Steam Next Fest Begins! Building Contest and Earn Exclusive Rewards
- Feb 25
- 4 min read
A huge thank you to everyone who jumped into our early demo! We’ve been hard at work making meaningful updates ahead of Steam Next Fest, and we’re excited to share what you can expect during this week’s event.
This demo offers a snapshot of the early stages of Guardians of the Wild Sky, giving you a feel for exploration, building, and survival. The demo features an 8-hour play window per world, meaning you’re free to replay the demo as many times as you like by starting a new world.
If you’re planning to start a fresh world but don’t want to leave a favorite build behind, we recommend saving it as a blueprint. Using the hammer tool, you can copy your structure as a blueprint, paste it into a text file, and then import it into your new world to continue your adventure without starting your build from scratch.
What you will experience:
Single-player and co-op (with up to 10 players)
Custom Worlds
An 8-hour play window per world (start a new world to play again)
Character progression up to level 20
Multiple islands open to explore, reachable by sailing in any direction
A wide range of weapon types to experiment with different combat styles
Most building types unlocked, enabling everything from practical bases to ambitious sky-bound structures
Discover towns filled with quests and merchants you can trade with as you explore the world
Experience the full survival crafting gameplay loop, from gathering and progression to building and combat
This demo is built to introduce the game’s core systems and capture the sense of adventure, creativity, and discovery that awaits beyond the demo boundary.
Play the Demo, Earn an Exclusive Reward
As a thank you to everyone who dives into the demo, all players will receive an exclusive in-game item that can only be earned by playing during Steam Next Fest.
Say hello to the Majestic Sea Whale: a commemorative plaque honoring those who answered the call of the Windseers and took to the skies during Next Fest.
This item will forever mark you as one of the early explorers who helped shape the journey ahead. Thank you for being part of the adventure!
New Structural Foundation Pieces
For all our talented builders, we’ve added new structural build pieces designed to strengthen the very heart of your base. You’ll now have access to both wood and stone foundation pieces, giving you more flexibility, stability, and creative freedom when designing everything from cozy outposts to ambitious skybound builds.
Immortalize Your Builds in the Skies - Building Contest
We’re launching a building contest, and this is your chance to leave a permanent mark on the world of Guardians of the Wild Sky.
We’re looking for functional builds that could make it into the final version of the game as official structure blueprints. Winning designs will be turned into permanent, learnable schematics, sold by an in-game merchant and available for all players to unlock and build. Builder's names will be added to the schematics. That's not all, building contest winners will also receive a game key at launch and be invited to future playtests once the demo concludes.
Contest Categories
You can enter one of the following categories:
Best Flying Vessel
Show us your most clever, efficient or stylish sky-worthy ship
Best Compact Design
Compact, practical builds are encouraged, think watchtowers, docks, cabins, or other small clever structures that players can seamlessly integrate into their own builds
Best Creative Design
Go all out! Big, bold, and ambitious builds are welcome here, create the design of your dreams
We’ll be selecting one winner per category so whether you love efficiency or building on the epic scale, there’s a place for your creativity. Help shape the skies for every future explorer.
We can’t wait to see what you create!
Rules and Limitations
There are a few rules that apply to blueprint submissions:
Large airships should be no bigger than ~350 pieces.
To help stay within this limit, you can set your blueprint max to 350 pieces. The game will then notify you if your build goes over the limit.
You can enter as many times as you like
These limits help ensure the builds remain functional, performant, and easy for other players to use.
How to Export and Import a Blueprint
Use your Hammer
Scroll to the Blueprint option
Look at the structure you wish to Blueprint
Right click on the structure. All neighboring structures will be collected into a placeable Blueprint
Press the Insert key on your keyboard to open the popup
Copy the Blueprint code and paste it into a text file (Notepad, Notepad++, etc.) - this is what you can submit to us for the contest
In your new world, open your Hammer, select Blueprint, then choose Import Blueprint - use this option if you wish to bring an existing blueprint into a new world
Submit your Build
To submit your build, simply post a screenshot of your creation along with the structure blueprint code in our Discord under the building-contest channel. You’re welcome to enter as many times as you like, and you may submit builds to any or all categories. We’ll be selecting one winner per category.
Thank you for your continued passion and support. Your feedback plays a huge role in shaping the future of Guardians of the Wild Sky. If you enjoy the demo, please consider leaving a Steam review, it really helps.
See you in the skies!
