Normally in games where you inherit a farm or plant shop or garden from an elderly relative, you conveniently have enough of a green thumb to keep that farm or plant shop or garden alive and thriving. (At least until winter.) Not so in Greenheart Necromancer, a game in which your thumb is only green when it's got a bit of rotting flesh on it, because you are, as the name suggests, a necromancer.
This upcoming game from indie studio Silverstring Media reframes the idea that letting the azaleas die is a 'bad thing' by giving you the ability to bring them back to life, and make them even better the second time. As the Steam page puts it, "Grow your plants' levels to unlock special traits and increase their yields through a cycle of life and undeath and resurrection".
Having a thriving undead balcony garden will let you attract ghost bees, which provide mystical honey you can then sell at the market. Casting spells will help your plants grow, change their likes and dislikes, and protect them from pests, but you won't have to keep an eye on them all day long. Greenheart Necromancer will be an idle game, but one that, according to the Steam description, "rewards you for stepping away".
"We wanted to explore an idle game that really respects players' time and attention," said Lucas J.W. Johnson, Silverstring's studio director, "something that you want to keep running through the day but that's not constantly demanding your focus. You can set it aside and just enjoy the gothy plants vibing to the music while you work, and not have to worry that they might die—because you can always bring them back!"
According to Silverstring's creative director Claris Cyarron, "Players will have the opportunity to create and tend to a vibrant place of power, reflection, and repose that will support their day. The balcony will be a cozy, nostalgic, and expressive space. The game's decor style is best described as a mixture of 'witchcore' and 'whimsigoth' with a healthy dose of 'grandma chic' added in there as well."
Greenheart Necromancer has been announced as part of Steam's Idler Fest, a sale on games that play themselves a bit, which runs until February 10. The classic Cookie Clicker is 66% off, while the new desktop frog hotness Ropuka's Idle Island is 10% off. Greenheart Necromancer doesn't have a release date yet, but you can wishlist it on Steam.
