The dev blinders are real. I have dug that first mound a few hundred times. I know the pale seam means the piece is right there, I know you go back into the dig with a step, I know you put the piece on a plinth when you get home. None of that was on screen. One player gave it three minutes and called it confusing. They were not wrong, the first dig had nothing telling you where to click, and the walk home had nothing telling you what to do with what you were carrying. Another player, said the same thing about the shine, and then pointed at something I had never noticed because I didn't lose rounds very often in the early rounds. The boulder got faster with every round whether you found anything or not, so a rough start meant your second find came with a round-six boulder and the only sensible move was to restart. Two players both flagged the controls, and when I sat down and held W through a bend without touching anything else, the runner walked into the wall. I had been correcting for it with my hands for weeks without knowing.

Your first dig is smaller, with the piece near the middle and an old dig already open onto the seam, and a line that tells you what the seam means. Digging into the side of a hole now takes the wall down instead of scratching its edge making it feel much more intuitive. There is bedrock under every mound, and it tells you it is bedrock. Chips sound warmer as you get close to the piece, and you can hear the boulder waking up behind the wall as a dig runs long. Step out of a dig and you can step straight back in with the press of a button now instead of awkwardly walking out and back into the dig area. Come home with a piece and the closest plinth lights up. Losing a round no longer makes the next one harder, the idea being that the pressure grows with the exhibits you have brought back, and not the rounds you have played. And the way out no longer drifts with the camera. The full list is in the changelog next to this post.

To everyone who has played, given their thumbs opinion, and especially to everyone who wrote something down (even the parts that stung). A review that says "confusing" is worth more to me than a review that says "nice", (as much as I am grateful for those) because I can act on it and learn even more about the game and help shape it to be that little bit better. To the people who nominated the game, I am genuinely grateful, and pleasantly surprised. I intend to earn it with further development and updates!

Speaking of which, there is more coming. New artifacts are being developed and some with new effects, one I am looking forward to getting into the next update is an artifact that sacrifice itself to hold the boulder off. More hazards and obstacles are in the works and some fun combinations of them together should produce a variety of engaging challenges in your rounds. A proper answer to "what do the visitors do" is in the works. Further quality of life updates will be made, better tells for hazards and more clear areas of their impact in relation to the player along with many more.

If something is still confusing or still feels wrong, I encourage you to say so. Thanks again, and I hope that this recent update makes the games starting experience smoother and more intuitive.