v1.8.0

The economy-and-people release — job volatility (the employment shock), a content-depth pass (nine new events), the closed economy loops (an unemployment bridge + benefits cliff, and child support as a recurring drain), and a tenth build: Hector, a justice-involved veteran.

Added

• A tenth build — Hector, a justice-involved veteran. The VA is his distinctive support — a
  benefits stipend and healthcare from day one, a leg up some builds never get — set against the
  wounds it can't fix: PTSD (the mental-health crisis + counseling), a service injury, and the
  self-medication that became a recovery arc. Two veteran-only paths: the VSO (a Veterans
  Service Org and the battle buddies in it — his earned support routine) and pushing a VA claim
  (the backlog grind — real back-pay if you keep at it, or another month of hold music). On
  probation through a veterans' treatment court. Supported and wounded, both at once.
• Closed the economy loops — unemployment and child support are ongoing now. The layoff's
  one-time cushion became a real few-week unemployment bridge: a weekly check while you're
  between jobs, then the benefits cliff ("the last check" — a card you absorb by leaning on
  people or tightening the belt). And for a reunifying parent, child support is now a recurring
  monthly drain rather than a single notice — the arrears notice's payment plan eases it to
  something sustainable, while ignoring it keeps the full bite and costs you standing at the
  custody hearing. (Engine: a weekly applyUnemployment flow + a monthly child-support drain.)
• Job volatility — a promotion or a layoff. Employed builds can now hit an employment
  shock: a supervisor offers a step up (a raise — more on every check, at the cost of hours
  and some time for the people in your corner), or the company downsizes and you're let go
  (last hired, first cut — the reentry reality). The layoff is recoverable: file for
  unemployment (gated on having a state ID — the document wall, again), work your network
  for leads, or take the hit. It's scheduled once per run but waits until you actually have a
  job, and never fires for a build that never lands work. (Engine: scheduled incidents now
  respect their conditions.)
• A content-depth pass — nine new events for replayability and texture. The random interrupt
  pool nearly doubled (each run now draws from six, not three): a predatory loan / fee-scam
  that looks like help and bites weeks later (it schedules its own reckoning), the
  background-check stigma as a door that closes mid-conversation, and a loved one's day
  you can't be two places for. The employment-shock pool gained a shorted paycheck (speak up
  and risk it, or eat it). Two new player actions reward what you've earned: gig work (a phone
  gets you deliveries; a car gets you better-paying rides) and a small, chosen joy (a meal, a
  haircut — morale you buy on purpose). Plus two dignity / relationship beats: registering to vote
  or a library card once you've got an ID ("on the rolls again"), and, for a reunifying parent,
  a back-child-support notice that's a debt and a pressure on the custody hearing's standing.

Full detail: CHANGELOG.md

v1.7.0

The review-driven release — the full playtest pass-3 arc: a misgendered-debrief fix, Dana's home-detention docs, custody/recovery legibility, mid-game second-stage gating, and a milestone-system rethink (supervision scoped + an earned support routine).

Changed

• Milestones now fit the build you're playing. The debrief scored every run against the
  same fixed seven — so "Parole in good standing" quietly auto-passed for a maxed-out,
  unsupervised build (Cal), and "Stayed in recovery support" was a permanent, impossible
  miss for anyone not in recovery (it was a chargen flag, never actually earned). Now
  milestones only count the paths a build can walk: "Supervision in good standing" applies
  only to supervised builds, and "Kept a support routine" replaces the recovery freebie —
  an earned milestone open to everyone, via recovery meetings for those in recovery and a
  new community / faith / mentorship circle ("Keep your people close") for everyone else.
  The debrief's "n of N" is honest per build now.

Fixed

• The second-stage arcs wait for the mid-game now. "Reach back," "The body keeps the
  score," and "Make the call you've been avoiding" gated on employment alone, so they opened
  the instant a job landed — even in week 1, cluttering the survival phase they were meant to
  follow. They now also require a few weeks in (turn >= 6). Court debt still bites the
  moment you're earning — that part's correct. Also verified with the budget-sim harness that
  the custody hearing's housing gate stays reachable: a housing-first Tasha clears transitional
  housing well before the fixed week-9 hearing.
• Tasha's custody arc and recovery are legible now. Her "Your situation" panel surfaces
  the custody hearing (week 9, with her live standing on the three gates — a roof, a clean
  record, $40) and her recovery, which her bio now names too — previously her whole reason
  for the run was invisible in play. Two display fixes ride along: event prompts render
  **bold** (the state-ID prompt was showing literal asterisks), and credential acronyms read
  right (CNA / GED / HVAC, not "Cna" / "Ged" / "Hvac").
• Debrief no longer misgenders female builds. The debrief intro hardcoded "…how he
  got there," which only surfaced on the women (Renae, Dana, Gloria, Tasha) since the
  original roster was all male. Pronouns are now authored per character and threaded into
  the debrief (defaulting to "they" for a random build). On a tool about dignity, this one
  mattered.
• Docs + copy accuracy pass. Corrected a stale event count (35 → 55) in the spec and
  build-log docs; fixed a debrief section whose aria-label ("How it landed here") didn't
  match its visible heading ("Why it landed here"); and tightened in-game wording — errands
  cost "days" not "time", a clearer "Interruptions this week" heading, the zero-cost chip
  reads "Free", and a richer page <title> and social-preview description.

Full detail: CHANGELOG.md

v1.6.0

A meaty release — court-debt depth, the Theo playtest fixes, the full contributor pipeline, and a secure-facility build mode.

Added

• A path to contribute. A "view source" link on the About page, and four structured
  issue forms — bug report, feature request, archetype request (a new character), and
  event request (a new situation). They capture what's actually needed to author a
  contribution (the story and barriers for a build; the situation, tradeoffs, and lived-
  experience "why" for an event) and auto-apply the right labels. Because content is data
  (YAML), the archetype/event forms map almost one-to-one onto a real change. (The repo's
  labels, milestones, and project board were set up earlier; an AI triage Action now
  posts a Claude first-read on each new issue for maintainer review, once an ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
  secret is configured.)
• Import a run by file upload. A full exported run is large, and pasting it into the
  import box — especially on a phone — can silently get truncated ("that doesn't look like a
  Day One run"). The import screen now has an Upload .json file option that reads the
  exported file directly, sidestepping the paste; the paste error also points you to it.
• Secure-facility build mode. VITE_SECURE_BUILD=1 npm run build produces a separate
  artifact for deployments inside secure facilities — where residents can't dial a number or
  open a link. It strips every outside-world surface: the "Where to get help" resource
  directory (the data is omitted from the bundle entirely, not just hidden) and the About
  page's GitHub link. Everything else — the full simulation, both modes, install/offline — is
  identical. See docs/DEPLOYMENT.md.

Fixed

• "Work the phone" adapts to whether you have a job. Once you'd landed work, the action
  still offered job-search calls — the wrong loop. Now it gates by job state: chase job
  leads when you're hunting, keep the job running (shifts, logistics, HR) once you're
  employed — and staying connected either way.

Changed

• Court debt now bites if you ignore it — and escalates. "The court wants its money" had
  no teeth; you could skip it all game with no blowback, which isn't how legal financial
  obligations work. Now everyone carries court debt, and once you're earning, ignoring it
  garnishes your paycheck every week (visible each check, not a quiet monthly nibble) —
  and if you let it ride for about a month, it escalates to a bench warrant (a real
  crisis: turn yourself in and take the standing hit, or keep running and risk a weekend in
  county). Engaging — a payment plan, a real payment, or community-service conversion — puts
  you in compliance, stopping all of it. Court debt is also distinct from supervision
  fees: getting off probation early ends the fees but not the fines and restitution, and
  the early-termination text now says so.

Full detail: CHANGELOG.md

v1.5.0

The data-driven release. A headless simulation harness turned balance from guesswork into measurement — and it shaped the rest: a 7-day week with a transport tax you can finally escape, a reentry fee-waiver that breaks the document poverty trap which left the poorest builds frozen all 90 days, the technology arc finished, and a whole second stage of reentry so stabilizing early isn't the end of the story.

Added

• A second stage of reentry — six new late-game arcs so builds that stabilize early aren't left idling: court debt (the legal financial obligations collection ramps up on once you're earning), deferred health (finally tending the body — it moves the health pool, which used to sit frozen all run), giving back (mentoring someone on their day one), sealing your record (a hard-won milestone with a pro-bono path), early termination of supervision (getting off paper), and mending family ties.
• A reentry program waives document fees — the ID chain's fees were a poverty trap (no money → no ID → no job → no money for the ID). A fee-waived program is the safety net: same sequence, no money gate, but slower. It flips the resource-poor builds from permanently unemployed to working within the run.
• The technology arc, finished — the phone pays off (a phone-only "Work the phone" action for remote legwork; Phase 2), and a laptop gates the remote dev role (the catch-22, with a refurb-program path out; Phase 3).

Changed

• The week is 7 days, and a bus pass finally matters — data-driven day-budget tuning. The base week is now 7 (the extra day lands on the constrained builds); and reliable transit (a car or a bus pass) now removes the errand tax, where the old fractional middle tier did nothing.
• The transport squeeze is attributable — the turn header and travel cards now show why a week is tight and what would loosen it.

54 events, 9 character builds, 134 tests. Live on production via DigitalOcean.

v1.4.0

A reentry-realism release shaped by returning-citizen and reviewer feedback: getting a job now pays a weekly wage, home detention becomes its own supervision status (with its own weekly fee and check-in), a phone is a resource whose monthly plan is a recurring burden, and more of the unexpected — collisions, windfalls, and old contacts — now interrupts the plan. Plus the driver's-license-vs-car split and a batch of situation-panel and content-fit fixes.

Added

• A phone is a resource (Phase 1) — some come home with one (and a monthly plan bill they struggle to keep up), some without (the first barrier). Can't cover the plan and the phone gets shut off. A new "Get a phone" action offers a cheap prepaid or the real federal Lifeline / ACP subsidized program (no monthly bill). No hard gating yet.
• More interrupts — a second random beat per run: a collision (two things you need the same week, one choice), a windfall (real money on a deadline), or an old contact (easy money that schedules its own reckoning).
• Home detention — a first-class supervision status with its own check-in and violation, a weekly monitoring fee, and a restricted week. Dana reads as "on home detention" everywhere.
• Surprise home visit — an unannounced compliance check for any build on paper.
• A car is its own step — a reinstated license is permission to drive; a car (`has_car`) is what actually opens the week up.

Fixed

• A job now pays a weekly wage (landing one used to leave you poorer).
• The job chain fits the character (no more dev jobs for non-dev builds).
• About count (nine, not "six") and the "Papers & assets" panel (held vs. in the mail).

45 events, 121 tests. Live on production via DigitalOcean.

Day One v1.3.0

The biggest content release yet.

Added

• Three new builds (nine total): Jaylen (young first-timer), Gloria ("has it all" contrast), and Tasha — a reunifying parent with a custody arc: weekly supervised visits and a mid-game hearing whose "make your case" stays locked until you've built the stability family court demands.
• Random life events — one unexpected loss or blessing per run, the way reentry actually goes.

Changed

• Character select, redesigned — circle avatars (a mix of genders and skin tones), unique at-a-glance tags, and compact cards that expand on tap to a per-build Play.

Fixed

• Housing & transport ladders — you only ever move up, and you're never re-offered a rung (or wheels) you already have.
• The event drawer's grab-handle closes it.
• Locked choices are announced to screen readers — the catch-22 lands non-visually.
• A clearer document chain — the state-ID step reads as needing a birth certificate first, and goes quiet while it's in the mail.

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🌅 Play it: https://dayone-sim.app
📋 Full changelog: https://github.com/brett-buskirk/day-one/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md

Day One v1.2.2

Housing now climbs a ladder.

A gameplay fix from a playtest: once you reached transitional housing, the game kept offering it and let you re-pick it as if you weren't already there.

Fixed

• Housing states now have a rank (none → shelter → couch → transitional → rental → stable), kept in sync with the track — so each housing rung only appears when it's an actual upgrade and retires once you've climbed past it.
• The "look for your own place" event split into a transitional rung and an own-place / rental rung, each gated on the ladder. You can still go transitional → rental, but nothing stale is ever re-offered. Old saves migrate cleanly.

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🌅 Play it: https://dayone-sim.app
📋 Full changelog: https://github.com/brett-buskirk/day-one/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md

Day One v1.2.1

UX & accessibility polish — from a careful playtest review, each item validated against the code.

Changed

• Outcome screens no longer repeat the full event prompt, so the result and Continue sit higher on small screens.
• Character-select cards humanize the housing line ("with family/a friend" instead of the raw couch), so it no longer contradicts a build's story.

Added

• Card accessibility — action, obligation, and "interrupt" cards carry explicit screen-reader labels (title + tags + day cost).
• Day-budget clarity — the turn header labels the day dots ("Days left this week") and explains a short week (e.g. "1 day a week already goes to mandated treatment").

Fixed

• Debrief "footing" no longer reads "holding steady" on a slight decline — the wording tracks the change, and notes footing is the average of the five pools.

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🌅 Play it: https://dayone-sim.app
📋 Full changelog: https://github.com/brett-buskirk/day-one/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md

Day One v1.2.0

A sixth life, deeper content, and clearer feedback.

Added

• Cal — an unsupervised "max-out" build. Served his full sentence, so no parole or probation: no check-ins, fees, or slot tax (a full, untaxed week) — but isolated, in a shelter, with nothing and no one pointing the way. The teaching beat: "no supervision" means "no scaffolding," not "easier."
• Transportation & housing content (now 28 events) — restore a suspended license, get a community/used bike, and recovery / sober-living housing. Transportation went from one event to three.
• "Your situation" panel — a 👤 button in the turn header opens a live read of where the character stands: housing, work, supervision (with parole/probation standing), ties, how they get around, and the papers/assets they're carrying. The shareable run code moved here.

Changed

• Pool bars show what moved — on Continue, the screen scrolls to the bars and each changed pool pulses and shows its delta (+10 / −6), so the change is never missed. Reduced-motion-aware.

Fixed

• You can skip a parole/probation check-in again — its "reschedule" branch had been turning it into a forced card; it's a normal, skippable obligation now (forget it → technical violation, as designed).

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🌅 Play it: https://dayone-sim.app
📋 Full changelog: https://github.com/brett-buskirk/day-one/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md

Built by a returning citizen, for returning citizens.

Day One v1.1.0

Reentry resources, where people can actually reach them.

The headline of this release: real, verified help is now woven through the app — not buried at the end of a run.

Added

• Reentry resource directory — a verified national baseline of free resources (National Reentry Resource Center, 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, SAMHSA, 211, CareerOneStop, Benefits.gov, HRSA, LawHelp), authored as data in content/resources.yaml, with a documented hook for sites to add their own local listings.
• Always-available "Where to get help" screen — reachable from the landing page, the in-game info (ⓘ) card, and About, so help never requires finishing — or even starting — a run.
• In-app update prompt — a new deploy now shows a "new version — Refresh" banner applied on tap, instead of silently reloading an open tab mid-run.

Fixed

• Long resource links (e.g. CareerOneStop) no longer overflow the contact line on mobile.

Changed

• The debrief's resources section is retitled "Where to get help."
• Post-1.0.0 hardening: a documentation-accuracy pass, quieter Dependabot (majors ignored, minor/patch monthly), and CI runner bumps.

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🌅 Play it: https://dayone-sim.app
📋 Full changelog: https://github.com/brett-buskirk/day-one/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md

Built by a returning citizen, for returning citizens.