An upcoming cosy RPG looks like it could be the magical Stardew Valley game of your dreams, but you’ll have to wait a little while longer for it to come out.
If you’re a fan of magical video games and would rather not play Hogwarts Legacy for… reasons, there are quite a lot of alternatives out there for you.
One such example would be the upcoming Witchbrook, the life RPG and social sim from Chucklefish that puts you in the shoes of a student attending a magical college in the sleepy seaside town of Mossport.
It’s more Kiki’s Delivery Service than anything else, to be fair, but what we’ve seen so far has been very promising.
Witchbrook Looks Very Promising
In a new dev blog posted yesterday, 26 November, Chucklefish senior artist Jade Evans has shared some insight into the game’s dedication to individual expression, particularly with its character customisation and design.
“When I was younger, I would play pixel art dress up doll games for hours, so it’s been really satisfying to tap into those experiences with our own in-game fashion,” Evans writes regarding the design of the in-game NPCs that populate Mossport.
“Not only am I drawing from my own tastes, experiences and countless hours of research, I often find myself coming back to the question of ‘what would young me find fun?’”
Evans adds: “Variety is key when considering the designs for clothing. We wanted to explore different silhouettes, palettes and styles to avoid falling into the trap of everybody looking the same or restricting player expression – whilst there’s nothing wrong with t-shirts and jeans, it’s always nice to have more choice!”
Unfortunately, those who were hoping to play Witchbrook this year will have to wait a little while longer.
Although Chucklefish was aiming for a late 2025 release, it announced last month that the game would instead be coming in 2026. Considering the game was originally announced in 2016, that’s quite the wait.
However, Chucklefish is at least attempting to bridge this gap with these new developer blogs and information in the hope it will tide us over.
Evans continues the blog post with more information about how players can freely express themselves.
“Players should be able to see themselves in the game, so we’ve included a variety of skin tones and hairstyles covering a range of different hair textures,” she writes.
“The system we’ve created includes different fringe options (or ‘bangs’ for those of you across the pond) that can be mixed and matched. Mossport’s salon will let you change up your style any time from hairstyle and colour, to trimming (or growing) your facial hair!
“We don’t believe in setting any limitations for what the player can wear, regardless of gender. Any hairstyle, clothing type, facial hair is up for grabs for the player.”
