First things first: thanks to your incredible support, we’ve officially passed $200k in contributions. 🎉In addition to hitting this funding milestone, Kitten Space Agency recently won a New Zealand Hi-Tech Award, becoming the first-ever video game to do so. This is an absolutely massive achievement for our team.

While community contributions cover around 2% of RocketWerkz total real-world development costs so far, it represents an incredibly healthy foundation for where the project is at. That total cost includes not just our dedicated KSA team, but also our Enterprise team building BRUTAL, the underlying framework that KSA runs on. This marks the first time our studio has ever had regular community contributions for a project, and we do not take your generosity for granted.

On top of that, we’ve just dropped our First Look Teaser for Kitten Space Agency:

Development has been actively underway since mid-2024. While we are still in the early stages of pre-alpha, we wanted to pull back the curtain and give you a proper look at some of the incredible work happening across the game so far. As you look at the progress, please keep in mind that we have been hyper-focused on establishing solid core fundamentals. We're building a safe, rock-solid scaffold right now so that we can confidently build everything else we want on top of it later.

Check out what the team has been cooking up:

⚙️ Recent Milestones & Progress

  • Physics & Collisions: Shifted to a local floating origin for high-precision calculations, enabling true vehicle-to-terrain collisions and physics-based docking with kinetic energy latching.

  • Vehicle Editor Overhaul: Flipped assembly to a top-to-bottom launch configuration. Added 15-degree rotation/face snapping, symmetry-aware gizmos, a part duplication hotkey (Ctrl + D), and in-editor animation previews.

  • Visuals & Graphics: Integrated FidelityFX CACAO for depth shading, PCSS for natural soft shadows, NASA-data normal maps for 2D clouds, and distant glints that catch light based on vessel orientation.

  • Systems & Realism: Upgraded target tracking with click-and-drag burn arrows. Added dynamic ice/insulation debris that flakes off tanks during launch, and introduced mandatory command modules to pilot vessels.

🕹️ RocketWerkz & Ahwoo is Exhibiting at gamescom

For the first time ever, RocketWerkz and Ahwoo are exhibiting at gamescom in Cologne, Germany in Hall 10.1. We’ll be bringing Kitten Space Agency, which is available for free through Ahwoo, along with four other titles from RocketWerkz.

If you’re attending, come by our booth to play the latest build and meet some of the team, including:

  • Dean Hall, Founder & CEO

  • Stefan Moluf, Former Spaceship Flight Software Engineer

  • Felipe Falanghe, Creator of the original Kerbal Space Program