet cell for more tidbits on the Game.

4 new accomplices were added:

• Queen of Cod - Gave a boon Ace of Queens that enhanced your abilities.
• Priest of Briars - Gave a boon Ace of Kings that enhanced kings, and gave Preparations with Persuasive checks.
• Priest of Magpies - Gave a boon Ace of Pages that enhanced pages, and gave Preparations with Watchful checks.
• Priest of Smiths - Gave a boon Ace of Knights that enhanced knights, and gave Preparations with Dangerous checks.

1 accomplice was suspended:

• Page of Gambits - No good way to balance the mechanic

The following new reward was added:

• Ichorous Alarm - 60 x Hearts' Game: Exploits

Season of Irreverences

An umpire [...] hands the Master a clipboard [...] "Eccentricity is the watchword. Variation. Mutation. The shapeful and the shapeling. [...] Please begin the Season of Irreverences."

The Season of Irreverences began on November 10 2023 and introduced more accomplices while reinstating a nerfed Page of Gambits. More boons were added this season, including one boon that does nothing by itself.

Beginning this season, players with at least seven wins this season were able to inspect a shrieking cell beneath the Cottage.

4 new accomplices were added:

• Fool of Audacities checks Persuasive
• King of Ambivalences checks Shapeling Arts
• Knight of Disintegrities checks Shapeling Arts
• Page of Inversions checks Shapeling Arts

A reward was added:

• Mortification of a Great Power - 18 x Hearts' Game: Exploits

Season of Duplicities

"There are [...] other players, and our successes do not fit their plan. [...] And so it is time for the Season of Duplicities! Confuse. Confound. [...] Seed false records with the true."

The final new season, the Season of Duplicities, began on February 27 2024. It introduced two new accomplices; a new mechanic where checkless progress options and failed checks would increase Hearts' Game: Counterplay, adding detrimental cards that autofired on being drawn to the deck until Hearts' Game: Counterplay fell to zero once more; a collection of special Distinction qualities for winning a run under certain circumstance; and three new equipment rewards, each requiring certain Distinctions to purchase.

The new accomplices were:

• King of Motley allowed you to add as many accomplices as you liked to your team, and gave progress scaling with your number of accomplices with Persuasive checks
• Knight of Nobility gave progress with Glasswork checks, and added options with Glasswork checks to the Knight of Disintegrities and Knight of Talons

The distinctions were:

• Distinction of Pages - originally for winning a run with a team of only Pages; on March 1 this requirement was eased to a team with at least one Page and no Kings or Knights
• Distinction of Knights - similarly originally for winning a run with only Knights, later relaxed to winning a run with a Knight and no Kings or Pages
• Distinction of Kings - similarly originally for winning a run with only Kings, later relaxed to winning a run with a King and no Knights or Pages
• Distinction of Motley - for winning a run with a team of nine or more accomplices; this required the new King of Motley
• Distinction of Embalming - for winning a run with The Embalmer's Mark, which made checks harder and checkless options less rewarding
• Distinction of Nascency/ Excess/ Dares/ Devotion/ Irreverence/ Duplicity - for winning a run during the respective seasons. These were not rewarded retrospectively when first introduced.

The new rewards were:

• A Silent Nod of Acknowledgement from Mr Hearts - required all five non-seasonal Distinctions
• Heart-Caught Sapling - required all six seasonal Distinctions
• The Black Book of Hearts - required both nod and sapling

It was also announced that no new mechanics would be forthcoming, and that in future the season would change monthly, with story events would change with it.