Protocols and policies
Protocols are the difficulty ladder and Policies are the modifiers you bolt onto them. The demo gives you all five protocols and none of the policies; the release build adds 15 policies that can be applied to any protocol.
The two systems are designed to solve different problems. Protocols answer "how much do you want to sweat". Policies answer "what kind of run do you want to have".
The protocol ladder
| Protocol | Who it is for |
|---|---|
| Protocol I | Learning the systems. Retuned to be winnable while you figure out folders, keys and stacking |
| Protocol II | The first real wall — survivable with a completed build and no meta upgrades |
| Protocol III | Where bad positioning stops being forgivable |
| Protocol IV | Requires a coherent build and some meta progress |
| Protocol V | Impossible without meta upgrades, in the developer's own words |
One thing worth knowing about this ladder: it moved. At demo launch the developer acknowledged that a few numbers had been pushed too close to the playtest going live, and what had been Protocol I ended up roughly at the level of the current Protocols II and III. The five-tier ladder with an easier bottom rung is the fix.
Read the ladder as a sequence of unlocks rather than a test of manhood. Beanz payouts scale with protocol, so the efficient route is to clear a tier comfortably, bank Beanz on it, and spend those Beanz before attempting the next one.
Policies: 15 modifiers, one rule
The release build's description is short and complete: policies are unique challenges to experience the game in more difficult and interesting ways, and a policy can be applied to any protocol.
That is the interesting part. A policy is not a difficulty tier, it is a constraint you choose, which means the combination space is wide:
- A policy that removes something you were not relying on is nearly free difficulty.
- A policy that removes something your build leans on is a rebuild, not a challenge.
- A policy that pays out differently changes the run's economy, which changes which files and plugins you want.
Policies are the closest thing this game has to user-defined difficulty, and treating them as "hard mode toggles" undersells them. The 15 launch policies are not yet documented publicly by name, so the specific list is one of the few things that will need a pass after the September 28 build lands.
How to choose a protocol
- Clear the current tier without losing a Safe Folder to panic. That is the signal you are ready for the next one.
- Push a tier when you want Beanz, not when you are bored. The payout difference between tiers is the point.
- Do not test Protocol IV with an unfinished core. Armour and Power meta upgrades are where a real attempt comes from.
- Expect the ceiling to be real. Protocol V without meta upgrades is not a skill problem, it is arithmetic.
Where bosses fit
The release build adds six bosses and mini-bosses, and the pattern the dev describes is: each round gets mixed up with Plus-sized enemies, and a final boss. Bosses are described as enemies that shoot at you, charge at you, throw what they can, and become invulnerable to you.
That last property is the one that changes build decisions. Invulnerability windows mean a build that only functions as one sustained damage channel has a hole it cannot cover — you need something that keeps applying while the boss is untouchable, which is another argument for status appliers over pure direct damage.
Bosses were switched off during the February playtest, partly because the dev did not think they were good enough yet, so the launch versions are effectively a fresh system. Expect the first two weeks after release to be where the real boss knowledge gets written.
If you are still deciding where to start on the ladder, the beginner guide assumes Protocol I and the Beanz page explains why farming a comfortable tier beats banging your head against a harder one.