Critternauts news & patch notes

So what kind of game is this? It's a traditional JRPG, which means there's a somewhat linear story you can follow while you gear up, explore, find secrets, do side quests, grind if you want, etc. You'll learn new spells and skills as you level up and beat mini-bosses (critters). You can backtrack and use those to open up new areas or find powerful loot. All zones are full of random encounters, some rare, some pretty common, and most enemies have rare drops. And so on, just like in old classic JRPGs. Is this fantasy or sci-fi? Neither, it is set on modern-day Earth, full of ancient mystery themes and a tiny bit of fantasy and sci-fi. But no medieval castles or spaceships. Are you using the default RPG Maker assets, or is it custom? Both. One of the early zones (and the starting hub) was made using default assets, but the rest is different. Some of them are completely different and custom, some are a mix of the default stuff and custom assets. And what about the use of AI? Only used it for battlebacks and enemies. Didn't want to use the default stuff and this made it possible to fill up every zone with a loooot of enemy types. If you're on the fence, the game has a demo up and you can check if you like it or not. The style in the demo is similar to the rest of the game. What about the music? All original stuff, not from an asset pack and not AI. Is this one of those short NSFW games? No. Is this a horror game? No. How long is the game? Around 15 hours, maybe more if you want to do everything and also want to level up to 99. My latest test walkthrough finishing all the quests and secrets took me 15 hours, but I knew where to go, in what order, what to do etc. so it's not necessarily the true number. Was level 81 at the end. So I assume, if you're not in a hurry and wanna explore it'll be more than 15 hours. Ofc if you just wanna run through the main story it'll take less, but you'll still need to level up a bit for the mandatory boss fights. Will there be updates after the release?

Only bugfixes and balance fixes, if needed since this was a hobby project. The game is complete. It's my first game so I'm pretty sure there'll be bugfixes :D but I'll update everything here. I might do a full 100% walkthrough guide later as well.

Anyway, hope that helps, and thanks in advance if you check out the game!

Heya, After months of development, I'm incredibly excited to announce that Critternauts will officially launch on Steam on August 6, 2026. The new Release Date Trailer is now up on the sotre page.

Currently I'm meticulously hunting down bugs, balacing battles, gear and spells, as well as sneaking in a few extra last-minute side-quests to make the world feel as alive as possible.

The game's tracking to be around a 15-20-hour journey packed with secrets, unique world exploration skills, and a global mystery that I can't wait for you to uncover.

Critternauts will be participating in the upcoming Steam Next Fest starting this Monday, June 15th. But you don't even have to wait until Monday to try it. The playable demo is already live. If you enjoy your time with the demo, hit that Wishlist button pls!!!! :D

The free public demo for Critternauts is now live! Critternauts is a retro-style JRPG in a modern setting, featuring turn-based combat, a world-spanning main quest and exploration, ton of side quests and optional content, loot, a tiny bit of metroidvania (you can unlock special skills to access certain areas all over the game), creature hunting (learn unique spells from critters!) and powerful bosses. In this standalone demo, you can play through the game’s first mission shortly after the prologue. Join the Critternauts alongside their new remote android ally Archie as they investigate mysterious Critter activity in a coastal town in Italy. While searching for clues connected to the disappearance of the main character's parents, the team begins uncovering something much bigger hiding beneath the surface... The demo contains roughly one hour (30 mins if you rush it) of gameplay and includes:

• Exploration

• Turn-based combat

• Dungeon crawling

• Low-level loot and a level cap of 16

• Mini-boss encounters

The full game will feature:

• A world-spanning adventure

• More than a dozen real world locations, some really huge

• Hundreds of enemies and bosses

• Optional dungeons and endgame content

• Side quests and hidden encounters

• Level cap: 99

• A much deeper sci-fi mystery surrounding the Critters and the ancient portals

This demo is an early look at the game, and some visuals, mechanics, balancing, sound effects, and content may change during development. Hope you enjoy it!

So what is this game?

When I started working on Critternauts, I knew I wanted to capture that specific feeling of 90s SNES classics, but with a few twists from the modern games I love. I've also been sneaking in some DNA from metroidvanias and even immersive sims (but nothing crazy, it's a traditional JRPG after all).

What does that actually mean for the gameplay? Well, it’s still a traditional JRPG at its heart: you’ll push the story forward and gear up your party as you unlock new zones. But I’m designing the world to be less "one-and-done". As you gain new abilities, you can head back to earlier areas to poke around. You'll find that many of those old paths now lead to hidden loot, secrets, side quests, or puzzles you couldn't solve before. I’m making sure there’s plenty of endgame 'extras' for those of you who really like to uncover every secret. Roadmap:

I'll plan to release a demo sometime in June, featuring one of the first larger maps in the game and the 1.0 version should be out in July or August. But I'll try to have the release date set once the demo is out.

Gonna have a few more posts like this in the coming weeks and months!