Soulmask kicked off its first festival event on October 22, 2026, with the Bone Bash update, a Día de Muertos celebration split across three parts: a free storyline for every player, a paid cosmetic DLC priced at $7.99, and limited-time festival servers. The same patch, Soulmask 1.0 Patch #21, also delivers a controller overhaul, a rebuilt tutorial, and a string of quality-of-life changes. Here's exactly what you're getting and what actually matters.
What's in Bone Bash at a glance
| Component | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Festival storyline | Free | Skeleton look, Marigold Altar quest, permanent skeleton unlock |
| Día de Muertos furniture (leesiontoo) | Free | Community-made decorations, not tied to paid DLC |
| Carnival of Bones skins | Free | New outfits for existing characters |
| Controller overhaul + new tutorial | Free | Radial menu, rebuilt beginner tutorial |
| Bone Bash DLC | $7.99 | Carved Stone set, Marigold Set, Tribesman skins, Joyous Return mask, Deathbringer mount |
| Bone Bash Festival Servers | Free to join | 5x PvE, peaceful mode, wiped after 30 days |
What's free in the Bone Bash update?
How do you get your body back after the skeleton transformation?
The short answer: visit the Marigold Altar in a starter-area Barbarian camp.
When you log in after Patch #21, your Chieftain appears as a walking skeleton. That's intentional. Awareness X points you toward a Barbarian camp in the rainforest (or the River Delta on the Shifting Sands map) where CampFire has built out a full Land of the Dead: marigolds everywhere, towering painted skulls, and skeletal Barbarians still going about their work. Paying your respects at the Marigold Altar inside restores your original appearance.
The shortcut, per CampFire's own devlog: just die once properly and the same thing happens. Either way, completing the ritual also permanently unlocks the skeleton look, so you can keep it on your Chieftain and dress your whole tribe to match.
Free Día de Muertos furniture
Community modder leesiontoo collaborated with CampFire on a set of Día de Muertos furniture pieces. At leesiontoo's request, the entire set ships as a free base-game addition, completely separate from the paid DLC. You don't need to spend anything to place these decorations in your base.
Patch #21 quality-of-life changes
Beyond the festival content, every player gets a meaningful list of improvements with this patch:
- You can now choose which Talents and Specializations a Tribesman learns at the Training Grounds.
- Building Mode gains a search function and better category organization.
- Elite enemies and bosses in beginner-area camps receive special Day of the Dead skills, and those camps get Marigold decorations and altars added.
- New characters can see map markers for wild alpacas in the Rainforest.
- Mine components now craft at the Workshop, with improved Wood and Stone proficiency.
- Better torch and oil lamp lighting, an improved Red Crystal embedding system, and fixes for paintings behaving oddly and Water Vapor Collectors failing in some areas.
- New Carnival of Bones skins and outfits for free.
What's in the paid Bone Bash DLC?
The $7.99 DLC is cosmetic across the board. CampFire is explicit: no stat or combat advantages come with any of it. Here's what you actually get.
Carved Stone building set
The headline addition is Carved Stone, an Aztec-inspired building material with 56 building pieces. The pitch from CampFire is straightforward: if you've wanted to build a proper stepped pyramid in your territory, this is the set that makes it possible. Both the Carved Stone and Marigold sets unlock through the Tech Tree.
Carved Stone pyramid construction
Marigold Set decorations
The Marigold Set adds 43 Día de Muertos decorations. Named pieces include:
- The Marigold Altar, which summons ancestors to dance after revival
- Marigold flower beds that spread across your base
- Party war drums that trigger Tribesman celebrations
Skins and mount
The DLC includes 4 Tribesman skins (Catrina, Longevity and Blessings, Chieftain's Secret, and one more), 2 character accessories (Catrina's Wide-Brimmed Hat and an Orange Flower Crown), and the Deathbringer mount skin for your Black Panther. Each Tribesman type gets a distinct headpiece so you can still tell roles apart when your whole tribe is skeletons. You unlock everything at the Mask Decoration Table.
Joyous Return mask (Homecoming Revelry)
The Joyous Return mask (shown before launch as Homecoming Revelry) is the DLC's Mask appearance. It unlocks automatically when you activate the Mysterious Stone Platform and craft its Constraint Module with Green Crystal.
This is a purely recreational Mask. Its passive pulls nearby players into the celebration, and occasionally a new Tribesman wanders over to join your tribe, though CampFire is upfront that none of them are high-quality recruits. Its Mimicry Mode opens a flower portal that teleports Tribesmen scattered in the wild back to your base.
No combat bonuses. No stat advantages. It's purely for atmosphere and mild convenience.
Joyous Return Mimicry Mode portal
What are the Bone Bash Festival Servers?
CampFire opened a batch of official Bone Bash Festival Servers alongside the update. These are purpose-built for the event and run with boosted settings:
- 5x XP, gathering, and crop yield
- 3x Barbarian taming speed and animal and crop growth
- 2x carry weight and inventory size
- Up to 10 Bonfires per player
- Peaceful mode: no raids, no base decay
- Tribe sizes: servers for 4-player tribes and servers for 10-player tribes
The developer-built Bone Factory and Bone Plaza are available to tour on these servers. The Bone Factory was constructed by community builder 【护月孔雀】 using the Carved Stone and Marigold sets. CampFire is also adding it to the game's Blueprint library, split into several structures you can place in one click, though some require Unlimited Build Mode because of their size and material cost.
The critical thing to know: these servers are wiped after 30 days. Don't build a permanent base here expecting it to carry over.
Controller support and what's still rough
Patch #21 brings a new radial menu and UI adjustments for controller play. CampFire's own notes acknowledge it "may still have rough edges" and the studio opened a dedicated controller feedback channel on Discord after launch. The Steam page previously advised controller players to wait for this update before buying, so this is the patch that changes that recommendation.
The studio is also collecting player videos and save files of Tribesman AI problems to rework their behavior in a future update. No date on that yet.
Is the Bone Bash DLC worth $7.99?
Worth it? If building is your main activity in Soulmask, the Carved Stone set alone justifies the price for anyone who wants an Aztec aesthetic. The 56 building pieces and 43 decorations give you a complete themed set, and the Marigold Altar animation is a genuinely nice touch for base presentation.
The mistake most players make is buying it for the Joyous Return mask expecting gameplay utility. It has none. The Deathbringer mount skin is sharp, and the Tribesman headpieces solve the practical problem of telling roles apart in a fully-skeletonized tribe, but the mask is purely cosmetic and social.
Skip this if you don't care about building aesthetics or festival theming. The free content, including the skeleton storyline, the community furniture, and the Patch #21 improvements, is genuinely substantial on its own.
For more on what Soulmask has to offer beyond this event, the Soulmask Shifting Sands DLC overview covers the full Egypt-themed expansion that launched alongside version 1.0. If you're gearing up for the festival servers and want your Tribesman setup optimized before jumping in, the advanced tips and tricks guide covers base placement, combat, and tribe management in detail. For everything else, the full Soulmask guides collection has you covered.
Bone Bash FAQ
Is the skeleton transformation permanent? Not unless you want it to be. Visiting the Marigold Altar in a starter-area Barbarian camp restores your original appearance. The skeleton look is then permanently available as an option.
Do I need the paid DLC to participate in the festival storyline? No. The storyline, the skeleton transformation, the Marigold Altar quest, and the community-made furniture are all free. The paid DLC adds building sets, skins, and the Joyous Return mask.
How long do the Festival Servers run? They launched October 22 and are wiped after 30 days. They run in peaceful mode with 5x PvE settings.
Does the Joyous Return mask have combat abilities? No. CampFire confirmed it provides no combat or stat advantages. Its Mimicry Mode teleports Tribesmen home via a flower portal, and its passive occasionally attracts weak new Tribesmen.
Can I keep the Carved Stone and Marigold sets after the festival ends? Yes. Both sets unlock through the Tech Tree and are permanent additions to your game once purchased, not time-limited content.
