Honker has officially entered its Early Access era, with v0.26.0 serving as the starting foundation for the game’s public development path. Since then, the game has moved quickly through several major updates, reaching v0.30.0 with new maps, stronger progression systems, boss fights, combat adjustments, and the beginning of the Underworld beta.
At its core, Honker is a browser-based action game focused on repeatable runs. Players fight through waves, build their character through upgrades, chase higher scores, unlock progression rewards, and test different playstyles. The Early Access version is designed to act as a growing foundation, where new systems can be tested, expanded, balanced, and refined over time.
What Honker Is
Honker is built around fast, repeatable gameplay. Each run gives players a chance to improve their score, experiment with different characters, choose upgrades, survive longer, and push toward harder waves. Instead of being a one-time experience, Honker is designed around replayability and progression.
Over time, the game has added systems such as achievements, character masteries, alternate ultimates, upgrade paths, score rewards, map selection, bosses, and increasingly detailed balance changes. These systems help turn Honker into a larger browser game where each update adds more structure to the player’s long-term goals.
Early Access Foundation: v0.26.x
The v0.26.x line represents Honker’s Early Access base. This era focused on establishing the systems that would later support larger patches: masteries, achievements, fire modes, elite tuning, and combat resistance changes.
v0.26.x Early Access Foundation
- Masteries added and adjusted as part of the long-term character progression system.
- Achievements added as milestone goals for players to chase across runs.
- Fire modes introduced and tuned to support different combat behavior.
- Elite enemy tuning adjusted to improve combat balance.
- Combat resistance patches added to improve consistency and survivability.
Major Systems Added After Early Access
After v0.26.0, Honker’s updates began expanding the game in larger directions. v0.27.0 introduced selectable maps and a final boss for Original, while v0.28.0 added The King as a major two-phase final boss. The v0.29.0 update then introduced the Underworld beta, giving Honker its first major alternate map experience. Later the v0.30.0 update brought the new Diamond Shop and introduced new meta-progression upgrades alongside the new Daily Boss.
v0.30.0 Latest Balance and UI Update
- Diamonds and Diamond Shop.
- Daily Bosses.
- Updated in-game Settings Menu.
v0.29.3 Underworld Balances and Fixes
- Retuned Underworld damage.
- Reverted player-relative pointer-lock aim to prior v0.29.1 patch.
- Fixed achievements and related gates.
v0.29.2 Underworld Cursor and Balancing
- Retuned Underworld damage and boss ability pacing.
- Fixed player-relative pointer-lock aim.
- Cleaned up the pause settings layout.
- Added secondary weapon and secondary ultimate labels to pause run stats.
v0.29.1 Underworld Camera and Aim Fixes
- Fixed Underworld pause menus while the camera follows the player.
- Improved pointer-lock aiming.
- Expanded enemy movement bounds for the larger Underworld arena.
v0.29.0 Underworld Beta
- Underworld beta is now selectable.
- Added a larger arena, demonic enemy roster, Underworld bosses, music, and backgrounds.
- Added a wave 40 beta ending for Underworld.
- Added R/right-click secondary weapon controls.
- Added V secondary ultimate controls.
- Added separate Original and Underworld leaderboard filtering.
- Pathways now appear every 4 waves in Underworld.
- Free shops arrive on waves 20 and 40.
- Upgrade screens now allow 3 escalating rerolls.
v0.28.12 Healing, Scaling, and King Timing
- Patched Priest healing behavior.
- Adjusted knockback immunity and lifesteal behavior.
- Patched enemy ability scaling.
- Adjusted King timing.
- Patched admin stat cheat behavior.
v0.28.11 Enemy Stat Screen Improvements
- Enemy stat screens now show boss ability cooldowns.
- Enemy stat screens now show elite ability cooldowns.
v0.28.10 Boss, Enemy, and Diamond Fixes
- Patched boss mobility.
- Adjusted projectile knockback.
- Updated enemy range scaling.
- Improved elite Priest conversion behavior.
- Patched explosion damage and diamonds.
v0.28.9 Damage Progression Return
- Damage upgrade progression returned to 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%.
v0.28.8 Damage and Lifesteal Update
- Damage upgrade progression fixed.
- Shared Main, Dash, and Honk damage boost confirmed.
- Lifesteal upgrades added.
v0.28.7 Damage Buckets and Priest Speed
- Removed physical and projectile damage buckets.
- Retuned Sword Pull.
- Sped up Priest attack mode.
v0.28.6 Knockback Immunity and King Room
- Fixed damage upgrade double-dipping.
- Added universal knockback immunity.
- Placed King room pillars.
v0.28.5 Flaming, Explosion, and King Cheat Patch
- Adjusted Flaming stack cap.
- Adjusted explosion damage.
- Adjusted Super Warrior pull strength.
- Adjusted admin King fight cheat.
v0.28.4 Enemy Speed and Fundamentals Patch
- Patched Super Warrior pull and dash behavior.
- Adjusted enemy speed caps.
- Adjusted Soldier and Tank health.
- Adjusted post-shop rarity odds.
- Patched admin fundamentals cheats.
v0.28.3 Enemy Stats and King Health Tuning
- Added enemy live stat displays.
- Tuned Tank and King health.
- Added longer stun immunity.
- Adjusted hostile region ownership.
- Retuned enemy damage and speed.
v0.28.2 Economy and Scaling Retune
- Retuned rarity odds.
- Retuned enemy health and wave scaling.
- Adjusted upgrade drops.
- Retuned pathway odds.
v0.28.1 Economy and Pause Stat Balance
- Patched economy and rarity behavior.
- Adjusted time trial systems.
- Updated ultimate item slot behavior.
- Adjusted enemy scaling.
- Balanced pause stat displays.
v0.28.0 The King Final Boss
- Added The King final boss.
- Added two boss phases.
- Added throne room transformation.
- Added demonic attacks and phase-two rage.
- High graphics now draws themed arena backgrounds, obstacle detail, King sprites, and mastery previews.
v0.27.4 Fullscreen, News, and Upgrade Fixes
- Fixed fullscreen scaling.
- Fixed news scrolling.
- Fixed upgrade duplicate filtering.
- Fixed Supply Drop shop naming.
- Increased Flaming base damage.
- Crit now starts at 10%.
- Main weapon cooldown and knockback upgrades now also boost dash and honk.
v0.27.3 Controls, Crits, Damage Numbers, and Masteries
- Added sensitivity controls.
- Added fullscreen controls.
- Added crit stats, honk naming, and damage numbers.
- Consolidated upgrades into broader dash, honk, damage, and region upgrade cards.
- Mastery rewards now unlock skins and attack skins at levels 1, 3, and 5.
- Alternate ultimates now unlock at mastery level 6.
v0.27.2 Branches, Masteries, and Character Retunes
- Retuned branch score rewards.
- Retuned time trials.
- Retuned mastery costs and character unlocks.
- Upgrade choices now hide fundamentals and element boosts that would add nothing.
- Improved Hunter alternate ultimate.
- Improved Pony charge.
- Improved Bonemerang hitbox.
v0.27.0 Maps, Final Boss, and Overtime
- Added map selection.
- Original is selectable.
- Underworld appears as a locked future map.
- Original now has a wave 30 final boss.
- Added OVERTIME after victory.
- Added Original final boss and Original overtime achievements.
What Comes Next
Honker’s Early Access path is already expanding from its v0.26.0 foundation into a broader game with multiple maps, boss encounters, character progression, leaderboards, and deeper combat systems. The Underworld beta is the biggest sign of that direction, adding a larger arena, new enemy theming, new controls, and a separate progression space for future testing.
Future updates are expected to keep building on this foundation through more balancing, new content, additional progression systems, more polish, and continued improvements to how each run feels.