Key Preview Takeaways:
- It’s primarily Jacques Cousteau by method of The Adventures of Flapjack.
- Nautus feels, in some ways, like a cautious mash-up between Steamworld Dig and Subnautica.
- Gameplay above the floor is cozy, however whenever you take your submersible below the ocean, it turns into a Metroidvania-inspired survival-action recreation.
To be a comfy recreation is to embrace all issues chill and atmospheric, discovering consolation in routine and bonding with a rising neighborhood of characters, taking it someday at a time. With the upcoming Nautus from developer Magic Design Studios, it is bringing these chill vibes to a tropical island setting the place the waters beneath cover long-held secrets and techniques, and some quirky buddies will show you how to uncover them. It’s a delightfully bizarre idea with some attention-grabbing concepts, all channeled within the fashion of a basic Cartoon Community animated present that brings the world to life.
Simply forward of Gamescom 2026 and the upcoming closed-beta launch, we bought some hands-on time with Nautus and its offbeat aquatic world crammed with deep-sea wonders. Together with some strong playtime, we additionally bought to talk with recreation designer Damian Carmona in regards to the making of Nautus, and how they’re following up on Have a Good Dying’s cutesy-gothic setting of the afterlife with a brand new world that is a bit extra folksy and tropical and has many underwater secrets and techniques to uncover.
Nautus and its colourful aquatic survival crafting journey is actually Jacques Cousteau by method of The Adventures of Flapjack. Taking over the function of a younger explorer of the deep, you are delivered to the seemingly tranquil faraway island in search of your misplaced uncle. After assembly the strange-but-totally-chill locals who’re attempting to get their neighborhood again on its toes, you are quickly given entry to an underwater submersible that may steadily discover the waters beneath. However to succeed in the bottom depths to uncover the thriller of the island and the underwater world, you may must energy up your mini-submarine and empower the neighborhood on the floor to make it occur.
The developer’s earlier work on the cult-hit 2D action-roguelike Have a Good Dying – one other recreation with a captivating, cartoon-inspired visible fashion – was one thing of a stepping stone for his or her flip to Nautus, however principally for the brand new alternative to go for one thing extra colourful and upbeat. Talking with recreation designer Damian Carmona throughout our playthrough, he defined why the shift to a tropical island setting made for a compelling change of tempo.
“We’re occurring very completely different adventures with Nautus, in relation to tone and all that. We’re very proud of Have a Good Dying, however we wished to alter it a bit bit from the gothic fashion and the black and white visuals to go for one thing a bit extra colourful, and the ocean is a really colourful setting,” mentioned the sport director. “We mentioned, ‘Hey, let’s make a recreation on this ocean setting.’ It simply got here to life with loads of interactions with the world, and of course for the survival, crafting, and exploration gameplay as effectively.”
Diving into Nautus, I used to be instantly taken in by the island’s floor world, a colourful, stylized setting that felt like stepping right into a dwelling cartoon sequence. I used to be additionally stunned to see that the sport feels, in some ways, like a cautious mash-up between Steamworld Dig and Subnautica. It takes to the survival-crafting construction effectively, with the necessity to acquire wooden and different sources to construct crafting benches and meet different must maintain the floor HUB in working order, whereas additionally making certain you are ready to dive. There is a sure craft — actually on this recreation’s case – to discover the depths beneath, and you may want to organize to make that transition.
Throughout the opening missions I performed, Nautus actually leans into build up a neighborhood of quirky islanders whereas additionally powering up my submersible to succeed in depths beneath with out it being crushed by stress. Very like Steamworld Dig, the core focus in Nautus is to empower your protagonist’s suite of instruments and community of buddies. With higher instruments, crafting abilities, and folks to lean on for perception and some witty one-liners, you may develop into extra of a succesful explorer of the deep. One of my favourite characters was Umiko, the aged mechanic who duties you with repairing the submersible station and additionally provides you bigger objectives. She is usually a bit aloof, however she’s one of your finest allies within the journey, and when you assist get her listening to assist again that sank into the waters beneath, then you definitely’ll get on her good facet.
It was attention-grabbing to study that, along with cartoons, the builders had been additionally impressed by The Workplace TV sequence when it got here to fleshing out a bizarre forged of characters orbiting your protagonist. Together with Umiko and Mitchell – a carefree islander who runs the undersea gear store – you additionally get to fulfill the traditional island deity that may grant you the required upgrades to outlive the depths beneath. Coming again to the floor after dives felt like returning to a secure however oddball haven the place aloof inhabitants go about their chill lives, all whereas lengthy, darkish secrets and techniques lie hidden beneath. That is the place Nautus’ core gameplay takes an odd however attention-grabbing flip because it shifts right into a survival expertise.
When controlling your submersible, Nautus transitions to a Metroidvania-inspired survival-action recreation the place it’s a must to rigorously navigate hazardous zones and face off towards hostile aquatic life. Whereas this is not a giant tonal shift like Dredge or Subnautica, which tapped into sudden horror parts, Nautus nonetheless goals for an eerie vibe on its undersea jaunts. Along with the hostiles, you may nonetheless should handle your submersible’s power, together with oxygen to your diver when they should go solo. This, of course, ties into your objective: discover the underwater world as deep as you possibly can to seek out misplaced artifacts and clues about the place your misplaced uncle went.
I actually loved exploring the undersea world of Nautus, and many of the floor world parts construct as much as the moments whenever you’ll take these dives. It’s eerie to discover, but in addition alluring and colourful, with completely different biomes transitioning into barely extra alien-like seascapes. It brings the expressive and detailed visible fashion to a brand new degree, and Nautus’ undersea worlds are some of essentially the most charming locales I’ve seen in a survival-crafting recreation.
For the builders, the making of this undersea world was all about conserving the floor’s inviting ambiance, but in addition making certain that it was a transparent distinction to it to make for an alluring setting to discover – one which you could steadily discover at your individual tempo.
“We wish to suppose of Nautus as combining the fun and thriller of submarine exploration you may discover in one thing like Subnautica with a way more relaxed floor expertise, the place the participant can put together and progress at their very own tempo,” mentioned Carmona. “The expertise we’re aiming for is admittedly that rhythm between the 2 – to take your time on the floor, put together for an expedition, then dive again into the depths to discover someplace stranger and extra harmful than earlier than.”
From this early hands-on with Nautus, I could not assist however be impressed with the attention-grabbing steadiness that developer Magid Design Studios is pulling off. Survival-crafting video games might be considerably difficult to seek out your groove with, particularly for the long run, however I used to be actually taken in by how chill and cozy Nautus’ tone was. It’s not simply an expressive, cartoon-inspired world that feels inviting and enjoyable to sit down with; it additionally has some actually intelligent, well-developed survival-action parts that really feel thrilling to get in line with.
When you’re on the lookout for a brand new survival-crafting recreation, then you definitely will not have to attend too lengthy, because the closed beta check will kick off on August 31, with sign-ups beginning now on Steam. Nautus’ cartoon world is a compelling journey to soak up, and I need to see extra of it within the full launch.
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Alessandro Fillari is a longtime video games media skilled. Speak video video games with him on BlueSky at @afillari.bsky.social.