Release notes

Release notes · Version 0.9.31 · Oct 31, 2026

By lamplight

New

Vote for us now leaves a mark on your desk: once your votes have counted on 30 different days, the Regular Voter stamp lies on your Graphical desk (and shows in the trophy cabinet's desk touches).
Independence Day is now Founders' Day, Vesper City's own holiday under the Setting Sun flag. Same dates, same rewards.

Improved

Rooms at night are lit by their own lamps: each glow now sits on the lamp, candle or window that makes it, and the desk lamps are on. Names that pop up over things in a room always stay in view, never under the room's title, and on a phone a room shows a soft preview while the painting arrives.
At night on a computer, each thing you can use in a room shows a small gold tag, and on a phone arrows at the sides show there is more of the room to drag to.
Very high business income now has a second cut. Once what you keep from your businesses passes about $1.1 million a day (or a day's income for your level, if that is more), the taxman takes 90% of everything above it. Up to about level 50 nothing changes, and nothing you already own or have earned is taken back.
The Energy Drink is now the Pep Tonic, a corked bottle from the city's own era. Same +25 energy, and the ones you already have keep working.

Fixed

Graphical view: building names, ⚡ markers and live signs no longer sit on each other or run off the painting, the street, desk and city map fit the screen on a computer, the phone's building card is solid, and the two-factor reminder is a slim strip on phones.

Release notes · Version 0.9.30 · Oct 30, 2026

Top of the town

New

Faces are earned now. Five faces stay free; the rest of the painted faces, 19 of them brand new, are won by playing: run the Don's errands, pull off your first crimes, keep a daily streak, win fights, finish courses and more. Locked faces show how to earn them, your progress and how rare they are, and a few are secret until you find them.
The Syndicate is open. Take The Commission at the college (level 40) and six new top jobs await from level 42, from cornering the grain market to The Mayor's Chair. Past level 65 they pay in step with your level, and every 50 levels earns a Notoriety star.
Six new pieces of top gear from level 64 to 78, from the Twin-Drum Chopper to the Silver Stiletto, and a Private Airship for the rooftops. Past level 80 the gunsmith and the tailor at the Black Market add Masterwork marks to your best weapons and armour: a new mark every 10 levels, each 3% better, for cash.
Six new businesses for the city's biggest players, from the Radio Station at level 56 to The Vesper & Western Railroad at level 100. Past level 100 the biggest of them can be expanded every 25 levels: a new wing, a new route, a new line, each adding 10% to its income.
The bank has deeper vaults. Four new ones open at levels 80, 100, 125 and 150, from the Private Treasury Room to the Ironclad Vault, and past 150 a new Deep Vault opens every 25 levels, so there is always a bigger room for your money.
Every level up now congratulates you and lists what it opens, with a link to each: a new crime, a landmark's doors, the bank, a gang of your own. Climb several levels at once and you see them all; level up while you're away and the news waits on your next page and in your notifications. Help → What each level unlocks shows every level, what is yours already and what is coming up next.
Five more buildings open into painted rooms in the Graphical view: the hospital's waiting hall (who's in, the locals in the wards, the dispensary and a get-well letter), the Bazaar hall (the stalls, selling, your own stall, your basket and your parcels), the college (the courses, the one you're studying and your diplomas), the gang HQ (the gangs in town, and for members the family, the treasury and the war map, or the desk to found your own) and the letting agent's office (homes for sale, what you own, homes to rent, your tenants and home upgrades).
The six landmarks open into painted rooms in the Graphical view: Madame Wei's apothecary (a remedy, a hangover cure and her tonic), the Social Club (Family contracts, Enzo's booth and the recruiting board), the union hall (the union shift, Big Tom and the strike bills), the Fence's back room (sell your loot, the hot list and what Harry can still pay), the Shipment pier's warehouse (the cargo, Captain Marsh and how the ship works) and the Courthouse (Judge Pike, clearing an arrest and who's in jail). Each opens in its own district once you reach the landmark's level.
Share cards. Caught and jailed? Take your Mugshot: your face on the police board with your charge, your sentence and a BUSTED stamp. Top a leaderboard, or make The Evening Racket, and put yourself on the Front Page. Download them or share them from your phone, wide for X and Discord or tall for TikTok and stories; the game never posts anything for you, and a card never shows money or anyone else's name.
Every player now has a private notepad: a Notepad tab on your own profile, and a notebook on your desk in the Graphical view. Only you can read it, not even staff. Gangs get one too: the Don's, shared with the members the Don chooses to read or to edit it, with the last few versions kept.
Energy refill, Nerve refill, Walk out of jail and Discharged and healed can now be bought to keep in the Gold Shop: use one later (Walk out of jail even from your cell), or sell it on the Bazaar. Gold packs, like these Gold items, now change hands only on the Bazaar; you can still buy one for a friend at checkout.

Improved

Every fight now ends with a stamp on each portrait (Won, Lost, Draw or Knocked out) and the referee's scorecard: the damage each of you dealt, the health left and the number of strikes. In the Graphical view your fights happen in a painted back-room ring under a hanging lamp, and ambushes in a rainy back alley.
The city map takes you straight in: tap any district and its card has a big Walk the streets button, no zooming needed. Your own district is marked You are here with its own button, and other districts show the tram or car trip right under it.
Use several at once: a consumable stack now has a How many box next to Use, so three espressos are one press (up to 10 at a time). The Gift box now says How many to give.
In jail, Try a jailbreak now sits in the banner right beside the bribe and takes you straight to the jailbreak.
Rooms look right by day: the daylight no longer washes out the pale rooms (hospital ward, police station, lodging). In hospital, your situation is now your patient's chart on a clipboard, with a discharge slip for the private doctor. On a phone, the building you pick on your street is always fully in view, and on a computer the city map's zoom buttons sit beside the map instead of over the district names.
Period pieces: the Supercar is now the Grand Prix Racer, the Kevlar Vest the Ballistic Vest, the Gold Desert Eagle the Gilded .45 Automatic, and the Carbon Weave, Dragon Skin and Titanium armours are now Silk-Weave Armour, the Steel-Scale Vest and the Ironclad Suit, all with new pictures; drinks come in glass bottles and the Little Sicily Social Club is its palazzo on the map. Anything you own keeps working.
No more real-world flags in Vesper City: Capitol Hill, City Hall and the crime pictures fly the city's own navy-and-gold Setting Sun flag, the Docklands chemist shows a green cross, and the Star-Spangled Coupe is now the Parade Coupe.
Your office got a polish: the Help plaque on the wall is now proper brass with screws, your wanted poster pins up your portrait as an old oval photograph, the case file is a leather folder with a rubber band, and the paper slips on the desk (Ready to collect, new stories) sit on the right objects. On a phone the desk and the wall name every object until you have used it, then show a small brass pin.
New paintings across the city: the Idea box, the Visionary medals and every Strategy guide in the wiki now have their own pictures. The Patron medal now shows a champagne coupe, the Made Member medals have a proper rim and bow, the Little Sicily banner matches the repainted quarter, and the villa pool and the hotel lobby have lost their palm trees.
Nine page banners (the Courthouse, the Fence, the Herbalist, the Shipment, Vote for us, the union hall, the Social Club, the street and the wiki) now match the rest of the game's deco print, the Little Sicily Social Club stands as its palazzo on the street, and The Strip's casino is a lit art-deco tower.
The advert pictures are a touch warmer and free of stray lettering, and a few Chinatown descriptions were rewritten: Madam Wu runs a gaming house, and the Jade Tiger is the tong's boss.
Amounts now read in a calmer green, the item you pick in your suitcase gets a gold frame, the danger skulls are bone-white, and a knocked-out fighter keeps their colours.

Fixed

On a narrow building like Little Sicily's back alley, a passer-by in the doorway could catch your tap and open their own card instead. Passers-by now stand at the edge of the door, so every building stays clickable.
The Don's tour no longer starts on top of a level-up banner: it waits until you press Carry on.
Fights say 1 strike, not 1 strikes.
The two-factor suggestion is readable on a phone: its button now sits under the text.

Release notes · Version 0.9.29 · Oct 29, 2026

The heat is on

New

The Southside Slums finally have a landmark: the Mission. Ma Doyle's soup kitchen now keeps a candle in the doorway all night, and from level 5 you can lend her a hand once a day for a little happiness and Respect. Newcomers still get her free hot meal inside.
The back alley is now a painted place of its own: a job board pinned under the lamp, and the Black Market dealer's door beside it. Pick a job off the board, or repeat your last one, and the result lands right on its card: the stamp, the cash, your bars, without leaving the alley.
Heat matters now: bigger jobs build more of it and it cools 3 an hour. From 60 a beat cop may take a cut of a job's cash, and from 90 you're Hot (longer sentences). Lay low at your lodging or pay off a beat cop to lose it faster. Players under level 5 build half heat.
Little Sicily has been repainted: a warm street at dusk around its church, with every building in its new place. Labels near the edge of the picture now turn inwards instead of running off it.
No more top level: levels go on for ever. Past level 100 each level costs a little more than the last, the toughest rivals rise to fight at your level, and level badges fit four- and five-digit levels.
Two-factor login is now optional. Nobody is ever asked to set it up before playing: you get one friendly suggestion from level 3, which you can dismiss, and the choice stays in Account → Security. Turn it on and you earn the Locked Tight medal. Staff accounts still need it.

Improved

Your desk now does the daily chores in one tap: deposit your cash, collect business income, read your latest letter, pour your usual and claim the daily reward right from the objects on the desk. On the street, a gold lightning bolt shows which buildings have something ready.
On a phone the Graphical view now has six tabs: Desk, City, Street, Crimes, Gym and More (your inventory is in More and in the desk's drawer). One tap on a building shows its card at the bottom of the screen with Go in and its quick actions, and your daily rounds (gym, bank, workplace, back alley) sit at the top of the street. The everyday forms got a 1920s look: iron gym equipment, the bank's teller window with deposit slips, a punch clock for your job and a bail bond with an envelope for the judge.
In the Graphical view you now stay in the game whatever happens: a page you can't use from jail or hospital takes you back to your painted cell or ward with a note saying why, and level locks show inside the game too. Panels have one back button and sit under your status bar, so the bars, cash and Where to? are always there; Account and the More tab have a new look to match.
The Don's tour is now a proper walk: he stays on each place and shows you every piece (your bars, the desk, the map, your street, the gym) one at a time, and brings you back to your desk to finish.
Every medal now pays the cash of its tier: Copper $250, Bronze $500, Silver $2,000, Gold $5,000 and Iron $10,000. Medals you already hold are not paid again.
The tram now takes twice as long as the normal trip (driving is unchanged), and the city map shows a little streetcar while you ride.
Businesses now earn 40% of their listed rate, a second copy of the same business earns half, and most income above a day's worth is trimmed. For 14 days after this update, businesses you bought before it sell back at full price if you'd rather cash out (homes not included). The Governor's Ledger now pays $15,000 to $45,000, and event mission cash grows with your level.
Sharing a computer or phone with someone who has been suspended no longer gets your account suspended too. Instead your account gets a short review: staff take a look within 48 hours, and meanwhile you keep playing with trading paused (if the other account is banned, game actions pause until we've checked). Answer the review message to tell us who you share with.
Player ads have moved off your screen and into The Evening Racket: they're now printed at the foot of the paper. Advertising is closed for a short while; ads already booked are safe.
Stories The Evening Racket writes automatically now run under "The Evening Racket wire" and are marked as written automatically, and the Consigliere says plainly that it is an automated assistant, not a person.
About 300 more bits of the game that still showed in English now read in Spanish, French, Portuguese and German.
The public website is easier to use on a phone (bigger buttons and links), describes its pictures for screen readers and has a clearer title.

Fixed

Quick actions on a building could look as if nothing happened while the answer was slow. Now they say "Sending…" while they wait and always end with the result or the reason, never in silence.
Smaller fixes from a full walkthrough: switching to Classic from the desk no longer lands on a missing page; the Don's tour says "Stop 1 of 5 · 3 of 14" so you know how long it is; shop and bank doors glow softly at night; the city map shows a blurred painting while it loads; a crime result has one button, not two; and a quiet city says so instead of showing "1 player online".
The Evening Racket's front page no longer prints the same headline twice.
New players get their sign-up confirmation email again: for a few days it only arrived if you asked for it again. On the street, the Back alley's sign now says it is where the crimes are.

Release notes · Version 0.9.28 · Oct 25, 2026

Word on the street

New

Player ads get a 1920s makeover: pick from ten styles, from Pinstripe and The Telegram to The Calling Card and The Banknote, with sixteen new painted pictures. Standard styles cost the usual price; the fancier ones a little more.
In-game ads now also show in the graphical view, in a slim strip under the top bar.

Improved

The ad preview shows your chosen style on a computer and on a phone before you pay.
You can add a small line above your ad's headline.

Fixed

Nothing broken this time.

Release notes · Version 0.9.27 · Oct 25, 2026

Behind closed doors

New

Five new painted rooms in the graphical city: the post office, the speakeasy and the newsstand, each with its own things to click.
If you land in jail or hospital in the graphical view, you now wake up in a painted cell or ward. Bribe, break out, train, sew mailbags, call the doctor or read the paper from right there.
The Don's tour of the city: new players in the graphical view get a short walk from their desk to the map, their neighbourhood and inside the gym. You can skip it, pause it, or take it again any time from Help or your Account.
Advertise: see exactly how your ad will look, on a computer and on a phone, before you pay. The preview changes as you type, and nothing is charged until you press Confirm and pay.
The jail and hospital pages now list every way out: wait it out, pay your way, let friends help, or the Gold Shop.

Improved

Moving between the city map, a neighbourhood and a room now zooms and fades smoothly. Turn on "Reduce motion" in your Account if you prefer it still.
The weather at the top of the page and in the newspaper now always agree.
A stronger check against bots when you sign up.
Player profiles are tidier: what other players see is now spread evenly over both columns.
The private doctor now patches you up rather than healing you fully: you leave hospital at once with at least 25% health. The hospital job's discharge works the same way.

Fixed

Losing a fight sent you straight to the hospital screen before you could see the fight. Now the whole fight plays out first, then the ward.
The weather line and the newspaper sometimes reported different weather on the same day.

Release notes · Version 0.9.26 · Oct 25, 2026

The Consigliere is never far

New

The Consigliere now waits in the bottom corner of every page: tap his portrait and the help desk opens right there, without leaving what you were doing.
The Idea box (Help menu): suggest an idea for the game. Once the team has looked at it, everyone can vote on it for 30 days, and you hear how it went. Ideas you give the Consigliere go straight in too.
At the help desk, press Enter to send, or use the microphone button to speak your question.
When you report a bug, you can attach a picture of the page you were on, so the team sees exactly what you saw.

Improved

Messages from the game itself now come from The Don.
On phones the help desk opens as a full-height panel and closes with one tap.

Fixed

Nothing broken this time.

Release notes · Version 0.9.25 · Oct 25, 2026

Ask the Consigliere

New

The Consigliere's help desk: ask how something works, get pointers for your next steps, suggest an idea or report a bug, in your own language. Find him from Help, the brass plaque on your desk or "Where to?".
Strategy guides in the wiki: your first week, making money, training, jobs and courses, crime without the cell, gangs, Respect and medals, and spending wisely.

Improved

No more "Easy there, hotshot" when you press a button once after a busy minute in the game.

Fixed

Nothing else broken this time.

Release notes · Version 0.9.24 · Oct 25, 2026

Easier to join

New

Signing up now asks only for the name you log in with. You choose the name everyone sees when you first log in, as you create your character.
You can found a gang from level 10 (it was level 25).

Improved

The portrait you pick now shows everywhere, including the front page.
Signing in from a new device is simpler: the code we email you also confirms your email address.
Banners from our network are smaller.
The level bar lines up with the other bars.

Fixed

Opening the confirmation email in a different browser could leave you stuck on "Check your inbox". It no longer does.

Release notes · Version 0.9.23 · Oct 24, 2026

Step inside

New

In the painted view you can now walk into six buildings: the gym, City Hall, the police station, the bank, your lodging and your workplace. Each room is painted from above, and you click what's in it: the heavy bag to train Strength, the teller window to bank, the wanted posters for bounties.
Your workplace shows your actual job: a precinct, a hospital ward, the casino floor, the docks or a newsroom.
The rooms follow the clock, from daylight to lamp-lit nights, and a button lets you pick the light yourself.
On phones, drag the room sideways and tap the gold pins.

Improved

Every email from the game has a new look, with codes in a clear box and a line saying why you got it.
Signing up, changing your name and uploading a picture are better protected against bots.
The leaderboards load faster.
Ad views only count when the ad is actually on your screen.

Fixed

Some sign-up confirmation emails were stuck and never arrived. They go out again.

Release notes · Version 0.9.22 · Oct 24, 2026

Vote for us

New

A new Vote for us page (Social menu, or the calendar on your desk): vote for Vesper City on gaming top sites and get a thank-you once the site confirms your vote. Top sites are being added soon.
Voter medals for 10, 50, 250 and 1,000 votes, and streak medals for voting 7 and 30 days in a row. They're for show only: no cash or Respect.
A Voted today ribbon on your profile, and a Regular Voter stamp each month you vote on 15 days or more, kept in the Voter's Register at the foot of your Medals page.

Improved

The Privacy page explains what we share with top sites when you vote: a random code, never your name.

Fixed

Nothing broken this time.