Space Prison News

Attention inmates!

From April 14th to 21st, our beloved prison will be part of the Lovecraftian Days with a 40% sale! You may wonder what in your prison stay may refer to our dear Howard Phillips? Let us introduce you to the dark, twisted and tentacle-y side of Space Prison!

[h3]Cosmic dread[/h3] Lovecraftian horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that emphasizes the cosmic horror of the unknown (and in some cases, unknowable) more than gore or other elements of shock, though these may still be present. (source Wikipedia)

The cosmic dread in Lovecraftian literature can be found in Space Prison through existentialism questions: "In existentialism, it is more specifically a loss of hope in reaction to a breakdown in one or more of the defining qualities of one's self or identity".
In Space Prison you start in a body but each time you die, your mind is transferred to a new body but then what is the player identity and how can they define themselves if death seems to rewrite who they are each time. The loss of hope is also symbolize in-game by a ressource called "Hope" that can be gained or lost depending on the players actions.



[h3]The fear of the unknown[/h3]
The paradox of time and space in Space Prison is also explored through both the time sentence of the player (who is sentenced to thousands of years of prison) but is transferred into a new body every time they die, which makes the sentence, despite its high number, feel incomprehensible. The game's space is also paradoxal: you're in the middle of space, which is infinitely big, and still you're confined in a prison, a limited area, and you wish to flee this space, but to go where?
Escaping is your main objective as a player and still it seems paradoxal to flee the security of a place (even if it is a prison) to go to the inifite void that is space. That kind of duality verges on the madness that Lovecraftian literature highlights through paradox and the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible.


The lack of knowledge the player has in game on this alien society/ prison system builds up the tension in the game. After all, what are the rules in this prison? You, as a player, have no idea when you start your game. You try to gather knowledge by exploring the prison, but you don't know what you will find behind every door (friends or foes) and despite the danger and the unknown you still have to satisfy your curiosity and wish for more knowledge on the prison to build your plan to escape this forsaken place.

[h3]Tentacles, of course![/h3]
The alien setting is also based on Lovecraftian inspirations, with the tentacles of some species (like the famous Cthulhu) on a purely aesthetic aspect like for The Steamy Games version of Space Prison poster (Spicy Prison) depicting a Ferath embraced and choked by tentacles.


On a more spoiler-y territory, there's a quest chain -The Cult- which is about a cult of the Great One. The cult itself and the alien ancient creature were inspired by Cthulhu myths, and you, the player, can defeat the Great One at the end, and either end the cult or become the next incarnation of the Great One!



And to you, what is the most unsetteling thing you encountered during your stay in our lovely prison?

See you behind bars!

The Wooden Alien Team

Hello there, inmates!

It’s time for our eleventh dev blog, and this one is special for two reasons. First—International Women’s Day is just around the corner, and second—we’re kicking off a special sale for our game Space Prison to celebrate! Today, we won’t be focusing solely on combat or weaponry. Instead, we’d like to shine a light on our philosophy of equality and diversity in the galactic world, as well as share a behind-the-scenes look at how it all works within our Wooden Alien team.



[h3]From the Start: Zero Discrimination[/h3]
From our earliest sketches of Space Prison, we knew we wouldn’t define our characters based on gender. In everyday life, we don’t discriminate against people because of their gender or sexual orientation—why would we do that in our game? The main differentiators among characters in Space Prison remain their cosmic race and their personality, not whether they’re male, female, or belong to any other gender identity. We initially wanted to introduce an even wider variety of gender identities and alien species, but the project grew so large that we couldn’t fit everything into our development schedule.



[h3]Women, Men, and… Beyond?[/h3]
Pop culture works like Orange Is the New Black showcase the challenges women face in prison, as well as how strong they can become in such an environment. That series is primarily about women in prison—Space Prison, however, did not aim for the same themes. Our galactic prison focuses on survival among aliens and bizarre technologies, not on gender divisions. We knew from the start that we wanted women, men, and all sorts of alien life forms in our correctional facility. Everyone here plays an equally important role, and the only differences that matter are their personalities—and maybe some biological quirks if they’re from a species with extra tentacles.



[h3]Body and Identity[/h3]
Our unique body-switching mechanic in Space Prison lets you assume the form of a different gender—or even a different alien species. Throughout the game, you’ll encounter storylines dealing with personal identity: what if someone doesn’t feel comfortable in their original body? In certain quests, you’ll grapple with the consequences of crossing that line and switching to a completely different body. This serves as our metaphor for gender transition in the real world.



Moreover, Space Prison celebrates freedom in matters of affection and relationships. Romantic bonds between characters of the same gender are common in our cosmic setting—because after all, who’s going to be shocked by that when you’re surrounded by three-eyed aliens and mechanical cyborgs?

[h3]Equality in the Wooden Alien Team[/h3]
Before we dive back into the depths of interstellar cells, we want to shed some light on our everyday reality. At Wooden Alien, we don’t hire people based on gender or stereotypes. We value skills, creativity, and a willingness to work in a tight-knit team. Over the last year, our team makeup has been nearly balanced—50% men and 50% women. One of our co-founders and our Art Director is Barbara Wiszyńska-Kubit, whose visionary art concepts shape the unique atmosphere of Space Prison and bring depth and character to our ideas.


[h3]Women’s Day and a Galactic Sale[/h3]
In honor of Women’s Day, we’re launching a special sale with a 40% discount. If you haven’t yet had the chance to explore our cosmic prison adventures, now is the perfect time to jump in. Enjoy discovering all the secrets of Space Prison, and have a fantastic Women’s Day—no matter whether you’re on Earth or somewhere far, far away!


Thank you for your support, and don’t miss out on the sale—or you might find yourself in solitary confinement for a week!

See you behind bars!

The Wooden Alien Team

Welcome, Space Adventurers, to the tenth installment of our dev blog series!

But first, we have an amazing sale starting today with a 40% discount on the game and 10% on the Supporter Pack until the 27th of January!


Today, we’re peeling back the layers of Space Prison to reveal the rich tapestry of inspirations and pop culture references that make up its DNA. From intergalactic drama to quirky Easter eggs, let’s take a deep dive into the galactic soup that flavors Space Prison.

[h3]Narrative Inspirations[/h3]

Every epic idea starts somewhere, and for Space Prison, that “aha!” moment came from the unforgettable prison break scene in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Imagine a blender where that scene, along with the tangled webs of loyalty and betrayal from Orange Is the New Black and Prison Break, were mixed into a narrative smoothie—voilà, the cosmic chaos of Space Prison was born.

But wait, there’s more! Players have pointed out that our game gives off vibes reminiscent of Citizen Sleeper and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. We’re over the moon to hear that because who doesn’t want their creation to stand alongside classics of existential sci-fi and absurd interstellar wit?


[h3]Easter Eggs Galore[/h3]

Pop quiz: How many Easter eggs can fit into a maximum-security space prison? Answer: more than we can count (or remember). We’ve hidden so many nuggets of nerdy joy throughout the game that even we’re sometimes surprised when we stumble across them.

Why did we do it?

1. Sci-Fi Love Affair: We’re die-hard fans of everything sci-fi. Leaving these little breadcrumbs is our love letter to the genre.
   
2. Brain Tickles: Few things are as satisfying as spotting a sly reference, like finding a $20 bill in an old jacket pocket. It’s our way of winking at our fellow geeks.
   

Some Easter eggs are cheeky nods, while others are more like secret sauces that marinated our storytelling. For example, our collectible posters from the fictional Steamy Games platform include "totally legit" titles like Manner Lords, Cult of the Limb, and Baldur’s Lace 3.


And then there’s the Frankenstein-inspired quest where you help an inmate piece together their “friend” from spare body parts. Or how about Lois, the investigative journalist who deliberately got locked up to expose prison secrets (yes, a nod to Superman). Let’s not forget Loretta, a gender-bending space pirate, a nod to Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Even our prison metal band poster of the horned duo Horny Destruction shouts out to Metallica’s Ride the Lightning. The prison is littered with nods like these, but we’ll leave the rest for you to discover. After all, a little mystery keeps things spicy.



[h3]Visual Inspirations[/h3]
If Space Prison had a mood board, it would be a collage of bold lines, brooding shadows, and vibrant colors. Our art director, Basia, channeled the spirit of Mike Mignola’s comics and mixed it with the graphic flair of Darkest Dungeon, Hades, and Griftlands. The result? A visual style that’s one part graphic novel, one part fever dream, and 100% cosmic cool.



Players have called it "Darkest Dungeon in space," which we take as the highest compliment. But where Darkest Dungeon embraced its gothic gloom, we’ve thrown in a splash of galactic graffiti to give it that extra interstellar edge.

[h3]Gameplay Influences[/h3]
Designing Space Prison’s gameplay was like building a spaceship: every bolt and rivet had to fit just right. We pulled inspiration from several legendary titles, but only when it made sense for our vision of life in a high-stakes space prison.

• [h3]Darkest Dungeon: [/h3]Our combat system borrows its tight, turn-based tactics from Darkest Dungeon, but we cranked it up by adding environmental hazards like acid pools and alien eggs. These aren’t just obstacles—they’re tools for clever players to exploit. Think of it as a chessboard where the pieces occasionally explode.
  
  
  
  
• [h3]Don’t Starve: [/h3]Managing resources in a prison is no picnic. Inspired by Don’t Starve, we’ve made survival all about scrounging and crafting. Add in the prison twist—scarcity, contraband, and crafting stations hidden across the facility—and you’ve got a system that’ll keep you on your toes.
  
  
  
  
• [h3]Mass Effect & Shadow of Mordor:[/h3] Social dynamics are the lifeblood of Space Prison. Taking cues from Mass Effect’s loyalty quests, we crafted personal storylines for inmates. Meanwhile, Shadow of Mordor’s hierarchical nemesis system inspired our gang mechanics, where alliances and betrayals can make or break your climb to the top.
  

[h3]A Galactic Melting Pot[/h3]

Space Prison is more than just a game—it’s a mosaic of the stories, styles, and systems that shaped us as creators. From the cinematic chaos of Guardians of the Galaxy to the tactical brilliance of Darkest Dungeon, we’ve taken the best bits of our favorite works and, hopefully, spun them into something uniquely ours.

We can’t wait for you to dive into the prison and uncover all the nods, winks, and surprises we’ve hidden inside. Got a favorite reference? Spotted something we missed? Let us know—we’re all ears (and maybe a few tentacles).

Until next time, keep your cell key close and your enemies closer.

- The Space Prison Team -

Hello there inmates,

Our ninth devblog has arrived and if you're new to the prison, you may want to know what threats are looming behind bars during your very veryyyyy long stay in our facility. What do you mean "you thought it was the most secure prison out of space?". Well it is, just not for you, inmate!

Space Prison was designed to be dangerous from the start. Surviving here is about as easy as trying to win a staring contest with a black hole. No surprise there, considering one of the main inspirations for the game was the prison scene from Guardians of the Galaxy, featuring the galaxy’s finest scum and villains.

But what’s the biggest threat in a place like this? Well, take your pick:

[h3]1. The Conditions[/h3]
Space Prison is a massive fortress floating in the void of space, built to keep criminals locked inside. They budgeted enough for thick walls but ran out of cash when it came to giving prisoners decent living conditions. The food? A sad gray mush, and yep, you gotta pay for it. The showers? Broken. Sanitation? Don’t even ask.



Your first challenge is keeping yourself fed—easier said than done when hunting for food often means avoiding becoming food yourself.

But hey, food is just the bottom tier of the needs pyramid, right? What’s the point of surviving if there’s nothing to live for? Hope is another key resource you’ll need to manage. Sometimes, it’s the little things—a better meal, a rare hot shower—that keep you going. Lose your motivation, and when danger strikes, your will to fight might bail on you faster than your cellmate during a riot.



[h3]2. The Other Prisoners[/h3]
And then there’s... well, everyone else. Did you really think you’d walk in, high-five the other inmates, and share a laugh over your morning bowl of synthetic oatmeal? Think again.

Sure, you might make a friend or two, but most of these folks are hardcore criminals. Join a gang, and maybe some of your new buddies will back you up—but you’ll also inherit their enemies, who’d love to crush a rookie like you. Threats, extortion, and the occasional beatdown? That’s just a regular Tuesday.



If you want to keep what’s yours, you’ll have to fight for it. Luckily, if you do your homework—like studying the strengths and weaknesses of your rivals and picking the right gear and crew—you might survive another day.

[h3]3. Combat[/h3]
Speaking of fights, let’s talk battle tactics. It’s not just your enemies you have to watch out for—combat arenas are filled with hazards that can explode in your face if you’re not careful.



But hey, if you’re smart, you can turn that chaos to your advantage. See that toxic egg sitting precariously in the corner? Time it right, and you can blow it up just as your enemy strolls by. Or maybe shove them onto an armed grenade left on the floor. The trick is to be the one doing the shoving, not the one getting shoved.

[h3]4. Fauna and Flora[/h3]
Other prisoners aren’t your only problem. Space Prison is so big, the system stopped bothering to keep it tidy ages ago. Every corridor and shadowy nook is teeming with alien creatures that seem to multiply daily.



Sometimes, just heading to the bathroom feels like gearing up for war—armor on, knife in hand, and maybe a couple of battle-hardened rats by your side. And if someone catches you queuing for the shower like that? Trust me, no one’s batting an eye.

[h3]5. The System[/h3]
Last but not least: The System. These are the folks who were supposed to “rehabilitate” us. We’d heard rumors, but we didn’t believe them—until we landed here. That’s when we met them face-to-face: the armed-to-the-teeth guards, the genetically enhanced robo-dogs, and the ever-watchful combat drones.



They’re the ones keeping us caged like animals. They’re the ones stripping away our freedom and dignity day after day. And eventually, they’re the ones we’ll have to take down if we ever want to reclaim what’s rightfully ours.

Survival in Space Prison isn’t just a challenge—it’s a lifestyle. Think you’ve got what it takes?

We hope we did not scare you too much and you will enjoy your stay, it's not as if you have the choice in coming into the prison or not!

See you behind bars!
Wooden Alien Team

Hey inmates,

Excited to be part of the Turn-based carnival to celebrate so many great games! You can buy Space Prison with a 30% discount during the event until the 20th of November.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1865930/Space_Prison/

Curious about the turn-based mechanics in Space Prison? Check out our dev blog where you can learn the early stages of the game but also the specifity of a turn-based combat system in a closeted space like a prison.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/1865930/announcements/detail/4530150757095178403?snr=2___

Behave nicely inmates and you may see your life sentence in the prison reduced from infinite to only 30 000 years, a true opportunity!

Stay tuned for the upcoming news about the game.

See you behind bars!
Wooden Alien Team