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Colonus City Builder Finds a Publisher in Stardock
Stardock Entertainment has signed on to publish Colonus, the upcoming medieval city builder from Badhenke Studios that combines colony management with island exploration, production chains, and a closer focus on the villagers who keep everything running.
Colonus begins when a group of villagers is stranded on an unfamiliar island after their carrack is destroyed. Starting with little, players must gather resources, establish buildings and professions, and gradually turn the survivors’ new home into a functioning settlement.
The newly announced publishing partnership will support the game’s journey toward an early 2027 PC launch. Colonus is already available to wishlist on Steam.
Expands From One Village to Multiple Islands
Getting the first settlement running is only the beginning. As players progress, they can explore surrounding islands, deal with different environmental conditions and establish additional colonies.
Keeping those settlements supplied means building increasingly complex production chains that connect resources, professions, and each community’s needs. Badhenke aims to reduce the constant micromanagement that can make larger city builders unwieldy, letting players guide one or several colonies through policies and broader long-term decisions instead.
It sounds closer to the satisfaction of watching systems work together than constantly putting out fires, something we also enjoyed in Pioneers of Pagonia and its steadily evolving production economy.
Individual Villagers Sit at the Heart
Those larger systems still come back to the people living inside them. Each villager has individual needs, and happiness and quality of life directly influence a settlement’s success. Players will need to think beyond raw resource output as they develop professions, cultivate land and make decisions affecting how their communities live.
That gives Colonus a slightly different focus from city builders built primarily around expansion or optimisation. Stardock Publishing Director Brian Clair described it as a laid-back builder where hours can disappear unnoticed, while Badhenke Studios founder Henrik Eriksson said the goal is to keep the experience relaxing without making it passive.
Stardock Adds Another Strategy Game to Its Publishing Lineup
This mix of settlement growth and exploration also arrives at a busy time for the genre. Games such as Theos: Cities of Myth are similarly finding new ways to build around colonies, trade, and wider worlds, although Colonus puts more emphasis on the individual lives behind those expanding settlements.
The deal also fits comfortably within Stardock’s long history with strategy games. The publisher is currently preparing Ashes of the Singularity II for its November launch, while Colonus gives its upcoming catalogue something considerably more relaxed.
Colonus is currently scheduled to launch on PC via Steam in early 2027.
