Platforms: PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 (TBA)
Developer: Cyberwave
Publisher: Rokaplay, Metaroot
Price: $29.99 / £24.99 / €29.99
The Germany-based team known now as Cyberwave got their first big break in February of 2025, under the name DoubleBee. Their breakout title, aptly named A Game About Digging A Hole quickly gained traction online for its simple premise, selling over 1 million copies.
Following this, they would set their focus on 3D Puzzle games, which visually share a large resemblance to Solarpunk. This title feels like their first big experiment, boasting an expansive coop experience for you and a group of friends.
In Solarpunk you’ll take to the skies as you find yourself floating among an array of technically advanced islands. You can farm, make your own village, or even just set sail for hours on end.
The game tries to set itself apart from other survival crafters by putting more of a focus on automation, and sky exploration in the form of airships. Made by just two developers, Solarpunk spent 4 years in development, a true testament to the amount of love that was poured into this title.
Our review for Solarpunk was conducted with the PC version.
The Highs
Smooth Sky Sailing
You’ll quickly find that, when starting out in Solarpunk, most of your time is spent working toward quite literally flying the nest. This comes in the form of an airship, which serves as the main method of exploration in the game as you attempt to flee momentarily from your home island.
Flying controls are always tricky to get right in game development. On one hand, making them too difficult can create accessibility issues for certain players. On the other hand, if the controls are too simple, the gameplay may end up feeling slightly monotonous.
Fortunately, in the case of Solarpunk, I felt it struck a nice balance between the two. The controls were a lot to take in at first, but the on-screen prompts helped me learn to pilot the airship fairly quickly.
While flying, I never felt like a master of the skies, nor did I feel completely incapable of making progress. This might go unnoticed by some, but achieving that balance is tough in general, and it’s something I personally appreciated a lot when I played.
Lots To Explore
As you explore the many islands in the world of Solarpunk, you’ll quickly realize that your growth depends on what you find in the sky. This means seeking out specific materials, such as new crops or ores on other islands just out in the distance.
In survival games like Minecraft or even ARK, it can sometimes be easy to get too comfortable at your starting location. Despite having a vast world to progress through, you may feel hesitant to venture out. That wasn’t something I felt in my world here at all. Exploration is clearly a necessity in Solarpunk, for better or worse.
I’ll touch on this deeper a little later in this review, as the progression system is certainly a mixed bag. That being said, however, I did feel like the game did a good job at making it clear to the player that in order to improve, you’d need to set sail sooner rather than later.
The main beneficiary of your exploration is the game’s energy system. While I won’t go into too much detail in our review to avoid general spoilers, you’ll soon discover that the key to unlocking your methods of automation lies ahead on the many islands scattered across your world.
There’s also a notable variety in the overall feel of the islands as you discover them. Some are clearly meant to function as trading posts, while others act as resource outcrops for you to use as you come and go. It provides a nice juxtaposition when you compare the key features of each one.
Beauty On Display
When initially researching information about Solarpunk in the lead-up to this review, I found many naysayers suggesting that this genre of game is a dime a dozen. While I’m sure there’s absolutely some truth in that, it’d be unfair to suggest that Solarpunk isn’t a beautiful game.
The grass is the right shade of green, the sky is an expressive blue. The overall feel of the world you’re tasked with conquering in Solarpunk, although a very widely seen concept, has been captured well here by the developers.
Supporting a lobby of up to 4 like-minded automation enthusiasts, I feel Solarpunk will find its larger audience relatively fast. It’s the sort of cozy game you pass time in as you assign tasks to your group, with everyone chipping in as you build up your own safe space. The eye-catching visuals do a great job at pulling you in, and realizing upon starting up your world that it wasn’t just Photoshop magic, is a real relief.
The Lows
Drying Up On Materials
The issue with a game that relies heavily on exploring other islands is that, when you’re unable to reach them, you can run into sustainability issues with your own materials.
I had a major problem during my time with Solarpunk where I needed farmed materials to craft the airship required to access other islands. However, because I had already found all naturally growing instances of those materials, my only option was to farm the remaining resources myself.
This became a particular issue when I realized I’d need to wait for my one cotton seed to grow so I could get two seeds, then three, and so on. If plants like cotton can naturally grow on your starting island, I must’ve just been extremely unlucky during my playthrough.
My progression usually ended up with me standing by my crops, waiting for them to grow so I could afford the next upgrade in my journey. This is fine if your goal in Solarpunk is to take things slow, or just enjoy the beautiful environment. But for me, I wanted to progress quickly and discover what lurked on the surrounding islands, without my homegrown crops literally gating my growth.
Feeling Trapped
It was rather surprising to me that, outside of the tutorial, Solarpunk felt extremely claustrophobic in its progression. The island I started on was small and took all of ten minutes to fully explore, leaving me with the reality that the smaller secrets on my island I had hoped for simply didn’t exist. There was no cave to dive into for hidden objects to advance my island, and the above-ground resources were limited to basic things like wood and stone.
I’m unsure what I would have done at this point without the tutorial, as my progression felt entirely dependent on it. The reliance on the crafting table, for me personally, made exploration on my base island feel somewhat redundant.
I already knew I’d be crafting in this game, but what I wasn’t expecting was that, without using it constantly, I’d remain completely stranded in a rather dull space. This isn’t out of the ordinary for these kinds of games, but I would’ve really loved to see the developers take more risks with the starting island, instead of saving them for later on in the game.
Missing Polish
I think one aspect that’s important to nail in a game like Solarpunk is the overall feedback you feel when performing actions. Does a tree noticeably get chunks of wood taken away as you hit it? Do rocks crack more and more as you break them down? In the case of Solarpunk, this is sadly almost never the case.
For example, chopping a bush with an axe lacks any real feedback. There’s no noticeable particle effect to visually indicate what you’ve just done. Core mechanics, such as object tooltips, also seem to be somewhat missing, often leaving you unsure whether you’re looking at rock or sandstone.
The tutorial is also rather lacking. While it will absolutely help you navigate the progression of the game, it feels a little stunted. I think what Solarpunk could really benefit from is some form of friendly NPC who pops up from time to time. I’d help attach a face to an otherwise faceless world when starting out (until you eventually meet others).
The settings menu also leaves much to be desired. It may not be important to some players, but I’d argue it’s an integral part of any game, especially on PC.
There’s a notable absence of customizable video settings, which is something I personally always look for in games. Instead, you’re given a general quality selection with no specifics provided. While this is a handy touch for users with weaker hardware, if you’re hoping to, say, turn off foliage specifically, you won’t find that level of freedom here.
Our Score
6.5/10 (Cozy, but Needs More Time to Cook )
It’s always tough to give a game a less desirable score, especially when it’s a game you know has had endless amounts of passion pumped into it. I love the idea, and overall feel of Solarpunk on paper, but it definitely feels like it’s a good few quality-of-life updates away from being truly worth a higher ranking in my book.
It feels like a solid start no doubt. Sadly though, various aspects of the game do feel either underdeveloped, or overlooked entirely. Luckily from the research I had done on the game prior to my time playing, it would appear that Solarpunk has a dedicated duo of devs behind it. I can’t say with full certainty that they’ll stick with this game as it hopefully gathers a large following, but I sure do hope so.
Solarpunk is a cozy experience that no doubt will be a fun way to pass some time with friends. However, as a solo player, my nights were lonely, and I often found myself wanting more from the world I inhabited. While a fun time it absolutely is, I feel it needs just a little more time in the oven.
Main Reviewer: EpicNNG (originally published June 5, 2026)
