Many games focus on dark settings and gloomy post-apocalypses. The new German construction game Solarpunk dares to do exactly the opposite.
What if everything ends well in the end? A question I personally ask myself far too rarely, especially when I think about the future. Instead, I always go through the worst horror scenarios that my head sells me as the most likely ones. Thanks for nothing, brain.
And there are plenty of reasons to be pessimistic: climate change, political division, economic crisis, pandemic … Many games confront us with even darker visions of the future, whole genres are based on the fact that we are terribly worried about the day after tomorrow – cyberpunk, for example. But there is a beautiful counter-vision and I think it should play a role more often.
Solarpunk is the name of a whole genre as well as an upcoming German construction game with survival elements. Not much is known about it yet, but it already makes me happy!
Solarpunk: A Flourishing Future Solarpunk is, so to speak, the green, always good-humoured brother of cyberpunk: In this genre, mankind will have managed to harmoniously combine technology and nature in the future (I’ve been waiting for years to finally put Futur 2 in a text, yay!). Trees and wildflowers are sprouting everywhere, energy comes from hydropower, solar cells and wind turbines, everything is bright, clean, peaceful. This is exactly the atmosphere that the game Solarpunk exudes. See for yourself in the new gameplay trailer:
We build ourselves a cosy farm in Solarpunk, reminiscent of a mix of Stardew Valley and Ghibli film Sunflowers sway gently in the wind under a cloudless blue summer sky, free-range chickens cluck happily away, we water our home-grown vegetables (or have a diligent drone do it for us). And we build our own energy system on the side, for example with solar cells that we wire into our house.
We also use modern technology to predict the weather – very important for our cultivation! When the wind is favourable, we take to the skies on our airship and maybe visit our friends’ farm. Because yes, there is also an online co-op mode, in which we then collect and consume resources together.
Who is developing this? Behind the game is the small German indie studio Cyberwave, which has already released two Cozy Games (Balloon Flight and Hourglass). Both titles have only a manageable number of user reviews, but an impressive 94 and 100 percent of them are positive. The two devs have also already gained some experience in larger projects, such as working on Desperados 3 and the Bus Simulator.
No release date is yet known for the small body hopeful. “Available soon” can mean a lot of things on Steam. But at least you can already add the game to your wishlist (), then you will get all updates directly in your mailbox. But it will probably take quite a while, because the game has just been funded via Kickstarter.
Editor’s verdict
Solarpunk goes straight onto my wishlist, even though I’m not the biggest build-up fan at all. But it would feel right at home in my Steam library next to Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, Fresh Start, Stardew Valley and the like! Sometimes I need little games like this that make me believe in an ideal world so that I don’t despair of the real one.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the two devs that they have as much success in development as they did with the Kickstarter campaign, so that we can soon hold Solarpunk in our hands. Because we can all use some nice distractions in these stressful times.
How do you like the idea of Solarpunk? Well, the game itself of course, but I’m also interested in your opinion of the genre as a whole. Did you already know it? Do you always prefer darker settings or are you sometimes happy about such variety through cozy games? Feel free to let me know in the comments below
