Biotama/GDD

A screenshot of Biotama as of March 2026.

Biotama is a game where players attempt to convert wastelands into thriving ecosystems.

In more traditional city-builders like the SimCity and Cities: Skylines series, players start with a pristine landscape, then convert it into a sprawling city, exploiting natural resources and creating pollution.

In Biotama, the player starts with a “Mother Tree” which acts as the core component of the player’s ecosystem. Trees grow roots that can connect together, allowing them to communicate and send resources between each other. Mycelial networks function similarly for fungi. Biotama aims to be educational as well as fun. It will feature real-world species with tooltips showing fun facts about those species. We are consulting with experts in biology where necessary to ensure accuracy to the real world.

Players build up different ecosystems in various biomes such as forests, wetlands, and deserts, with each posing unique challenges. They will face world events, such as forest fires and disease outbreaks. The player will navigate these events and increase the overall health of the ecosystem.

Biotama is

1. A nature building game
2. inspired by traditional city-builders
3. focusing on science and education.

Biotama isn't

A fully-fledged nature and climate simulation.

The in-game player lifespan is limited to a few years, whereas major changes in climate take decades or centuries. The player’s goal is to make positive impacts towards future climate change for later generations.

This is a game, first and foremost, and we sometimes intentionally sacrifice full scientific accuracy for gamification and scope management.

Gameplay

In Biotama, the player creates sustainable, biodiverse ecosystems ("biota"), as opposed to traditional city-buider human-built settlements. However, the mechanics are quite analogous to city-builders.

Here are some examples:

• Town Hall → Mother Tree
• Paths and roads → root systems and mycelial networks
• Money and raw materials → water, phosphorous, nitrogen, ammonia
• Power plants and electrical grids → sunlight and photosynthesis

Biomes

The game world is divided into biomes which contain multiple biota.

Name	Description	Effects	Plantae	Fungi	Animalia
Rainforest	Densely populated with trees	Mild winter, high rainfall, frequent storms	Pine trees, oak trees, grasses, ferns	Anamita, morels, oyster mushrooms, lichens, fairy rings	Deer, foxes, ants, birds
Desert	Sparse hardy vegetation, hot days and cold nights, very rare but severe storms	Droughts, floods, heat waves	Cacti, succulents, grasses, brush	Desert Fungi	Scorpions, lizards, birds
Plains	Few trees, sparse grass, low humidity, evil bugs	Big wind storms	Grass, birches	Sparse lichen	Wolves, deer, rodents, birds
Boreal Mountain	Hilly, many conifers, cold weather on average	Harsh windy winter storms	Junipers, lingonberries, pines, spruces, cedars	Shelf Fungus	Bears, moose, elk, marmots
Wetlands	Humid, swampy	Hurricanes, droughts, floods	Algae, lillies, mangroves	Bolete, root fungus	Manatees, fish, caimans, birds
Volcano	Very hot, lava floes, lava tubes, flying rocks	Fires more frequent, limited buildable area, very vertical	Lupine, grass	Fusarium strain flavolapis	Iguanas, bugs

Systems

World Events

World events are modifiers on the entire biome that can trigger randomly. They vary depending on the current season and biome.

These are climactic events which add extra challenge to the gameplay. Players will have to strategically prepare their ecosystems to withstand and recover from these events.

When new species are introduced, new threats will be unlocked, but also the stronger the ecosystem is, the easier it will be to handle threats.

Production

TBD

Art

TBD

Audio

TBD