Merry Christmas / Meri Kirihimete! From all of us at Balancing Monkey Games🎄

It's the final day of the 12 Days of Devmas! 🎅 Our task was to share a Dev Team snap, and what better way to do so than to share our in-game peeps! We hope you all have a lovely Holiday, and we'll see you in the New Year! 🎉

We're already at the second to last day of the 12 Days of Devmas! 🎄 Today, the prompt asked us to look forward to our 2026 plans. This was an easy answer! Does releasing Beyond These Stars in Early Access in 2026 sound like a good plan to you?! We think so! 😍

Day Ten of Devmas has arrived! 🎄 Today we're tasked to share a 2025 recap! So here's a peek at how the year went over at the Balancing Monkey Games Studio ✨

It's Day Nine of the 12 Days of Devmas - we're almost there! 🎊 Today, it's time to play Secret Santa for a character in our game We found the perfect gift for the Peeps! If you know, you know 😉

Five days till Christmas! Welcome to Day Eight of the 12 Days of Devmas 🎄 Our prompt today? Best Placeholder in our game Something tells me this isn't a normal size for a chicken or sheep...what do you think? 🤔

It's Day Seven of Devmas, and today we're bringing you a hidden gem 💎 Hiding on the back of Kewa amongst other peeps, you'll find the BMG team working away!

 Can you find us all in the demo?

Day Six of Devmas has arrived! Today, our task is to share an endless loop!🎄 The peeps work hard *endlessly* to keep their fellow peeps fed, and sometimes potatoes aren't quite enough 🥔

It's the fifth day of the 12 Days of Devmas! 🎄 Today, we've been asked to showcase Dev Doodles, also known as Concept Art 🎨 We have such talented artists on our team, don't you think?

Hello to Day Four of the 12 Days of Devmas! 🎄 Today we were asked to show a feature that didn't make the cut, so...in a galaxy far, far away, the Peeps found some...glow sticks? ✨ Disclaimer: What may look like a feature was a bug & won't be released - but it's fun to dream!

Welcome to Day Three of the 12 Days of Devmas! 🎄 Our prompt today was to show our favourite view in our game, but one does not simply choose ONE view in Beyond These Stars...so here's four! 👀

It's Day Two of the 12 Days of Devmas! 🎄 Our prompt? Art VS Inspo: What inspired the game? Here's some deep lore about how the idea of Beyond These Stars came to be: It all sprang from our bosses, Sam & Anna, seeing this lantern at a Midwinter Carnival! ❄️ How cool, right?!

And so it begins: 🎄 The 12 Days of Devmas 🎄 Day One: In a Nutshell In a nutshell, Beyond These Stars follows a Space Whale named Kewa and their new pals, the Peeps, as they journey together...Beyond These Stars! (see what we did there? 👀) Here's their first conversation!

What a big year ahead for our Managing Director, Anna! Starting in 2026, she'll be putting on the hat of Chair of the New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA), and we couldn't be more excited for her! Congratulations Anna! 👏

A HUGE congratulations to our friends at @atawhaigames.bsky.social on the release of their game 'Toroa: Skycall' today! 🥳 This team has poured so much hard work and love into this title, and it shows. We can't wait to stretch our wings and finally soar through the clouds 🪶

We'll be taking part - what a fun way to wrap up 2025! Important Question: How is it already December?! 🎄

Turns out, talking to a camera can be hard! So we hope you enjoy some of the (many) bloopers from when we filmed our video for Cozy Quest📽️ Thanks to Sam and Mereana for being such good sports!

Did someone say…new Beyond These Stars demo?! 👀 We’ve been making some big changes to the game over the last year, but we’re not quite done yet. Be sure to download our new demo & discover the changes for yourself! We can’t wait to bring Beyond These Stars to you in 2026

The Balancing Monkey Games team has grown! Introducing our new Community Manager - @blubre.bsky.social 🥳 We're so excited to have her tagging along on our journey of developing Beyond These Stars. You'll mostly find her maintaining our friendly community in our Discord - go say hello! 🧡

NZGDC 2025 may be over for another year, but you can still catch the talks online! We were so excited to see that all the talks from NZGDC are now available to watch online! Including three presentations from four of us here at Balancing Monkey Games 👀 Check out the thread below! 👇

Thanks for the feature of Beyond These Stars, Rock Paper Shotgun! ❤️ www.rockpapershotgun.com/batman-good-...

That's a wrap on #NZGDC 2025! 🥳 We had such a wonderful time reconnecting with our industry community and soaking up as much wisdom as we could from the talks we attended. Lastly, we want to extend a huge thank you to the @nzgda.bsky.social and volunteer team for making this event happen! 👏

We're coming to NZGDC in Wellington! 🎉 We're so excited to catch up with our wonderful NZ game industry community and absorb all the knowledge from the speakers - and on that note! A few of us will be presenting this year! 👀 Want the details? Read below 👇

The Made in New Zealand Steam Sale is back for 2025! 🤩 We're so excited to have 'Before We Leave' and our upcoming 'Beyond These Stars' featured alongside so many wonderful NZ-made titles 🧡 Check it out! store.steampowered.com/sale/nzgames...

Interested? Apply here! 👉 www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/wer...

It's Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week! ❤️🖤 This week isn't just a celebration, it's an important reminder of the great taonga Te Reo is to all of us. We're all on our journeys to learn more. Some of us are beginning, some are reconnecting; but every step counts! #tewikiotereomāori

"Beyond These Stars represents evolution in city-building design. Instead of treating the environment as an obstacle to overcome, it makes the environment a character to befriend." We got all choked up reading this article! Thank you for your kind words! 🧡 totalapexgaming.com/simulation/b...

"As this genre continues to evolve and iterate on itself, it's fascinating to see how a whole new entity can make its mark via a game that's as much a galaxy-wide supply chain simulator as it is a traditional city management game." Thanks Games Radar! 🧡 www.gamesradar.com/games/city-b...

BMG attended Gamescom! 😱 Sam and Anna presented in the B2B area, where they were able to show the lucky few a never-before-seen section of Beyond These Stars Check out our latest Dev Diary for more snapshots of their time, and our latest trailer! 🤩 www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/new...

✨ New Game Trailer Discovered ✨ The latest look at Beyond These Stars just premiered during the Awesome Indies showcase at Gamescom! Check out our updated trailer to see what we’ve been busy working on 🚀⭐ www.youtube.com/watch?v=CduZ...

Scrolling break for a cosy view of our game! 🧡 Pause for a while and enjoy watching the Peeps care for their charming vegetable patches beneath a cosmic sky

A new BMG Dev Blog is here! 👀 We've been pretty busy around these parts, and somehow we're about to be even busier! The calendars are booking up with so many exciting things & you can read about them all right here! 👇 www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/the...

TactiCon is almost back for 2025! 🎉 From July 17-21st, you'll be able to tune into a digital showcase of fascinating strategy games and hear from the creative developers behind them - including our very own Sam Barham! 👀

Time for another BMG Character Profile: It's Sarah! Our Producer & Social Media Manager 🤩 Here's your chance to read a hint of her journey into the game industry & even her 'special abilities' like maintaining her sanity as she manages our roadmaps 👀 www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/cha...

We tried out 'Peak' by @aggrocrabgames.bsky.social and @landfall.se this week! It was such a great opportunity to spend time together as a team. Of course, many giggles were had...promptly followed by many yells due to falling into the great abyss ⛰️

Tomorrow, here in Aotearoa, we'll be celebrating Matariki! 🌃 We'll be stepping away from the office and using this time to remember the past, celebrate the present and look ahead to the exciting future ✨ Wishing everyone a restful Matariki! Mānawatia a Matariki!

This Pride Month, we not only want to celebrate the vibrant LGBTQIA+ community here in Aotearoa, we also want to shine a spotlight on two incredible organizations doing the māhi to support, empower and uplift ❤️ They are 'Rainbow Youth' & 'OutLine' 🌈 Read more below!

Look here! It's another BMG Character Profile! 🤩 It's Anna, our Managing Director! Somehow she manages to wrangle our stress levels in late stage game production, AND keep up with Xero, AND make groovy presentations! How does she do it all?! 😱 www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/cha...

The Peeps found some....glow...sticks...today 👀 (for legal reasons, this is a joke)

Terrible? Never. Whimsy? Always. Balancing Monkey Games reporting for duty 🫡

It's Global Accessibility Awareness Day! 🤩 Today is an important reminder for us that games can (and should) be made for everyone to enjoy! We're proud to be developing a game with accessibility in mind from the start 🧡 See how these studios are stepping up too: ian-hamilton.com/games-indust...

Our team recently visited Tuhura Otago Museum to explore the LEGO exhibition 'Relics: A New World Rises'. Naturally, we couldn't resist some free building! 👀 So behold! Our LEGO interpretation of our Space Whale, Kewa! Thoughts on our 'masterpiece'? 🤔

We're launching a new Dev Blog series! The BMG Character Profiles! 🤩 First up is the newest addition to our team - Laura. She's our new writer for Beyond These Stars, and we're so excited to see where her passion for storytelling takes our story next! 👀 www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/cha...

Last week we had the opportunity to all get together as a team, and we certainly used our time together wisely 😉 So did we fill our time in meetings, documentation and code? Not this time! We built the Lego Millennium Falcon! ⭐

To no one's surprise, it turns out that our in-game soundtrack (made by @benedictnichols.bsky.social) is so good that even the trees seem to be 'dancing' now! 🕺

Important Question: If the Peeps were able to wear pants...how would they wear them? 🤔

Happy (belated) International Women’s Day! 🎉 We're so proud to celebrate the incredible women shaping our game industry & inspiring future generations of developers & storytellers! There's also a new blog post to share just for the occasion! 👇 www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/for...

Is Kewa “like a ship”?🐋 …well, kind of. Ships typically do not have their own wants, needs, or complex feelings! But we do give players the sensation of passing through space while on Kewa: whizzing around at lightspeed, seeing the planets you're "parked" next to - and so on!

Uh oh, busted 💀

We're hiring a writer for Beyond These Stars! ✨ Are you a thoughtful soul who is passionate about breathing life into video game worlds (and indulges in the odd sci-fi trope)? You could be the one for us! Full info here: www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/wer...