Hey Highrise

We’re about to make the biggest update to the Bubbles economy in a while, and we want to explain what’s changing, why we’re doing it now, and where Bubbles are headed, before it goes live.

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We’re tuning the Bubbles economy because over time, Bubble earnings and Bubble prices have drifted apart. A task pays out an amount that barely registers against the price of anything worth buying, so earning stopped feeling meaningful, balances sit idle, and playing doesn’t feel like progress.

This isn’t a snap decision. We’ve been watching this drift for well over a year and tried smaller adjustments along the way, like boosting event rewards, but tuning at the margins didn’t fix the root cause. The gap between what you earn and what things cost only kept widening, and the longer we waited, the bigger the correction would eventually need to be. So we’re doing the structural fix now.

The other reason is where Highrise is going. Our long-term plan is for Bubbles to be the currency of play: you earn them by doing things in the game (tasks, achievements, events, and eventually Worlds gameplay) and spend them on the stuff you love. For that loop to work, a single play session has to earn you something that actually matters. This update is the foundation for everything we want to build on top of it.

The short version is that Bubble prices on items are increasing ~5x. At the same time, how much you earn from Tasks, Achievements, and Events is also increasing ~5x. The goal is for everyday play to fund your Bubble spending rather than balances sitting idle.

What’s actually changing:

• Tasks & Achievements — Completing your tasks becomes a primary source of Bubbles, with meaningfully bigger payouts.

• Events — Event tasks will also pay out more Bubbles. Participation rewards stay the same for now.

• Worlds — Coming later, we’ll have Worlds that pay out Bubbles through gameplay. This isn’t live at launch, but it’s where we’re headed, and this rebalance is what makes it possible.

• Prices — Items that cost Bubbles will go up roughly 5x (e.g. something that cost 250 will cost ~1,250). Furniture prices are staying the same.

If you’ve been saving up, your balance doesn’t disappear, but it will stretch less far at the new prices. We know that part stings, and it’s the tradeoff we weighed hardest.

We’ll be tracking earn rates and spending closely, and we’ll keep tuning until the loop feels right. We’re committed to this being a net positive for active players.

Please drop into this Discord thread if you would like to discuss with the community and leave us any feedback