Heartopia: Hidden Traces of the Sylvan Grove arrives on August 15 — the exhibition Pass guide

On August 8, XD released the trailer for Heartopia's upcoming Gilded Acorn Exhibition: Hidden Traces of the Forest, announced for August 15. The three previous series all opened at 7 a.m. server time, i.e. 2 p.m. Paris time; barring any surprise, it should be the same window this time.

The real story at the end of the month, however, isn't this opening—it's an expiration date. The French announcement for the trending Season "Season of the Whales" spells it out clearly: the temporary Exhibition Passes handed out by the trending Manual expire on August 31 at 5:59 a.m. server time, i.e. 12:59 p.m. Paris time. These are currencies that vanish on their own if you let them sit in your inventory.

This guide uses the terminology from the French client, which does exist in its own right: nearly all English-language guides refer to the "Gilded Acorn Exhibition" and "Exhibition Pass," while Heartopia publishes its official announcements in French, with wording that sometimes differs quite a bit from the English.

What a Gilded Acorn Exhibition Actually Is

In the official texts, it isn't "a banner": it's the Gilded Acorn trade association launching a series of exhibitions. Each series is split into three separate exhibitions, which you choose one by one before pulling:

• Tea of Mischief (April 4): Flâneur, Rabbit Duke, Labyrinth;
• Lumiciel Pilgrimage (May 2): Sound of Flowers, Feather Strings, Story of Lumiciel - Paradise;
• Golden Mirage (May 30): Seer, Traveler, Oasis.

The pattern is consistent: two outfit exhibitions and one exhibition of furniture and building materials. So you're never forced to pull on furniture if you're only after the wardrobe, and vice versa.

These pulls use Exhibition Passes. Duplicates aren't wasted: they're converted into exhibition ticket stubs, which can be exchanged for the alternate versions of outfits and furniture from the same series. In other words, the Gilded Acorn Exhibition is the only one of the game's three gacha systems where grinding always ends up paying off in some way.

Three Different Gachas, Three Different Rules

This is the most common point of confusion among French-speaking players, especially since the official announcements themselves have been inconsistent with their wording. Here's what XD's French-language texts say, exhibition by exhibition.

The Local Memory Specialties are the themed and collaboration exhibitions: this is the format used for Legends of the West in June, then for SANRIO CHARACTERS since July 17. The grand prize immediately unlocks all remaining items in the exhibition, which makes the budget very easy to read: ten pulls, and you have everything.

The Lunar Box, on the other hand, doesn't use Passes at all but Lunar Crystals: this is the case for Lemon Shore, opened on July 30 with the Summer Memories and Summer Promise outfits. Obtaining the Special Lunar Item empties the box all at once. Don't mix up the two reserves when planning your budget.

The price of a pull, and the currency trap

XD does not publish the price of pulls in its French announcements. Consistent reports from the English-speaking community give 6 Passes for a single pull and 60 for a ten-pull multi, with the individual Pass sold for 10 Diamond Hearts at the General Acorn Shop. Take these figures for what they are: an in-game observation, not an official statement, and always check the displayed cost before confirming.

Also watch out for the localization of the paid currency: French announcements sometimes write Cœurs en diamant (Whale Season, Modular Streets celebration), sometimes Diamants du cœur (SANRIO CHARACTERS collaboration). This is the same resource. There's the same inconsistency with the Passes, once called "Show Pass" in the Legends of the West announcement. If a guide tells you these are two separate currencies, that's a misreading.

Two Pass stockpiles, only one of which expires

Your inventory actually contains two different lines: Exhibition Passes, which don't expire, and Temporary Exhibition Passes, which have an end date specific to the event that distributed them. The former is documented: those from the Modular Streets celebration were only valid from May 9 to June 27 at 5:59 AM.

For the current season, the deadline is therefore August 31 at 5:59 AM server time. In concrete terms, if you accumulate Passes by raising your illustration points in the Trend Handbook, they must be spent before noon Paris time on August 31. Get into the habit of opening each pass's details in your bag: the date is shown there, and it's the only reliable way to know which one to burn through first.

A useful note for all your conversions: Heartopia announces its schedules either in server time (UTC-5) or in UTC+1. In August, Paris is at UTC+2: a time given as "UTC+1" in an announcement therefore corresponds to one hour later on your watch, while server time is converted by adding seven hours.

Where to grab Pass without pulling out your credit card

The free sources still open on August 9 are limited, but they do exist:

• The Trending Manual of the Season of Whales: exploring the season's exclusive collectibles raises illustration points, which unlock free temporary Passes. The season closes on August 22 at 5:59 AM server time: this is the final stretch for this particular tap.
• The SANRIO CHARACTERS vehicle collection: completing the series gives a returning gift of Pass for the exhibition, until August 24 at 5:59 AM server time.
• The daily connection puzzles: XD has already handed out batches of 8 and 10 temporary Passes through this during previous campaigns. Open the event page every day, even for just two minutes.

On the other hand, the gift of 120 Temporary Passes from the SANRIO CHARACTERS collaboration was reserved for the window from July 16 to 30: it has passed, and nothing indicates it will return.

Should you save your Passes for August 15?

The question deserves that we look at the actual durations, rather than the announcement effect. The periods published by XD are unambiguous and all expressed in server time.

Three lessons. First, a series lasts about eight weeks. Second, the series overlap: Pèlerinage Lumiciel opened on May 2 while Thé des malices was still running until the 30th. The arrival of Traces Cachées de la Sylve should therefore not close Serment du cœur overnight — the official period remains to be confirmed in the maintenance notes preceding August 15. Finally, a Golden Acorn series is never urgent: it's the collaboration exhibitions that are.

Hence the most defensible order of priority today: SANRIO CHARACTERS exhibitions first, because they close on August 24 and a collaboration cannot be rescheduled. One detail weighs heavily in the balance: the exclusive hairstyles obtained in this collaboration exhibition cannot be recolored. There is therefore no possible catch-up session via ticket stubs, unlike the in-house series.

Your week, in order

Take stock today: how many Permanent Passes, how many Temporary Passes, and for the latter, which date. Then spend the Temporary ones on what closes soonest — SANRIO on August 24 — rather than keeping them