July 7, 2025 – Breda, Netherlands – In the upcoming city-builder from Tense Games, humanity flees the surface to start over on the ocean floor—one algae farm at a time.
Seabed Settlers, an underwater city-building sim from indie developer Tense Games, places players in charge of rebuilding society in the aftermath of devastating Raybomb strikes. The surface is uninhabitable, so life now continues on the seabed—where Fish Farms, genetically modified Seawheat, and heat from deep thermal vents form the backbone of civilization.
The pitch is simple and immediately intriguing: what if Caesar III took place after the end of the world—beneath the sea?
Trailer: https://youtu.be/6NoyuxgBubc
Rather than sprawling freely, your city must grow carefully across uneven terrain. Rocky seafloor must be cleared to make space, while thermal vents become critical hubs for energy production. Food chains are literal chains: fisheries provide protein, Seawheat is harvested and sent to warehouses, then processed into seabread by bakers before finally being delivered to markets that serve nearby residential habitats.
Habitats evolve in tiers, just like in Caesar III. First-tier dwellings need basic oxygen and fish. The second tier expects education via schools. The third starts demanding entertainment. With each upgrade, your population grows—but so do their needs. If your workforce shrinks too much, key infrastructure like bakeries, fisheries, and even fire stations grind to a halt. But if you let unemployment rise too high, people riot. Balancing jobs, desirability, approval, and resources isn’t optional—it’s survival.
As your city grows, so does your visibility to the High Regent, a distant but powerful figure who oversees all undersea administration. They issue quotas, demand tribute, and ultimately judge your effectiveness as a city leader. Ignore them, and consequences follow.
While most missions focus on peaceful management, some scenarios add a light defensive wrinkle. Submarine raiders and mutant incursions may threaten your outskirts, requiring perimeter sensors or automated torpedo pods. But these moments are rare, and always in service of the city-building core.
Familiar systems, smart changes
While Seabed Settlers builds on a legacy of Impressions-style city sims, it also modernizes in a few key ways. For instance, a global worker pool makes labor more flexible than in early Caesar III, where players had to place houses near every remote outpost. Road systems are streamlined as well, though whether the tradeoff satisfies long-time purists remains to be seen.
What sets Seabed Settlers apart—besides its atmospheric underwater setting—is its layered simulation of economy, labor, and growth. Trade with other settlements, prestige systems, food production, and citizen satisfaction all play into the survival of your colony. And while the game might evoke nostalgia in its mechanics and pacing, it doesn’t rely on retro aesthetics. The visual style blends 2D-inspired design with clean, modern tools—crisp, detailed, and functional.
The game is currently in development, with a release planned for early 2026. It’s available to wishlist now on Steam. A short prototype trailer has also been released, showing early gameplay systems, UI, and production chains in motion.
For fans of Banished, Manor Lords, Pharaoh, Ceasar III, Timberborn, or anyone curious what an Impressions-style sim looks like beneath the waves, this is one to watch.