At GDC 2025, Snail Games unleashed an amazing gameplay trailer for Honeycomb: The World Beyond. Set on Sota7, this game blends the survival and cozy genres together as you discover new animals and plants and crossbreed them while putting your character’s bioengineering background to work.
I caught up with Szymon Szymaniak-Gnaś during the conference to talk about the background for this game, about the crossbreeding mechanics, and more!
You can find out more about Honeycomb: The World Beyond on X.
You can also check out Frozen Way on their official website, on Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Steam, and YouTube.
Finally, you can wishlist Honeycomb: The World Beyond for Steam, Epic Games, and PlayStation now.
This interview has been edited for content and clarity.
Operation Rainfall: I am Quentin H. with oprainfall, and you are?
Szymon Szymaniak-Gnaś: – I am Szymon Szymaniak-Gnaś at Frozen Way, the team developing Honeycomb: The World Beyond.
OR: What is Honeycomb: The World Beyond? Can you tell us a little bit about it?
SSG: Sure! It’s a sci-fi survival adventure game, where we put the players into the shoes of Hennessy, a bioengineer. She’s stuck on a distant and mysterious planet [called] Sota7, a place where you will discover new species of plants [and] animals. You will fight through all the hard stuff to create the perfect specimens that will be able to kickstart the ecosystem again.
“I believe every team at every company, at some point, wants to have their ambition rise with every project they do.
And at some point, after you create so many DLC and so many games in the same genre, you just have the idea ‘[w]e should do something different, something new that could spark the passion with the games again.’”
OR: When and where did the idea of a survival sandbox come from? Did you ever consider any other genres?
SSG: Sure, we started with a lot simpler idea. In the beginning, it was supposed to be a simulation game about a scientist who does experiments on plants, but it was supposed to be just a set of specific levels of a small size – like nature around you. You would have a laboratory, you pick up stuff around you, and then [you] try to experiment to find whatever is your goal for each level. But we quickly got greedy, our appetite rose, and we arrived at where we are now. It’s a really big map, full of around 25 to 30 different plants, and you can also make hybrids from them.
We have now nine species of animals that have sub-species, and additional hybrids that you can create. Along the way, we also realized that there is a strong ecological message. We can easily add [that] to this game, which was also important for our generation who will be playing the game. [It is] important for us to have society treat nature with respect, because there’s no second Earth. If we lose this one, then we’ve lost ‘the game.’
OR: There’re different biomes in Honeycomb: The World Beyond. Can you tell us about some of the different biomes you can experience?
SSG: Basically, the whole map is in a jungle-y way. We don’t have the usual game biomes like a wintery one, like a forest one – because we cannot really justify having different seasons on a map of this size. So, we have a summer jungle-kind of climate.
But we have this beautiful valley with a swamp-like environment, we have old caves where you will find bones of really ancient animals, we have the aquatic zone – which is like a Norwegian fjord vibe, out of high cliffs. We have the ancient tribe sites, which have forgotten, maybe forbidden, temples that you may find ancient civilization remnants [in]. But all of that is just fueled with beautiful plants, beautiful colors, beautiful pallet of colors. We think every biome will find its fans.
OR: A moment ago, you said that there were different plants and species of animals. How do you develop all these animals and plants for your game?
SSG: I would love to have a more complicated answer for you, but in general, it’s the talent and imagination of our artist. We have a really great [2D] concept artist that creates animals by sketching them – but what really brings them to life is the animator. His name is Paolo. He is making all the animal animations, and you probably saw in the trailer – they are a blast. They look so natural and so fun to just watch.
OR: Can you tell us about the crossbreeding mechanics? Should I be breaking out my Punnett Square for Honeycomb: The World Beyond? Can you crossbreed species?
SSG: Because biology is biology, we didn’t want to create what you just mentioned. You can only cross animals that are from the same species. The end result will be the same kind of animal, but with really unique fur – different colors, different properties of the unique items that they will give you. It’s really hard technically, and we didn’t want to turn the science upside down so you can’t crossbreed between the species.
OR: What is it like working with Snail Games as the publisher for [Honeycomb: The World Beyond]?
SSG: Up to this point, pretty awesome. We are really thankful to them for bringing us to GDC to help promote our game, and the expertise they have in the survival genre is really helping us out on many levels. We couldn’t be more excited for the marketing plans [they] have in store for the future.
OR: Honeycomb: The World Beyond is wildly different than your prior games such as Chornobyl Liquidators, which is set in the exclusion zone and dealing with radiation and the KGB, and House Flipper VR, which has you renovating homes for sale in VR. What made you want to change genres and atmospheres so completely from what you’ve done before?
SSG: To be honest? I believe every team at every company, at some point, wants to have their ambition rise with every project they do. And at some point, after you create so many DLC and so many games in the same genre, you just have the idea ‘[w]e should do something different, something new that could spark the passion with the games again.’
That’s how Honeycomb came. We also have another game in store that we’re developing that’s unannounced, so I can’t say more, but its also the same kind of idea – we want to do more, we want to do bigger games, and Honeycomb was just a natural, organic idea that our team had. And we just rolled the dice, we gambled on it – ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’.
“Our gamble is there a niche for players who like to play survival games, but at the same time relax in a chilling, cozy experience.”
OR: The planet you’re on in this game is Sota7. Where did that name come from?
SSG: In Ukrainian – it means ‘honeycomb’. And because part of the team – the director and the dev lead – are Ukrainian, it’s just a little Easter Egg.
OR: Can you give us an idea about the release date and what platforms Honeycomb: The World Beyond will be coming to?
SSG: So, the release date is still unannounced – we are definitely aiming for a release date this year. And it will be a simultaneous release for all the major platforms. So, PC, Steam, Epic, Steam Deck – all the handhelds and current gen consoles. PS5, Xbox Series S, and X. Sorry, Nintendo!
OR: Any potential VR component?
SSG: Not in the plan, currently. But I think it is a good game for VR. But I think it is a good game for VR.
OR: To someone who may have seen the trailer and is excited for Honeycomb: The World Beyond and is considering picking up the game, what do you have to say to them?
SSG: This would be a great game – it is a big gamble on creating a survival game that is on the opposite side of the spectrum. So, a game that is survival at its core, but at the same time, there’s no usual elements of kill-or-be-killed micromanagement. Our gamble is there is a niche for players who like to play survival games, but at the same time relax in a chilling, cozy experience. This game is for all the players who don’t usually play survival games but always wanted to, but they were too stressed playing them – the other titles. So, hopefully Honeycomb will fill that space.
OR: Just to follow-up: ‘survival’ and ‘cozy’ genres tend to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. How do you bridge the gap between the two without losing one or the other?
SSG: It’s always a compromise, right? As I said, it’s a gamble on that side that will hopefully pay off. We analyzed the other survival games. We pinpointed the elements that are crucial to a survival game – like, the risk-taking, food, sleep, stuff like that. We decided that combat is the opposite of what Hennessey is as a character – she is a bioengineer, a pacifist, she respects nature.
So, seeing her as this kind of person, holding a gun and killing animals – it just doesn’t fit the story we’re creating and the message we wanted to bring to the game. So, after we realized what kind of message we wanted to convene to the players, it was pretty easy to decide what survival elements we needed. We’ll see if it’s a good mix, because I don’t think there are a lot of survival games that are chill and cozy. We’ll see, hopefully it’ll pay off!
OR: Thank you!
You can wishlist Honeycomb: The World Beyond for Steam, Epic Games, and PlayStation now.
Are you excited to pick up Honeycomb: The World Beyond when it releases?
What kind of exploration would you like to see in the game?
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