Starside Weekly - 01.23.2026

THAT’S NO MOON

A huge number of changes have been made in this update. The largest of those changes is the new training base on the moon of Haven that you encounter after you finish the Hallway experience with a new character.

Eventually, the new player’s path will be:

Preamble → Hallway → Haven → Crucible → TPL Starbase and Beyond

Currently, Haven is completed and we’re working on Crucible, so you’ll skip the Crucible step for now and move directly from Haven to the Transplanetary League Starbase.

You must create a new character to experience this part of That’s No Moon. Existing characters cannot go to Haven.

Steam post image The town of Haven at night.

SO WHAT IS HAVEN?

Haven is the name of a moon where a Transplanetary League training base has been built for the specific purpose of training new recruits.

It is a thriving township built around the same concepts as the GovBot townships you have seen and built on other planets. This includes its own mayor, Bob Howard, who greets all residents personally.

The citizens of Haven will send you on a dozen or so short missions crafted to introduce you to fundamental elements needed to understand and enjoy playing Stars Reach.

You’ll receive Klaatu and XP awards along the way, as well as earning your first tools, and even making your first weapon.

Everything else should be self-explanatory, and if it’s not, that’s exactly why we’re running these playtests. Please let us know if anything is confusing or tedious! We’d even enjoy hearing if you think it’s fun!

SYSTEMS CREATED OR CHANGED FOR HAVEN

• Underlying mechanisms and categories we need for our procedurally-generated content missions (to be introduced in the near future), used for the first time here in Haven.

• The BioScanner tool for doing non-destructive scans of Makers and Creatures. (You can use it to add creatures to your collection without having to kill them. They may still try to kill you though.)

  • This will be used for flora scanning soon also, but not quite yet.

• Better NPC and NPC chat controls

• The whole mission interface got a massive overhaul (and is used for regular Mission Kiosk missions also)

• “Scanner” features for the BioScanner, Harvester and Xyloslicer. (TAB to select a resource, then “Q” to scan for where the closest one is in the world so you can hunt it down. Kind of like a cross between Maker Scanning and Mineral Prospecting.)

For the rest of the update notes, including the new first-person camera perspective, please see:

TIPS FOR HAVEN

Tip #1: Actually read the dialogues. Seriously.

Tip #2: Don’t forget that you have a grappler. Your grappling ability will make your life better. Did you forget how to activate the grappler? Use the “R” key.

Tip #3: When the time comes for you to build your weapon, you will have a choice of five handguns: Cryostar, Atomizer, Pulsar, Spitfire, or Voltstar. Don’t worry. They will give you the parts and the recipe so you can pick any one of those five. Cryostar - cold damage Atomizer - corrosive damage Pulsar - kinetic damage Spitfire - heat damage Voltstar - shock damage

This also comes at the time you are asked to hunt down certain dangerous fauna that have been threatening a group of scientists. Again, don’t worry. The fauna you are asked to hunt have no immunities. Pick whichever handgun type seems fun to you.

Tip #4: Regardless of weapon choice, hunting with a friend will help a lot.

Tip #5: Don’t be afraid to try the new First Person camera mode. In some situations, it’s the best approach. You are free to switch camera distances whenever you want by simply scrolling the mousewheel.

Steam post image The new first-person camera perspective is already a crowd favorite for photography.

PLAYTEST SCHEDULE

We have one upcoming livestream scheduled, a Fireside Chat on Saturday, January 24, 2026, with Game Director Dave Georgeson.

The playtests will resume at the end of the Fireside Chat and follow our usual Thursday-through-Tuesday-morning cadence.

LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE

We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:

• The Transplanetary League set

• The Stars Reach logo set

• The Infinite Worlds set

You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store

HOW ELSE YOU CAN HELP?

If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support.

[dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1925650/Stars_Reach/"]