Balancing Monkey Games 🌠 wishlist Beyond These Stars! 🐋

The Season of the Monkey

A new BMG Dev Blog is here! 👀

We've been pretty busy around these parts, and somehow we're about to be even busier!

The calendars are booking up with so many exciting things & you can read about them all right here! 👇
www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/the...

f-f-f-f-f...nife. How'd we do? 🤔

TactiCon is almost back for 2025! 🎉

From July 17-21st, you'll be able to tune into a digital showcase of fascinating strategy games and hear from the creative developers behind them - including our very own Sam Barham! 👀

Character Profile - Sarah

Time for another BMG Character Profile:

It's Sarah! Our Producer & Social Media Manager 🤩

Here's your chance to read a hint of her journey into the game industry & even her 'special abilities' like maintaining her sanity as she manages our roadmaps 👀
www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/cha...

We tried out 'Peak' by @aggrocrabgames.bsky.social and @landfall.se this week!

It was such a great opportunity to spend time together as a team. Of course, many giggles were had...promptly followed by many yells due to falling into the great abyss ⛰️

Tomorrow, here in Aotearoa, we'll be celebrating Matariki! 🌃

We'll be stepping away from the office and using this time to remember the past, celebrate the present and look ahead to the exciting future ✨

Wishing everyone a restful Matariki! Mānawatia a Matariki!

RainbowYOUTH We provide support, information, resources & advocacy for Aotearoa's queer, gender diverse, takatāpui and intersex youth.

Both 'Rainbow Youth' and 'OutLine' provide a range of support services, resources, advocacy and safe spaces for our LGBTQIA+ community 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

They help people feel heard and proud of who they are - we think that's awesome!

Check them out here 👇
RY: ry.org.nz
OutLine: outline.org.nz

This Pride Month, we not only want to celebrate the vibrant LGBTQIA+ community here in Aotearoa, we also want to shine a spotlight on two incredible organizations doing the māhi to support, empower and uplift ❤️

They are 'Rainbow Youth' & 'OutLine' 🌈

Read more below!

it you

Character Profile - Anna

Look here! It's another BMG Character Profile! 🤩

It's Anna, our Managing Director!

Somehow she manages to wrangle our stress levels in late stage game production, AND keep up with Xero, AND make groovy presentations! How does she do it all?! 😱
www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/cha...

The Peeps found some....glow...sticks...today 👀

(for legal reasons, this is a joke)

oh, love this!

Terrible? Never.
Whimsy? Always.

Balancing Monkey Games reporting for duty 🫡

Games industry & GAAD2025 Global Accessibility Awareness Day is event that takes place on the third Thursday of every May, with the goal of raising awareness about digital [...]

It's Global Accessibility Awareness Day! 🤩

Today is an important reminder for us that games can (and should) be made for everyone to enjoy!
We're proud to be developing a game with accessibility in mind from the start 🧡

See how these studios are stepping up too: ian-hamilton.com/games-indust...

Our team recently visited Tuhura Otago Museum to explore the LEGO exhibition 'Relics: A New World Rises'. Naturally, we couldn't resist some free building! 👀

So behold! Our LEGO interpretation of our Space Whale, Kewa!

Thoughts on our 'masterpiece'? 🤔

Thanks for the thoughtful shoutout! 🧡

Character Profile - Laura “I’ll make them care about the story so much that nobody will ever press skip!”

We're launching a new Dev Blog series! The BMG Character Profiles! 🤩

First up is the newest addition to our team - Laura.

She's our new writer for Beyond These Stars, and we're so excited to see where her passion for storytelling takes our story next! 👀
www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/cha...

We certainly thought so!

Last week we had the opportunity to all get together as a team, and we certainly used our time together wisely 😉

So did we fill our time in meetings, documentation and code?
Not this time!

We built the Lego Millennium Falcon! ⭐

To no one's surprise, it turns out that our in-game soundtrack (made by @benedictnichols.bsky.social) is so good that even the trees seem to be 'dancing' now! 🕺

Important Question: If the Peeps were able to wear pants...how would they wear them? 🤔

For This IWD, Do It Scared

Happy (belated) International Women’s Day! 🎉

We're so proud to celebrate the incredible women shaping our game industry & inspiring future generations of developers & storytellers!

There's also a new blog post to share just for the occasion! 👇
www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/for...

Thanks for the shoutout!
We're so excited to have Beyond These Stars be part of the wider conversation around sustainability in games 🌏🎮

We can't wait for you all to play it either!!

Is Kewa “like a ship”?🐋

…well, kind of. Ships typically do not have their own wants, needs, or complex feelings!

But we do give players the sensation of passing through space while on Kewa: whizzing around at lightspeed, seeing the planets you're "parked" next to - and so on!

Just a head's up - applications close this Friday 28th February, NZ time!

Uh oh, busted 💀

We're Looking for a Writer

We're hiring a writer for Beyond These Stars! ✨

Are you a thoughtful soul who is passionate about breathing life into video game worlds (and indulges in the odd sci-fi trope)? You could be the one for us!

Full info here:
www.balancingmonkeygames.com/articles/wer...

You can find our little Trawler boat bobbing out in the ocean, always looking for shells to gather.

Its design is a homage to another video game boat. Any guesses to which one that might be? 😊

For those of you heading to #GDC, don't forget the pre-conference Gender Diversity Brunch (the GDC GDB, if you will) organised by the lovely Jenn Sandercock!

We won't be there in person, but we are a proud Bronze Sponsor of the event. ❤️🌈

Register here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/pre-gdc-ge...