Game Announcement

Stars Reach was announced on June 28, 2024 - nearly 5 years after the initial unveiling of the company. The announcement happened via a game trailer, accompanied by a Q&A video and another video on the design vision.

Reception was mainly positive, especially among fans of Raph and his previous games but there also was significant criticism about the unpolished pre-alpha graphics and the colorful, stylized art-style. Comments along the lines of "this looks like a mobile game for little kids" were not uncommon.

The developers have said that the game is still very early pre-alpha, and that the graphics are work in progress. Shaders, animations, post processing, etc. are all still due for multiple improvements and overhauls - possibly including Global Illumination. But the stylized, colorful look is intentional and here to stay. They are ultimately aiming for a visual style somewhere between Breath of the Wild and Genshin Impact.

Pre-Announcement ARG Puzzle

The game announcement was hyped up by a ten day countdown of revealing questions posted on social media. The questions themselves do tell you something about the kind of game that Stars Reach does aim to be - but each image also contained a bar of black and white boxes, which - if combined in the right order - revealed a pixelated version of the game logo with two hands reaching for a star.

Despite getting pretty close, the early community was not able to solve the puzzle in time for the game announcement.

Facebook

• 10 What if... you could actually invent new things in an MMO?
• 9 What if... there was a way to discover secrets in an MMO -- and no easy wiki holding all the answers?
• 8 What if... it rained, creating puddles that froze overnight?
• 7 What if... bad weather meant travelling through the mud?
• 6 What if... there were places with lower gravity?
• 5 What if... you could write quests and make contracts for one another?
• 4 What if... you could chop down forests and grow them back?
• 3 What if... you could shout "You shall not pass!" and collapse a rock bridge?
• 3 What if... strawberries were sometimes in season?
• 2 What if... the creatures in the world actually had feelings you could see?
• 2 What if... icy cliffs were actually treacherously slippery?
• 1 What if... you could choose to make a new life for yourself on a new planet?
• 1 What if... you could pick your style of combat in an MMO?

Instagram

• 10 What if... MMOS actually had fulfilled the dreams we once had for them?
• 9 What if... exploring actually mattered (to you and others) in an MMO?
• 8 What if... walking through the grass carved a trail if you did it often enough?
• 7 What if... the season actually mattered?
• 6 What if... you could search and discover entirely new planets?
• 5 What if... you had to decipher ancient languages?
• 4 What if... sometimes the monsters invaded you?
• 3 What if... monsters didn't respawn in the same place always?
• 3 What if... you could build a city?
• 2 What if... you could actually get snowed in at a tavern, like in the fantasy novels?
• 2 What if... you could run your own tavern in an MMO?
• 1 What if... you could have fun in an MMO in a five minute session?
• 1 What if... you missed your target and accidentially burned down the forest?

X (Twitter)

• 10 What if... you could easily change your mind about who your character is?
• 9 What if... you could be admired and famous in an MMO for more than just your character level or raid skills?
• 8 What if... the game also rewarded you for playing peacefully?
• 7 What if... an MMO let you reshape the landscape?
• 6 What if... you and your friends could govern an entire planet in your MMO?
• 5 What if... even the devs didn't know what was hidden out there in the worlds?
• 4 What if... you could actually irrigate your farm?
• 4 What if... there were ways for everyone in an MMO to have their own house?
• 3 What if... you could be swept away by the current of a raging river?
• 3 What if... you could freeze the poison gas midair and watch it form a puddle?
• 2 What if... it mattered if you accidentially drove a creature extinct?
• 2 What if... you could collapse a cliff onto your enemies?
• 1 What if... you could build a space station?
• 1 What if... you could live your life on a space station or a starship and just visit planets when you wanted?