Difficulty modes
Cozy, Normal, Hard and Challenge.
Four difficulty tiers chosen at the start of a run, layered on top of the scenario. They change prices, rent behaviour and how forgiving the station is.
Difficulty is not a modifier on combat here, it is a modifier on the economy: the same shop, squeezed differently.
Difficulty on this station is expressed as pressure rather than strength: prices, rent and the size of demands move, while the machines and the recipes stay where they are.
That makes the tier choice a statement about how much margin a player wants to spend on safety — and it is why the hardest combinations are described as challenge runs rather than as the intended experience.
Counter protocol
- Combine a scenario with a tier to set the shape of a run.
- Higher tiers raise both costs and consequences.
- The hardest combinations are explicitly not recommended for a first run.
Related stock
Where this comes from
The release added four difficulty options on top of the starting scenarios.
“4 difficulty options: From beginner friendly to super hard mode (try combining it with the Rock Bottom if you're looking for additional challenge)”
Story demands scale with difficulty — 500 credits on Cozy through 1500 on Challenge.
“Lou: Her demand after her disguise visit now depends on the difficulty: 500 Credits on Cozy, 750 on Normal, 1000 on Hard and 1500 on Challenge.”
The developer advises against the hardest modifier on a first run.
“But do not play with Sentinel Collapse Disorder on your first run.”
Tier 1 is the developer or publisher speaking, tier 2 is a large structured reference, tier 3 is player-made material. Anything a player measured rather than read is labelled as community-reported on this page.