“What is the mindspace of anyone that is attempting to rebuild from scratch, clear of all her pals? What’s that mindspace like? Is she actually wholesome or glad? What leads her to do this?”
The ones are the questions Isadora Sophia, lead coder and author on Neverway, an unsettling horror RPG with existence sim parts, requested herself when developing the start of the sport. For the life-sim style, transferring away is an opportunity for a brand new starting, one all the time sprinkled with hope and brilliant alternatives. We by no means get to peer the ‘why’ a part of why anyone strikes away. It’s all the time the ‘what’s subsequent’.
Neverway is set beginning anew, however this contemporary get started is tinged with the entire anxieties of contemporary existence, the sombre loneliness and uncertainties of exchange. Oh, and the spectre of a lifeless god.
I had the danger to play via an hour-long demo and chat with two of the lead builders on Neverway – Sophia, discussed above, and Pedro Medeiros, the lead artist and fashion designer, up to now identified for his unbelievable pixel artwork in Celeste.
Neverway is a lot deeper than preliminary inspirations would possibly painting. Actually, Medeiros admits that the sport didn’t get started with a transparent plan.
“We simply began out like, ‘Oh, let’s take a look at this out, let’s have a look at what is going.’ After which issues began converting and we saved including stuff after which once we regarded, we mentioned, ‘K, my God, we’ve got an enormous factor at this time.’”
“We began to iterate over other video games,” Sophia recollects about running at the sport within the early days, “We didn’t have an concept of what the sport was once going to seem like. We have been following our instinct, making one thing that appeared amusing till we were given to the form that Neverway is.”
“We’ve got numerous problem even defining the sport as it got here from numerous ‘What feels excellent within the sport?’”
Pixel Palette
What is going to strike everybody about Neverway in the beginning blush are the visuals. The pixel artwork is lovely right through, now not simply as a result of the beautiful persona portraits and fashions, and even one of the crucial more-disturbing parts of the sport, however the restricted color palette.
we saved including stuff after which once we regarded, we mentioned, ‘K, my God, we’ve got an enormous factor at this time.’”
Medeiros recollects that “it was once the very, very very first thing we [settled on],” and is continuously probably the most first issues he works on when he begins developing the visuals for a sport. “Even Celeste, each sport that I paintings on, I all the time get started with an overly restricted color palette. After which I stay including colors to it. After which in the end, I am like, what? Screw it. Let’s do colors.”
However with Neverway, Medeiros sought after to do one thing other. The crew embedded the blues, purples, vegetables, greys — all tired of dad and existence — into Sophia’s engine (which she produced from scratch). It creates planned restrictions for Medeiros as a result of he can’t exchange the colors in any respect.
“I love boundaries like that, and once I’ve them, I in an instant get started pushing in opposition to them. Like outdated video games did.”
The muted vegetables and browns of Fiona’s condo at the beginning of the sport, the purples of the interior of the subway, and the almost-teal-like hue of the simulated woodland, delivered to thoughts the Recreation Boy. The constraints right here simply assist set the sport’s temper completely.
Two-tone
And the temper is the article that sticks with me essentially the most about Neverway, and it is going past the visuals.
On the demo’s starting, you order what meals you need to consume – a decision between the extremely nutritious immediate noodles or packet soup. You resolution large questions like ‘The place do you notice your self in 5 years?’ with drab, empty replies. Then, the display screen cuts to Fiona, a lady who has hand over her activity and walks via existence in a state of ennui. She’s soaking within the tub, nearly looking forward to the water to take her in.
Proper from the hole, I felt an uncomfortable familiarity with Fiona. It’s now not like different existence sims the place I’m taking part in an idealised model of myself or some make-believe persona; Fiona is an individual who’s going via it at this time.
When I were given out of the bathtub and ate the quite underwhelming meal (glance, we’ve all eaten immediate noodles after a crap day), Fiona sought after to visit mattress. However my eyes couldn’t glance clear of the PC buzzing away in her bed room. I tested it, and noticed a handful of unread emails — from this morning to just about 3 weeks in the past — taunting me. One after the other, I clicked on them.
Activity termination threats for now not entering paintings. Reminders that the corporate will throw her stuff out if she doesn’t select it up. Notes from her spouse about leaving her sweater at their space. It’s a breadcrumb path of depressive indicators and loss of acknowledgement from others, and it feels well timed in 2026.
Sophia talked to me about how the crew “requested ourselves” about commonplace tropes, reminiscent of transferring away and rebuilding your existence. However the truth isn’t so easy, because the prologue demonstrates. “Although it is a sport, numerous issues don’t seem to be actual. Particularly round persona motivations, we all the time attempt to say, ‘Let’s flooring it’, let’s actually attempt to take into consideration it.”
Meals for Concept
Medeiros reiterates the significance of taking “an overly absurd thought then [making] it very grounded,” and that’s one thing that comes up on the finish of the prologue. After Fiona selections her issues up from her former place of business, she takes the educate again house. Interacting with a extraordinary persona at the educate, alternatively, she collapses and is thrown into some scary dream the place I’ve to steer her tentatively in the course of the carriages.
Sooner or later, after selecting up a pipe to struggle off extraordinary enemies, I’m crawling via a extraordinary tunnel that makes me really feel claustrophobic. The whole lot is a colour of gray and there are holes the place I swear I stay seeing issues scuttle previous. Once I emerge at the different facet, the individual I attempted to talk to previous throws herself off a damaged platform, and now not lengthy after, I get up with regards to house.
we all the time attempt to say, ‘Let’s flooring it’, let’s actually attempt to take into consideration it.
In entrance of Fiona is a billboard. “Purchase happiness lately – purchase a farm on Bernard Law Montgomery Island!” Fiona’s portrait appears to be like vacant as she reads, and I sit down at my laptop, considering the prospective. ‘However what will transferring away in reality do?’ I ask myself.
That’s precisely the type of query Sophia and Medeiros sought after me to invite. Neverway would possibly include the rhythms of existence sims and farm sims, however it’s asking larger questions and throwing extra gameplay on the wall than Stardew Valley or different video games in their ilk.
“Let’s display how this works. Let’s transfer away, let’s do it. After which we discover the results and notice what occurs. And optimistically we get to one thing excellent.”
The Legend of Fiona
The second one a part of the demo is the place Neverway turns into a type of pseudo Zelda-like. Someday within the tale, Fiona is thrown right into a simulated global the place she’s guided by means of a mysterious persona, Fang. Right here, she learns methods to struggle and discover, and I begin to see simply how deep this sport is.
Neverway’s battle is fundamental. You’ll hack and slash at enemies the usage of your sword and you’ll be able to dodge roll. Sooner or later, I unlocked a grappling hook which allowed me to platform throughout massive gaps. The highest-down point of view and the puzzles actually do hark again to Hyperlink’s Awakening or the Oracle video games, however with a existence sim twist of harvesting and accumulating fabrics.
To flee, I want to construct a bridge, however it’s now not so simple as bringing logs to the damaged planks. I in reality want to chop down bushes, collect the logs, and make the planks myself. Plus, stage up my Trade stat, which is helping with crafting.
I select up a watering can which permits me to assist a simulated buddy out with a quest. Sooner or later, I discovered an awl so I will chop down bushes. I even open up a shortcut or two, and die to one of the crucial harder foes, together with a miniboss. All of it provides only a little further layer to the dungeon crawling.
There are extra equipment within the complete sport in fact, however Sophia says they transcend their fundamental manner. “[Neverway is] an overly device savvy sport, so no matter software we’ve got, we attempt to pass as deep as we will be able to.” I examined that out myself within the demo, the usage of the hookshot on an enemy to drag them right into a bottomless pit.
Equipment can be utilized each outside and inside the simulation, and they have got various results. Whilst the duo didn’t tease too many equipment, they did point out a bomb (in fact) and an umbrella — “as it’s amusing” — and the latter will in reality prevent your stamina from happening sooner within the rain.
Harvesting Discussion
It’s an incredibly dense sport, and as a result of that, it is sensible that Neverway is extra structured than different existence sims.
Your day is damaged up into timeslots so that you’re “now not all the time fearful for time like in Harvest Moon or Stardew.” You’ll farm, you’ll be able to discover the island, you’ll be able to communicate to the opposite citizens, and you’ll be able to even get right into a romantic dating with them. I showed there aren’t any gender restrictions, however you’ll be able to even pass so far as now not making pals with any person, which Sophia says “will replicate on Fiona” in all belongings of the sport.
“I hate checking out that.” Medeiros laughs, and I will’t see how any person may just put Fiona available in the market on my own like that.
However that’s only one side of Neverway’s complexity and diversity: the discussion. Sophia created a complete engine for the sport so the discussion device and dating device would paintings, and the whole thing impacts the whole thing. She cites Portal’s GLaDOS and Wheatley as inspirations for the discussion bushes and, in spite of this being her first writing activity, her revel in construction the engine places her in the most productive place to peer “the fee” of each and every selection.
When Fiona arrives on Bernard Law Montgomery Island to start out her new existence, the gatekeeper to the city coldly asks if she has a role coated up. You’ll both be fair and say you don’t have anything, or lie very unconvincingly. I lied, involved he’d kick me out if I published I didn’t have a role. He rolled his eyes and let me in, however I were given a little bit bonus.
Seems, being fair and mendacity impacts Fiona’s abilities, expansion, and relationships. Sophia informed me that characters will keep in mind what you mentioned from time to time and once in a while even confront you over your lies, which has me on tenterhooks. I don’t need to make Fiona’s existence any further tricky than it’s been already. And I’ve best noticed a slice of the way discussion impacts issues.
The Lifestyles Recreation
If — whilst you sit down down and play Neverway when it in the end releases later this yr — you’re feeling a little bit bit uncanny, then that’s planned.
Forgetting to turn into your pyjamas, for instance, will imply you’ll get up the following morning with a ache (debuff). For those who run out of stamina farming or exploring, you may well be too drained to prepare dinner or dress. Even in battle, should you pass right into a struggle with too little stamina, it’s possible you’ll now not have the ability to swing your sword as a lot.
“All the ones techniques are there to simulate actual existence in some way that you’ll be able to return to it and simulate actual existence the usage of the sport regulations, principally,” Medeiros tells me, and it’s The Sims that impressed the crew to interconnect all of those techniques.
“When I used to be taking part in The Sims when I used to be a child, I remembered all the ones bars, the power bar, happiness, social, and I began seeing the ones bars in my actual existence.” We laughed, however it’s true. All of us have a ‘stamina bar’ in actual existence, and all of us have other emotions for various other folks.
All the ones techniques are there to simulate actual existence
One of the crucial ultimate issues Medeiros mentioned was once “Recreation techniques can help you perceive the actual global,” and that’s caught with me. They definitely can as a result of they can help you see why it’s possible you’ll get drained in actual existence, or why it’s possible you’ll now not sleep neatly. One thing like Neverway, which makes use of horror and unsettling imagery to put across despair and ennui, would possibly assist other folks relate to Fiona and perceive their very own emotions.
Taking the life-sim style and stuffing it with somewhat extra construction, and a strong RPG device is without doubt one of the most straightforward concepts builders will have. However you’ll be able to achieve this a lot more with that as a base, as Neverway seems to be demonstrating early on.
In spite of everything, it took simply an hour cut up between sombre, relatable slice-of-life moments and cast Zelda-style motion battle and puzzles to persuade me that this sport is now my most-anticipated of the yr, and I will’t wait to play the whole model in October this yr
Many because of Isadora Sophia and Pedro Medeiros for talking with me, and to Tinsley PR for putting in place this assembly.
Neverway launches on Transfer someday in October 2026. Tell us in case you are taking a look ahead to the sport within the feedback.
