V Publishing and Bad Ridge Games have announced the Mirthwood release date, and the game, developed by a two-man indie outfit, will be out later this year.
Mirthwood is a life sim that offers a spicy dash of morality alongside the usual farming, getting to know the townspeople, and cozy adventuring, and it’s launching on PC on September 11th. There’s no word on a console version just yet.
The devs explicitly cite Stardew Valley, Fable (that’s the originals, not the new Xbox project), RimWorld, and The Sims as inspirations for Mirthwood, so if any of those games are your jam, this one should be on your radar.
You begin as an adventurer who’s fleeing “a continent swept with war” and looking for a fresh start. However, somewhat unusually for a life sim, that fresh start doesn’t have to be a morally upstanding one.
Mirthwood blends typical life sim gameplay – managing and upgrading a farmstead, exploring the local environs for monsters to slay (in a cozy way, obviously), and meeting townsfolk – with a morality system inspired by inFamous and Fable.
Bad Ridge says you’ll be able to take either a good or an evil path through Mirthwood, and presumably, villagers’ responses to you will change depending on what kind of person you are.
You can add Pentiment and Don’t Starve to the list of inspirations Mirthwood can claim, by the way, as this release date trailer will attest to.
When you interact with villagers, you’ll do so via a Sims-inspired interaction system that lets you choose from a variety of different conversation topics, and building relationships will also potentially unlock new quests for you to chase.
In short, while Mirthwood offers yet more cozy game-style shenanigans, it looks like it’s doing enough to differentiate itself from the legions of its peers currently harvesting their crops and romancing the townspeople.
You can wishlist Mirthwood on Steam right now ahead of its September 11th launch. Stay tuned for more.
