Novemtails and Assemble Entertainment have pushed Under Canopies into Steam Early Access, giving cozy-simulation fans a combat-free survival game to sink into right now. The game launched on October 23, 2026, priced at $14.99 USD, and carries a 25% launch discount that brings it down to $11.24 USD for a limited time.
Under Canopies is the work of solo developer Roberto Ortiz, whose Novemtails label built it around a simple idea: progress through care rather than conquest. Players arrive at a woodland sanctuary with no enemies to fight and no weapons to swing. Instead, the loop is explore, gather, craft, nurture, and grow. Expeditions into the forest yield resources, hidden places, and wildlife encounters, which feed back into a home cabin that players raise from scratch and decorate with furniture, handmade items, and a growing garden.
Survival mechanics are present but gentle. Hunger, thirst, energy, and temperature all need managing, but the threats come from the elements rather than anything with teeth. Cooking supports over thirty recipes drawn from foraged plants and home-grown crops, while domesticated chickens and sheep provide eggs and wool for crafting and decorating. The photography system doubles as a progression track: photographing new species fills a wildlife journal that functions like a collectible field guide, and earning the trust of wild animals unlocks further discoveries.
The Early Access arrival follows a strong Steam Next Fest, where Under Canopies featured on Steam’s front page and added roughly 11,000 wishlists during the event, pushing the total past 50,000. The developers say feedback on tutorials, controls, settings, inventory, and storage has already been folded into the Early Access build.
Ortiz plans to keep Under Canopies in Early Access for around three months. The roadmap includes a new cave area with a Great Axolotl questline, more hidden sanctuary lore, expanded crafting tiers covering stone, steel, and gold, and modular building pieces for bridges, treehouses, watchtowers, and animal habitats. Camera tools and animal interactions are also slated to grow. Assemble Entertainment has said the price will rise once version 1.0 arrives, which is currently anticipated in 2027.
You can find Under Canopies on Steam, and read the official Early Access announcement for the full details.
Jordan Hayes covers PC gaming news, hardware, and the ever-changing Steam ecosystem for SteamGamer.net. He believes some of gaming’s biggest stories are hiding in patch notes, performance charts, and suspiciously quiet price changes. When he isn’t investigating what developers or GPU manufacturers are doing, he is probably starting another roguelike run he insists will be his last.
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