Hello there,
Let’s start with the Craftlings 1.0 Release Date Trailer right away — no long intro!
Oh boy, oh boy!
I guess we’re really getting there. I can’t believe that after 4 years of intense work I’m finally releasing Craftlings next month!
Maybe you’re asking yourself how does it feel?
Honestly — kind of hard to find the right word! On one hand, I feel excitement and happiness that the first big chapter of my indie dev journey is coming to an end — and players will get their hands on Craftlings. On the other hand, I’m a bit uncertain about what the next chapter, starting after release, will be about!
But let’s keep our fingers crossed — because the players from Discord community and I already have plenty of ideas on how we could extend the core concept of Craftlings!
Craftlings has come a long way, from its first prototype and early demo under the old working title "The Settlings" in 2022, to today’s version that we’re currently beta testing heavily with focus on:
- Bugs & stability
- Performance
- Balancing
- QoL improvements
These priorities might sound obvious, but it’s not always the case — and not always possible. After a major change in the project structure back in October, my vision for the release was to reduce scope and spend more time on quality and player experience, rather than pumping out new features or levels.
And at this point, I want to say a huge thank you to all Discord members who are part of the closed beta — chasing bugs, making suggestions, and sharing level design feedback 💙
Believe me: without their dedication, help, and warm hearts, I wouldn’t be here writing this today.
What can you expect from 1.0?
There are 12 unique, handcrafted levels, and all of them are available right from the beginning.
Why?
I tried to offer a different experience and a different type of challenge in every map.
Some levels have layout or resource restrictions; others focus more on combat, including boss fights; and some feel more like a sandbox with freedom and plenty of resources to experiment with.
It was difficult to design them with a steady and consistent difficulty curve where unlocking them one-by-one made sense.
So I decided to open all levels from the start — letting everyone experience Craftlings in their preferred way and according to their own playstyle.
While designing them, I made it a priority that each level should feel different. I hope I managed to achieve this and that you’ll enjoy them!
I could write a lot about other game features like automation, the Town Hall upgrade system, the competitive rank system, or deep dive into economy or combat — but that would go beyond the scope of this post.
If you want me to cover any of these in detail, just let me know!
Before we jump into price, you may be wondering how much gameplay there is in the full game. My estimate was at least 20+ hours, but we already have plenty beta players with way more than that!
Additionally I strongly believe that the global rank system, which has 7 unique ranks for those who seek a bit of challenge and enjoy speedrunning, will offer good replayability on top of that! 🚀
Release date and price!
Craftlings will release on January 15th, 2026.
The game will be available for PC Windows on Steam for $14.99.
Of course, a launch discount and regional pricing will apply.
The downside of being solo
With limited time and resources, I couldn’t keep updating the demo, and it is now outdated and will be removed — for the moment.
I say "for the moment" because I believe in the value of a demo and want players to try the game before purchasing.
However, if the demo no longer represents the game properly, harms the experience, or sets wrong expectations, it’s better to remove it until it receives a proper rework.
The time I’d spend updating both the main game and the demo is now invested into the quality of the 1.0 version — nothing more, nothing less. Just a simple prioritization decision. 😀
Thanks for reading and have a great day,
Ariano
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1771110/Craftlings