Cozy games are as big as ever, with the likes of Stardew Valley maintaining their vice grip on chilling out and relaxing enthusiasts. It's hard to imagine how the formula for an unwind-'em-up could get much more appealing, but setting things in a school for witches seems like a good start. So it goes in the new Witchbrook trailer that dropped during today's Nintendo Direct, featuring mopeds, flying brooms, and the game's picturesque setting, the seaside city of Mossport.
If all that sounds great, the trailer also teases a Winter 2025 release and gives the most detailed look yet at the game's specifics; and while there's disappointingly few magic school life sim games to compare Witchbrook's vibe to, it seems like Chucklefish has the idea down pat.
The first look shows classmates gathered around a ritual magic circle, chatting in big pointy black hats, and parking their flying brooms in the witchy version of a bike rack. In fact, forget everything else, the flying brooms are the real home run from this trailer: sailing over windmills and meticulously decorated gardens never looked so good.
I'm also glad for the emphasis on the mundane aspects of witchy life, like a character using a wand to refill a basket of spilled fruit or decorating their home by levitating tables around to their liking. This is no grandiose, death-defying adventure, but the quiet, humble road to graduation.
As art director Steph Caskenette put it in a press release accompanying the new trailer: "Witchbrook is our love letter to thoughtful living, the quiet magic of slow moments, and the connections we share with each other and the world around us."
In four-player co-op, it sounds like a spellbinding sort of virtual hangout, but I'm even more tantalized by how Chucklefish CTO Rodrigo Braz Monteiro emphasized the simulation aspects of Witchbrook in the press release, saying "I don't think that the level of simulation and fidelity we've aimed for in this game is expected of any games short of AAA, and to see it realised in a pixel art indie game has been very satisfying to us … we're only sharing a small glimpse into a vast game."
It'll draw comparisons to some pretty exceptional games taking after Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, so I'm eager to see if Witchbrook can stick the landing. It's a far cry from Chucklefish's other work, but they've nimbly gone from genre to genre already with tactics RPG Wargroove and space sandbox Starbound.
If the new trailer has you under Witchbrook's spell, the game is available to wishlist on Steam.
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