Tankbar
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Roadmap

What’s in the tank, and what’s next

First, what is in the game at launch. Then a dated plan for the updates after it. Everything after launch is planned, and dates may shift.

Planned for 12 November 2026

Next after launch: winter gifting in early December, then 1.1 Shoals in mid-January, timed for Steam’s Desktop Companion Fest.

1.0

In the game at launch

The 1.0 set, planned for 12 November 2026. The free web demo lets you try a slice of the tank today.

  • A sunny coral reef tank full of colorful fish, pink coral, an anemone, a stone arch and a treasure chest.
    A calm Japanese-style pond tank with koi, a red torii gate, a cherry bonsai, a stone lantern and drifting petals. A green kelp forest tank with tall swaying kelp, a sunken ship, a diver figure and cold-water fish. A dark deep-sea tank at night with glowing jellyfish, luminous mushrooms, crystals, a mushroom house and a lighthouse.

    A living, genetic tank

    47 species painted live from their genes, with 36 patterns, 8 rare traits and 10 biomes.

  • The Nursery showing two parent fish and the exact offspring odds for patterns and traits before you confirm.

    Breeding with the odds in view

    The Nursery shows every possible pattern and trait chance before you confirm. Parents are never consumed.

  • A world on your clock

    Dawn, day, dusk and night, with 6 kinds of weather that fit each biome, from clear skies to auroras and distant storms.

  • A night tank during a Focus Tide: a glowing band of water rising with a wavy crest line, and the countdown timer in the top corner.

    Focus Tide

    Focus timers of 15, 25, 45 or 60 minutes with double pearls and a chance at a Focus Egg. Finish any seven Focus Tides for an achievement. While a Tide runs and you’re away from the tank, reveal cards and non-urgent toasts wait until you come back.

  • Three procedural radio stations

    Lo-fi Reef, Deep Calm and Rainy Glass, composed live on your computer.

  • The Tankbar aquarium docked along the bottom of a simulated desktop, above the taskbar, with two generic app windows behind it.

    Your desktop, your way

    Dock on the taskbar, above it, along the top edge or float it. Ghost mode, tray icon, hotkeys and a low-detail mode. A streamer mode, where chat names your fish, is planned for launch or soon after.

  • The Koi page of the Dex: patterns already found, each with its best finish number, and silhouettes for the ones still to find.

    Collecting

    The Dex, 70 achievements on Steam, 55 decorations, photo mode and a Reserve Pond with no cap. Shrimp, crabs and jellies get Flawless, Mirror and Perfect sheens.

  • Release to the reef

    Let a fish go and you get pearls as thanks. There is no player market: fish are for keeping and giving.

  • The Level Road

    A free road of rewards across all 150 levels, shown in full from day one. Levels 1–60 have rewards at launch, and more arrive with free updates. Nothing to buy, nothing expires, and a Next up card keeps the next reward in view.

  • The Tidewatcher’s Lantern

    A decoration everyone earns at level 10 (straight away on a Steam-demo import), engraved with the month you arrived. No exclusive fish, and nothing is missable for good.

  • The Harbor, the optional online mode

    Sign in with the Steam account that owns Tankbar to send friend requests and gifts (a fish or a daily pearl pouch, with a preset phrase if you like), visit tanks, enter Fish Shows, fill the weekly Tide and climb the Finest boards. No public chat at 1.0. The game is 13+ for online social features.

  • Two free demos

    A free Steam demo is planned before launch, and it is designed to carry your tank into the full game through Steam Cloud. The free web demo on this site (3 biomes, 18 species) can export and import its save, but that file is a backup, not a carry-over path.

Play the free demo

Planned

What comes after launch

A dated timeline, newest plans last. Every entry is planned, and dates may shift. Anything that is not in the game at launch lives here. Every update on this page is free for everyone who owns Tankbar.

Level Road 1–150

  1. 1–60At launch
  2. 61–100Winter
  3. 101–150With 1.2
  4. 150Inkwater

You are here

  1. Launch day 12 Nov 2026 1.0

    Launch

    Tankbar arrives on Steam for Windows.

    Planned; dates may shift

  2. Nov–Dec 2026 1.0.x

    Launch fixes

    Fixes and comfort updates based on what players tell us.

    Planned; dates may shift

  3. Winter (early Dec)

    Gifting, Frostlight and Level Road 61–100

    Richer gifting, a winter festival (tentative) and the next stretch of the road.

    • Richer gifting: unwrap and wraps, thank-yous with stickers, a keepsake tin, visible feeding and friends’ Dex
    • The Frostlight winter festival, with new decor (planned, and tentative)
    • Level Road 61–100

    Planned; dates may shift

  4. Mid-Jan 2027 (Steam’s Desktop Companion Fest, 14–18 Jan) 1.1 “Shoals”

    Friends, together

    Start a Shoal with friends, fill a co-op Tide together, swap duplicates and play in more languages.

    • Player groups (Shoals) with ranks, a message of the day and a Finder
    • Shoal chat: free text for 18+, preset phrases for 13–17
    • A co-op Shoal Tide
    • Friend Swaps: fish for fish, no prices
    • Wishes: pin up to three species you’d love to be given, visible only when a friend opens the gift picker
    • A family view of a fish’s line across friends
    • Sleepovers, if there is room
    • The game in Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Traditional Chinese comes later.

    Planned; dates may shift

  5. Feb 2027 1.1.1 “Sunwell”

    Illustration, not game art

    The Sunwell Cenote

    A new biome with 4 new species.

    Planned; dates may shift

  6. Mar 2027 1.1.2 “Atlas”

    Mastery and rooms

    Mastery ranks per biome, a room layout per biome and new decor.

    Planned; dates may shift

  7. By late Mar 2027 1.2 “Flare Duels”

    Fish battles and the rest of the Level Road

    Async fish battles, a festival and the rest of the Level Road.

    • Async fish battles, 1v1 to 3v3
    • The Blossom Drift festival
    • Level Road 101–150

    Planned; dates may shift

  8. Apr 2027 Visitors

    Wandering regulars

    10 wandering regulars and a Visitor Log.

    Planned; dates may shift

  9. Jun 2027 1.3

    Illustration, not game art

    The League and more

    Contents and order still being set. Currently planned: a league, four mini-games, public chat and a new biome.

    • The League and ranked seasons
    • Mini-games: Tank Showdown, Tide Tug, Pearl Dive and Current Race
    • Public chat channels
    • The Sargasso Drift biome
    • The Long Light festival

    Planned; dates may shift

  10. Aug 2027 1.4

    Illustration, not game art

    Ama Cove

    The Ama Cove biome, renovations and new weather.

    Planned; dates may shift

  11. ~Sep 2027 Capstone

    Illustration, not game art

    Inkwater, the Painted Sea

    The level 150 capstone, with the Keeper’s Scroll and the gyotaku press.

    Planned; dates may shift

  12. Oct 2027 1.5

    Illustration, not game art

    The Cloudsea

    The Cloudsea biome and the Hollow Tide festival.

    Planned; dates may shift

This roadmap is a plan, and dates may shift as we learn. Every update on it is free for everyone who owns Tankbar. The quickest way to see what works today is the free demo.

Play the free demo Read the FAQ