Nightmare Frontier news & patch notes

Mark your calendars and get ready, Slitherine Next is back on July 22, 2026 at 6 pm CEST on our official channels.

Expect updates from your favourite franchises such as Distant Worlds 2, Nightmare Frontier, Bolt Action and a lot more unexpected and never seen before news. On top of the 1.0 release of Nightmare Frontier, our first showcase of the year will bring you exclusive announcements, updates, first looks at upcoming titles, and much more. It's your chance to dive into the future of strategy gaming and discover what's coming next.

During the event, the developer will dive deep into everything you can expect for the 1.0 release.

We're thrilled to announce a special host for this year's event: 2DKiri. A great friend who will guide us through the entire show.

Tune in on 22nd July to be the first one to find out.

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Hello scavengers!

The moment you’ve been waiting for is finally here. After an incredible journey through Early Access, Nightmare Frontier is officially launching on July 22nd.

First and foremost, a massive thank you to our amazing community. Your feedback, bug reports, and passion during Early Access have been vital in shaping the game into what it is today. We couldn't have crossed this finish line without you.

Prepare yourselves the true nightmare begins soon. Mark your calendars for July 22nd, and get ready to dive back into the frontier.

The frontier just got a lot more hostile and a whole lot more rewarding. 

Welcome to the Twisted Prosperity update, Scavengers! In this major patch, we are radically reshaping how you navigate the shadows of the Nightmare Frontier. Survival now demands a sharp eye and even sharper reflexes as we introduce the Deadwood, a terrifying new "Fear of Forests" enemy that turns every treeline into a death trap. But you aren't going empty-handed. We’re also introducing the highly anticipated Ricochet mechanic, allowing you to bounce bullets off metal interactables to pull off impossible trick shots and flush out threats from absolute safety.

NEW FEATURES

Fear of Forests

• New introduced featuring community picked Deadwood enemy

• Survivors fearing Forests can be rescued not sooner than in Chinatown

Handguns Revamp / Ricochet interactables

• Ricochet mechanics introduced - it allows the player to bounce bullets off of metal interactables (sometimes providing additional effects ie. Burning) to bypass high covers

• Only most Handguns and Handgun-like Pocket Items can ricochet (with appropriate upgrade level)

• Ricochetable objects come in indestructible and destructible variants

Tactical Levels with new objectives

• Retrieve a Galvanic Cell objective introduced - the objective is to remove a Broke Galvanic Cell from a Corrupted Transmitter. Cell removal takes 3 attempts. After each attempt a wave of enemies spawns at the beginning of the enemy turn

• Restart a Transmitter objective introduced - the objective is install a repaired Galvanic Cell in a powered-down Transmitter. After installing the Cell, a huge wave of enemies spawns at the beginning of the enemy turn

• Harvest Cinderlights objective introduced - the objective is to collect a specified amount of nightmare essence from Cinderlight anomalies, while harvested anomalies turn into Breaches spawning additional Enemies. The player can either fight off spawned Dreadweavers or focus on harvesting Cinderlights before they will be overpowered by enemies

Husk of a Man interactable

• Husk of a Man interactables introduced with 50% spawn chance on all Breakthrough-type levels. Mechanically, husks are low obstacles introducing a random Fear to level's pool, along with fear-specific Dreadweavers, interactables and effects

Slaughterhouse Unlock Tree

• New loot-oriented unlock tree introduced, allowing the player to improve monster resource drop rates, Jar of Essence capacity, salvage efficiency and introducing Items scrapping in Extraction mode for backpack space optimization

New Sidequests

• 4 new sidequests introduced with custom dialogues, multiple endings and various rewards depending on chosen questpath

New Items

• 13 new Items introduced with various abilities, passive abilities, new status effects (Taunt, Bloodthirsty) introduced with custom 2D and 3D art

Achievements

• 47 Steam Achievements introduced

• Achievements will remain hidden until the public release of the Milestone 3 build. The full list of Achievements can be still looked up via Steam > Achievements > View My Achievements > Global Achievements > Click to show spoiler

Chinatown District

• District-specific level art (custom buildings and floors) introduced in Chinatown district

Localization

• 4 new languages introduced: Czech, Hungarian, Turkish and Ukrainian

IMPROVEMENTS

• Lost Soul Rebalance - Lost-Soul-type levels no longer spawn on path bottlenecks in the Extraction Mode

• Research Facility - Shimmer and Burning Shimmer effect duration upgrades introduced, District Nightmare reduction upgrade removed

• Tactical Deployment - Survivors rescued during 'Lost Soul' levels no longer count into deployment limit

• Quest Items - items rewarded in Sidequests can no longer be obtained for completing levels before killing the Doc boss

• Jars with Essence - now stack in Backpack

• Dreadweaver drops - Dreadweavers no longer drop Nightmare Essence, only resources

• Enemies - Medusa and Plague Rat optimized and visually improved

• Fear of Mirrors - survivors fearing Mirrors (Manifold enemy) can be rescued on not sooner than in Wealthy District

• Stand your ground missions rebalanced - stand your ground levels were renamed to ‘Gorges’ and made more difficult so the player has choice but to defend themselves instead of trying to kill all Dreadweavers like in other levels

• Unlocking Chinatown - to unlock Chinatown District, the player no longer just upgrades a Broken Galvanic Cell but has to retrieve it from a Corrupted Transmitter node in the Slums (~23rd row), repair it in Metagame Hub, and install it back in an Inactive Transmitter node in Slums (~23rd row)

• Unlocking Wealthy District - to unlock Wealthy District, the player no longer just upgrades a Broken Galvanic Cell but has to retrieve it from a Corrupted Transmitter node in Chinatown (~23rd row), repair and upgrade it to level II in Metagame Hub, and install it back in an Inactive Transmitter node in Chinatown (~23rd row)

• Creating Dreammachine - to create the Dreammachine the player still has to collect 3 Galvanic Cells, but to obtain them they will have to retrieve the Cells from Corrupted Transmitters that at this point appear on all unlocked Districts ~23rd row

OTHER CHANGES

• Industrial District - is no longer available and no longer appears on the Metagame Hub Map

BUGFIXES

• Fixed softlock after Verminshade spawns from a Breach

• Fixed issue blocking story quest after loading save with Rescue 50 survivors

• Fixed issue with Engage status not being removed after killing an enemy with a combo

• Fixed Wendigo's incorrect push animation

• Fixed blocker for players not being able to tear off last wire to extract a broken galvanic cell

• Fixed critical issue caused by drag and drop in Encounter Summary

• Fixed critical issue occuring after using Blunderbuss VI in certain situations

• Fixed the blocker occuring in The Arc-Light Pulpit quest

• Fixed softlock loop after the Grim Reaper couldn't finish a unit standing in the smoke

• Fixed timeout errors after using Blunderbuss and Pocket Pistol combo on a large number of enemies

• Fixed hinges on that one Breach that wouldn't close

• Fixed multiple Ability-related issues

Scavengers, the fog is shifting. We are thrilled to announce that the Open Beta for our latest Nightmare Frontier update is officially live!

This update introduces a haunting new threat and a complete evolution of gunplay that will change how you approach every encounter. Here is what’s waiting for you in the Frontier:

New Fear: The Deadwood

A new nightmare has taken root. The Deadwood is not just a monster; it is a relentless, sprawling entity that blurs the line between the forest and the nightmare. It thrives on stillness, so keep moving, or find yourself part of the scenery.

New Mechanic: Ricochet

Master the environment like never before. The new Ricochet mechanic allows you to bounce projectiles off metal surfaces and interactables.

• Bypass Cover: Use stoves, pots and electrified contraptions to nail enemies hiding behind high covers.

• Elemental Infusions: Bouncing a shot off certain ricochetable objects grants your bullets Burning, Plague or Stun properties.

The Revolver Reborn

With the introduction of Ricochet, the classic Revolver has reclaimed its throne. While it was always a reliable sidearm, it is now a tool of surgical precision. By chaining bounces, the Revolver’s damage scaling and utility have been massively buffed, making it more versatile than ever.

How to Join the Beta

Once you switch to the beta branch, we recommend you stick to it until the MS3 Build release circa June 3rd. Switching back to the default branch before that may result in save corruption and/or content loss.

We need your feedback to balance these new mechanics! To jump in:

Hi Scavengers, we are releasing a hotfix for Nightmare Frontier. This small update will fix some bugs that you have encountered during your extractions.

Hotfix v0.5.7.1132

• Fixed a blocker during the "Spark in the Dark" dialogue.

• Fixed a blocker during enemy turns, related to Verminshade and Creepy Puppet enemies.

The 'Reap What You Sow' update has officially arrived in Nightmare Frontier, transforming the way you survive, progress, and face the end. With a terrifying reimagining of the Death now stalking the higher tiers, it’s no longer just about how long you can survive—but how you'll answer when the Reaper finally comes to collect.

NEW FEATURES

Headquarters

• Headquarters Menu introduced with 3 trees for unlocks and upgrades of game mechanics - change % of items retained after a failed run, backpack capacity, additional Party slots etc.

• Headquarters unlocks require Manpower resource

• Manpower no longer equals the number of Scavengers rescued, Scavengers have to be delegated in Quarters to become Manpower

• Questline unlocking Headquarters introduced after collecting Cannibal Foreteeth quest

• Quests opening locked Districts no longer require Manpower

Breach Interactable

• Breaches are portals from beyond. They spawn 1 Dreadweaver at the start of each enemy turn, unless the cell is blocked by a unit. Breaches can spawn between 3 to 5 Dreadweavers in total and can be closed by the player

Seal the Breach tactical objective

• The objective is to close all (1-5) Breaches present on a level. The player can either walk up to all of them and seal them by melee range interaction, or survive long enough for Breaches to spawn all remaining Dreadweavers and seal automatically

• Levels with 'Seal the Breach' objectives can be distinguished by custom node icon in the Extraction mode (District maps)

Survive tactical objective

• The objective is to survive for 3 rounds or kill all enemies, while Breaches located on the edges of the level spawn new enemies. The player can either fight off spawned Dreadweavers for 3 rounds, or close the Breaches and kill all spawned Enemies sooner

• Levels with 'Survive' objectives can be distinguished by custom node icon in the Extraction mode (District maps)

Sidequests

• 3 new sidequests introduced with custom dialogues, multiple endings and various rewards depending on chosen questpath

• Sidequest beginning nodes can be distinguished by questionmark icons in the Extraction mode (District maps)

• Sidequest beginning nodes can be distinguished by questionmark icons in the Extraction mode (District maps)

Fear of Death reimagined

• Reimagines Fear of Death featuring a Grim Reaper enemy with new playstyle spawning on Nightmare level IV and Coffin interactable spawning on Nightmare level II. Grim Reapers still drop Vials of Decay

New Items

• 15 new Items introduced with new abilities, passive abilities, status effects, interactables and custom 2D and 3D art

Wealthy District

• District-specific level art (custom buildings and floors) introduced for Wealthy District

Fears Incarnate Menu

• Fears Incarnate panel (analogous to Raid Briefing) is now available in both Tactical and Extraction Modes, displaying charater details, fear modifiers and loot for all characters in the Party, including the ones who joined during the Raid

• Sum of all Fears panel, previously available in Tactical Mode only, was renamed to 'Nightmare Buffs' and introduced in Extraction Mode

• Both panels can be opened using X on KBM and RB on controller, and toggled between using Tab/LB

IMPROVEMENTS

Enemies

• Cannon Head, Creepy Puppet, Crispy Pete, Gunspider, Gnawer, Mr. Cactus, Sawbones, Slaughterbrand, Unicrone, Wendigo and Wraith were optimized and visually improved

Tactical Mode

• Buff/Debuff animations - shortened to the minimum to speed up the gameplay

• Thunder Orb explosion animations - made simultaneous and associated with a camera zoom out briefly covering entire gameplay area to speed up the gameplay

• Soundtrack Variety - new Sountracks available in Tactical Mode

• Passive Ability icons - while statuses and Immunities remain in place, passive ability and fear icons no longer display under Units HP bars to mitigate the visual noise. Passive abilites can be still looked up in Characters' tooltips

• Passive Ability icons - all passive abilities sharing the same trigger (ie. Backstab and Bleeding Spikes, or Riposte and Counter Shot) now share the same icons

• Passive Ability names - roman numerals added to passive abilities' names and icons in Item Tooltips

• Combo Cooldowns - cooldowns removed from 'Combo' type passive abilities (ie. Prize Fighter, Bloodlust)

• Combo Cooldowns - cooldowns removed from 'Combo' type passive abilities (ie. Prize Fighter, Bloodlust)

• Status: Burning - characters dying while burning no longer leave behind Fire on cells

• Interactable names and descriptions - improved and standardized

Metagame Hub

• Metagame Menus - UI buttons moved from the bottom to the top of the screen and reformatted from icons to text

• Party Panel - introduced in the bottom of the screen, consistenlty with Extraction Mode and Tactical Deployment

• Warnings - previously available in Raid Briefing Menu only, no Party, inclomplete party, incomplete loadout warnings are now visible directly in Map View

• UI Menu hotkeys - introduced in Metagame for Map (M), Quarters (P), Equipment (I), Headquarters (H), Tutorials Archive (Y), Compendium (C)

• UI Menu subcategories - rebound to Q and E on keyboard

• Item Toolips - ability toggles were rebound to Z and X on keyboard

• District Tooltips - AI art removed from backgrounds of District tooltips

• Nightmare Pressure Floaters - floaters displaying Nightmare Pressure change in visited and unvisited Districts were introduced in the Map View

Game

• Dialogue Panels - dialogue animation skip and dialogue options bound to Space button on keyboard and A on controller

• Item names and description - introduced multiple minor fixes in pre-existing Item names descriptions

• Holsters - can no longer be upgraded. Holsters previously upgraded by player beyond level 1 remain intact

• Tutorial videos and descriptions - multiple videos and descriptions updated to match current state of the game

BUGFIXES

• Fixed issues with input becoming blocked after using the Alt + Tab, often interpretes as missing input in Deployment phase

• Fixed issue with overblown lights obscuring gameplay after explosions on the highest Nightare Level

• Fixed issue with the 2nd stage Bossfight rewarding only Staff of Storm and Vacuum Tubes - the Abomination drops: Vacuum Tubes (1st kill), Staff of Storms (2nd kill), Doc's Tophat (3rd kill) and Vacuum Tubes (4th kill +)

• Fixed blocker Docks not unlocking for returning players

• Fixed issue with equipped items changing order when swapped

• Fixed critical issue with Shard enemies spawning on cell with player's characters

• Fixed issue with combo attacks triggering without an attack

• Fixed issue with Engage status not being removed after killing an enemy with a combo attack

• Fixed issue with redundant conditions visible in certain Passive Ability tooltips

• Fixed issue with missing usages and cooldowns from certain Items

• Fixed issue with camera changing position during Nightmare transitions

• Fixed format inconsistency of 'Return to City Map' dialogue option, additionally the text entry was changed to 'Return to Base'

• Fixed issue in Raid Briefing Menu with holding a scroll bar starting a Raid

The next major update for Nightmare Frontier, “Reap What You Sow,” launches on March 23rd.

This update brings a complete reimagination of one of the game’s existing Fears and enemies.

Something familiar is about to change.

Can you guess which Fear and enemy are being reborn? Let us know in the comments.

Death wasn’t the end.

The Not Dead Yet patch pushes Nightmare Frontier deeper into the abyss, expanding the boss fight first unleashed in December with a brutal second stage that tests everything you’ve learned so far.

This update also introduces a brand-new Fear: Mirrors. What once reflected reality now fractures it, spawning the twisted Manifold and reshaping the horrors you’ll face in Nightmare Frontier.

Here the full changelog of today's update:

NEW FEATURES

Endgame

• Even more challenging 2nd stage of the boss fight and endgame storyline introduced

Boss Drops

• Introduced 4 powerful Items obtainable by killing the boss - Dream Machine, Doc's Tophat, Staff of Storms and Vacuum Tubes. Obtaining all the items requires completing the boss fight multiple times

Shotgun Revamp

• All Shotguns can be upgraded to knock back targets instead of pushing them. If a knocked back unit is stopped by an obstacle, the distance not-traveled is taken as damage

Raid Briefing Menu

• Raid Briefing menu introduced after next raid District selection in Hub,

• The menu displays detailed information about selected characters, their Fears, effects of their Fears on gameplay (enemies, hazards, modifiers) on different Nightmare levels and expected loot,

• Enemies, Hazards and Modifiers appear as active or inactive depending on current Nightmare level on selected District,

• Raid Briefing also informs about incompleteness of the Party and/or their loadouts

New Fear unlocked

• Added the Fear of Mirrors spawning Manifold enemies on Nightmare level II and applying Refraction modifier to all enemies on Nightmare level III. Manifolds drop Vial of Decay

IMPROVEMENTS

• Undo to Deployment introduced - the player can undo his moves up to deployment phase, both before the fight and inbetween rounds if their characters are downed. Undoing to deployment requires holding the Undo button and is associated with short loading screen

• Automatic rescuee unequipment - on return to Hub, all rescued characters are stripped of their Items before being placed in Resting, making Item management more streamlined

• Party emptying - party in Quarters menu can be emptied (previously at least one character in Party section was required), making new Party assembly more streamlined

• Tactical goal markers - In tactical mode, characters being subject of a goal (Extract Unit, Kill Unit) are highlighted with additional icon mirroring the one displayed next to the goal in top-left corner of tactical HUD

• Hub menu order - difficulty button was moved from HUD to Raid Briefing menu, Quarters button was moved before Equipment button both on HUD and menu queue

• Class portaits - each character class portrait is taken from different angle for better readability

• Glossary rename - Glossary menu renamed to Compendium in all languages

BUGFIXES

• Fixed blocker with Docks being locked despite boss quest already started

• Fixed missing undeployment SFX issue

• Fixed issue with text animations skipping in Hub's Dialogue Panel - text animations can be skipped with Tab on KBM and Y on controller

• Fixed buttons disappearing in Quareters while no characters are selected. Buttons become disabled rather than disappear

• Fixed issue with unarmed monsters fencing as if they had swords

Slitherine Becomes the Official Publisher

We’re proud to announce that Slitherine is now the official publisher of Nightmare Frontier. Their long-standing expertise in strategy games makes them the perfect partner as we continue to grow and refine the project. This collaboration marks an important step forward for the game’s future.

New Update Featuring the Final Boss Storyline

Along with this announcement, we’re rolling out a new update that introduces the first phase of Final Boss storyline. This major content addition delivers new missions, key narrative moments, and the climactic encounter that pushes the campaign closer to its endgame. We’re excited for you to experience this new chapter.

We really want to thank all the scavangers for the support, the feedback, and the passion for Nightmare Frontier. More news and updates are on the way — stay tuned!

Here the full changelog of today's udpate:

New features

Endgame

• Challeging boss fight and endgame storyline introduced - do not venture into the Docks unprepared!

DLSS 4

• DLSS 4 introduced for NVIDIA graphic cards users. The setting can be turned on via Settings\\Graphics\\Upscaler - DLSS

Improvements

Tactical Deployment

• Deployed characters can be undeployed directly in gameplay by using LMB / space / A on XBox controller on deployed characters

• Deployment area no longer disappears after deploying max characters - deployment are is visible until the players transfers to combat phase

• Deployment counter displays current amount of deployed characters in red (when noone is deployed and combat can't start), orange (when at least one character is deployed and the combat can start) and light-gray (when the player deployed max characters)

• Deployment queue console LDpad/RDpad glyphs replaced with LT/RT, making character queue navigation consistent in all game modes. Deployment queue can be navigated with both LT/RT and LDpad/RDpad

Character tokens

• Character Tokens were visually improved, including frames' visual style, selection states and characters' fear display

Bug fixes

• Fixed softblock occuring after using Gunblade lvl 3 and higher

• Fixed issue with weapons missing from characters' hands while using Piercing Shot

• Fixed Dreammachine's double entry in the Glossary

Hello scavengers! 

This scavenger party is coming home just in time for Halloween! Apologies for the long silence - we ventured a bit too deep into the Nightmare this time around, but we made it back and we’ll have some exciting news to share pretty soon.

Meanwhile, the Pumpkin Patch is ripe for harvest!

Pumpkin Patch \

The changes apply to both the Early Access version and the Demo.

What we added:

• New Fear unlocked - added the Fear of Harvest spawning Pumpkin Head enemies. Pumpkin Heads drop Pumpkin Spice resource, opening new upgrade options, 

• The Sickle - added Sickle to the common melee weapons pool,

• Fiery Upgrades - Jawblade and Chopper received new upgrade levels,

• Node counter - added a counter displaying the number of nodes visited during current Raid,

• Node tooltips - node tooltip’s visibility is no longer limited to 1 row ahead - all nodes display tooltips, allowing for more strategic path planning in the extraction mode

• Node frames - added frames differentiating combat and non-combat nodes in the extraction mode, 

• Tactical Speed Up - added speed up functionality in player turn - pressing Space button (A o X on controllers) will speed up current action,

What we fixed:

• Speed Up - fixed Speed Up button position in the extraction mode,

As always, thank you for the reports and feedback. Remember, if you spot anything weird after the update, drop a note in the Community Hub or ping us on Discord!

Last chance! Our discount ends today—snag the game now while the loot is still up for grabs at a great price! ⤵️

📢 Ends: Mon, Aug 11 at 10 AM PDT (7 PM GMT+2) 📢

What we fixed:

• Combo & Passive Behaviors - Fixed the trigger order for various behaviors to ensure better gameplay flow.
• Resource Stacks Count - Fixed the resource stack count bug in the run summary.

What we added:

• Stun Resistance Buff - Added a stun resistance buff for scavengers.
• Wrangler’s Wraps - Added Wrangler’s Wraps to the uncommon pocket items pool.

If you were planning to grab Nightmare Frontier, a deal like this might not come around again anytime soon... Take the advantage of our Early Access launch discount while it lasts! ⤵️

📢 Ends: Mon, Jun 30 at 10 AM PDT (7 PM GMT+2) 📢

What we fixed:

• Handgun & Camera Zoom - Fixed a soft-lock triggered when using handguns with the camera fully zoomed out.
• Boomstrike & Backstab - Fixed line-of-sight issues with Ethereal Boomstrike V and corrected behavior of backstab mechanics.
• Dead Character VFX - Fixed some visual effects on dead characters for a cleaner view during combat.
• Korean Localization - Fixed the incorrect translation for “Hold” in the Korean version.
• Bug Reporting & UI - Fixed minor issues with the in-game bug reporting tool and some UI related elements.
• Quest Notifications - Fixed an issue where the quest notification background was too short (text was overflowing outside the background).
• Rebinding Popup - Fixed layout and visibility issues with the key rebinding popup.
• Push Softlock - Fixed a rare softlock that occurred when a push action was blocked by another animation.
• Bullet Sound - Disabled the incorrect audio from the Twin Barrels to prevent unintended sound effects.
• Crispy Pete - Fixed a soft-lock that could occur when an explosion happened near a dead character
• Rope Swing - Fixed a bug where rope swing wouldn’t work properly after Creepy Puppet kill (we were supposed to receive the Rope Swing ability).
• Camera Bug - Fixed a bug where the camera wouldn’t follow mouse movement after picking up an anomaly.

What we added:

• Tooltip Improvements - Added and improved tooltips for “Undo” and “End Turn” buttons. Including an improved blinking effect to make the button more noticeable for players.
• Localization Update - General localization update across multiple languages.
• Speedup Button - Added a speedup button on the strategic map.
• Death Indicator - Added a new feature: defeated characters now have a cross on their portrait in the strategic map. Previously, they simply appeared with no HP.
• Localization UI - Added minor UI tweaks to improve localization display.
• Object Quality - Added a better performance on the lowest quality level.

What we fixed:

• Node Highlighting Optimization - Fixed optimization to node highlighting on strategic map for a smoother experience in the later stages of the game.
• Ability Confirmation Glyph - Fixed the controller glyph for ability confirmation.
• Main Menu Navigation - Fixed navigation for the Quit Button.
• Rotten Barrel Push - Fixed a bug where pushing enemies into Rotten Barrels caused the game to freeze.
• Twin Barrels Sound - Fixed an issue where the sound of the Twin Barrels triggered additional unwanted sounds.
• Nightmare Essence - Fixed a bug where the ability to pick up Nightmare Essence wouldn't disappear after the turn ended and the Nightmare Essence was gone.
• Gunblade Charges - Fixed a bug with Gunblade charges not working correctly.
• Localization Fixes - Fixed various localization issues.
• Enemies Dissolve - Fixed the enemies dissolve feature (after death and undo of this effect).
• Bonus Movement - Fixed incorrect character movement after loading a saved game with a movement buff.
• Bug Report Tool - Fixed an error with the in‑game bug reporting tool.
• Ethereal Axegun - Fixed Axegun V so it now properly bypasses obstacles.
• Cactus & Coffin - Fixed a bug that allowed the player to walk into these two objects.
• Upgrade Panel - Fixed overlapping text in the Upgrade Panel.
• Stats Coloring - Fixed an issue with correct modified stats coloring.
• Run Summary - Fixed an issue where items didn’t fit on the screen after long runs by adding a scroll feature.
• Crispy Pete - Fixed a bug with Crispy Pete's death. Players can no longer target his corpse.
• Gunblade - Fixed a bug where attacking with the Level III Gunblade caused the game to freeze for a short period + Fixed a rare soft lock caused by using the Gunblade, then Undo, and using it again.
• Sorting - Fixed sorting issues for items and characters.

What we added:

• Nightmare Essence Automatization - Added automatic collection for Nightmare Essence when entering its cell.
• Hit & Death Sounds - Added new sound effects for enemy hits and deaths.
• Common Item Drop - Reworked common item drops, providing more variety - especially in the Slums District.
• UI Improvements - Added general improvements to icons and text across the UI.
• Credits Update - Added the update to the Credits.

We interrupt your looting for a quick hotfix!

There was a community-reported bug prevented the Broken Galvanic Cell from appearing on the map - but not anymore. We've just deployed a new build with the fix. Happy hunting!

• https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3310950/view/624425002170586480?l=english

• https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3310950/view/534352273139044340?l=english
• https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3310950/view/534351647699108780?l=english

• https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3310950/view/515212619364171917?l=english

Hey everyone! 👋

Just a quick update from the Nightmare Frontier team here at Ice Code Games! 🔧🎮

We’ve just pushed a fresh patch to the free Demo, and yes, it fixes the “Oops, all boots!” loot situation. You’ll still want to hang on to your gear, but you will finally get some variety... 🥾😉

Here’s what’s new in this update:

• Improved reward distribution (no more bootpocalypse).
• You can now reach beyond node 92. Go get node 93 and beyond!
• Balance tweaks across the board.
• Loads of fixes - technical, visual, and otherwise. Big thanks to everyone who reported bugs and dropped feedback!
• Quality-of-life polish: tutorial and pop-up behavior should feel much smoother now.

Localization notice:

• Localization fixes! ːsteamthisː We're continually improving the localizations for all languages but it's still a work in progress. Thank you for your patience, we'll keep at it... Remember to report any localization issues either in this thread or through our official Discord!

Psssst... If you’ve already tried the demo, we’d love for you to give it another spin and let us know how it feels. If you haven’t - now’s a great time to jump in ➔ NIGHTMARE FRONTIER ON STEAM!

Thanks again for all the support! Keep the feedback coming and happy hunting out there! 💀🧭

Hey! We hope you’ve had a chance to get familiar with Nightmare Frontier, because we’ve prepared a contest. To win, you’ll need both determination and experience but don’t worry - you’ll have the time to gain it! PRIZES:

• 1st Place🥇 - Keys: 1x Nightmare Frontier (EA), 1x Rogue Waters, 1x Hard West 2

• 2nd Place🥈 - Keys:: 1x Nightmare Frontier (EA), 1x Rogue Waters

• 3rd Place 🥉 - Keys: 1x Nightmare Frontier (EA)

As you’ve probably already noticed, the core gameplay in Nightmare Frontier revolves around participating in raids. In the full version of the game, there will be five districts available. When starting an extraction, the player must choose one of them (in the demo, only one district - "The Slums" is available). After choosing a district, a path made up of nodes will appear. Completing one node allows you to choose the next destination, and so on... ⤵️ During a raid, you’ll fight enemies, collect loot, and receive buffs. All based on the decisions you make by choosing specific nodes. Depending on your combat performance and the choices you make, a raid can end in one of three ways:

• Victory ✅ (you’ve reached "Safe Passage" & extracted)

• Defeat ❌ (all your characters in raid have died)

• Abandonment ❌ (you’ve left the raid)

To keep things challenging, only raids that end in victory will count for this contest... ⤵️ Before we jump into the contest rules, make sure you’re able to take in-game screenshots directly through Steam. On the left, you can see where to find the keyboard shortcut for taking screenshots (Steam>Settings>In Game>"Take a screenshot"), and on the right, where to locate your saved screenshots within the Steam app (Steam>View>"Recordings & Screenshots")... ⤵️ Next & Last, to take part in the contest, you’ll also need to know how to share screenshots on the Steam Community Hub. Select the screenshot you want to share, click “Share on Steam”, then add an appropriate description (for example: Nightmare Frontier, Community Contest #1) and hit "Upload". Don’t forget to set Visibility to "Public"... ⤵️ You’ve probably already guessed what the contest is about. ːsteamhappyː

🏆 The Longest Victorious Raid Contest 🏆

IMPORTANT:

As the name suggests, the winner will be the one who ventures the deepest into a location and, most importantly - survives! Remember: the paths are randomized, so don’t give up too soon. You never know if your next run might just be the one that takes you the farthest! Next, take a screenshot of the run summary screen, that’s where we can see how far you made it. We’ll be looking at the score on the left side (not the "Longest Raid"!), so make sure to take screenshots right after each run... ⤵️

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Simply post a link to your Steam screenshot on Steam Thread!

(only screenshots uploaded on Steam & linked in this thread will be considered) You have time until Monday, June 16, 2025 (10 a.m. CEST) - that’s when we’ll pick the winners, so they can enjoy their Nightmare Frontier (EA) keys from the very first second of the launch! In the meantime, we encourage you to join our Discord and keep us posted on your grinding progress... Good luck! 🍀

What we fixed:

• Overall Game Optimization - Fixed the FPS drops by various elements optimization.
• Nightmare Pressure Level - Fixed the balance of nightmare pressure. Now it will rise automatically after the end of every turn by 1.
• Collectibles & Rewards - Fixed a bug where you wouldn’t receive item rewards after winning.
• Enemy Optimization - Fixed enemy behavior and performance in combat - fights should feel more responsive and challenging.
• Survivors Limitation - Fixed the issue of collecting more than 20 survivors during one expedition. (TBH we didn't thoguht that you'll be able to do it! 😅)
• Enemies Behaviour - Fixed the enemies animations and VFX.
• Translucent Tooltip - Fixed the translucent status tooltip so it shows up correctly.
• Inventory Softlock - Fixed a rare issue where player could accidentally start a new run from inventory or event screen.
• SFX & Music - Fixed missing sound effects and the looped menu music. Now it works as intended.
• Quarters Update - Fixed visuals and labels in the Quarters panel, and added an interface that allows sorting characters.
• Map Scrolling - Fixed a bug where clicking outside a node sometimes selected it.
• UI & Tooltips - Fixed item tooltips so they now display properly on larger screen resolutions.
• Tutorial - Fixed a problem where pressing number keys during the tutorial could accidentally open unwanted panels.

What we added:

• Character Customization - Added the rename option in your inventory. You could do this from the Quarters, but now you can also customize the names in the inventory.
• Ability & Item Balance - Added the next balance iteration of abilities and items.
• Items Comparison - Added the ability to compare items in your inventory.
• Reporting System - Added in-game bug reporting tool.
• HBAO Setting - Added the setting that allows you to turn off ambient occlusion - generates extra FPS.
• Grace Period - Added the protection period for beginners - ONCE after losing on Relaxing and Challenging difficulty, you keep your stuff.
• Enemies - Added new effects to the enemies - effect of disappearing as they die and appearing as they are summoned.

Localization Notice (WIP)

We are pleased to confirm that Nightmare Frontier will enter Early Access on June 16, 2025! 🎊

GEAR UP – Your Nightmares Won't Wait! ⤵️

We love gaming on the go and some people on the team use a Steam Deck to test features and follow changes in the game! ːsteamthumbsupː

What we fixed:

• Antidotum / Whiskey / Bite of Beans - Fixed a soft-lock/error caused by using these items on enemies.
• Prologue Map Controls - Fixed an issue in the prologue that prevented scrolling to the top of the region.
• Shotgun Visual Effects - Fixed misaligned visual effects on the shotgun.
• Overcoming Tutorial - Fixed the overcoming tutorial trigger so now it appears.
• Win Jingle Replaced - Fixed the victory sound. Enjoy a fresh jingle for that post-battle dopamine hit.
• Dung Configuration - Fixed a bug where stepping into dung displayed “-1 armor” in green; now appears in red as intended.
• Enemy Spawns - Fixed spawns so enemies no longer all face the same direction.
• Safe Passage - Fixed safe passage spawn frequency by adding earlier exit nodes in the slums region to improve first area pacing.
• UI Clutter - Fixed an overlap between tutorial and dialogue in tactical mode.
• Balance - Fixed overall balance of the items. (Let us know how the new curve feels! ːsteamhappyː)

PLAY DEMO NOW! ⤵️