With pixel art, quirky characters, and a spaceship to call your own, Little-Known Galaxy blends cozy life-sim vibes with classic sci-fi adventure. In this game, you manage your crew, upgrade your ship, and uncover mysteries among the stars.
The two-person development team Carbon & Kay are the creative minds behind this galactic gem, and their passion for storytelling and pixel art shines in every corner of the game. In our interview with Carbon & Kay, we chat with them about their inspirations, their development journey, and what makes Little-Known Galaxy such a unique addition to the indie gaming scene.
But before we dive into the interview, let’s take a quick look at the game.
Little-Known Galaxy: A Cozy Adventure in Space
Images: Carbon & Kay
If you’ve ever dreamed of being a starship captain and a space farmer, Little-Known Galaxy might be your perfect escape pod. Created by the small but mighty husband-and-wife team Carbon & Kay, this charming life sim in space combines cozy RPG elements with exploration, crafting, and relationship-building.
You begin your journey as a captain-in-training for the Space Alliance. As you investigate a strange alien relic discovered on the Grey Planet, your mission slowly evolves from “follow orders” to “follow your heart.” That’s the magic of Little-Known Galaxy. It doesn’t rush you. Instead, it encourages you to take your time, build connections with your quirky crew, grow tomatoes in zero gravity, and maybe even fall in love.
The game allows you to truly make your ship your home. Want to build machines to automate your crafting workflow? Go for it! Would you rather cover the hull in adorable planters and pixel art decorations? Totally your choice. There’s an unexpected amount of freedom here, and everything feels lovingly handcrafted—from the Xeno (adorable alien pets you can hatch and raise) to the delightfully retro space aesthetic, complete with silly, Spock-style ears and heartwarming story beats.
Combat is light, exploration is rewarding, and the characters are genuinely fun to get to know. The soundtrack, composed by the talented Dale North, beautifully complements the game’s relaxing yet adventurous vibe. Little-Known Galaxy is a love letter to the genre, filled with retro space vibes, amazing characters, and enchanting creatures!
Interview with Carbon & Kay
Many comments on Steam compare your game to Stardew Valley. Was this game one of your inspirations? Are there any books, shows, or games that heavily influenced the world or characters of LKG?
Carbon: Our main inspiration was Star Trek meets Harvest Moon. Taking the optimism and adventure of Star Trek, combined with the loving community and slow-paced nature of Harvest Moon. In addition to these, so many other games like Undertale, Moonlighter, Minecraft, etc., were always on our minds.
As well as the many sci-fi books I read, from Isaac Asimov to Ernest Cline. Stardew Valley did an incredible job of bringing the genre back to life, and to so many new people for the first time ever. It definitely set the expectations and inspired everyone at the same time.
The crew feels like a found family. How did you design their personalities and their relationships aboard the ship?
Kay: It was a layering process to get to the final result. We started by trying to create diverse characters with their own personalities, hobbies, interests, and empathies. Next, we tried to add in some personal obstacles and goals for each of them to showcase their own struggles.
Then we looked at shared experiences and insecurities to form bonds and conflicts with each other. After a while, I started just knowing how they would respond to situations, which was kind of a wild experience.
Which character was the most fun (or challenging) to write?
Kay: The kids, Kendall and Sprout, were some of the most enjoyable because they answer as children; unapologetically honest, but with good intentions. Curiosity and unfiltered observation turn out to be a hilarious combination, which is probably why we all love being around kids in real life, too.
Little-Known Galaxy has a very chill vibe, but with a structured mission system. How did you balance freedom with progression?
Kay: Structure for some of us (definitely me) can be very comforting and relaxing. We wanted to balance a linear story with structure without a timeline on how or when to make that progression. As gamers, I believe some days we want to explore and customize, while on others, we may want to just work towards a goal and feel good about a job well done.
Since you develop as a two-person husband-and-wife team, would you say that you have a special dynamic during the development process?
Kay: At least a couple of mornings a week, we’d venture to a café for coffee away from our computers to talk about our tasks. We were lucky in that our roles in game development kind of split up naturally between Carbon, tackling most of the art/animation, and me on programming/writing/producing. Design was definitely a joint venture, and sometimes we’d have to spend more than one day bouncing ideas off one another to get to the final answer.
What was the biggest challenge you faced during development?
Kay: I’d say time was definitely the biggest challenge. We never wanted to sacrifice reworking, improving, or adding a needed feature. This, however, raised the pressure as time passed, and we realized we ended up extending many milestones for the project.
Did the game change significantly from the original vision over time?
Carbon: Yes. The biggest change was space travel and the extent of planet exploration. We knew that you would meet new characters and help them along your story, but were unsure if you should be at a stationary space station, or have your own traveling ship and fly around the galaxy.
Flying your own spaceship from planet to planet was so incredibly exciting that the game just had to become that. It became the true sci-fi adventure that it needed to be from that point forward, and was a very groundbreaking moment in its early development.
If you were crew members aboard the ship, what would your roles be?
Carbon: Pilot – That would be a dream come true.
Kay: Engineer – Part of what I learned making Little-Known Galaxy was how much I love planning and building systems.
Which game(s) made you fall in love with gaming?
Carbon: The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, and King Arthur’s World, to name just a few. Those were the earliest influences, which are really still the strongest for me.
Kay: Bubble Bobble, Super Mario 3 (Finding the white pirate ship was an easter egg I’ll never forget.), Rainbow Islands, and Chibi-Robo!
What’s your favorite cozy game (besides your own)?
Carbon: Chibi-Robo! It’s so cute, sweet, and cozy, but still challenging at times. It’s one of our favorites.
Which cheat code would you like to have in real life?
Carbon: Freeze time. Anything is possible with enough time. I would just love that.
Kay: Unlimited lives. Who doesn’t want to be more cat-like?
You can find Carbon & Kay here:
💡 Tip: Check out our first Developer Spotlight, where we interviewed Nomada Studio!
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