Star Birds News

[p][/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes 0.1.3[/h2][p][/p][p]☀️ Fixes & Improvements Based on Community Feedback[/p][p][/p][h3]☀️ Multiple Save Files[/h3]

• [p]Added a "Load Game" button, which opens an overview of all existing save files for the current level.[/p]
• [p]Each save will now include a screenshot of the last visited asteroid, displayed in the overview.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Note 1: All previous save files will appear in the list but without a screenshot. A screenshot will be added once the save is loaded and an asteroid is entered.[/p][p]
Note 2: On first startup after the update, the game will regenerate metadata for all save files. This may cause a longer initial loading time.[/p][p][/p][h3]☀️ Achievement Rebalancing[/h3]

• [p]Removed achievements for completing sectors without upgrades.[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced some score achievements so they are only achievable with upgrades (Levels 03.1, 05.1, and 07).[/p]
• [p]Regular score achievements now use rainbow-colored icons and the "Star Bird" title.[/p]

[p]Note: If you already earned the "without upgrades" achievement, it will remain visible in your in-game overview but is no longer a Steam achievement.[/p][p][/p][h3]☀️ Skip Dialogues[/h3]

• [p]After completing a sector, a new option appears in the level selection screen to replay the sector without tutorials or dialogues.[/p]

[p]Note: Changing this option in Level Selection only affects new games started after the change, not existing save files.[/p][p][/p][h3]Bugfixes & Changes[/h3]

• [p]☀️ Sector 04: fixed save games not loading properly (Continue not working) after entering the excavation asteroid but not building an excavation hub.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Fixed cutscene subtitles triggering during the wrong cutscene after skipping one.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Fixed a bug where pathdrawing sounds could break and loop permanently.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Fixed cutscenes not resuming when closing the skip menu with the close button instead of pressing Esc.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Added rebindable "+" hotkey to upgrade selected building.[/p]
• [p]Fixed unplaced melters incorrectly melting ice when another melter was deleted during placement.[/p]
• [p]Added VFX for the ice extractor and melter.[/p]
• [p]Upgrading solar panels in Levels 05–07 no longer increases their energy from 0 to 1 in non-zenith areas; they now only increase from 1 to 2 inside zenith areas.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The best place to give feedback is our Discord server. There, we are running a Smart Ticketing System: Leave feedback, vote up change requests and bug reports from other users, and help us to prioritize tasks in the further development of Star Birds. [/p][p][/p][p] 🙏Thank you so much everyone for the overwhelming response, all your feedback, comments and bug reports! This helps us a lot to prioritize and identify issues with the game. We're trying to address the most critical issues as soon as we can. Please be patient though, since we're a small team and might take a while to address specific issues you're experiencing!🙏 [/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]TOP 5 Bugs-That-Are-No-Bugs in Star Birds. And How to Fix Them Anyway.[/p][p][/p][p]Some of the most frequently reported “bugs” in the game aren’t actually bugs at all. The good news: you don’t need to wait for a fix — you can keep playing right away, and in this article we’ll show you how![/p][p][/p][h2]TOP 5 Bugs-That-Are-No-Bugs[/h2][p][/p][h3]1. "I'm unable to connect pipes / power cables to the Excavation Hub!"[/h3][p]What you report:[/p]

• [p]Power cables from nuclear reactors or supply lines cannot be attached to the Excavation Hub.[/p]
• [p]Resources like water, light alloy, strong alloy, or refined materials get stuck in pipes / are not accepted by the Excavation Hub.[/p]
• [p]Progress quests requiring a lot of power or specific material delivery do not update even when the Excavation Hub is visibly supplied.[/p]

[p]The solution:[/p][p]Before you get started, make sure to accept the quest from Ruth — you won’t be able to connect anything to the Hub before you accept the quest. In Sector 5, you’ll then discover multiple strange objects. Be sure to deliver your resources to the correct Hub, as each one demands different materials.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]2. "I'm unable to place a Crucible / other required building in a small crater!"[/h3][p]What you report:[/p]

• [p]The game shows small craters, but they are not recognized as valid build spots.[/p]
• [p]Craters generate on elevated plateaus or ridges, making them inaccessible.[/p]
• [p]The small explosive used up all your Strange Points, now it's impossible to create artificial craters anywhere else.[/p]

[p]The solution:[/p][p]First, connect the plateaus with a Ramp — only then can you start building on them. If the Ramp isn't available yet, you can't access them at all and need to rely on the artificial craters created from Small Explosives. If you create the artificial crater at a wrong spot by accident, you can always recall the artificial crater to refund the Strange Point it required.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]3. "Resources delivered to the Station are not counted toward quest objectives!"[/h3][p]What you report:[/p]

• [p]The Station display shows that resources are being received, but the quest counter remains stuck at 0.[/p]
• [p]Reloading, restarting, or re-supplying does not fix the problem.[/p]

[p]The solution:[/p][p]You are probably working on an excavation quest. If so: Deliver the resources to the Excavation Hub, not to the Station.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]4. "Module quests request resources that are not accessible at the current stage!"[/h3][p][/p][p]What you report:[/p]

• [p]Required deposits may not spawn at all, or they appear only on higher plateaus that can’t be reached.[/p]
• [p]This creates a hard lock, since glass or other refined materials cannot be produced.[/p]

[p]The solution:[/p][p]Module quests will keep asking for new resources for every new module, no matter if certain buildings (like Ramp or Ice Extractor) have been unlocked yet. If you're stuck at module quests that you can't fulfill, follow the goal quests or research missing buildings first.[/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][p][/p][h3]5. "Research is stuck!”[/h3][p]What you report:[/p]

• [p]Research does not complete automatically over time.[/p]
• [p]Research is stuck or bugged.[/p]

[p]The solution:[/p][p]You probably mixed up quest progress with a time-based research. As all other quests, the research of building only progresses if you deliver the requested resources to your Station.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Even if these "bugs" are not bugs, your reports are still incredibly valuable. They highlight where our instructions aren’t clear enough and where the game should feel more intuitive. We’ll continue improving those points in future updates. Until then, feel free to share this article with other players and help each other out of these supposed softlocks. 🐞🐛[/p][p]
[/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]Download Star Birds & Join Our Newsletter[/h3][p]Star Birds is an indie project by Toukana Interactive and kurzgesagt. We are over the moon to have such an amazing community. You are the reason why this project exists. If you want to support us, download the game here on Steam, and tell your friends about it. If you would like to be the first to read content like this and are looking for more in-depth insights, we recommend our newsletter – sign up at toukana.com/starbirds.[/p]

[p]Delays, surprise launches, schedules all over the place – we teamed up with other indies to celebrate the chaos together![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]Disclaimer: Not Cozy, but Indie[/h2][p]Today, things won’t be cozy – but they will be indie. Consider this your friendly disclaimer: if you came here looking for cute animals, relaxing city builders, or a calm evening of puzzling, this bundle might not be for you. But if you’re ready to step outside your comfort zone, dive into new genres, and celebrate the full spectrum of the indie dev scene, then our September Bundle is exactly what you should check out.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h2]Our September Bundle: Enabled by Silksong [/h2][h2](*kind of ...)[/h2][p]Many of you asked how we feel about the Silksong release, and the fact that we had to push back the Early Access date for Star Birds. This bundle is our answer: We’re celebrating the indie scene even more and are thrilled that Team Cherry is bringing so much visibility to independent studios like ours.[/p][p]What all bundle games have in common: behind every title stands a small, independent studio – no big corporations here – just a handful of passionate developers pouring their hearts into their projects.[/p][p]If there’s one thing we feel most strongly in the indie scene, it’s that we’re all in this together. We make games with very different themes, vibes, and philosophies, but we learn from and with each other. And what unites us is clear: we want you, the players, to have a great time![/p][p][/p][h2]Star Birds – 100% Indie[/h2][p]As the first game in the bundle, Star Birds is as indie as it gets. Our two studios are funding the project entirely out of our own pockets. Toukana was founded five years ago, straight out of university. You liked our first title, Dorfromantik – and thanks to its success, we now have the opportunity to develop Star Birds as a follow-up project.[/p][p]The best part of being independent? We enjoy full creative freedom and short decision-making paths. The only people who get to tell us what to do are you – our community![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Games Featured in the Bundle[/h2][h3][/h3][p]Steam Event: Sep 22 7pm CEST – Sept 29 7pm CEST [/p][p]🎉Bundle: Coming later this week NOW available here!🎉[/p][p][/p][h3]Aethermancer by moi rai games[/h3][p]In Aethermancer, you fight alongside mythical creatures, explore the ever-changing Fractured Ruins, plan your moves in challenging turn-based battles, and watch your monsters grow stronger.[/p][p]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][h3]Deadly Days: Roadtrip by Pixelsplit[/h3][p]In Deadly Days: Roadtrip, you fight against zombie hordes. Fuel your bus, decide when to extract, and manage your inventory like a pro.[/p][p]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][h3]CloverPit by Panik Arcade[/h3][p]CloverPit is a rogue-lite slot machine nightmare. Locked in a rusty cell with a slot machine, you win at the end of each round, or fall to ruin – literally! The demonic lovechild of Balatro and Buckshot Roulette.[/p][p]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][h3]Baby Steps by Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy[/h3][p]In Baby Steps, you play Nate, an unemployed failson with nothing going for him, until one day he discovers a power he never knew he had… putting one foot in front of the other.[/p][p]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][h2]Sidekick Publishing? Sidekick Publishing![/h2][p]This Steam September Bundle is brought to you by Sidekick Publishing (previously INSTINCT3).[/p][p]Not only do we share the fact that we are based in Berlin, but also our passion for releasing new, fabulous indie games. We are delighted to have Sidekick Publishing as a new player in indie publishing and wish you all the best.[/p][p]
[/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]Download Star Birds & Join Our Newsletter[/h3][p]Star Birds is an indie project by Toukana Interactive and kurzgesagt. We are over the moon to have such an amazing community. You are the reason why this project exists. If you want to support us, download the game here on Steam, and tell your friends about it. If you would like to be the first to read content like this and are looking for more in-depth insights, we recommend our newsletter – sign up at toukana.com/starbirds.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h2]Patch Notes[/h2][p][/p][p]☀️ Fixes & Improvements Based on Community Feedback[/p][p][/p][h3]Bugfixes:[/h3]

• [p]☀️ Fixed an issue where the game would consume excessive memory and freeze when paused and left running for an extended period.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Fixed a bug where quickly placing a launchpad while moving the mouse could cause the placement to fail while still subtracting tech points and credits. This could lead to softlocks and occurred more frequently on lower-FPS PCs and Steam Deck.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Sector 03.1: Fixed ceramic not displaying a recipe in the wiki when playing this sector before Sector 04.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Fixed audio clips cutting off prematurely when fast-forwarding game speed.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Fixed custom key rebinds only initializing after opening the rebinding screen instead of loading automatically.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the rebind button not reverting to its default label when starting a different rebind process, which effectively canceled the current one.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Added a stick deadzone to prevent drifting on connected gamepads, which caused the asteroid to keep rotating.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Fixed the "Edge Rotation Enabled" setting reverting to its default value after restarting the game.[/p]

[h3]Achievements:[/h3]

• [p]☀️ Added a progress bar for most achievements — either counting down (e.g., for the Space Falcon challenge) or counting up.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Disabled "Achievement Missed" notifications if the achievement has already been unlocked.[/p]
• [p]Added a “missed” visual state (semi-transparent) to achievement badges.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Sector 05: Improved consistency of Hard Melting remaining ice area calculation. (Note: Ice can still spawn under craters, preventing the achievement from triggering — check the progress bar to confirm.)[/p]

[h3]Other Improvements:[/h3]

• [p]☀️ Implemented autosave at fixed intervals: the game now saves automatically when switching scenes if 3 minutes have passed, and after 6 minutes if staying in the same scene. This can be disabled in the settings menu.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Added descriptions to most resource and building wiki entries.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Improved performance when drawing very long rover paths.[/p]
• [p]☀️ When syncing game data with Steam Cloud, the game no longer considers it a first launch on a new PC (which would play the prologue cutscene and restart Level 01) if save data already exists.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Sector 01: Stats screen and score tooltip are now accessible before completing the sector.[/p]
• [p]Sector 01: The Intro cutscene no longer plays every time when restarting the sector after completing it once.[/p]
• [p]Sector 05: Removed inaccessible small craters from plateaus to avoid confusion.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Rover no longer moves while the game is paused.[/p]
• [p]☀️ Added a game resolution setting to the cutscene skip menu.[/p]
• [p]☀️ When a Strangelet is excavated (last excavation quest fulfilled), it now disappears from the asteroid and the excavation hub performing the excavation is destroyed, making it clear that the hub is no longer active.[/p]
• [p]Pause the cutscene playback while the cutscene skip menu is open.[/p]
• [p]Added social buttons to the credits screen for kurzgesagt’s Bluesky and TikTok profiles.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]The best place to give feedback is our Discord server. There, we are running a Smart Ticketing System: Leave feedback, vote up change requests and bug reports from other users, and help us to prioritize tasks in the further development of Star Birds. [/p][p][/p][p] 🙏Thank you so much everyone for the overwhelming response, all your feedback, comments and bug reports! This helps us a lot to prioritize and identify issues with the game. We're trying to address the most critical issues as soon as we can. Please be patient though, since we're a small team and might take a while to address specific issues you're experiencing!🙏 [/p]

[p]We have a message from mission control: Star Birds has officially climbed to Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam! 🎉[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Overwhelmingly Positive! That means over 500 of you have already left a review – in fact, as of writing this article, it’s 620 reviews, and 95% of you like Star Birds.[/p][p]For us as a small indie team, this is absolutely overwhelming. We launched Star Birds into Early Access on September 10, 2025, hoping you’d enjoy our mix of logistics, puzzles, and space science fiction – but seeing this level of excitement blows us away.[/p][p]Thank you for taking the time to share your first impressions with existing and future players. And with us. We appreciate every single review! [/p][p][/p][h2]Community Voices[/h2][p]And with the community flocking together, here are some voices from the Steam review section:[/p][p][/p]

[p]"a Very big logistical nightmare it was awful and suffering 10/10"
– SlimmerSauce392[/p]

[p]"This is the early release version of the game but the bones are solid. If you're a fan of resource management games like Satisfactory or Oxygen Not Included but with a more chill vibe, this is your game"
– TheTwelfthDoctor[/p]

[p]"Fun, relaxing puzzle game based ~85-90% in science (they admit they threw things in for the fun of it despite accuracy). All in all fantastic quantity and quality of content for its price."
– Velrai[/p]

[p]"Really like this game, it is fun, looks cute and has a great progression with the chapters. Feels not too overwhelming or stressful and is well balanced. The main story/chapters are doable and the optional extra badges are more challenging. Can recommend it :)" [/p][p]– Bina[/p]

[p]"The Demo was already really nice[/p][p]The Early Access version is even better[/p][p]Such an complex, yet cozy game[/p][p]Looking forward for future updates[/p][p]10/10 Would recommend"[/p][p]– Seaeagle15[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Saying Thanks[/h2][p]We’ll be using the Early Access phase to keep developing Star Birds closely with you, our community. Several content updates are already planned, bringing new features, levels, and improvements on the road to full release.[/p][p]As a small token of our gratitude, we’ve prepared a few goodies for you – check out this post to see what we’ve put together! [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]🪐 From the bottom of our hearts – thank you for making Star Birds possible! Writing a review is the best support you can give us right now. Thank you for testing & typing. [/p][p] [/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]Download Star Birds & Join Our Newsletter[/h3][p]Star Birds is an indie project by Toukana Interactive and kurzgesagt. We are over the moon to have such an amazing community. You are the reason why this project exists. If you want to support us, download the game here on Steam, and tell your friends about it. If you would like to be the first to read content like this and are looking for more in-depth insights, we recommend our newsletter – sign up at toukana.com/starbirds.[/p]