A new season is rolling into Highrise with that fresh-start glow of a new romance: rosy cheeks, cozy fits, and new ways to connect and share the love.
Heartfelt Havoc brings a bunch of quality-of-life improvements, but it also marks a bigger shift in how we’ll package new drops going forward: more cohesive, more seasonal, and easier to jump into!
In this Dev Diary, we’ll cover what’s new in Heartfelt Havoc, including a few deeper mechanics we previewed last week, and we’ll share more about what Seasons will look like in the bright future ahead. 
Here’s what’s up!
Meet new features this season!
A better Season Pass phone
The phone icon now appears across all major screens (Feed, Inbox, Shop, Profile, Travel, Worlds, and more), so the Season Pass is always one tap away.
When you tap it, the phone opens as a full-width bottom drawer with larger, easier-to-hit “apps,” plus a built-in Season Pass XP bar so your progress is always visible.
Free Season XP (for y’all with chill playstyles)
Sometimes you’ll see a Season XP notification at the top of your screen. Tap it to claim free XP, no traveling required!
This way, if you’re already socializing (chatting, visiting rooms, hanging out), you can still make meaningful Season progress without needing to grind mini-games.
Introducing: Recycling
Recycling replaces Discarding for NEW closet items (note: pets, furniture, and emotes aren’t recyclable). Instead of getting a flat 20 Bubbles, you’ll Recycle unwanted duplicates into Threads (and sometimes Bubbles), with returns based on item rarity.
Recycling is only available for NEW items! Any items released prior to this update will yield Bubbles when you discard them instead of Threads.
Threads are spent in a new shop: the Thread Exchange, a functional replacement for the Swap Shop, built to make curating your collection smoother and more rewarding.
How Recycling Works
In your Inventory, you’ll find Recycling Mode, where you can:
-
Select items quickly with tools like Select all non-favorites and Select all duplicates
-
Preview a summary (count, rarity breakdown, and total Threads/Bubbles)
-
Tap-and-hold Recycle to confirm
You’ll also see your Threads wallet at the top right, plus a quick link to the Thread Exchange.
Goodbye, Swap Shop
Swapping, as you know it, is leaving and getting replaced by the Threads system! Adios, Swap Tokens.
-
The Swap Shop closes February 14th at 12 PM EST
-
For a final run, we’re bringing back popular Swap Shop items from past drops so you can finish your collections
-
Have leftover Swap Tokens? You can trade them in for 10 Bubbles per token, or bonus Threads!
After Feb 14, there won’t be anywhere to spend Swap Tokens, so please use them before then!
Swap Shop:
https://high.rs/shop?type=ic&id=65f07aa6535da4341f14f6db
Signature Items
Some items aren’t just rare… they’re iconic. Signature Items are a new item property designed to spotlight ultra-valuable collectibles and celebrate their creators.
Signature items are creator-signed, and their UI presentation is cleaner and more collector-worthy:
-
The usual rarity star display is replaced with the Signature mark
-
You won’t see the typical account-bound icon cluttering the preview/UI, even when the item is effectively meant to be a keep-forever account-bound look
If something is meant to feel special, it should look special in your closet, not only when you wear it.
Plus: Free Daily Spin
Starting out in Highrise, especially as a free player, can feel like an uphill climb. So Season 3 kicks off with a new, friendly way to build your Closet:
For the first two weeks of the Season, log in daily and head to the Shop, where you’ll see three Blind Boxes (each representing one of our most recent Event grabs). Pick one and claim a random account-bound reward from that grab.
EDIT: Boost is not supported in event-related items. We apologize for the confusion!
Free Spins will be available starting on January 22nd.
Future Seasons in Highrise
Sometimes the Highrise experience can feel a bit disjointed. From the outside, it can look like we’re building features on the fly (we are) in response to community wants and needs (which matters!).
But when updates arrive in scattered bursts, it can be harder to feel the through-line: new systems here, new cosmetics there, an event over there, without everything snapping into a larger, satisfying “whole.” That’s exactly what we want Seasons to solve. 
Instead of tossing spaghetti at the wall, we want to build each month like a shared table: one theme, one mood, one set of improvements that complement each other. Heartfelt Havoc is our first big step in that direction. It mixes seasonal romance with meaningful changes to how you manage cosmetics, deal with duplicates, and recognize truly coveted items (and yes, we absolutely had to lean into Valentine season for all the love-sharing vibes!).
Going forward, a Season will typically include:
-
Seasonal refreshes about once a month
-
New Flutter Park updates
-
Themed drops in the Thread Exchange and on the web Loyalty Shop
-
Features that fit the theme while solving a real pain point or long-requested change
-
Cohesive events that actually tie into the Season
And yes, you read that right: Events 
Seasons will be a real thing! We’re working toward better alignment between weekly events and Seasons this year, so when you show up for a weekly competition, you’re making more universal progress across the board (whether that’s through event participation, Season Pass quests, or both).
That’s Heartfelt Havoc: more love, less clutter, and a Season built to feel cohesive from quests to quality-of-life upgrades. Hope you have as much fun exploring Season 3 as we had building it! 