- Releasing on September 17 on PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch… New Trailer Revealed
- Utilize happiness, sadness, anger, and anxiety as abilities, and share emotions with surrounding spirits through song.
K-indie developer Studio BBB Inc. announced that it will officially release the PC and Nintendo Switch versions of ‘MONOWAVE,’ a 2D puzzle adventure game that utilizes emotions as abilities, on September 17.
Co-published by Studio BBB and Japanese indie game publisher Phoenixx, ‘Monowave’ depicts the journey of ‘Mono,’ a newly born guardian spirit of emotions, as she gathers the powers of happiness, sadness, anger, and anxiety to restore balance to a disrupted world.
Since announcing its global co-publishing collaboration with Phoenixx last March, Studio BBB has been preparing for the platform launch, localization, and promotion targeting domestic and international users. Along with the release date announcement, a new trailer showcasing the game’s world and emotion-based gameplay was also unveiled.
[Related Article: K-Indie ‘Studio BB’ Announces Global Co-publishing with Japan’s Phoenix for ‘Monowave’]
[Related Article: Gyeonggi Game Audition Winner ‘Monowave’ Launches Tumblbug Funding]
[Related Article: Monowave Wins Taipei Game Show Indie Game Award 2025]
Explore the world with four emotions and open a new path with songs of empathy.
The trailer showcases the core gameplay, where Mono explores the world by shifting his emotions, shares feelings with surrounding spirits through songs, and solves puzzles.
Happiness makes Mono jump higher, and sadness melts his body, allowing him to seep through narrow gaps. With anger, he can kick off walls, and anxiety makes him sense dangers that were previously unseen. Players will utilize the characteristics of each emotion according to the situation to solve different types of obstacles and environmental puzzles.
Emotions do not remain solely within Mono’s abilities. When Mono conveys his feelings to surrounding spirits through songs imbued with emotion, their behavior changes as well. Spirits who have shared in the emotion create new paths using their unique characteristics, such as breathing fire to melt ice or throwing Mono to high places.
In the full version, you will explore four worlds where appearances and puzzle rules change depending on your emotions. The story and puzzles are permeated by the process of resonating with emotions and helping to restore the disrupted balance, rather than attacking and eliminating opponents.
Line art reminiscent of scratch art, neon colors, a world atmosphere that changes with every emotion, and an original soundtrack are also characteristics of ‘Monowave’.
‘Monowave’ was recognized for its originality and won the 2025 Gyeonggi Game Audition, receiving a prize of 50 million won. In addition, it was nominated in the ‘Games for Impact’ category at the Gamescom Awards 2025 and the ‘Creative Overkill’ category at the Devcom Awards in Germany, and won the ‘Best Student Game Award’ at the Taipei Game Show Indie Game Awards.
Chapter 1 Free Trial Available… Launching at Gamescom 2026, Germany
The Chapter 1 free demo currently available on Steam is about one hour long. Set in the first world consumed by anxiety, ‘Wandering Jungle,’ you can experience core emotion-based mechanics and the first boss battle.
Studio BBB is launching a final push to target global users ahead of its official release. They plan to showcase a demo version of ‘Monowave’ at the ‘Korea Indie Game Showcase’ at gamescom 2026, held in Cologne, Germany from August 26 to 29, aiming to build interest and anticipation among attendees prior to launch.
CEO Lim Kwon-young said, “We have spent over three years deliberating and refining ‘Monowave,’ which started as a small project during my student days, with my team members,” adding, “I am deeply moved to announce the release date and finally be able to present it to the world after a long period of development.”
“He continued, ‘This launch marks an important first step for Studio BBB as an indie game developer.’ We will meticulously refine the game until the very end so that the emotions and gameplay the team has poured into this work over a long period of time can be fully conveyed to users. We ask for your continued interest and support for Studio BBB and ‘Monowave’ as they embark on this new journey.”
Monowave will be released on September 17 for PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions are scheduled for release sometime in 2026. It will support 10 languages, including Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese. Further information can be found on the Steam store page.
| Official website | https://studiobbb.games |
| Steam Store Page | https://s.team/a/2680440 |
| Official SNS | https://www.instagram.com/monowave.bbb/ https://x.com/studiobbb_ |
| Official YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@studiobbb/ |
