This space whale city-building game is set to embark on a galactic journey next year
Publisher Hooded Horse and developer Balancing Monkey Games announced that the new sci-fi city-building game "Sea of Stars" developed by the studio has released its latest trailer at the Steam Cozy Quest 2025 exhibition, and has simultaneously launched the latest updated demo version.
In the trial version, players will have the opportunity to experience in advance the unique journey of building a city and exploring the star sea on the back of the giant space whale Kewa.Sea of Stars is scheduled to be officially launched in 2026.
Since its debut at the Steam New Product Festival in June 2024, the gameplay and content of "Sea of Stars" have undergone significant polishing.At this year’s Gamescom, the team showed off some late-stage content for the first time.With the overall expansion of the game's scale and system over the past year, the development team decided to create a new trial version so that players can experience a more complete gameplay before the official version is launched.
Highlights of this update include:
l New pollution system: If garbage is not disposed of properly, "toxic plots" will be generated
l Completely reworked the UI and added more overlays and resource flow display methods
l Brand new technology tree and feature system
l The tutorial process has been strengthened and the plot performance has been comprehensively improved.
l Carry out shift work and add a "fatigue degree" system - being tired for too long will lead to operational errors
l The building mechanism has been significantly adjusted, including updates to neighborhood effects, changes to the working radius of residential areas, and many other changes.
Since its announcement, Star Ocean has accumulated over 170,000 wishlists on Steam.
Star Ocean will be available in Early Access on PC platforms including Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store in 2026.
About the Publisher Hooded Horse™
Hooded Horse is a company dedicated to publishing in-depth strategy and tactics games. Its titles include Lords of the Manor, Storm City, Endless Empires 2, Old World, Norland, Heroes of Might and Magic: Ancient Age, and Nine Kings.The company works closely with development teams around the world and is committed to helping creators create high-quality, impactful gaming experiences.
About the developer Balancing Monkey Games™
Balancing Monkey Games is an independent game studio based in New Zealand that focuses on developing relaxing, non-violent games that are designed to heal players.The team is committed to building a positive and warm player community and continues to create game experiences that are peaceful, accessible, and culturally meaningful.
