Prospect Hollow beta 1.2 is here: next stop, the Moon

Prospect Hollow 1.2.0-beta is live. The big update from the recent previews has reached the main game, bringing four more eras, a second settlement on the Moon and 144 new mine puzzles. Existing towns can continue into the new content.

There is quite a bit here for anyone returning to a long-running town, but the first hour has had attention too. You can follow Ada through a friendlier start, build something worth coming back to, and eventually look up from the old mine to see where the town is going next.

From floating orchards to a new frontier

The journey beyond Riverlight now passes through Skysail, Stargazer, Moonward and Twin Hollows. Skysail lifts gardens above the streets and stretches sailcloth over the rooftops. A sky harbour, cloud orchard and Windsong lofts bring the new Skyward quarter to life beyond the railway, with the Willowkin still tending the greenery.

Stargazer follows with deep blue walls, copper trim and observatory domes. The Great Telescope gives the town a reason to look further than the valley. By Moonward, a space elevator rises beside the mine, carrying supplies towards lunar homesteads. The buildings still have porches and familiar frontier shapes underneath their new materials; you can recognise the place you have been growing all this time.

Twin Hollows takes that promise all the way to New Hollow. Open the Moon map and you have another settlement to build: settler domes, a crater ice well, an Earthlight greenhouse, a rover barn and a garden dome for the Willowkin. Suited Willowkin neighbours join the lunar paths, while Earth hangs above the hills. Visitors to your shared town can look around your Moon settlement too.

Building there follows the rhythm you already know. Projects rise through scaffolding as you complete puzzles, and builder hammers can finish them. The valley and Moon share their coin wallet and food and water needs, so the town below keeps helping the one above. The optional Saucer Pad brings another little arrival to watch: a shuttle approaches, lands, stays for a visit and lifts off again.

Moonstones have somewhere to go

One of the biggest changes since the earlier preview is that Moonstones are now a saved resource you can collect and use. Finishing a Moon building level earns one, and the Moonstone workshop produces more as you complete puzzles. Its upgrades increase both production and storage, so you can let a few batches gather before collecting them.

You can sell stones for 250 coins each, or save them for Moonstone Garden in the valley and Moonrock Court on the Moon. Earthrise Plaza offers another lunar monument site paid for with coins. These are optional projects: you can enjoy choosing and developing a landmark without needing it to finish an era.

These monument sites offer five stages, from their foundation to a town wonder. Completed puzzles advance the work, and a finished stage gets its own unveiling, with music and neighbours gathering around. You can skip or replay the ceremony, and it respects reduced motion. Take a moment with the design preview before committing, though: the monument you choose for a site is a permanent choice.

The mine reaches level 546

The floating seam adds 24 chapters and 144 puzzles, levels 403–546. Peridot and starmetal join the gems, and the new caverns ask you to think about much more than clearing a path downwards. Floatstones travel against gravity towards their hatches. Mirrors bend beams into starglass, portals carry falling gems between parts of a board, and cracked walls hide chambers you have to break open.

Further in, moon locks and dials can turn gravity over. A route that looked obvious a moment ago may need another look once everything starts falling upwards. Some caverns split the board between two directions of gravity at once. The clips here are actual gameplay captures from the repository, so you can see how those ideas move on the board.

You still have unlimited moves and no hard puzzle timer, with a free reshuffle if there is no legal match. There is room to study a board, try something and keep going. Once the Moonstone workshop is built, continuous play can contribute to its production within each level’s allowance. Gems, fusions and cleared mine elements from continuous play also count towards the relevant Town Honours.

More to make the town yours

New honours recognise New Hollow, the Saucer Pad, Moonstones earned and the monuments you have invested in. Earned honours remain permanent. Between those goals, the town crest, the mine plaque and your chosen landmarks, there is more of your own journey to show someone who visits.

The smaller details have had a pass as well: villagers use their doors, building bases have a faint glow, and the Moon map now behaves much more like the valley when you tap, drag or finish a project. Its letters live in the Story tab and its lots in Build. And yes, keep an eye on the animals; the wandering space helmet still gives you a reason to zoom in.

A better welcome, and work on the pauses

If you are starting fresh, Ada now points out the next steps from your first well to your first finished saloon. Frontier buildings finish at level 3, and each of the two starter projects gives you a builder hammer. The aim is to get you through those first building decisions with less uncertainty and let you see your town take shape sooner.

There has also been work on the pauses around construction, returning from the mine and saving your town. Construction is considerably less disruptive in the release checks, although there is still more to do on phone performance, particularly when a growing town changes layout. High contrast is now remembered on your device, and the Mayor’s Office brings account data viewing, export, correction and deletion into the game.

Whether you are still putting down Frontier buildings or already waiting beyond Riverlight, there is a lot of road ahead. Open Prospect Hollow and continue your town, then see how far you can take it. The full release notes are on GitHub if you want every detail.