Reverse: 1999 Went From 'Cozy Idle Game' to 'Digital Prison': Auto-Battle Added, Then Grind Doubled — Roguelike Leaks Show 120 Battles With No Auto, Players Say They're Out

"Understand the grind, become the grind, surpass the grind" — Reverse: 1999 players never expected that the auto-battle feature they cheered for would become the opening act for an ever-expanding roster of AFK prison sessions.

The original post breaks down the game's current "jail sentence" content in detail. First up: the "Third Door" mode — a maze exploration shoehorned into a card game where you still have to fight mobs along the way. For most players, it's actively anti-fun, and the reviews are brutal. Players are forced to watch walkthrough guides, but even those clock in at an hour minimum. "You can practically hear the guide creator exhale in relief at the end." It's now on its second iteration with slightly lower difficulty, but guides are still 1 hour+.

Then there are the "Anecdotes" (character side stories) — two per patch. After watching the story, fully clearing rewards requires AFK-farming 10 rounds of a 7-wave combat stage, each taking at least 7 minutes. Interestingly, one commenter in the thread had a moment of realization mid-discussion: "Wait, you can auto-battle anecdotes? I've been doing them manually this whole time!" Someone pointed out the circular auto-battle button in the top-right corner, and the player was floored: "Holy shit, it really does have auto!" Another player quickly dampened the excitement: "Sure, but watch out — the auto AI is pretty garbage."

The "Mane Bulletin" (a high-difficulty endgame mode) requires specific team comps across 30 rounds, taking 30+ minutes per run. To max out points, you need about 7 auto-clears per stage, totaling roughly 21 AFK rounds across the patch's three stages. But what really set the community on fire was the change this patch: the devs removed the "double points" option from the settlement screen. Presumably, since the shop was revamped and the devs felt rewards were too easy to get, they axed the doubling — meaning players now need twice the AFK time.

The current event also added a new daily grind stage for cumulative points. Because the boss has mechanics that can randomly one-shot your team during auto-battle, you might not max your score per run. Each round takes 5+ minutes and requires grinding for about 10 days straight.

But the real bombshell came from dataminers: the upcoming roguelike mode has leaked at 120 battles per run, 1+ hours each, and — crucially — no auto-battle. The comment section erupted. One player declared "This game should just die," while another responded with pure shock: "Wait, how many battles did you say?!"

The OP's closing words capture the mood perfectly: "During the PV I was thinking about buying a couple skins and some packs. Now all I'm thinking about is how I don't want to spend the holidays in prison — time to get out."

It's worth noting some players pushed back. A few thought the new Third Door iteration was actually "well-received" and more fun than before. Others pointed out that Arknights has been memed for its "watching movies" (auto-clear AFK gameplay) for four years, so singling out Reverse: 1999 feels unfair. But overall, from the Version 1.6 story bombing to the ever-growing list of AFK chores to the roguelike's leaked 120-battle marathon, community frustration is clearly building.

As the post title so eloquently puts it: understand the grind, become the grind, surpass the grind. Players who once laughed at other games for their tedious farming are now discovering that their own phone "needs a life of its own" too.