I was lucky enough to meet some of the Balancing Monkey Team at Pax 23 and 24 the creators of Beyond These Stars. Despite my interest in the game, I never really had a chance to play the game until now. I’m glad to finally play it.

Building a town, on a whale?!

Humans managed to master space travel. Discovering a planet that suited their needs, the peeps landed and began to settle on the land. Unfortunately for them, they aren’t the only ones who’ve decided the planet is a good place to live. Large space whales with an insatiable hunger periodically came to the world to feed. Humans struggled to deal with this threat and eventually fled underground to avoid the catastrophic fate. Centuries passed and the peeps forgot about the horrors of the surface. They emerged, ready to rebuild their lives. The space whales still existed, but the one that was hanging around seemed to just be observing them, rather than trying to eat them. Curious, the peeps came up with a crazy idea. Why don’t they go on the space whale to try and learn more about them? Now, I personally think it’s a crazy idea, but I suppose the peeps felt a little bit desperate.
When landing on the space whale, the peeps need to start again from scratch. Luckily, the space whale collects space debris and contains vegetation, water and soil, everything the peeps need to survive. Starting from the rocket they arrived on the whale; players will need to build roads to place houses and other infrastructure to start a life on the space whale. As the peeps grow, items on the tech tree will become unlocked allowing more things to be created. While the town slowly expands, the space whale can be heard making noises, but when the peeps discover a transmitter stuck on the whales back, they realise it may be possible to communicate with their long-term enemy.
Beyond These Stars is a chill town builder with a strong narrative focus. Players aren’t penalised for their workers being unhappy. They just rest until they feel better. The large majority of my town was miserable in the demo I played, but I managed to still get things done. I really like how the peeps look like wooden pegs as well. It’s a nice artistic touch. If you like town builders, this is a lovely one. Plus, who doesn’t like space whales?