Seabed Settlers: Rebuilding Society Underwater, City-Builder Style

Gaming Staff • July 7, 2025

Indie Game Pc Games

Seabed Settlers is an underwater city-building simulator from Tense Games, where players must rebuild society on the ocean floor after devastating Raybomb strikes. The surface is uninhabitable, so life now continues beneath the sea, with Fish Farms, genetically modified Seawheat, and heat from deep thermal vents forming the backbone of civilization. The game is inspired by Caesar III, but with an underwater twist, where players must balance jobs, desirability, approval, and resources to ensure the survival of their colony.

The city must grow carefully across uneven terrain, with rocky seafloor needing to be cleared to make space, while thermal vents become critical hubs for energy production. Food chains are literal chains, with fisheries providing protein, Seawheat being harvested and sent to warehouses, then processed into seabread by bakers before being delivered to markets that serve nearby residential habitats. Habitats evolve in tiers, with each upgrade requiring more resources and infrastructure.

As the city grows, so does the player's visibility to the High Regent, a distant but powerful figure who oversees all undersea administration. They issue quotas, demand tribute, and ultimately judge the player's effectiveness as a city leader. Ignoring them has consequences. While most missions focus on peaceful management, some scenarios add a light defensive wrinkle, with submarine raiders and mutant incursions threatening the outskirts.

Seabed Settlers builds on a legacy of Impressions-style city sims but modernizes in a few key ways, such as a global worker pool and streamlined road systems. The game's layered simulation of economy, labor, and growth, along with its atmospheric underwater setting, sets it apart from other city-building sims. The visual style blends 2D-inspired design with clean, modern tools, creating a crisp, detailed, and functional interface.

The game is currently in development, with a release planned for early 2026, and is available to wishlist on Steam. For fans of Banished, Manor Lords, Pharaoh, Ceasar III, Timberborn, or anyone curious what an Impressions-style sim looks like beneath the waves, this is one to watch.

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