Hello, delicious friends. With the end of April, it’s time once again for an update on our future plans and what’s coming to Fallen London in the next few months.

Hearts' Game Balance and Seasonal Update: May 7th

Hearts' Game is an activity available to all players who’ve raised their Dangerous past 200. This final update brings another major balance patch, as well as the beginning of the game’s regular cycle of seasons. To clarify:

On May 7th, Hearts' Game will revert back to the Season of Nascency. The Hearts' Game season will continue to cycle on every first Tuesday of the month, going through the six existing seasons.
All the existing accomplices will always be available in all seasons and mechanics will remain the same; the seasonal cycle only affects trophies, distinctions, and some story elements.

Full patch notes on the balance update will be released on the day of, but here’s a preview:

Tuned down the power level of Gambits and Roots; tuned up the power level of Magpies, Lures.
Added card rarities when drafting.
- Now rare (1/2 frequency): Gambits, Cod
- Now uncommon (4/5 frequency): Skin, Roots, Ambivalences, Loins
- Extra-common (2x frequency): Talons, Disintegrities
- Lowering the frequency of some of the more powerful accomplices allows for curtailing their prevalence without needing to directly nerf them; it should now be less common to have a team made up entirely of those more powerful accomplices.
- Talons and Disintegrities are both good-but-not-great accomplices that are simple and can slot into a variety of teams. Making them more prevalent is intended to make it more likely that you end up with a functional team after drafting.
Counterplay cards now begin triggering a little later.
The Ace of Queens now grants a Glasswork bonus.

Whitsun: May 9th

Egg madness sweeps London once again! If you’ve played previous Whitsuns, you know the drill. If not: Collect eggs. Bring up your eggs. Hatch your eggs. Obtain delightful companions (furry, scaled, squirming…) or fantastical items. Whitsun is a festival available to all players.

Whitsun this year features the complete cycle of Bellic Augmentations.

We’re also releasing something new in Whitsun this year, the Summer Nursery. This is a repeatable activity that can be unlocked for Fate during Whitsun. Once unlocked, it becomes available year-round. Visit the Summer Schoolmistress' mansion in the Prickfinger Wastes. Help take care of her menagerie of juvenile Whitsun creatures. Try not to get spindlewolf sick on your jacket.

Rat Market Redesign: Late May

The Rat Market, available every weekend, is an activity in London that allows players to exchange an ever-shifting set of resources for other resources, usually at a steep markup, or for interesting items.

I’ve talked about this informally in the past, but the Rat Market isn’t really doing what we intend it to do, in the game. We’re going to change it substantially.

Expect a more detailed explanation of changes later in May, with the actual update to come soon after. We’ll make sure you get a chance to sell off any accumulated Rat Market resources before the actual update.

Horticulture Returns: Early June

Last year’s Estival began with the London Horticulture Show, in which players were able to grow strange Neathy crops (both plants and fungi). This activity was then cut short by a falling stalactite from the Ceiling, and the ensuing invasion of the Starved Men.

Players have ever since asked for a full version of the horticulture activity, so here it is: the plant-growing wheel from last year’s Estival, now as a full and permanent activity in the game. This is much-changed from the original version; the Estival design was, of course, a fakeout, so it was deliberately shallow. This new activity will be a free update available to all players, but with rewards and challenges geared more towards the earlier game.

Firmament Chapter 2: Late June

Firmament is Fallen London’s current major storyline, available to all players that have reached the endgame. We expect to release chapters on the usual cadence of roughly one chapter in between each major festival.

July and beyond

And that takes us through to the middle of the year. We expect, of course, to run Estival in July as usual; we’re also at work on other surprises and novelties that we’re not ready to talk about yet; expect more details in July.

Until then, I hope you continue to enjoy Fallen London.