Witchbrook was initially pitched as “Stardew Valley meets Harry Potter,” but Chucklefish founder Finn Bryce has made no secret of the fact that the studio is still figuring out exactly what that means in practice. This week, that means fans get an inside look at the design document being used to build Witchbrook, and while everything’s still subject to change, the current direction sure sounds like it lives up to that magical Stardew Valley idea.
It’s an isometric RPG where you’re a student at a magic school. Students and teachers have daily routines that run alongside the game’s day/night cycle, and you’ll build relationships – potentially romantic ones – with those characters as you go through daily routines broken up by special holidays or events.
The structure broadly follows in the footsteps of the life-sim RPG tradition started by Harvest Moon, but the difference is that instead of farming, you’ll be completing quests, many of which will open up new spells for you to use. Your ultimate goal is to successfully complete the final exam by making effective use of all your spells.
You can read the design doc in full for yourself if you want loads more detail, but Bryce offers a sort of warning on Twitter (via USgamer): “This changes constantly and shouldn’t be seen as a confirmation of any features or even of the overall direction of the game. It’s a development tool I thought curious minds might like to have a look at.”
With that in mind, it’s probably going to be a long time before we actually get to play Witchbrook. But at least now you can follow along at home as the developers work out exactly what the game will be.