A barren world, waiting to turn green again. The Regreening, the debut project from Hamburg newcomer Positive Impact Games and Berlin publisher ByteRockers’ Games, has put its demo live on Steam — a cozy simulation built around restoring a devastated world to life through planting, recycling, and befriending ancient spirits drawn from Baltic folklore.
A Soilpunk Fairy Tale About Growing Things Back
Players grow plants, restore ecosystems, and recycle abandoned materials. Ancient spirits inspired by Baltic folklore can become allies as the surrounding environment recovers, and wildlife gradually returns once it does. The question the developer poses: can a devastated world become a joyful home again?
The story follows protagonist Viri’s journey. Players discover new seeds, choose which animal habitats to restore, and learn the synergies between plants to build the biome they want.
Planting, Recycling, and Spirit Bonds
The core activity is planting and tending growth — finding new seeds and plant combinations to shape a personal biome. Materials recovered by clearing away discarded junk can decorate the player’s home or build watering devices for plants.
The folkloric nature spirits reward players who help them with powerful abilities; some are drawn specifically to shiny objects. Harvested flowers and fruit can be replanted in new ground or given as gifts to animals and friends.
The developer describes The Regreening as aiming for a relaxed experience with no time limits or pressure, designed so that the act of restoring nature flows naturally. Adaptive music, forest ambience, intuitive controls, and a folklore-grounded story are the stated tools for building that calm atmosphere.
7,300+ Playtesters, 55,000+ Wishlists
The team credits the cozy-game community with playing a significant role during early development: more than 7,300 players took part across multiple test rounds, sharing what worked, what needed improvement, and their thoughts on the satisfaction of reviving a world. The Regreening has passed 55,000 wishlists on Steam. The current demo lets players experience the game’s Baltic-folklore mood and ecosystem-restoration premise firsthand ahead of release.
The Studio
Positive Impact Games is a Hamburg-based studio founded in 2024 by five games-industry veterans. It’s a women-led, multicultural team with a stated direction of making warm games that address contemporary themes while giving players a sense of strength, connection, and change. The Regreening is the studio’s debut title.
Who This Is For
Strong fit for: cozy sim fans who want ecosystem restoration and gardening over competitive or time-pressured mechanics; players drawn to folklore-grounded worldbuilding, particularly less-common Baltic mythology; anyone who enjoys recycling/upcycling mechanics tied to environmental themes; players who appreciated the playtest community’s input and want to see where that feedback led.
Cautious fit for: players who need a release date before following (none given yet); anyone wanting combat or challenge-driven simulation.
Less ideal for: players seeking fast-paced or competitive gameplay; those who dislike no-pressure, open-ended sim structures.
The Takeaway
The Regreening is a debut studio’s bet that restoring a dead world, one seed and one spirit friendship at a time, can carry a cozy sim on its own warmth rather than urgency. With 55,000+ wishlists and over 7,300 playtesters already shaping the game before its demo even launched, Positive Impact Games has real signal behind a first release built entirely around patience and growth.
The ground is barren. Viri is waiting. And somewhere in the folklore, a spirit with a taste for shiny things is ready to help, if you’re willing to earn it.
Demo live now on Steam. Release date TBA.
Information regarding ‘The Regreening’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Game name | The Regreening |
| Developer | Positive Impact Games (Hamburg, Germany) |
| Publisher | ByteRockers’ Games (Berlin, Germany) |
| Genre | Cozy Simulation (Soilpunk) |
| platform | PC (Steam) |
| demo | Steam Demo Now Available, Participating in Steam Next Fest in October |
| Release date | Undetermined (not listed in press release) |
| Reactions/Evaluations | Over 55,000 on Steam Wishlist, over 7,300 playtest participants |
| Steam Page | Shortcut |
| Developer Website | positive-games.com |
