Tales from the Tides - January Dev Log

Reef Guardians - what a way to start 2026! The year has just begun and we have so many things to share, from exciting playtest news to fresh features we’ve added to the game.

Public Closed Beta - Dive in from 9th February!

We’re super excited to kick off our public closed beta and anyone can sign up to join! You’ll be able to experience new features and shape the future of Life Below.

What’s New?

Some of the new features we’ve added are:

• We’ve completely reworked the onboarding and how mechanics are introduced. The learning curve should now be much smoother, no more getting tangled in the seaweed not knowing what to do next!

• We’ve added new environments, fish and biomes. Each biome brings its own challenges and its own schools of colourful useful wildlife waiting to be attracted to your growing reef.

• The growth tree has blossomed with brand new nodes, deep growth systems and advanced corals. These additions allow you to optimise production and adapt to the changing environments.

• We’ve also added more story and events. As your reef grows, so do the threats around it. Gaia will expect more from you and there may be consequences if you don’t deliver…

This covers the major additions to the playtest version and we can’t wait to hear your feedback! You can sign up to the playtest here.

Behind the Scenes with Megapop

You might have also seen our brand new Q and A video series on YouTube with the developers, Megapop! The first episode dives into game design and programming with Lise, Thor, SIV and ITR, exploring what went into crafting Life Below.

We had so much fun getting to know more about the behind the scenes of making Life Below, check out our TikTok for outtakes and you can watch the full episodes here on YouTube.

What’s Next?

During the playtest we’ll be monitoring your feedback closely and making changes to the full game. We plan to relaunch the demo with those improvements, so even if you miss out on the beta you’ll still have a chance to experience Life Below early.

Thanks for being part of this journey, we can’t wait to share more!

Until the next tide,

Everyone at Megapop & Kasedo Games