Parcel Stamps and Handling Rules — July 13 Retail Build
Build scope: These rules cover the Windows retail build available on July 13, 2026, including the first post-launch patch. Read the parcel in front of you instead of treating this as a fixed parcel list. Box shape and decorative art do not decide its destination, postage, or handling rules.
You know the scene: finished mail, half-stamped mail, and one mystery cube have formed a cardboard pride on the same shelf. Clear one bench spot and process one parcel from start to finish. The steady rhythm is inspect, read, weigh, scan, stamp, check.
The Inspect-Read-Weigh-Scan-Stamp-Check Loop
- Inspect — State: unprocessed. Tool: your hands. Action: rotate the parcel. Find the name label, existing functional marks, and any visible damage. Do not start a second parcel yet.
- Read — State: destination unknown. Tool: customer request and map. Action: identify the route. Match the requested destination to the map. Treat ribbons, animals, plants, and other artwork as pickup clues only when the customer mentions them; artwork alone does not set the route.
- Weigh — State: postage incomplete. Tool: scale and weight board. Action: read the scale color. Place the parcel flat on the scale. Match its color to the weight board and apply the number of weight stamps shown there. Parcel size is not a safe shortcut.
- Scan — State: handling unchecked. Tool: parcel scanner. Action: scan one parcel. Read every handling property the unlocked scanner shows. Later traits join the workflow as their tools and rooms become available.
- Stamp — State: results known. Tool: Stamp Mode. Action: add every functional mark. Apply one destination stamp, the full weight-stamp count, and every revealed handling stamp. If you place one incorrectly, use Stamp Mode's remove control before the parcel leaves the bench.
- Check — State: ready or exception. Tool: your eyes. Action: rotate the parcel again. Recheck the destination, weight-stamp count, scanner marks, required room, and Heavy or Fragile placement. Before loading, make sure the Captain is serving that destination.
- Unprocessed: destination, postage, or scanner check is missing.
- In progress: the result is known, but a stamp, pairing step, or room move remains.
- Ready: every required functional mark is present and the parcel is in the correct storage condition.
- Exception: returned, damaged, waiting for a room, or waiting for a nighttime pairing check.
Current-Build Parcel Rule Table
| Parcel property | Reveal or confirm it with | Stamp and next physical action | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Destination | Customer request and map | Apply the matching destination stamp, then stage it for that route | A wrong destination can make the parcel return damaged; a missing stamp leaves the job incomplete |
| Weight / postage | Scale color and matching weight-board row | Apply the exact weight-stamp count shown on the board | Missing or incorrect postage can make the parcel come back |
| Fragile | Parcel scanner | Apply the Fragile stamp; keep it on top when staging and loading | A parcel stacked above it can crush or damage it |
| Heavy | Parcel scanner | Apply the Heavy stamp in addition to its weight stamps; place it low when staging and loading | It can crush the parcel underneath it |
| Cold | Parcel scanner after the temperature system unlocks | Apply the Cold stamp and keep it in the refrigerated room until loading | Leaving it outside its required cold storage can damage it |
| Hot | Parcel scanner after the temperature system unlocks | Apply the Hot stamp and keep it in the heated room until loading | Leaving it outside its required hot storage can damage it |
| Lovers | Heart result from the scanner; Revealuna at night finds the partner | Stamp the scanner-flagged parcel. After the Captain leaves, place it at Revealuna, select control 1, follow the moving lights, stamp the located partner, and send both on the same boat trip | Do not treat either parcel as ready until the pair has been found and prepared |
| Darkness | Parcel scanner; daylight is the unsafe lighting period | Apply the Dark stamp and use the dark room during the day. Nighttime itself is safe | Daylight exposure outside the dark room can damage it |
| Brightness / light | Parcel scanner; nighttime is the unsafe lighting period | Apply the matching light stamp and use the bright room at night. Daytime itself is safe | Leaving it outside the bright room at night can damage it |
| Damage (not a stamp) | Visible parcel condition or a returned parcel | Take it to the repair station if the station accepts it, then repeat the full processing loop | Adding another stamp does not repair physical damage |
Weight and Heavy are separate checks. Weight stamps pay the postage set by the scale and board. Heavy is a scanner property that changes how you stack the parcel. A Heavy parcel needs both sets of marks.
Spoiler: Night and Later-Room Properties
Cold, Hot, Darkness, Brightness, and Lovers enter the routine as their related tools and rooms unlock. When a new property system opens, re-scan any parcel you have been holding before you ship it.
If the matching room or night tool is still locked, do not guess. Put the parcel on a visible hold shelf with its label facing out, then return to it after the required system opens.
When One Parcel Has Several Rules
Properties stack instead of replacing one another. A Lovers parcel can also be Heavy or temperature-sensitive. When the scanner shows several marks, satisfy each one: the room controls temperature or light, Heavy and Fragile control placement, and Lovers controls pairing.
- Move the parcel to its required refrigerated, heated, dark, or bright room.
- Inside that room, keep Heavy parcels low and Fragile parcels clear on top.
- Check that every required functional stamp is present.
- Keep Lovers pairs easy to identify, even when their other properties place them in different rooms.
- Load both Lovers parcels on the same trip and confirm the Captain's route before departure.
Tip: Turn a finished parcel so its functional marks face the aisle. Add decorative stamps only after the full check. Postal flair is dessert, not dinner.
How to Recover a Returned or Questionable Parcel
If a parcel comes back, place it in the exception zone and repeat the whole sequence. Check the destination, scale result, weight-board count, scanner marks, required room, Heavy or Fragile placement, Lovers partner, and Captain route. Repair physical damage if the repair station accepts the parcel.
When the office becomes one furry wall of cardboard, pause new processing. Clear the bench, move every uncertain box into the exception zone, and finish one parcel at a time. There is no timer pushing you along, so let the mystery pile become a neat line of stamped, safe mail without starting another cardboard avalanche.
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