Hey Jbooty!
Thank you for buying the game, we very much appreciate your support! Supporting AHITR means we can keep delivering the quality content and gives you access to future versions too!
AHITR first releases on Patreon. The Alpha build of a new version is released at the start of each month. Around a week after, the Beta build. A week after the Beta, the Early Access build is out. Around a month after, the full build goes free and public. This was a structure that the community voted in favour of (Content released on a shorter basis, rather than waiting a few months between updates).
Itch release schedule is a bit behind time wise than the Patreon. The paid version is a version/several patches ahead of free version.
Hope this answers your question and thanks again for your support, we hope you enjoy your time with AHITR o/