BLACK STACK 0.30.0 - THE BONE EXCHANGE UPDATE

BLACK STACK 0.30.0 — THE BONE EXCHANGE UPDATE

First, thank you!

BLACK STACK launched on August 30th. Two days later, we are watching people tear through the Stack, argue about builds, post screenshots of runs that should not have survived, and tell us, in detail, exactly where the game gets in its own way.

Thank you to every single person who bought the game at launch. You took a chance on a strange card game about breaching a corporate machine god, and we do not take that lightly.

We want to be clear about how we intend to run this: player feedback drives this game. The update you are reading exists because players wrote reviews, opened discussions, and messaged us directly. Some of that feedback was glowing. Some of it stung. All of it made the game better, and you will find the people behind it credited by name at the bottom of this post. That is how we plan to keep working: you tell us where it hurts, we fix it, and we keep building the best game we possibly can.

Now. Let's talk about the skeleton.

MEET MR BONES

If you have finished the tutorial, you have already met him. Mr Bones is the operator wired into the bone switchboard: a dead man threaded through with telephone handsets, still taking calls in the deep infrastructure of the Stack. Until now, he was a voice in the machine.

As of this update, he is open for business.

Defeat your first Act 1 Archon and THE BONE EXCHANGE unlocks at the root gate. Something in the switchboard notices when an Archon falls, and a dead operator decides you are worth selling to. From that moment, his stall is available between every breach, right from the main menu.

What he sells

The Exchange deals in recovered property: card schematics, exploit scripts, relic hardware, and elixirs. Every item can be inspected before you buy. Hover a schematic and the full card raises so you can read exactly what you are paying for.

Each stock window works like this:

• A shelf of goods, priced in salvage.
• One purchase per stock. Choose carefully.
• A limited number of rerolls if the shelf does not suit your build.
• Fresh stock arrives whenever an Archon falls.

The license ladder

Mr Bones does not hand a stranger the good inventory. His catalog grows as you prove yourself deeper into the Stack, one Archon at a time:

A status board at the stall shows exactly where your license stands and what falls next.

And when you complete your first full ascent, the operator extends a courtesy: your first purchase is free.

CONTRACTS

The Exchange is not just a shop. Mr Bones has work for you.

36 contracts across 6 tiers are now posted on his contract board. Cull ledger mites. Bring down multiple hunters in a single run. Walk out of the Stack with a casino jackpot in hand. The deeper your license, the heavier the work, and the better the pay in salvage and gems.

Here is how it works:

• The board posts a rotation of offers beside the shop. Rerolls are shared with the shelf, so spending them is a real decision.
• Your book holds up to three signed contracts.
• One contract rides per breach. You choose it at breach setup, and it stays with you for the whole run.
• Your active contract sits on the route atlas with Mr Bones' portrait and live progress. In combat, contract targets are marked on the enemy directly. Extraction and casino screens both note what is at stake before you commit.
• Bigger jobs bank progress across runs. Fall short this breach, and the count carries to the next one. Nothing is lost between attempts.

When you fulfill a contract, payment files automatically the moment the run ends, win or lose. Call at the Exchange afterward and the operator settles up in person. It is worth the visit.

CELEBRATIONS

Completing your first full ascent is one of the biggest moments in BLACK STACK, and until now the game barely acknowledged it. Fixed.

Your first completed ascent now earns a proper root-gate ceremony, starring the identity that carried the run, with everything your victory unlocked laid out plainly: Archon Prime's next-victory choice, the Machine God audience, the Bone Exchange rare license, and more. Unlocking the Bone Exchange itself gets a personal notice from Mr Bones.

CLEARER LANGUAGE, EVERY LANGUAGE

Our launch reviews told us something we needed to hear: BLACK STACK's writing was working against new players. Too much jargon, too many walls of text, and translations that compounded both.

So we rewrote it. The tutorial and the most jargon-heavy screens now speak plain language, and the rewrite carries through all 30 localizations. Event outcomes no longer dump text walls; every choice shows a clean preview of what can happen, results list exactly what did happen, and random-upgrade events now show you the actual card that changed.

If the game still confuses you somewhere, tell us. This pass will not be the last.

FULL PATCH NOTES — 0.30.0

THE BONE EXCHANGE

• New permanent vendor at the root gate, unlocked by defeating your first Act 1 Archon.
• License ladder tied to your deepest Archon defeat, from common schematics through the rare pool, with a DIVINE shelf behind the Mandate.
• Fresh stock whenever an Archon falls. Limited rerolls, one purchase per stock, free first purchase after your first completed ascent.
• Full card and hardware inspection on hover, and purchase confirmation before salvage leaves your hand.

CONTRACTS

• 36 contracts across 6 tiers, posted on the Exchange board.
• Contract book that grows to three slots as your license deepens; one riding contract per breach, chosen at setup.
• Live progress on the route atlas, target markers in combat, stake reminders at extraction and casino screens.
• Automatic payout at run end, with a personal settlement from the operator at the Exchange.

CELEBRATIONS

• First-ascent ceremony listing everything your victory unlocked.
• Bone Exchange unlock notice.

LANGUAGE

• Plain-language rewrite of the tutorial and jargon-heavy screens across all 30 localizations. Thanks to Stilgar for the honest review that drove this.
• Event outcomes restructured: clean choice previews, itemized results, and random-upgrade events that show the changed card. Thanks to @reaper10849 for both reports.

UX & QUALITY

• Combat log redesigned: no more hover popups. Click any entry to pin a clean receipt with art, source, and target.
• Run recaps, event outcomes, and checkpoint manifests show recovered cards and gear as hoverable tokens that raise the full card.
• Any key, mouse click, or gamepad button skips cutscenes, and holding any button skips the credits. Thanks to SnowShank for the report.
• Blackjack payout table added to the Wager Den, alongside the roulette one. Odds visibility raised by @reaper10849.
• Fixed: tutorial exit softlock and deck costs showing decimals (both reported by @reaper10849), oversized panels in some languages, and a rare crash at the end of a run.

COMMUNITY CREDITS

BLACK STACK gets better because you tell us where it hurts. This patch exists in large part thanks to:

• Stilgar: tutorial and language overhaul feedback (Steam review)
• SnowShank: cutscene/FMV skip with mouse and any button (Steam discussion)
• @reaper10849: Wager Den odds visibility, workbench cost decimals, tutorial exit softlock, event text walls, and random-upgrade reward clarity

Found something broken, confusing, or just annoying? Post it in the discussions. You might end up in the next one of these.

The Stack remembers you now. See you at the root gate.

— Blackglass Assembly