what's a better place to pay for game and receive free updates
Hey Bearded!
If you purchase the game here on Itch you gain access to future updates!
The schedule for releasing is: The Alpha build of a new version is released at the start of each month. About a week later the Beta build is released. Then after another week the Early Access version is released. Then about a month later this version goes free and public.
This is the Patreon schedule, but it knocks on to everywhere else a bit after.