A Post-Mortem on our first Steam Festival!

We took part in our first Steam festival this May — the Creature Collector Festival — and it went great! We were thrilled by the feedback from players and the conversations we had with them. Here’s what’s changed since the first version on the demo:

Fantasy rework

You play as a final-year Gloopology student who has been sent off-campus to complete a mandatory year of fieldwork, which is the final requirement before earning your diploma. You’re in charge of managing a research station and your tasks include fishing for gloops, studying them, and welcoming visiting researchers who will evaluate your progress.

To graduate, you’ll need to complete a series of missions across the galaxy. Each one takes place in a brand-new star system, meaning you’ll start from scratch every time: a fresh research station, new planets and creatures to discover, new equipment, and so on.

Gloopalaxy Key Art made by Garance Royère

Improving the scene

One of the main issues with our first version was that the environments felt too empty, clinical, and not cozy at all. So we’ve done a pass to improve that.

We added more detailed and lively modules, along with softer lighting that creates a warm, aquarium-like atmosphere. One of our biggest inspirations here is Haven, which nails that cozy sci-fi vibe, which is actually pretty rare! There’s still more work to do, but the difference already feels huge!

(New version) Research Station Overview

Finding the tone

At first, beyond the fact that we hadn’t had time to implement the narrative elements yet, I was really struggling to find the right tone for the game. But once we redefined the game’s core fantasy, I realized the tone I was aiming for needed to be funny, a bit absurd, and with a hint of sarcasm.

One of my main inspirations here is the tone of Two Point games (or Theme Hospital back in the day) — they strike a great balance between lighthearted silliness and just a touch of something darker underneath. Another big influence is The Sims — especially the quirky little lines you read on the loading screens.

(New version) Recap Panel/Lab Review

Misc.

• We made a first round of improvements to the overall UX.
• We settled on an art direction for the UI and started integrating icons and menus.
• We reworked the fishing reward system: players still get three catches per session, but each one can now contain multiple creatures, items, or even currency.
• We also added a new currency — scraps — which can be used to purchase upgrades for the research station.

What we learned from our first Steam Festival?

• Putting the demo live before the festival gave us an early small boost in visibility. We saw an increase in wishlists right away, which meant we started the festival in a better position!

• Including a feedback form directly in the game worked really well! A lot of players took the time to fill it out, and their answers have been incredibly useful — both for improving the game and for keeping us motivated. Since we don’t have an active community yet, it was really encouraging to see that people were playing, enjoying the game, and sharing thoughtful feedback!

• During the festival, and thanks to early form responses, we realized the demo felt too long for many players. So we pushed a small update: we lowered upgrade prices to help players progress faster, and we also reduced mission objectives so the end-of-demo popup appears sooner. This helps players understand they’ve seen most of what the demo has to offer, while still letting them keep playing if they want to explore more. The key idea was to avoid frustration — players shouldn’t feel like they’re chasing something that isn’t there. If they choose to continue, it’s because they’re enjoying it, not because they expect a new feature to appear.

• One thing we’ll approach differently next time: reaching out to streamers, influencers, and press earlier. We’re still a small project, so it makes sense to contact people well in advance before their inboxes fill up during the festival!

What’s Next?

We’re happy to say that we’ve addressed most of the issues raised in the previous version of the demo. We also received a lot of helpful feedback on what to improve next. Our goal is to release a third version of the demo in August.

Here’s what we’re focusing on next:

🔬 More “Scientific” Gameplay

So far, the research aspect felt a bit too much like trial and error — players had to guess what worked for each creature. That wasn’t very engaging, and it didn’t really reinforce the fantasy of being a researcher.

To improve this, we’re introducing a scanner. It will have two modes: a body scan and a brain scan. Each mode will provide general information that gives clues about a creature’s preferences — helping players make more informed decisions.

✨ Shiny Creatures

During rare cosmic events, players might encounter shiny creatures while fishing. These aren’t just color variants — they also have different needs compared to their regular counterparts!

🎣 Fishing Difficulty Levels & Rewards

• Variety and difficulty levels to the fishing minigame.
• A new system that lets players see the potential catch they’ll receive if they successfully complete the minigame. This will allow us to create “high risk / high reward” zones, where the difficulty of the minigame is directly tied to both the quality and quantity of the rewards you can get.
• Improving the visuals of both the fishing screen and the exploration screen to make the experience more satisfying.

🧪 Research Points Adjustment

• Research Points will now appear as a gauge with tiers that must be unlocked to access new fishing zones and planets
  • This creates more linear progression that’s easier to control
  • Solves the current issue where players earn more points than needed for unlocks
    • Extra points will now reward completionist players who achieve 100% discovery in missions

🛁 New Tank and Modules

We’re adding a new type of fish tank (with more to come in the final game) and introducing new module skins. Down the line, we also plan to implement themes that will change the color of your modules for a touch of personalization.

🧫 But also…

An encyclopedia menu, a tool tip, adding music/sound design, polishing UI/UX, implementing a save system…

We’ll need to stay well-organized, since we’re still working on the project in our free time alongside our day jobs — but we’re really looking forward to releasing this new version! And meanwhile, if you’d like to try out the demo, it’s still available on Steam.