Pre-Alpha: What We’ve Learned, And What’s Next

When a game company grows quickly in a short period of time, it is critically important to regularly recommit to its original vision and values. Not only does this help maintain focus, but it also aids in delivering on the promises made to future players. This was especially true for Singularity 6 when the announcement of our first game, Palia, received far more attention than we ever dreamed!

Because of this overwhelmingly positive reception, we received thousands more submissions for Pre-Alpha testers than expected. And although we were only able to welcome a small percentage of players into this phase of testing, it was an invaluable opportunity to examine not only our technical systems, but the aspirational seeds of the vision and values that had been carefully planted.

“A game can be a place where you feel like you really belong."

– Aidan Karabaich, Co-Founder

This early in the development of Palia, it is very important to everyone at the studio to remain attentive and engaged with our community. This involvement ranges anywhere from being available for questions in the Discord server to featured members of the team streaming live and sharing highlights of our favorite developments.

After catching 78,650 bugs, harvesting 76,431 crops, hunting 128,952 beasts, baking 153 pies, tilling an immeasurable amount of surface area, and identifying invaluable system errors, we gathered our players together in a live Community Night on Discord to reflect on their experience playing Palia on the final night of the Pre-Alpha.

Did players in fact see a “beautiful and intricate game that [became] a meaningful part of their lives”? Is it a “compelling virtual universe filled with rich and diverse social interactions”? And most of all, did our players “feel valued”, and a “true sense of belonging”?

While we have much more work to do to implement our pre-alpha tester’s feedback and suggestions, we are humbled and excited to share with you some of the early responses and snapshots that let us know that even this early in Palia’s development, we are staying true to the heart of our original vision and values.

Customize to your own tastes. Photo Credit: Vexy

“I really started to think about how Palia could become a daily part of my life and just a peaceful place for me to return…I realize Palia made me a more peaceful and happier person.”– ATownDowner

1, 2, 3! Photo credit: CheeryChickadee

“I was not expecting the game to be as built out as it was. I could already see the vision and many of the character models. The whole game is going to be lovely and I’m really excited for it.”– Frumpopotamous

Maximalism at its best. Photo Credit: Weeb

“[The devs] are so hands-on and interactive with the community as a whole, and have made this ENTIRE experience completely life changing for me.” – Queen Brittany of Palia

A relaxing picnic area designed by PassionTiger/Bru.

“As someone who is (mostly) a lurker, I feel so grateful to the way in which Palia allows for easygoing cooperation. I never joined a neighborhood but the vast majority of the time I was out mining or hunting, I found folks to co-op with!”– Oliverella_

Building a cozy space to relax. Photo credit: mushykins

A peaceful moment to reflect. Photo credit: alayasabrina

“This game has the ability to make other people and myself nicer, and more friendly. They often go out of their way to help others, and that was something that I really enjoyed, and gave me a lot of hope for the future.” – Clocknotwork

Palia at Twilight. Photo credit: WyomingMyst/Kaede

“I definitely have loved this game. It amazes me, thinking about how much this will grow! I mean, look at all this, look at how fun we’ve had, and this is just the Pre-Alpha!”– Yogsothoth

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Pre-Alpha if our testers didn’t band together to prove out a few bugs…

Care of CheeryChickadee.

If you submitted to test our Pre-Alpha but were not selected to join due to limited capacity, never fear! In the (SoonTM) future, we will be inviting even more testers into our next phase of testing. And if you haven’t signed up yet, but would be interested in future tests for Palia, be sure to sign-up at Palia.com to receive updates and alerts.

From the entire studio, a huge thank you to not only our pre-alpha testers, but everyone in our seedling community for your support. Please stay tuned as the story develops for more details from your friends at Singularity 6!

Einar waiting for the next phase of testing.