Beyond These Stars Review: A City Builder on the Back of a Space Whale
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Short answer: Beyond These Stars is a city builder set on the back of Kewa, a living space whale that carries your colony across the galaxy. Critics like its strange premise, its tightly linked production chains and its message about living with the world you build on. Players rate it Mostly Positive on Steam (77% of 96 English reviews). It is a full release, not Early Access, but reviewers warn it is not a game for beginners. If you enjoy demanding city builders with a twist, it is a good pick at $29.99.
What is Beyond These Stars?
Beyond These Stars is a sci-fi city builder from Balancing Monkey Games, published by Hooded Horse. Your settlers live on Kewa, a giant space whale with needs of its own. You shape the land on its back, build supply chains, set up outposts on nearby planets, trade and meet alien species, while keeping both your colonists and Kewa content.
| Developer | Balancing Monkey Games |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Hooded Horse |
| Release | 16 October 2026 (full release) |
| Platforms | Windows PC |
| Genre | City builder, simulation |
| Steam rating | Mostly Positive (77% of 96 English reviews) |
| Price | $29.99 |
What players and critics love
A city on a living creature
The premise is the hook. GamesRadar called it “the weirdest city-builder I’ve ever seen” when it first saw the game. Kewa eats asteroids, needs to cool down and has a trust level. If trust drops or you pollute too much, the whale can ignore the route you picked or leave a star system on its own. DBLTAP said the focus on listening to Kewa sets it apart from other city builders.
Systems that feed each other
Water, food, wood, mining and industry all connect. Mines run dry and must be replaced, and the by-products of one industry can clog it or be reused by another. LadiesGamers wrote that these links between buildings, resources and colonists make the colony feel alive, and that planning for future threats is fun problem-solving.
Shaping the land
You dig canals, lay topsoil, compost, raise or lower terrain, plant forests and expand the atmosphere. Forests make oxygen, and placing buildings well gives adjacency bonuses and shorter travel times. Pollution matters too: heavily polluted tiles turn toxic and shut down nearby factories, so cleaners and forests near industry become part of the plan.
A calm pace with a message
Vandal gave it 8/10 and praised its relaxing pace, pleasant visuals and audio, and its reduce, reuse, recycle themes, calling Kewa a compelling character in its own right. The Wand Report described it as a deceptively deep city builder.
Modes and progression
There is a campaign, a sandbox mode and challenge scenarios, with customisable difficulty and procedurally generated maps. A tech tree and perks bought with points unlock new options as your colony grows, and alien species bring objectives, trade and new technology.
What to know before you buy
- Steep learning curve. LadiesGamers says plainly that it is not for beginners. Reviewers found the interface crowded and some mechanics, such as terraforming, poorly explained.
- Few warnings. Vandal and Gamers & Games both noted that the game does not always tell you when something is going wrong.
- Story is the weaker part. Vandal found the story and colonist dialogue weaker than the gameplay, and saw occasional slowdowns.
- Mixed player reviews outside English. English reviews are Mostly Positive, but across all languages the score is Mixed (64% of 251). Some players find the pollution system punishing and storage hard to manage.
- Platforms. Steam lists Windows only. There is a free demo on Steam.
Who should buy Beyond These Stars?
Buy it if you have played a few city builders, enjoy production chains that need real planning and like an unusual setting. If you want something gentler to start with, our Nova Roma review covers a cosier builder, and our Against the Storm review looks at another Hooded Horse city builder with its own twist.
Sources
- Steam store page and user reviews for Beyond These Stars
- Hooded Horse launch press release
- Vandal: Beyond These Stars review
- LadiesGamers: Beyond These Stars review
- GamesRadar+: Beyond These Stars preview
- DBLTAP: Beyond These Stars preview
- Metacritic and OpenCritic critic listings
- Nexus store page for Beyond These Stars
Last checked against sources: 11 November 2026.
