Black Skylands is being called “Skypunk,” which is really just a way of saying this is a steampunk game that’s mostly set in the sky. This is a top-down exploration game with flying pirate ships and a whole lot of steampunk gunplay. It seems to have bullet hell elements, as well as a crafting system, and those are two things that you actually don’t see combined very often. And apparently, there are Lovecraftian horrors and maybe even some light city-management?
All of this is presented with an incredibly detailed pixel-art aesthetic, which I think really seals the deal.
Look, I spent a lot of my childhood watching Disney’s TaleSpin, and I always thought that sky pirates were really cool. It’s awesome to see a similar concept (though admittedly without the Disney bear aesthetic) end up as the setting of a video game.
Here’s a feature list for Black Skylands, straight from a recent press release:
- Fight in the skies and on land – Combine aerial and ground combat, having dozens of weapons in your arsenal. Encountered a group of enemies that is too tough for you to handle? Execute an aerial attack! And don’t forget to use your trusty grappling hook to throw enemies into the cloudy abyss.
- Customize your vessel and weaponry – Choose a skyship that fits your playstyle, be it a small maneuverable boat or a heavy machine with a high-capacity cargo hold. When on foot, harness the power of firearms by enhancing them with different mods and using special abilities to destroy your foes.
- Build, expand and protect your aerial base – Make your trusty Fathership an impregnable flying fortress and repel intruders’ attacks. Resources you gather can be used to build facilities aboard the Fathership. For example, a Workshop lets you acquire useful upgrades for airships & weapons, a Factory processes resources and a Laboratory allows you to create powerful artifacts. Also, make sure to construct buildings like Gardens and Ranches to grow & harvest crops. Keep your people well-fed!
- Capture territories – Craft alliances and clear out occupied lands to expand the power of your faction. New resources, researches, characters and other features become available as you grow your influence.
- Explore a sprawling open world – Venture into the skies and discover countless floating lands full of secrets & loot. Travel across forests, farms, snowy lands, urban jungle and the mysterious Black Skylands themselves. Discover ancient secrets and take risks to unleash power behind them.
This sounds super ambitious, right?
Black Skylands was intended to launch in Early Access on June 11, but the date has been pushed back. We don’t know the exact date yet, but we’ve been promised that the delay will be a short one.
You can check out a trailer for Black Skylands below.
