Core gameplay
- Voxel excavation and construction
- Rooms, farms, storage, and production
- Colonist needs, skills, and work priorities
- Relationships, death, body transport, and burial
- Weather, seasons, saving, and loading
Publisher pitch
DEEP COLONY
A voxel colony sim where players dig, build, and organize a settlement in one continuous 3D world. Terrain, rooms, production, seasons, and colonist relationships create connected chains of consequences.
For players of: Going Medieval, RimWorld, Timberborn, and Colony Survival
Genre Colony sim / survival / sandbox
Platform PC
Status Playable development build
Build Private Windows build available on request
The core loop
Explore, extract, build, and prepare the colony for new challenges.
01ExploreRead terrain, water, seasons, and underground ore.
02ExtractCut trees, mine layers, harvest berries, and plant farms.
03BuildShape multi-level rooms, workshops, storage, and defenses.
04AutomateAssign priorities and turn raw materials into food, tools, and armor.
05AdaptRespond to cold, hunger, relationships, death, wildlife, and the next season.
Feature 01 / Voxel construction
Dig and build in the same space.
Players reshape terrain and make it part of the settlement.
Floors, ceilings, bridges, stairs, doors, and caves support construction above, below, and inside the ground.
Feature 02 / Seasonal survival
Winter must be planned for in advance.
Weather and seasons change how the colony lives.
Winter stops plant growth, increases fuel demand, and forces the player to plan warmth, production, and food storage ahead of time.
Feature 03 / Colonist lives
Events leave a lasting mark.
Colonists have needs, skills, relationships, and moods.
They form friendships, clash, gain experience, and grieve. Death leaves a body to recover and bury, while surviving colonists remember what happened.
Current state
What can already be tested in the build.
Release preparation
- Interface and onboarding
- Resource balance and progression pace
- Large-colony optimization
- Visual consistency and animation
- Regression testing
Content and release
- Additional events and threats
- Expanded production chains
- Sound and music
- Localization
- Store page and marketing assets
Build dateUpdated before publisher submission
Review time30-45 minutes
Suggested testBuild a basic shelter, establish food and fuel production, assign colonist priorities, and observe seasonal and social systems.
Build access: Private Windows PC build available on request. Target hardware: mid-range gaming PC. Build date: updated before submission.
Development roadmap
15 months, funded against playable outcomes.
| Milestone | Player-facing outcome | Exit criteria | Timing / funding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vertical slice | One polished seasonal colony arc from landing to first winter. | Stable onboarding, representative art, clear fail state, external playtest. | Months 1-3 / 20,000 USD |
| Content alpha | Progression, threats, production, and building set support repeat campaigns. | All core systems present, content pipeline proven, balance telemetry active. | Months 4-8 / 35,000 USD |
| Beta | Complete game with final UX and broad hardware coverage. | Feature lock, localization-ready text, performance targets, closed testing. | Months 9-13 / 35,000 USD |
| Release candidate | Commercial PC launch candidate. | Critical bugs closed, store assets ready, launch build and release checklist complete. | Months 14-15 / 20,000 USD |
Schedule begins after funding and contracting. Each payment is tied to an accepted playable milestone.
Budget
90,000 USD for 15 months of production.
| Use | Calculation / purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Project author | 1,000 USD x 15 months, part-time compensation | 15,000 USD |
| Unity developer | 2,000 USD x 15 months, production reinforcement | 30,000 USD |
| 3D, animation and VFX | Contracted production package | 18,000 USD |
| Audio and music | Contracted production and implementation | 5,000 USD |
| QA | Alpha, beta and release testing | 7,000 USD |
| Localization and LQA | Translation and language testing | 3,000 USD |
| Software, legal and administration | Tools, contracts, accounting and fees | 3,000 USD |
| Production reserve | Schedule and contractor contingency | 9,000 USD |
| Total ask | PC development budget, excluding publisher marketing | 90,000 USD |
Team
A solo-led project with focused production reinforcement.
Yerlan Issayev - Solo Developer / Game Designer
Created the current playable build independently, including procedural voxel generation, construction, production, colonist AI and needs, relationships, seasons, combat, saves, and UI. Owns product direction, core architecture, and release decisions.
Unity Developer - Planned Reinforcement
Joins after funding to expand gameplay content and UI, improve performance, and fix bugs. Technical ownership and core architecture remain with the project author.
External Specialists
3D and animation, audio, QA, localization, and legal support are contracted at the relevant production milestones.
The current build demonstrates the author's production capability. Additional specialists are scoped to defined milestones.
The ask
Help turn a broad playable simulation into a focused commercial release.
We are looking for
90,000 USD in milestone-based funding for 15 months of PC development. We are also seeking positioning and production support, marketing, platform relations, QA coordination, and launch support. The publisher marketing budget and any console ports are outside this development budget.
NEXT STEP
Play the build, then talk scope.
We would like feedback on positioning, production scope, and the strongest path to market after a hands-on build review.
Contact: Yerlan IssayevEmail: Available in the submission emailLinks: Trailer and project links available in the submission email