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Steam News3 February 20265mo ago

The Happy Hour Update

This update adds two new gameplay systems to greatly increase run variety. Pool sharks have feelings too, and now they can express themselves! Shark moods add modifiers to the round. Some are good, some are bad.

In this update15

Full notes

Full Drop Pockets update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

1 fix9 additions6 changes2 removals
  • Gameplay
  • Balance
  • Store
  • UI and audio
  • Fixes
addedPool sharks have feelings too, and now they can express themselves!Shark moods add modifiers to the round. Some are good, some are bad. Here's an example of how a very moody shark can affect your round!
addedPool sharks have feelings too, and now they can express themselves!Every time you select a shark, you now have a 40% chance for a mood to be selected. (and then another 40% chance for a second mood, and so on.) So it's a little rare to run into a shark with the maximum of 4 moods.
addedPool sharks have feelings too, and now they can express themselves!But if you want to maximize your chances, you can jump into the next new system...
changedMax healthDecrease how much health you can lose before game over.
removedPoint multThis is the existing difficulty multiplier setting, which has also been removed from normal play.
changedShop pricesIncreases shop and prize pool prices.

Drop Pockets changes

addedShark moods add modifiers to the round. Some are good, some are bad. Here's an example of how a very moody shark can affect your round!
addedEvery time you select a shark, you now have a 40% chance for a mood to be selected. (and then another 40% chance for a second mood, and so on.) So it's a little rare to run into a shark with the maximum of 4 moods.
addedBut if you want to maximize your chances, you can jump into the next new system...
changedDecrease how much health you can lose before game over.
removedThis is the existing difficulty multiplier setting, which has also been removed from normal play.

This update adds two new gameplay systems to greatly increase run variety.

Pool sharks have feelings too, and now they can express themselves!

Shark moods add modifiers to the round. Some are good, some are bad. Here's an example of how a very moody shark can affect your round!

There are currently 19 moods to find, and there's always room for more!

Every time you select a shark, you now have a 40% chance for a mood to be selected. (and then another 40% chance for a second mood, and so on.) So it's a little rare to run into a shark with the maximum of 4 moods.

But if you want to maximize your chances, you can jump into the next new system...

Drinks!

Down a few shots and add significant challenges to your entire run!

This system comes loaded with 12 unique, scaling difficulty modifiers to keep your runs interesting.

Briefly, these modifiers are:

Game length

Increase how many rounds are required to win, up to 30 rounds.

Max health

Decrease how much health you can lose before game over.

Max Stalls

Decrease how many stall turns can be lost before receiving penalties.

Point mult

This is the existing difficulty multiplier setting, which has also been removed from normal play.

Shop prices

Increases shop and prize pool prices.

Shark selection

Decreases how many options you have for the next round.

Shark moods

Increase the minimum amount of moods applied to every round.

Cue cooldown

Gives every cue a cooldown timer, which disables their special effects for a set amount of turns. You better hit your shots.

8 balls

Feel like having with one 8 ball in your rack isn't hard enough? Try five!

Paved pockets

Permanently disabled up to three pockets for the entire run. (Yes, this means on Neglected felt you only have one pocket to use.)

Friendly wager

If you're missing the sweet sweet dopamine of unlocking something but don't want to delete your save, you can use this drink to relock items if you lose.

Boss rush

Skips break phase.

This system is unlocked by winning 5 runs. If you've already won 5 runs in the past, it will unlock automatically.

Also in this system, you can now change your pool ball set and table border cosmetics! Just for fun! You can play with your favorite balls now!

You have to win a run on a felt to be able to use its cosmetics.

And in the spirit of that, I've added a new one!

The Poolside felt!

Consider it Funky felt's older brother. Every rack ball starts as a random special ball, but this now includes shark-specific balls. Additionally, every ball is a random material and has a random effect applied.

This felt is unlocked by winning a run at drink level 20 or higher.

With a new felt comes just a couple other additions as well.

  • Unlocked by winning a run on Poolside felt:

    A Bigger Fish

  • All balls except cue cannot return

  • Unlocked by winning a run on Poolside felt:

    Pool Noodle cue

  • 2x points for first ball scored this round

  • Unlocked by beating

    A Bigger Fish

    :

    Blowfish

  • Scores an additional time, 5% chance to poison any ball that hits it

    :

Lastly, (and kinda leastly,) there's a new ball unlocks menu. The previous menu had some errors displaying balls correctly, but since it was also annoying to use with a controller, I elected to simply replace it.

Added two new achievements:

  • Win a run on Poolside felt

  • Win a run at drink level 20 or higher

Added small sound effects to many buttons throughout the game Added extra effects to the shotgun cue

Adjusted cue preview line, it shouldn't get stuck in walls now Fixed 8 balls sometimes not costing extra health Fixed a typo in

Did you see it?

's shark description Fixed Mercury's -50 points popup happening more than once Fixed Pluto's -30 point popup displaying the wrong number Fixed Pluto's 30 point bonus not properly deactivating

Source

Steam News / 3 February 2026

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