Developer
Whales And Games
Based in Portugal
Publisher
Super Rare Originals
Based in United Kingdom
Release Date
2025
Website
townseekgame.com
Platforms
Steam
Consoles TBA
Pricing
TBA
Townseek is a single-player exploration and trading game where the player flies freely across the world on their airship. Moving through the map, the player will find several towns, each with their own charismatic host. By trading with them for gold, it’s possible to buy more merchandise to sell at a higher price in other towns, acquire tools to take part in new activities and unlock multiple cosmetic options.
The game follows the player’s quest to find the missing pages of Sir Reginald Sharkingston‘s journal, the first sharkfolk to freely explore the world. Aside from the main quest, the player is encouraged to discover the multiple unique landmarks scattered throughout the globe. There are also dozens of items to obtain, and activities such as fishing, mining, farming, digging, foraging, and more!
Beyond the main quest, the game is an open-ended calm experience that lets the player discover the world at their own pace. Whether they prefer to maximize their profits, learn more about the hosts, complete their collections of items or just roam around freely, the player always has free-reign over their Townseek experience!
The original version of Townseek, currently available on itch.io under the name of Townseek Jam Version, was originally developed for the Global Game Jam 2021. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the formerly physical game jam had to adapt to a digital format. While our studio has participated in multiple game jams before, these changes gave our team the opportunity to participate together for the Global Game Jam for the first time together, despite living across the world.
As a result of the pandemic itself, which caused several of us frustration by making travelling more difficult, Townseek was envisioned as a relaxing game where one could fly anywhere at any time and meet people from all cultures. We wanted to capture the satisfaction and wonder of exploring!
After its completion, the game got updated with new features, bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements. The updated release was met with a lot of positive attention, being featured on itch.io’s front page, and quickly gathered thousands of views. It has since become one of Whales And Games’ most played games.
With the surprising reception of the Jam Version and it’s subsequent The Star-Seeker Update, the team decided on focusing on delivering a new full version of the game. While Townseek’s Jam Version continues to work as a proof-of-concept, our vision for the future of Townseek showcases a lot of new potential, with brand-new ideas for features, improved new content and activities!
Townseek is a relaxing exploration-trading game where you take to the skies and explore the world of Explora discovering the lost legacy of Sir Reginald Sharkingston! Travel far and wide, discover exotic landmarks, visit faraway towns, trade with whimsical characters, catch fish, discover artefacts, and so much more!
The whole world is your sea now, so be sure to see all that it has to offer!
Best Game from Portugal
DevGAMM Awards 2024
Official Selection
Indie Arena Booth 2024
Official Selection
Wholesome Direct 2023
Official Selection
Wholesome Direct 2022
Official Selection
SXSW Sydney 2023 Games Festival
Official Selection
W.A.S.D. Curious 2023
Official Selection
The MIX Spring 2023 Showcase
Official Selection
Dreamhack Beyond 2022
Best Game from Portugal Nominee
Indie X Online 2024
Best Portuguese Game Nominee
Indie X Online 2022
Portuguese Game Of The Year Nominee
Spotlight Awards 2022
Winner
The Very Big Indie Pitch
Whales And Games allows for the contents of Townseek to be published through video broadcasting services for any commercial or non-commercial purposes. Monetization of videos created containing assets from Townseek is legally & explicitly allowed by Whales And Games. This page can be used as written confirmation of this permission.
Whales And Games Blog
Our Blog where we publish status reports about our projects and development insights into our games development.
Steam Developer Page
Our developer page on Steam where we will be releasing our upcoming commercial releases.
Discord Server
Our Discord Server brings all of our games community together in a single place where we are active at.
itch.io Profile Page
Our profile page on itch.io where we host most of our game jam and experimental games at.
Game Jolt Profile Page
Our profile page on Game Jolt where we release some of our best performing games at.
We are Whales And Games, an indie studio creating positive, polished games brimming with whalistic personality! Since our beginnings, we’ve aimed to differentiate our projects through mould-breaking experiences that we can easily expand on with fresh content, while focusing on character development and adding value to the core experience.
By approaching game development as creatives, we’re constantly expanding our ever-growing game repertoire by experimenting with new ideas!
We’re currently working on Townseek, an exploration trading-game, as our debut commercial title! Simultaneously, we continue participating in game jams, connecting with indie communities, and shaping the future of Whales And Games!
Jorge M. Carvalho (JorgeGameDev)
Programming and Game Design
José “Moski” Sánchez (MoskiDraws)
Artist and Graphic Designer
John Elliott (JohnElliottComp)
Composer and Sounder Designer
Full credits, including publishing, localisation, porting will be made available at the game’s release. The above credits represent the core development team at Whales And Games.
Layout based and inspired on Rami Ismail’s presskit()
