Introduction

As for every year, we hold a general assembly for the Solarus Labs non-profit organization. We take advantage of it to look back on past year and establish upcoming projects.

Projects We Worked on in 2025

Solarus 2.0

Solarus 2 was finally released on April 1st, 2025, after a long development process. The release was a huge success for the association, and we received a lot of positive feedback from the community. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this release!

The 2.0 has gotten 3 bugfix releases (2.0.1, 2.0.2 and 2.0.3), so far.

Here are some of the main features and improvements of Solarus 2.0:

  • Multiplayer mode.
  • Huge improvements to Audio API.
  • Many bugfixes and improvements.
  • CI maintenance and updates.
  • New API for gamepads, which offers excellent support for all types of controllers.
  • Dark theme and SVG icons for Solarus Editor and Launcher, in Solarus colors, thanks to the Qlementine library, now in version 1.4.2.
  • Migration of the documentation to MkDocs.
  • Migration to a monorepo.
  • Video trailer for the release of 2.0.
  • Support for RecalBox (Raspberry Pi).
  • New logo and merchandising products.
  • AppImage distribution for Linux.
  • DMG distribution for macOS.
  • Text tutorials.

Solarus Editor and Launcher screenshots

Solarus for Android

Solarus Android development continued during 2025, although it was not the main focus of the association.

  • UI developement.
  • Compilation maintenance.

Solarus Android application

Games by the Community

Zelda Fangames

Using Solarus for Zelda fangames is still very popular. Here are some of the most notable releases of 2025:

  • Region of Deseraph 0.3 beta release, by Razdarac.
  • The Labors of Zeldo Wave 2 release, by ZeldoRetro.
  • Mercuris’ Chest 0.2.4 demo release, by Metallizer.

Some Zelda fangames are still in development, and look very promising:

  • Shade of the Ravens, by Wanolink.
  • Another World, by Rheytendo.

Shade of the Ravens screenshots

Notably, one of them has progressed in 2025, but is currently on hold:

  • A Link to the Dream, by the Binbin team.

Non-Zelda Games

Solarus isn’t only a Zelda fangame engine, and we are happy to see that some non-Zelda games have been released in 2025:

  • Word Breaker, a puzzle game, by Llamazing.
  • Tombwater demo, a commercial Souls-like game published on Steam, by Max Mraz.

Tombwater

Events

We met the community in person during several events in 2025:

  • Solarus discovery session at the science club of René Descartes high school in Lyon (February 18, 2025).
  • 2 Solarus hackathon in Paris (February 15-16, 2025 and November 8-9, 2025). The team worked hard on Solarus 2.0, and had a lot of fun doing it!

Projects on Hold or Cancelled in 2025

These projects were on hold in 2025:

  • Solarus WASM.
  • Children of Solarus.

Some projects were cancelled in 2025:

  • The new Solarus Launcher in QtQuick/QML: the current application in QtWidgets has been completely rewritten and improved, thus there is no need for a new one in QtQuick/QML.

Projects Planned for 2026

  • Solarus 2.1 development:

    • CMake refactor of the monorepo.
    • Signed Windows installer thanks to SignPath.
    • Automatic update of Solarus Launcher and Solarus Editor.
    • Automatic update of Solarus quests.
    • Addition of audio processing effects to the audio API.
    • Huge improvement of ice grounds.
    • Many bugfixes and various improvements.
    • Solarus for Android.
    • Continuation of text tutorials.

  • Game development:

    • Children of Solarus.
    • Mercuris’ Chest.
    • Release of Tombwater on Steam, on March 31.

Conclusion

2025 was a huge year for Solarus, with the release of Solarus 2.0 and many other projects. We are looking forward to 2026, which will be another exciting year for the association and the community!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to Solarus in 2025, and we hope to see you again in 2026!