Why Early Access?

“We’ve been inviting players to playtest Timberborn since the very first months of its development in 2018. Beaver city-builders aren’t exactly an established genre, and your voice helps us decide what works and what doesn’t. Thanks to that feedback, the game's core is here, it’s fun to play, and we want to make it available for everyone.

We will now be adding more content ahead of the full release, and Early Access players will help us choose where to go next. During that time, Timberborn will still have that work-in-progress smell of fresh lumber.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We expect the Early Access to last at least a year. While we have ideas for what needs to be done before the full release (see below), players’ feedback affects that and we’re ready to put in additional time.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“Timberborn has been evolving based on what players want and that remains the plan for Early Access development. The players’ suggestions dictate the specifics of what we add next.

Whether that means additional beaver factions, more water-related gameplay, an expanded science system, new resources or fresh food chains – or something entirely different such as a trading system – depends on the feedback we receive.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“You may pick from two playable beaver factions and there’s a total of 100+ buildings, most of them faction-exclusive. There are 13 maps included in the game, and you can create your own map using the built-in editor or download one of the maps shared by other players.

You’ll be playing an endless survival mode where you expand your beaver colony. The world alternates between temperate weather, ever-deadlier droughts, and seasons of toxic waste flowing down the rivers. You can choose the difficulty, including a custom difficulty mode.

All core mechanics are here but may require further iterations. That includes vertical architecture, terraforming, 3D water physics, irrigation, food chains, power grids, district system, well-being system, day and night cycles, beaver bots, end-game monuments, and official mod support.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“As the game develops, we may increase the price during or after Early Access. There might be seasonal discounts during Early Access, including a launch discount for early adopters.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Before releasing major updates, we test the new content on Timberborn’s experimental branch, open to all players. We read all feedback on all our channels, including an official Discord server with 35,000+ users where we hang out with the community every day. For the bugs, we’ve got an in-game crash reporting tool and a public bug tracker with upvoting functionality. We’re also working with our community on the official Timberborn Wiki. Thanks to the official mod support, more and more player-made content is available each day, keeping things fresh.”