Indie developer and publisher SOPA Games shared more concept art in a new post on X this week for Deeplanders, a relaxing city builder and colony sim.

In Deeplanders, players will build and expand an underground kingdom for a civilization of cute “Deeplanders” who live underground. You can fulfill their needs at your own pace to progress and explore new depths. Players can also decorate kingdoms, and just watch the Deeplanders “live their lives.”

Deeplanders does not have a release date yet. However, it is “coming soon” according to the Steam page, where you can wishlist the game now.

The devs previously released a demo, which doesn’t seem available on Steam anymore, so I haven’t had the opportunity to play yet. But it did accompany a neat gameplay trailer:

Deeplanders quickly caught my attention by combining shadows and charm. Its sense of humor already appears to blend really well with the creepy quirks, and feels gently Burton-esque in a good way.

The cozy gameplay seems to be a natural foil for the gothic world and characters. I would love the time to just bask in the universe of games like Limbo, but the horror element tends to keep stories like that pretty swift. And, I appreciate that entire cities won’t die over one misstep.

Deeplanders could very well be a viable horror vacation, which definitely intrigues me. The gorgeous artwork is worth exploring. It’s filled with layered backgrounds, minimalist structures, and a little mystery.

I’m excited to see where Deeplanders and SOPA Games itself go from here, because this looks to be a promising, happily unusual indie.

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