Scarlet Hollow — patch notes and updates
Stored observation / content update:
Dated developer announcements recorded from Steam. Open the source for the complete update.
| Update | Date | Excerpt / source |
|---|---|---|
| New Devlog - On Writing Scarlet Hollow | 2026-05-25 | Hey folks! Hot from the presses with a 16,000 word devlog for Scarlet Hollow! In it, we look at player data from our three most recent major releases (Episode 4, The Roads Untraveled, and Episode 5) and talk at length about how narrative design process, and how this batch of player data has guided our decisions for an upcoming balance and content patch to the last chapter. Here's the link: https://medium.com/@blacktabbygames/on-writing-scarlet-hollow-episodes-4-and-5-edition-and-maybe-the-roads-untraveled-too-490a012808ca Hope you enjoy! Tony and Abby |
| May 12th Update | 2026-05-12 | Caught up on all reported issues to date. Coming down the pipeline: 1. Devlog analyzing the results of the Episode 5 player choice survey, mostly focusing on The Roads Untraveled patch and Episodes 4 and 5, since we haven't publicly shared player choice data since post-episode 3. 2. An expansion and balance patch to the first five episodes. The largest addition here will be adding the ability to visit the church in episode 5 following the estate exploration sequence. We'll also be looking to improve the experience of Powerful Build and Keen Eye. We'll be sharing more details about this in the upcoming player choice devlog! 3. Writing is alrea |
| Scarlet Hollow AU Posters are LIVE! | 2026-05-05 | We can always pretend that things might have turned out some other way... Scarlet Hollow AU posters are back in stock at Topatoco for a limited time. 13"x19" to hang on your wall while you think about better days. Tabitha always wanted to go to the beach, but life has never let that happen... Could wholesome yuri have happened in another world? If only they'd managed to get Big Betty to the fair... Make your dream(s) (up to three) come true today! https://topatoco.com/collections/black-tabby/products/ah-sh-sh_prints Best wishes, Tony and Abby |
| Scarlet Hollow May 2026 Development Update | 2026-05-01 | Hey folks! After taking a short break to recover from Episode 5's release, we're back to work! Given our current stage of production, these updates are probably going to be on the shorter end, BUT, here's what we've been up to: We've mapped out the scene list and flow charts for the remaining two chapters of the game! While all of the major story beats and revelations for Scarlet Hollow were planned from the start, this is the first time we've finally put the minor pieces together. We've officially started writing Episode 6. Parallel to writing Episode 6, we've begun work on the church expansion to Episode 5. We've started pulling player choi |
| We're getting into game publishing! | 2026-04-09 | Hello everyone! We're extremely excited to announce that we've started a publishing label, and that the first game we've signed is the sophomore title from our dear friends at sunset visitor 斜陽過客, who you might know from the Peabody-winning 1000xResist. It's called Prove You're Human, and you can check out the trailer below before giving it a wishlist. Beyond Prove You're Human, we've also signed a yet-to-be-announced title from SmallBu, the dual Emmy-winning animation studio behind Later Alligator and Baman Piderman. We can't wait to show you all what Lindsay and Alex have been cooking there! For those of you might be nervous that launching |
| Feb 28 | 2026-02-28 | Fixed a handful of minor issues. Added an explore variation of seeking out Maxwell Oscar if he isn't fleeing town to the list of post-estate actions in Episode 5. Fixed an error where clicking too rapidly through the "Cousin Bonding Time" scene in Episode 4 would throw an error. |
| Feb 27 | 2026-02-27 | Minor bug fixed. Nerfed tabitha by removing one of her fingers. |
| Feb 26 Hotfix | 2026-02-26 | Minor bug fixes |
| Feb 25 Hotfix 2 | 2026-02-26 | Patched an issue with a newly added dialogue option in the episode 5 climax where tabitha, when not present, would teleport into the scene to deliver a single line before remaining in silence, |
| Feb 25 Hotfix | 2026-02-25 | Fixed a couple of issues w/ Avery's expanded hangout scene in Episode 3. |
| Episode 5 Balance Patch Live | 2026-02-25 | Hey folks! The first of what will probably be a series of balance patches to Episode 5 has just gone live! Here's the TL;DR of it, though I'm sure I'm missing some items: Supercop Franklin has once again been nerfed. Suspicion points for being weird around him (are now capped at a lower maximum than previously, and if the mine collapse is the only "major event" keyed to police suspicion in this episode, it will no longer put the player on his radar. If Oscar still has the library and is not fleeing town, the panic section following the Estate now signposts that visiting the library does not move the story forward by marking it with (explore). |
| Episode 5 Franklin Rebalancing | 2026-02-24 | Changed the weights of Deputy Franklin's suspicion meter in Episode 5 to be more forgiving overall. Removed a poorly telegraphed penalty tied to not examining your environment when you wake up at the start of the episode (the player doesn't know where the doorhandle goes, and previously lost one action while running around looking for an exit.) Nobody seemed to pick up on this, and it was likely contributing to a lot of players being arrested earlier than they normally should be. Flavor text remains, but the penalty has been removed! Currently working on an expansion to the farms scene, adding extra explore options to talk to Avery directly i |
| Feb 22 #2? #3? | 2026-02-22 | Buncha little things. Should have more turns to explore in julius' basement before tabitha takes action if you have a trait save available. |
| Feb 22 Balance Tweak | 2026-02-22 | Trait save in the farms dilemma no longer has the explore tag, and has been moved to a lower spot on the menu so keen eye and legacy street smart players have more of an opportunity to interact with the scenario without accidentally ending it early. |
| Feb 22 Hotfix 1 | 2026-02-22 | Patched an issue where a dead Reese could temporarily return to life for a scene for old players who turned to Doctor Kelly |
| Episode 5 Post Release Update and Roadmap | 2026-02-22 | Hey folks! It's been wonderful to welcome you back home to the Holler, and to finally start to share some of the story's big revelations with you. Now that we're a few days post launch, I wanted to give quick update on some changes that have been made as of the most recent patch, as well as our plans for post-release support of the Episode before we move on to Scarlet Hollow's conclusion. What's already live: It was a little too easy for players to head straight to the farms and wind up with a shorter episode without realizing they were missing out on content. Choosing to head to the farms alone will now be met with a choice menu that diegeti |
| feb 21 8:00 pm eastern time | 2026-02-22 | just some lil things. hope your saturday is goin' nice :) |
| credits display issue fix | 2026-02-21 | i've been working too long and forgot to check if the credits appeared massively messed up because this wasn't an issue w/ previous updates i guess it was an issue today though, whoops fixed now :) |
| Feb 21 Patch 1 | 2026-02-21 | Whoops i forgot to make the credits play D: Catching up on reported typos and layering issues reported on discord! |
| last one before bed | 2026-02-21 | issue gets reported? issue gets fixed |