ZeroDay.exe - A Cooperative, Deck Building, Dungeon Crawler

September Update - Miniatures + Solo Mode
6 months ago – Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 06:58:25 AM

Hey Hackers! 

In this update, we've got some awesome new miniature renders from Black Magic that we're excited to show you! A few people here and on discord have also requested some more information on solo mode, so we'll jump right into that first! 

Solo Mode

In Solo mode, you choose your character as well as a second character to be your AI companion. This character won't use Hacks, but will still be able to upgrade their stats, equip mods, and use items throughout the game. Instead of Hack cards, each character has their own set of 6 AI cards. During the initiative phase, you will flip one of these cards over, revealing their initiative, movement, range, and attack for the round, as well as any special abilities they may have. 

We really don't want solo players to miss out on any aspect of the game, especially the cooperation. This system allows you to have complete control over your companion, without having to manage/build a second deck, worry about playing hacks/matching programs, or worrying about what initiative to play. It also still allows you to use the Flux ability of your character's Hacks to assist your companion.

To make up for the lack of hacks your AI companion has, we've made them a bit stronger as well and gave them the ability to heal instead of move on their turn. This helps them feel less vulnerable while still also allowing them to do some serious damage! 

We are still working on solo mode to make sure we strike that balance of keeping most mechanics in the game while also not overloading the player with too much upkeep/info.

For those who will play solo, here's a question you can help us with!

Do you feel the AI cards should tell the players if/when the companion activates the skills on their player board, or should players be able to use the companions skills at their discretion?

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Miniature Models

Below you can check out some W.I.P miniature models for Link, Echo, and T.:

While we work on the others, we'll try to share some renders with the effects that will be acrylic so you can see the pops of color that they'll have as well!

If there is any part of the game you'd like more information on, please let us know in the comments and we can try to get it into one of our future updates!

August Update - New Artwork (More Mods!) + Gen Con recap
8 months ago – Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 11:42:16 AM

Hey Hackers!

After getting a bit of con-crud from Gen Con, we are finally on the mends and getting back to normal. Besides that, Gen Con was fantastic as always! We were running constant demos of ZeroDay with almost no breaks in between for most of the con. I genuinely don't think a single person walked away not having enjoyed the game! We were also excited to meet those of you who backed the game and stopped by the booth to say hello. It was truly a great time and made us even more excited for ZeroDay!

We've jumped right back into play testing and getting new artwork. We also picked up a few new members in the Discord who have been play testing the game and giving a ton of feedback. Playtesting and feedback is invaluable in making the game the best it can be, so we wanted to thank those of you who have been helping with that!

Kyushi Enterprises - Military Mods

This corp creates military-grade cybernetics, usually only available for gov. contracts (but we know a guy). These sleek mods can do everything - manipulate your shift tiles, use your life to draw extra cards, or even deal damage back to enemies when they cause you to lose life! Check out a couple of our favorites below, along with the illustrations for each Kyushi Mod!

New Enemy Standees

We also recently updated our enemy standees to make them look cleaner and more polished from our prototypes. We think these new standees give the enemies more personality and make them come alive on the board!

Next update we are hoping to have a couple more miniatures to show you, along with more artwork with the "Hanzo Corporation" mods being completed!

Is there something you want to get some info on in the next updates? Let us know in the comments!
 

-Hacker Kat & Zach

July Update - Testing, Testing, and more testing + Gen Con + Bosses!
9 months ago – Sun, Jul 13, 2025 at 02:58:42 PM

Hey Hackers!

We've been very busy the past couple months working on ZeroDay and getting ready for 
Gen Con, so we apologies for the delayed update. Let's jump right in!

Play Testing

We have been focusing hard on play testing and so far, it's been going great! We did notice that when T. is in the game, operations seem a bit easier, but not in a fun way. He's started boiling down to run in, stand in the middle, and take hits - which isn't very fun or interesting. So our focus over the next couple weeks is going to be finding a way to make T. a bit more interesting while also giving him a slight decrease in his defensive power. We've already tested a couple changes and we feel we are already on the right track to making this happen! Outside of that, we'll continue to play through each operation to make sure the balance is perfect for each one.

If anyone is interested in play testing, we definitely would love more eyes and opinions on the game's play and balance! We are hoping to be able to get at least one day of play testing in on the weekends with discord users. If you're interested, please join our discord and send a message in the "play test chat" channel saying you'd like to play test! If you are only available on weeknights, we can also schedule something to make that happen!

Gen Con

We will be at Gen Con again this year at booth 2133. We will have an early protoype of ZeroDay that we will be demoing at our booth. If you'll be there, we'd love for you to stop by and say hello!

Boss Artwork!

We recently received the artwork for the 3 bosses and are excited to share them with you. We love how they turned out and think you will too!

That's all we've got for now. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask in the comments!

-Hacker Kat & Zach

Pledge Manager Incoming!
10 months ago – Thu, May 29, 2025 at 05:40:16 AM

The smoke test hasn't revealed any issues on the survey, so we'll be sending out the surveys for the BackerKit Pledge Manager to everyone today! 

You should be receiving an email with a link to your survey soon! It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards!

Once you receive your email, click the link and answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you'd like.

If you'd like to change your pledge level - for example, if you're a $1 backer who now wants to get the base game - you'll need to click the "Switch your Pledge Level" link below the big green "Get Started!" button on your survey.

If you backed the "PudKat Games Collector's Pledge", the sooner you complete this survey and add your address, the sooner we can ship your copy of Davy Jones' Locker to you!

After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys. The surveys will stay open until we are ready to begin manufacturing, so you will have plenty of time to make any changes.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email. If you ever cannot find your survey email/link, you can get it here ->  https://zerodayexe.backerkit.com. Please note that you do not need a Backerkit account to complete the survey.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out in the comments or message us directly here on Kickstarter!

-Hacker Kat & Zach

May Update + Smoke-test for BackerKit Pledge Manager
11 months ago – Wed, May 14, 2025 at 06:21:06 PM

Hey Hackers!

Just a quick update to let you know that we are starting a "smoke-test" with the BackerKit pledge manager tomorrow. This means about 5% of backers will receive their surveys over the next few days, as a way to make sure everything is good to go before sending out to everyone. If you are one of those who do receive the survey, please let us know if you have any issues so we can get them resolved! We've also updated our page with a link to late pledges and have opened them up for those who may have missed the campaign or are ready to jump in now!

As for progress with ZeroDay, we have been working with Black Magic Inserts on our custom insert designed, as well as finishing up the miniature sculpts. We have 3 big focuses with the tray - minimizing set-up/tear-down time, saving campaign progress, and fitting components (including sleeved cards) nicely. We've worked with Bryce at Black Magic inserts previously and know he'll be able to nail it on all 3 fronts! 🦾

We are continuing to work through the art and we've gotten a few more mods completed! There are 4 Corporations that create the mods in the game - Kyushi Enterprises, Hanzo Cybernetics, Calypso Corp, and Iris Solutions. Each corporation has its own style, from the salvage-looking Calypso Corp to the sleek, almost alien design of Hanzo Cybernetics, each will have a distinct look. Below are 8 new Calypso Corp mods ready for install!

If you have any questions, want to give input or play test, or just come chat, we encourage you to join our discord!

Until Next Time!
- Hacker Kat & Zach