Today we’re going to take a look at an exciting part of Beyond These Stars that goes far beyond the demo gameplay.
In Beyond These Stars you can go, well, beyond the stars! You may be hesitant to leave the comfort of Kewa but beyond the stars (see what I’m doing here) there are habitable planets for you and your Peeps to settle!
Once you unlock the ability to travel with Kewa, you’ll gain access to the Galaxy Map. Initially this will only be partially visible, but as you continue your journey you’ll unlock more and more to explore. Within the Galaxy Map you’ll see nodes containing stars that you can ask Kewa to travel to, and which you can further investigate on your Scout Ship with Jose.
These nodes may hold barren planets that cannot support Peep life, space junk, strange objects, trade stations, and perhaps even aliens to befriend! But most importantly, some of those stars will house planets that will support Peep life and contain new resources that you are unable to find on Kewa.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Sneak peek of the Sandbox galaxy map to avoid spoilers
Now, I won’t go too much into each and every resource you can get through settling the planets, as I don’t want to give away any big spoilers.
Instead, I’m going to focus on my favourite planet, and the resources that you can get from it. When you explore the galaxy, you’ll find this planet somewhere in the ‘Neutral Sector,’ enjoying a moderate climate near a pleasantly warm sun.
The reason for it being special to me? New animals! On this planet you’ll find chickens, but most importantly, my favourite… cows! With these animals, you’ll be able to farm milk and eggs using the new Pasture building, which will means you’re able to expand your Peeps diet from just potatoes! (I’m sure Lottie will be very happy about this.)
This planet is rich with fertile land, clean ocean water, the cute new animals. s well as berries, wheat (to feed your animals) and shells to make cement! Of course, new resources require new buildings, so once you land, you’ll also unlock the Trawler and Orchard alongside the Pasture.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Cows And Chickens!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
While you explore the galaxy, you’ll notice that some areas Kewa can stop have different temperatures from others. You’ll have to be careful about staying too long in an area that's ‘too hot’ or ‘too cold’ as this can have an effect on your Peeps mood as well as on the growth speed of your crops. This means you’ll need to be relatively strategic about where you’re stopping with Kewa.
Unlike Before We Leave, Kewa is not a planet-eating Space Whale (hooray!), but they do still need to eat! So while you travel the galaxy, if Kewa is low on stamina, they will detour through debris fields to eat and regain their stamina. This can be worrisome for the Peeps as debris can rain down on buildings, causing them to break, which means you’ll need to repair them to be able to continue production!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Broken Peep Housing
As much as I’d like to share more about what’s out there in the Galaxy to discover, I can’t go spoiling too much! So I’ll leave the exploring to you once Beyond These Stars has landed.
If you want to keep up to date with these little Dev blogs and join the discussion, be sure to head over to our Community Discord!