Rookie

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• Patch Notes·16 May 2026Official

  Nerf Update

  Demo Update 0.5The learning curve for Rookie was extremely steep. While previous updates tried to address this with tutorials, this update will bring deeper changes.Additionally, more features have been added here to give players more clarity.Journalists appear laterIt turned out to be a mistake to unleash journalists on the player so early. They prevent the player from engaging with the factory which makes optimization much harder and makes the first upgrades incredibly difficult to obtain.Therefore, changes have been made so that journalists are only activated in the mid‑game. Debuffs have been “removed”At least from the first level and therefore also from the demo. Debuffs will return in later levels. They are still an important mechanic to keep runs interesting. But in the first level the player has the most to learn, so the debuff system can be skipped here.New tutorial: TrucksMy community kindly shared gameplay videos with me and I noticed that the trucks could use a tutorial as well. This is now part of the update and implemented in a way that increases the chances for players to reach their first upgrade more easily.Warning when escapingI also noticed in the videos that the escape button is clicked too early. And especially when players skip the tutorial part this can happen very quickly. That’s why the game will now warn you when you try to escape while a bribe would still be possible.Scene transitionsWhen the player loads the factory for the first time it can take a moment. This could give the impression that the game has frozen. For this reason the game now has clean transitions to counteract that.I have ideas — how can I contribute?It’s simple: become part of the community. There is a Discord where you can share your ideas at any time.The easiest way, however, is Twitch: . There you can tell me your ideas directly and we can talk them through. My streaming times are:Monday: 18:00 → 21:00 CETWednesday: 18:00 → 21:00 CET
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• Announcements·12 May 2026Official

  More Tutorials and Feedback

  Demo Update 0.4In this update, Rookie receives a credits page, a new tutorial, and additional player feedback.Community CreditsI stream most of my game development and Rookie is no exception. This gives me lots of ideas, feedback, and early criticism — not to mention an entertaining time with the chat.As a small thank-you, I want to offer my community members the chance to be mentioned by name in the game.New Tutorial: Bribery & EscapeUnfortunately this mechanic was not explained in the game until now. So Players had to figure it out through trial and error. To address this there is now a tutorial that explains the mechanic.I also learned something: Unlike the journalist tutorial this tutorial is NOT tied to a specific round — so everyone gets to see it.Lucky are those who wouldn’t have survived their current round and now get another chance thanks to the tutorial :-).Change: JournalistsTo avoid overwhelming new players with information, journalists have been moved to round 3. Previously, they spawned in round 2.This means the tutorial will also explain them only in the third round. The goal is to make the game’s introduction a bit more pleasant.Feedback: Agents Who Are Waiting“Agents” here refers to workers, machines, and trucks. They can take on various states. Almost all of these states are communicated visually in some way — except for the “Waiting” state.Because of the missing feedback, it wasn’t clear why clicking on the corresponding agent did nothing.With this update, this state is now clearly communicated. I have ideas — how can I contribute?It’s simple: become part of the community. There is a Discord where you can share your ideas at any time.The easiest way, however, is Twitch: . There you can tell me your ideas directly and we can talk them through. My streaming times are:Monday: 18:00 → 21:00 CETWednesday: 18:00 → 21:00 CET
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Tomate Salat)

• Patch Notes·28 Mar 2026Official

  Rookie 0.3 - Factory Update

  Factory Update 0.3This update is intended to make it easier for players to understand the factory. Clickable elements now have an outline and clicks now trigger an animation. This helps new players find their way into the game more easily and the animation feedback enhances the overall charm of the experience. Additional Changes You can now open the Steam store page directly from the demo. A wishlist button has been added for this purpose.The start of each round has received additional animations that make entering a round more interesting.Journalists can no longer spawn before the corresponding tutorial has been completed.Journalists have also received an outline.IDLE notifications are no longer triggered during the tutorial.I have ideas — how can I contribute?It’s simple: become part of the community. There is a Discord where you can share your ideas at any time.The easiest way, however, is Twitch: . There you can tell me your ideas directly and we can talk them through. My streaming times are:Monday: 18:00 → 21:00 CETWednesday: 18:00 → 21:00 CET
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Tomate Salat)

• Patch Notes·23 Mar 2026Official

  Journalist Tutorial Update

  Demo Update 0.2The focus of this update was strongly on the journalists. They were not well explained before and now have their own tutorial.It was also important to communicate the camera controls, as it wasn’t obvious that the player could move the camera. This made defending against journalists impossible. The UI now continuously displays possible key combinations, which should solve this issue as well.Another point is POIs – locations that journalists visit. These are now explained by the tutorial and are also visually highlighted much more clearly.Additional ChangesTexts have been adjustedThe upgrade titles were always in English – now they also use translationsThreat meter no longer ticks while hints are displayedThe version number is now displayed everywhereI have ideas — how can I contribute?It’s simple: become part of the community. There is a Discord where you can share your ideas at any time.The easiest way, however, is Twitch: . There you can tell me your ideas directly and we can talk them through. My streaming times are:Monday: 18:00 → 21:00 CETWednesday: 18:00 → 21:00 CET
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Tomate Salat)

• Patch Notes·19 Mar 2026Official

  Demo Update Preview

  The game is too difficultWhat should be done about it?The focus of the next patch will be on the tutorial aspect of the game. At the moment, journalists in particular don’t get enough explanation. This unintentionally and unnecessarily increases the game’s difficulty, so this is definitely an area that needs improvement.The game also doesn’t explain the camera controls at all, which further amplifies the issue with journalists. Without understanding the camera, you’re completely at their mercy.What else?The patch will of course include additional content (small changes, bug fixes, etc.). These are important as well, but they are lower in priority compared to the tutorial improvements.When is the patch planned?ASAP. I’ll need a few days to implement the changes, but I want to deliver it as quickly as possible. An overly high difficulty level is in nobody’s interest.If development takes longer than expected, I would consider releasing parts of the patch early. I have ideas — how can I contribute?It’s simple: become part of the community. There is a Discord where you can share your ideas at any time.The easiest way, however, is Twitch: . There you can tell me your ideas directly and we can talk them through. My streaming times are:Monday: 18:00 → 21:00 CETWednesday: 18:00 → 21:00 CET
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Tomate Salat)