In a gaming landscape increasingly filled with post-apocalyptic scenarios, Melbourne-based Barrel Smash Studios is making waves with their unique take on the survival genre. Oceaneers, their upcoming survival-crafting colony sim, drops players into a flooded world where stable land is a precious commodity and staying afloat is quite literally your main objective.

Set for an Early Access launch on Steam in 2026, Oceaneers challenges players to build and maintain colonies on unstable floating islands while managing resources, crafting equipment, and training survivors to thrive in this waterlogged world.

A Waterworld of Possibilities

At its core, Oceaneers tasks players with controlling a group of stranded survivors trying to establish a foothold in a world where dry land is increasingly rare. The game blends colony management with survival mechanics, requiring players to build workstations, secure food and water sources, and ensure their island refuge doesn’t sink beneath the waves.

“Island life is not all sunshine and coconuts,” notes the development team, highlighting the central challenge of the game. With limited space and scarce resources, strategic planning becomes essential as players construct facilities while constantly monitoring their island’s buoyancy.

Float-Tech: Mysteries of a Sunken World

One of the game’s most intriguing elements is the discovery and implementation of “Float-Tech” – specialized buoyancy technology from a mysterious pre-flood corporation. Players will research and construct early warning systems and other contraptions designed to keep their islands afloat, adding a unique technological progression system to the survival experience.

This technology ties into the game’s narrative elements, as players can “learn the truth of the sinking islands” by uncovering hidden clues, finding lost artifacts, and discovering tales from lost Oceaneers. The developers hint at deeper mysteries lurking beneath the waves, suggesting a story-driven component alongside the survival gameplay.

Beyond Your Island: Exploration and Expansion

Recognizing that a single island won’t sustain a colony indefinitely, Oceaneers incorporates a robust exploration system. Players will design and build rafts of increasing sophistication, starting with simple paddle-powered vessels before researching larger craft with engines capable of hauling entire islands back to their main colony.

These expeditions send survivors to collect resources from different biomes, gathering materials before islands sink or drift away. The seas aren’t friendly, however – players will need to fend off sharks and other threats as they explore island bunkers and search for valuable resources.

Community Management with Personality

Like any good colony sim, Oceaneers places emphasis on the human element. Players must monitor their survivors’ needs including hunger, thirst, tiredness, and comfort to maintain motivation. Neglect these aspects and survivors may slack off or even leave the group entirely.

The game allows for customization of survivor names, traits, and appearances – including the all-important beards and mustaches – while encouraging players to leverage each Oceaneer’s unique skills and traits to build an efficient island community.

A Labor of Love from a Small Studio

Behind Oceaneers is Barrel Smash Studios, a small two-person team with “complementary skills, a love of gaming and a history of game modding.” Developer James Thomas shared that the concept was first developed in January 2023, and expressed excitement about launching a second PC title on Steam.

“As huge fans of colony sims and crafting survival games, it’s been a fun challenge figuring out how to smoothly integrate story and objectives into these very sandboxy genres while still keeping replayability high,” Thomas explained. The developers cite influence from “the golden age of Sierra and LucasArts games,” hoping players will enjoy the “extra layer of quirkiness” they’ve added to familiar survival mechanics.

Comprehensive Feature Set

The game boasts an impressive list of features including:

  • Single-player control of multiple characters
  • Designing multiple rafts for expeditions
  • The ability to haul islands back to expand your colony
  • Island buoyancy improvements through special contraptions
  • Research and upgrade systems for workstations
  • Survival against various weather events and threats
  • Farming, food preparation, and cooking systems
  • A deep sea storyline integrated with the survival mechanics

Play It Soon

While the full Early Access launch is slated for 2026, eager players won’t have to wait that long to get their feet wet. A public playtest is available right now, as of August 5th, 2025. Steam users can register through the Oceaneers Steam page and provide feedback via the developer’s Discord or through Steam forums.

For fans of survival games looking for something beyond the typical zombie apocalypse or nuclear wasteland, Oceaneersoffers a refreshing aquatic alternative where the greatest threat might not be what lurks beneath the waves, but rather the waves themselves.