When Audionaut was first announced as the 2025 Sloan Grant recipient, it was still little more than a Game Center thesis project. Since then, we’ve been able to put in a lot of work into systems, story, and planning, so we can bring this game to full release. Let’s talk about it!

Modules

If you aren’t already familiar, Audionaut is a music-composition-based spaceship autobattler, and modules are at the heart of that composition. We’ve been working hard on adding more ways to interact with these modules, more knobs to turn and switches to flip, more complex logic to the ways you patch them together. We’ve also done our best to make these systems approachable, adding subpatches–groups of modules that simplify complex behaviors–to let anyone more easily create interesting compositions. This is all still in progress, but we’re super excited about the compositional possibilities that will arise as we add more and more options for making music to the game!

Story

We’ve also begun fleshing out the story of Audionaut, and while it’s not yet represented in the build, we’re eager to share some of what’s been brewing. 

In Audionaut, the player is a pilot for a scrappy revolutionary group. They will be charged with the task of retrieving a satellite at the core of their shattered world, Zea, at any cost, while resisting the violent repression of S.H.A.D.E., the megacorporation that secretly pulled the strings of Zea’s empires and now seeks to plunder the rest of the solar system. As the player brings their musical ship closer and closer to the world’s core, they will uncover secrets about S.H.A.D.E., how Zea’s people fled to space, and many more mysteries. Along the way, they’ll meet a cast of characters, whether villainous, friendly, or completely alien. The relationships they build on this long and difficult journey will carry them to their objective, to that little satellite singing alone at Zea’s core.

What’s Next

Looking ahead, there’s always more work to do on systems, and we’re excited to start implementing the narrative and adding in the art. We’re super appreciative of everyone who’s been playtesting the game at IGDA Twin Cities and at IGDA NYC’s Game-A-Palooza and offering helpful feedback, and to the Sloan Grant that’s enabling us to continue this work. 
To play the most recent build, find the demo on our Itch page here. Follow us on Bluesky or join our Discord for more updates and to connect with other Audionaut players.