Your interest in Beecarbonize has been both exceedingly heartwarming and higher than we anticipated – especially true here on Steam, where it’s been a joy to watch you discuss our game, reverse-engineer its systems, race to be the fastest player to save the Earth. Yet, in our case, a single game does not make a studio.
So, while Beecarbonize has kept us busy for a considerable while, there are other things we are working on and will be in the foreseeable future. So, I thought I’d give you a rundown of what to expect from Charles Games in coming months and years.
And trust me, I wish I would be able to promise you the DLC so many of you have been asking for, new localizations or new content, but I can’t. We are still looking for options, but since Beecarbonize was developed thanks to our partners and a grant opportunity, the constraints are many. Thanks for understanding-
Let me, then, point your attention towards what we are working on now.
Also, if you want to be notified about next projects, be sure to follow our creator page here on Steam, consider joining our newsletter or some of our socials.
Now, the games, all to be released on Steam.
🏰 Playing Kafka
This game has been keeping us busy a lot, it is a very Czechia-related theme after all, a light puzzle adventure to commemorate the 100th anniversary of this singular writer’s death.
It has three parts, each based on some of Kafka’s works – The Trial, The Castle and Letter to His Father. In the first, the protagonist K becomes a subject of perplexing legal process, unclear charges and thrown among characters who seem to want to help him, but can’t be fully trusted, either. Can you wrestle out of this unfortunate situation?
Second chapter, The Castle, takes place among the snow and starts in a village, where a land surveyor arrives for work, only to find himself accompanied by helpers he never asked for, affection he never anticipated and machinations happening in the castle he can’t understand. Is there even a job? Is, perhaps, he even a surveyor?
In Playing Kafka, dream logic is in full swing, a game where nothing can be taken for granted. Check out our teaser trailer for the first two chapters:
Watch on YouTube
Third part, the Letter to His Father is a special case, as it’s not based on a novel, but on an actual letter Kafka wrote to his father, recounting his fraught relationship with him and working through many memories of the writer's upbringing.
Playing Kafka will be released in May 2024, on mobile and we hope as well on Steam (still working on this, if you’d like to see it here, leave a comment!)
The game page is incoming soon, but for now, follow our creator profile to stay in the loop. And there’s a website, too.
🧸 Project “Toys” (working title)
Next up is a three-year game we are creating with the War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo, standing next to our historical games Attentat 1942 and Svoboda 1945.
Toys is a narrative game that explores the fates of a group of children during war through non-linear storytelling. It takes players on an emotional journey about children caught in war zones, illustrates their daily struggles, and lets players uncover the story of a particular group of children across multiple decades.
The game is inspired by real stories about war childhood in three different conflicts. The branching story is intertwined with light puzzles. You will experience derelict playgrounds, impromptu shelters, and streets reduced to rubble - all from the often-overlooked perspective of a child witnessing violent conflict.
There is fear and grief, but also hope and resilience, perhaps more than you’d expect.
Toys will be coming to Steam in 2026.
🪧 Project “Velvet” (working title)
Would you play a hidden-object game about the fall of communism? Our next game after Playing Kafka will be just that, letting you explore protests that erupted in 1989 in many places of the Czech Republic during the Velvet revolution that ended the one-party rule. We want to focus on less known events and the game will feature memories of actual witnesses.
It is coming to Steam in 2024.
🍬 Unannounced fourth project, a sweet one
We can’t say much, only that this game will be our very own IP. And that history as well as pastries will play some role.
And, you guessed it, it is coming to Steam, too! Timeline to be announced.
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So, there you have it! One of the perks of doing games in the style we do is that we always have multiple projects and games in mind and on our plates – so I hope at least some of them have sparked your interest!
We are thrilled to a) show you more b) bring them to Steam and see what you think.
Until then, follow us on our creator profile, subscribe to our infrequent newsletter, check out our X, Instagram, Facebook or TikTok and yeah, keep us close to your heart.
Cause we keep you to ours.
And if you allow me to be a little personal, taking care of Beecarbonize has been such a community management treat in big part thanks to you and how vibrant you made it all to be.
Thanks.
Until next time, take care.
Ondřej
Charles Games