Twinkleby News

[p]We’re back with another diary – this time we’re excited to share the iterative process that led us to the design of chests and stellars that will be in the final version of Twinkleby. See, the challenge of designing Twinkleby has always been to balance the building and decoration with the sim element of the neighbours; we want to tie it all together, and make the neighbours directly affect how and why you receive stellars and chests, without getting in the way of players autonomously progressing through the islands in the star chart.[/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: part of the original chest mechanic sketch; an inhabitant finding a chest location.[/p][p]In the original design for chests, for example, neighbours would find them for you. In order to find hidden chests on the islands, you would need a neighbour to move in, and over time, they would wander around and discover the chests underground. Once a neighbour had found the chest, you could unearth it, and claim the reward. This is how the chests work in the demo, and it was when we observed players interact with the game on a larger scale that we reconsidered the design.[/p][p]One of the core principles of game design is to keep the player’s actions and agency in mind. If things simply happen to the player, or if the player progresses “passively” without having it correlate with actions they’ve taken, there needs to be a good reason as to why. And while our original reason for why the neighbours would find chests for the players felt like a good way for them to be useful in the game progression, it did end up feeling like it relegated players to a more passive role.[/p][p]This is how we ended up creating the new chest mechanic. Instead of being hidden underground, the chests of Twinkleby now fall from the sky – much like everything else in the game world. Twinkleby has a cyclical nature to it, where everything can (and will) be recycled; throwing things over the island’s edge to return them to your inventory; sending neighbours flying away with their umbrellas when they’ve overstayed their welcome, only to have them revisit at a later date. Anything that’s been thrown away has a way of returning to you, and now; things that someone else has thrown away has a chance of making its way into your inventory, if you manage to catch the falling chest.[/p][p] [/p][p]Pictured: when implementing the new chest design, a single typo was enough to trigger a chest event of horrific, boss level-proportions.[/p][p]Similarly, stellars were always a part of the game’s progression, but overtime they grew into something that is tightly connected to player actions and Twinkleby’s sim elements. Sure, stellars fall from the sky, but they are also earned through decoration – with a chance of spawning as you build your intergalactic dioramas. Beyond that, their spawn rate is tied to the happiness of your neighbours; a happy island will increase the frequency with which the stellars appear.[/p][p]In Twinkleby, your actions make the stars fall; in Twinkleby, you are the one noticing and catching the falling chests, and – to close the loop – you’re the one throwing things into space, starting the cycle of “falling things” anew.[/p][p][/p][p]See y'all next week, and in the meantime; sparkle on ✨[/p]

[p][/p][p]Explore lush islands, decorate your dreamscape and attract quirky neighbors! We are incredibly happy to let you know that our upcoming cozy game Twinkleby will be featured at the Future Games Show during gamescom 2025.[/p][p]
Set for release in 2025 on PC, Mac, and Linux, Twinkleby will also be fully compatible with Steam Deck.
Keep an eye out for Twinkleby at the Future Games Show 2025!
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(The stream goes live on Wednesday, August 20 at 11am PDT / 8pm CEST. Set a reminder to watch!)
While waiting for the stream, play the Twinkleby Demo on Steam![/p][p]

About Twinkleby[/p][p]
Welcome to Twinkleby — a whimsical skybound sandbox where cozy decoration meets delightful absurdity.[/p][p]Sail across a glittering archipelago of floating islands, furnishing and customizing adorable houses and lush gardens. Mix and match items, colors, patterns, and even the weather, season, and backdrop to create your perfect dreamscape.[/p][p]
Your decorating style will attract an ever-changing cast of quirky residents, each with their own personalities that shape how they interact with the world — and with each other. Keep them happy and they’ll shower you with gifts to say thanks.[/p][p][/p][p]
If you don’t like what you’ve created, you can toss unwanted houses, furniture, or trinkets right over the island’s edge — everything will safely boomerang back into your collection. And if a neighbor’s charm wears thin, pack up their bag and send them floating off into the starlit skies.[/p][p][/p][p] Of course, you can also keep your cherished creations exactly as they are, expanding your adventures deeper into the twinkling expanse — who knows, perhaps you’ll stumble upon secret islands waiting to be discovered …[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]
Find out more and wishlist Twinkleby on Steam!
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[p]Recently a heatwave passed through Stockholm, leaving chill air and mercurial rains in its wake. We're nearing fall, and with it – the release of Twinkleby ✨ We're feeling nervous, nostalgic, and above all very, very hyped to finally share the full game with y'all, so over this transitional time between summer and fall, we will post weekly updates about our development journey. The early concepts, the wacky bugs, and everything in-between. Strap in, and join us on this trip amongst the stars.[/p][p]When we started building the game that eventually grew into Twinkleby, there were some core ideas we had early on. We love the serene builder genre, and were intrigued to explore it for ourselves. We were looking to some of our older game worlds – Pid, Meadow – to draw inspiration for gameplay and setting, and by the time we’d been influenced by the intergalactic setting of Pid, we knew that our next steps should be focused on sound.[/p][p]Through the years, we’ve worked with the musicians for Retro Family for most of our soundtracks, and with Twinkleby we wanted to do something special. As we created concepts for all of the scenery settings we wanted the player to control – day/night, weather, backdrops and the changing seasons – we realized that we wanted all of these to interconnect seamlessly with the music.[/p][p][/p][p]Pictured: to the left, the original music assembly prototype, and to the right, alpha footage featuring the scenery/music selection[/p][p]Over the next week, one of our engineers created one of the first game prototypes; a scenery selection-window, where she had composed unique melodies for every different option. At this point, we could play around with how to best break up the music structure and tie different instruments to different scenery, and then we could loop in Retro Family, and together compose the ever-changing soundtrack of Twinkleby.[/p][p]This spring, as we were wrapping up work on our demo, we playtested the game with Stockholm University. During these tests, we were curious to find out whether the students would pay attention to the changing soundtrack, and if so, what their favorite music would be. At the end of the test, there was a clear winner for the demo version of the game; a lot of students reported that the best scenery combination for ultimate relaxation was: nighttime, the starry backdrop, and a light rain. [/p][p]Picture: monitors displaying the Twinkleby demo set to starry and nighttime, with teachers and Might and Delighters in the foreground[/p][p]From the beginning, Twinkleby was developed with a love for music – and an appreciation for the wonderful musicians we’ve worked with during our fifteen years as a studio. We’re so excited to share more musical vibes with you all in the lead-up to the release, and cannot wait to hear what kind of soundscapes you compose for your islands.[/p][p]See y'all next week, and in the meantime; sparkle on ✨[/p]

[p]We’ve got quite an eventful summer and fall lined up for Twinkleby, and next up is ChinaJoy 2025, running from July 29 - August 4 on Steam Global ✨[/p][p][/p][p]Visit (or re-visit 💙) the Twinkleby demo, and explore the new additions, including more items and scenery. Create a summery outdoor dreamscape, with fluffy clouds and blue skies, or create eerie gothic scenes, with a velvety midnight, distant stars and billowing, thick mist. As you change the scenery, you change the soundtrack, and compose your very own starlit diorama.[/p][p][/p][p]Join us in this charming little first slice of Twinkleby, and let us know what you’re most excited to see in the full game – and which soundscapes you find most relaxing ✨[/p][p][/p][p]The Might & Delight team[/p]

[p]We’re delighted to announce that Twinkleby will be featured in the Steam China Showcase 2025, running from July 23-29 on Steam Global ✨ What better way to get ready for the Twinkleby release this fall than by playing our demo, and building your own cozy corner of the sky? Decorate your island, furnish your houses, encounter the first two quirky neighbours of the Twinkleby universe, and if you want a do-over: evict everyone and throw the items into space![/p][p]Since its initial release this spring, the Twinkleby demo has been upgraded with more items and scenery, allowing you to build in the dreamy summery outdoors, and to create gothic scenes filled with billowing fog and flickering candles.[/p][p]Join us in this charming little first slice of Twinkleby, and let us know what you’re most excited to see in the full game✨[/p][p]The Might & Delight team[/p][p][/p][p][/p]