New in this build

Your books come home now

17 October 2026

Early playtests showed us a problem: Encounters were causing analysis paralysis.

One turn you're serving three visitors and keeping two abilities in mind. The next, two more walk up with an ability of their own. Now you have to take stock all over again: who has how much Patience left, who still needs what, and how the new ability plays with the ones already out. All while sizing up four freshly drawn books.

Fewer visitors, and every Encounter its own rhythm

We're bringing down the number of visitors at the counter, with quiet turns where nobody new walks up.

And Encounters no longer all arrive the same way. Some hit you at once, some build up slowly, some wait for the right moment.

Turn 1Turn 2Turn 3Turn 4

Swarmeveryone at once, one straggler

Solo anchorone visitor first, the rest join

Processionone new visitor every turn

Ambusha hard opening, then a rush

Steady pairstwo, a breather, two more

Each mark is a visitor walking up. A hollow mark arrives only sometimes. You'll also meet crowds, front-loaded fights and the odd all-at-once puzzle.

Bigger Needs, and your books come back

Fewer visitors means each one wants more. But bigger Needs bring a problem in later Encounters: most of your deck would end up sitting on visitors for turns at a time, and you'd run out of books to draw.

So now, at End Turn, every book you gave out comes back to you, while what it gave the visitor stays.

At End Turn, books fly from the visitors back to the discard pile while their Fulfillment bars stay filled — End Turn: the books fly back, the bars stay full.

Turn 1, books on every visitor — Turn 1: books on every visitor.

Turn 2, the rows are empty but the Fulfillment bars stay filled — Turn 2: rows empty, progress kept. Only the Crow Reader still holds his.

Some visitors hold on

A visitor with Keeps holds every book you give them until they're served.

Look for the lantern ribbon on their books.

The Crow Reader with Keeps, still holding two books with lantern ribbons — The Crow Reader keeps both books.

Some books stay put

A Bookmarked book stays on its visitor and keeps working.

The Spellbound Sea gives its visitor +2 for every Magic book you give someone else.

The Spellbound Sea. Bookmarked. While assigned: whenever another Magic book is assigned to a different visitor, this visitor gains +2.

A Magic book given to another visitor adds +2 to the Spellbound Sea's visitor; at End Turn the Sea stays — Another Magic book lands, the Sea's visitor gets +2, and the Sea stays through End Turn.

Good to know

A discard means from your hand. Books coming back at End Turn don't trigger Hydra Anatomy or Turned Earth.
Free plays are a little weaker, since free books now come back every turn.
The Ossuary now wants 6+ books in your discard pile.