To bring your demo progress into Rejected Draft, choose New Game and look at the bottom right of the Standard Mode panel: that is where the demo import option appears. Your Quintessence and Glossary progress from the Steam demo carry over, but saves from the browser version do not.
The import is easy to miss, which is why “it didn’t transfer” threads popped up on the Steam forums after launch. Here is exactly where it is, what comes across and what starts fresh in the Early Access release that arrived on November 11, 2026.
How to Import Your Demo Save
Solo developer Kuzzi confirmed on the Steam forums that demo progress transfers, then explained where to find it when some people missed it: “The option shows up when you select New Game, at the bottom right of the Standard Mode panel.”
Step by step:
- Launch the full game.
- Select New Game.
- Look at the Standard Mode panel, not Easy Mode.
- Click the import option at the bottom right. The game offers buttons such as Import Demo Save or Import Demo Slot for each demo save slot it finds.
- Pick your demo slot and confirm. A Demo Save Imported summary then shows what came across.
Choose Standard Mode on purpose. Easy Mode enhances Feat Medals for free, but it switches off Steam achievements, leaderboard submissions and the final prestige layer, and the game says that choice is permanent for the save.
What Carries Over and What Resets
The import summary splits your demo progress into two lists:
| Carried over | Reset |
|---|---|
| Lifetime Quintessence (up to the cap) | Your current run |
| Whether you reached the first Graphite Milestone | Currencies and stats |
| Glossary, sketch versions and favorites | Victories |
| Settings, presets and completed tutorials | Masterpiece Archive and Feat Medals |
So you keep the long-term value of your demo hours, the Quintessence and the sketch collection that powers your Glossary multiplier, but you rebuild the skill tree and earn your Feat Medals again in the full game.
There is one limit: Kuzzi announced a carryover cap of 1e51 Quintessence before launch, and it still applies. Anything beyond that does not transfer.
If the Import Option Does Not Appear
The demo save should be detected automatically. Kuzzi said the only cases of it not populating were on some Linux distributions, and the fix there is to use the file import instead: the game has an option to import a demo save file directly.
A few things to check before you post a bug report:
- Did you play the Steam demo? Only Steam demo progress transfers (more on web saves below).
- Are you on the New Game screen? The option is not in the middle of an existing save.
- Are you looking at Standard Mode? The option sits on that panel.
Exporting a file from the demo is not the same as importing it. The demo’s file export makes a backup of your save, so keep it somewhere safe, then use the full game’s import.
Web Saves Do Not Transfer
If you played Rejected Draft in your browser, that progress stays there. Kuzzi’s pre-launch announcement was blunt: “The web version and Steam version are completely separate games. Web saves are not compatible with Steam.” The web version’s own text says the two progress differently, so a Steam save starts fresh. The Steam version adds a prestige layer that lets you reincarnate into different universes, plus Brushes, Cards, Steam achievements and leaderboards.
Why Your Demo Save Matters
Kuzzi encouraged demo players to reach the end of the demo before launch so they could “jump straight into the new content and compete on a level playing field when the Steam leaderboards go live.” The demo also had speedups the full game limits or drops (an unlimited free 2x battle speed toggle, and a 10x Quintessence boost that only works in the demo), so a finished demo save is a real head start.
Rejected Draft is built for the long haul: the store page talks about a months-long journey with hundreds of hours of content. If you like this kind of slow-burn number game, our Task Bar Hero guides cover another idle favorite, and our news on Melvor Idle 2’s Early Access date covers one more coming up. For the year’s broader PC highlights, see our best PC games of 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Rejected Draft demo progress carry over? Yes. Quintessence and Glossary progress from the Steam demo transfer to the full game, up to a cap of 1e51 Quintessence.
Where is the import demo save option in Rejected Draft? Select New Game, then look at the bottom right of the Standard Mode panel.
Do Rejected Draft web saves work on Steam? No. The developer says the web and Steam versions are completely separate games and web saves are not compatible.
Do Feat Medals transfer from the demo? No. The import summary lists the Masterpiece Archive and Feat Medals as reset.
What if the demo save is not detected on Linux? Use the file import option to import the demo save file directly, as the developer suggests.