Neverway: Horror Meets Life Sim in local Indie RPG
Neverway is a new indie horror RPG that blends action combat with cozy life-simulation elements. It’s the debut game from Coldblood Inc., a small studio co-founded by one of the artists behind Celeste. In Neverway, you play as Fiona, a young woman who quits her dead-end job and moves to a remote island farm – only to become the “immortal herald of a dead god,” caught between ordinary life and eldritch nightmares. The game was just announced (with a world-premiere trailer at the Triple-i Initiative showcase) and is already turning heads for its charming yet unsettling pixel art style and genre-blending gameplay.
What is Neverway?
Neverway is best described as a “nightmarish life sim RPG.” Imagine something like Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon – farming, fishing, making friends – but mixed with creepy horror and fast-paced dungeon combat. By day, Fiona works to rebuild her life on Montgomery Island, tending to her farm and forming relationships with the quirky locals. By night (or whenever dread strikes), she must fend off terrifying creatures and explore dark otherworldly locations as reality and the mysterious realm called “Neverway” start to overlap. The tone swings from cozy to creepy, often catching you off guard (for example, one moment you’re shopping for seeds, the next you’re fighting off shadowy horrors in a dungeon). It’s a unique premise that the developers jokingly summarize as “cucumbers, carrots, Cthulhu” – everyday farm life colliding with cosmic horror.
The story centers on Fiona. After leaving her mundane city life, she arrives on the island looking for a fresh start. However, fate has bigger plans: she becomes bound as an immortal herald to a dead god, which thrusts her into a secret conflict against a lurking evil. Players will guide Fiona through a slow-burn horror story told via dynamic cutscenes (the developers cite inspirations like Mother 3 for some of the narrative style). As Fiona, you’ll need to “keep your life from falling apart while searching for Neverway, a nightmare reality that is slowly leaking into yours.” In practical terms, that means balancing normal activities – like keeping up with farm chores or paying off your in-game mortgage – with surviving supernatural threats. It’s an intriguing dual-life setup that promises plenty of mystery and character-driven storytelling.
Gameplay and Features
Neverway’s social menu lets you track your relationships with the townsfolk. Making friends (or even dating) isn’t just for fun; it can actually give Fiona special buffs and abilities in combat.
Neverway’s gameplay mixes life simulation and action RPG mechanics in a seamless way. During the day, you’re free to farm, fish, craft items, cook meals, and decorate your homestead on the island. There’s a daily schedule system divided into morning, afternoon, and evening blocks, but you get to choose when to advance time, one day at a time. This laid-back life-sim loop is similar to other farming RPGs – you can even meet over 10 different villagers and build friendships or romances with them. Each character has their own routine and story. Taking the time to bond with these folks isn’t just for flavor: befriending (or dating) characters will unlock buffs and combat abilities for Fiona, rewarding you in your adventures. You’ll have to decide whether to trust them with the truth of what’s happening or keep your dark role secret, which might affect your relationships.
When it’s time to face the horrors, Neverway doesn’t hold back on the action. Combat is top-down and fast-paced, inspired by classic action RPGs (the developers mention Zelda: A Link to the Past as a touchstone for combat feel). Fiona can wield weapons and abilities to fight off monsters and eldritch creatures that emerge as the barrier between reality and the nightmare world weakens. The game emphasizes player expression in combat, meaning you can develop a fighting style that suits you. You’ll gather resources and craft items to customize your playstyle, whether that’s brewing potions, upgrading gear, or setting traps. Combat controls are designed to work well with either keyboard or gamepad, and responsiveness is a priority. There are also dungeons and creepy areas to explore as part of the story – expect puzzles, hazards, and bosses lurking in the dark. The contrast between the tranquil farming life and the intense combat encounters should keep players on their toes, never quite sure what each new day (or night) will bring.
To sum up, Neverway packs a lot of features for an indie title. Here are some of the key highlights the developers are promising:
Haunting Pixel Art: A distinctive monochrome-inspired pixel art style by Pedro Medeiros (artist of Celeste and TowerFall) gives the game a cute yet eerie look. Despite the limited color palette, the visuals are detailed and full of character – equally capable of depicting cozy village scenes and spine-chilling monsters.
Original Soundtrack: An atmospheric soundtrack by Disasterpeace (known for music in FEZ, Hyper Light Drifter, and even the horror film It Follows) sets the moodneverwaygame.com. The audio design also involves Martin Kvale (sound designer from Dome Keeper) for added ambient creepiness, so expect audio to play a big role in building tension.
Life Sim Meets Horror: A slow-burning horror story unfolds alongside everyday life simulation. You can meet and even date 10+ characters (each with unique personalities and routines), maintain a farm and home, and even pay off your debt to improve your lot – all while dealing with supernatural crises. The game seamlessly shifts between slice-of-life moments and nightmare scenarios, offering a mix of emotions from sweet to scary.
Action RPG Combat: Real-time combat that’s fast and fluid, with an isometric/top-down perspective reminiscent of retro Zelda games. Use swords, tools, or maybe even occult powers as Fiona battles bizarre creatures. Combat is “optimized for keyboard or controller” for smooth play. There’s also character progression through combat – you’ll unlock new abilities through both traditional leveling and by deepening relationships with NPCs (a unique twist that ties the social and combat systems together).
Customization and Crafting: A robust crafting system lets you create equipment, consumables, and more to support your preferred playstyle. Whether you focus on farming to stock up on ingredients or delve into dungeons for rare materials, you can craft upgrades and items that make Fiona stronger. You can also personalize your experience by decorating your house and farm. It’s not just about surviving the horror – it’s also about building a new life on the island.
With all these features, Neverway aims to offer a little bit of everything: story, combat, relationships, farming, exploration, and horror. The developers have teased that players should “remember to pay your debt at all costs…” – a hint that managing your in-game finances (and perhaps the ominous debt to that dead god!) is crucial. In short, if you’ve ever wanted a game that lets you plant turnips by day and battle nightmares by night, Neverway might be right up your alley.
Who is Behind the making of Neverway?
Neverway is being created by Coldblood Inc., a brand-new Vancouver-based indie studio with an impressive pedigree for such a small team. The core development team consists of three people, and each wears multiple hats:
Pedro Medeiros – Art & Design: Pedro is the artist and co-designer of Neverway. He previously worked on the acclaimed indie platformers Celeste and TowerFall, where he was known for his vibrant pixel art. As a co-founder of Coldblood Inc., Pedro’s vision heavily influences Neverway’s look and feel. His experience creating charming yet expressive pixel visuals in past games is now being applied to a darker, spookier context with Neverway’s monochromatic style. Fans of Celeste’s art will likely recognize Pedro’s touch in Neverway’s detailed character sprites and animations.
Isadora “Isa” Sophia – Code & Story: Isadora is the lead programmer and also contributes to the game’s narrative design. She is the principal architect of the game engine that runs Neverway – a custom-built, open-source engine aptly named the “Murder Engine.” In fact, Isa developed Murder Engine from scratch as a 2D C# framework for pixel art games. This means the team isn’t using Unity or Unreal; they’re using their own technology. (For those less tech-savvy: an open-source engine means they’ve made the game’s underlying code publicly available for others to learn from or use, which is pretty uncommon for a small studio!). Isadora’s work on Murder Engine ensures that Neverway’s mechanics (from the farming systems to the combat physics) are tailored exactly to the team’s vision. She also collaborates on the story, scripting events and cutscenes to bring Fiona’s eerie journey to life.
Heidy Motta – Admin & Community: Heidy handles the production, operations, and community side of development. In other words, she makes sure the project runs smoothly and that fans stay informed. Heidy has a strong background in indie game development management – she was the Operations Manager for the team behind Celeste and TowerFall, working on everything from community engagement to logistics. As a co-founder of Coldblood Inc., she now oversees tasks like marketing, playtesting, and keeping the development on schedule. Heidy’s experience with successful indie titles means she knows how to coordinate a small team and wear “lots of hats” behind the scenes. If you follow Neverway on social media or subscribe to their newsletter, you’ll likely see Heidy’s influence in the updates and community events.
Despite being a tiny team, Coldblood Inc. is tackling an ambitious project. The trio’s complementary skills (art, programming, and production) cover all the major aspects of game development. They also collaborate with some notable contributors: for example, the music is by Disasterpeace (as mentioned), and sound design assistance from Martin Kvale, which adds extra firepower in the audio department. With such a team, Neverway is truly a passion project born from seasoned indie creators.
Another interesting fact is that Coldblood Inc. built Murder Engine as an open-source project before or alongside developing Neverway. This suggests a long-term vision – the team isn’t just making one game, they’re creating tools that could be used for future projects or by other developers. It’s akin to crafting their own set of paints and canvas for this game. The decision to use a custom engine likely gives them more control over the game’s performance and unique features (for instance, the retro-style graphics and the day/night system). It’s a bold move for an indie team, but it speaks to their technical expertise and confidence in their craft.
Funding and Release Details
Even though Coldblood Inc. is self-publishing Neverway, they aren’t doing it completely alone. The project is funded through Outersloth, an indie game fund created by the team behind Among Us (Innersloth) to support indie developers. Innersloth became very successful thanks to Among Us, and Outersloth is their way of “giving back” to the indie community. Essentially, Outersloth provides financial backing and guidance to small games they find promising – and Neverway is one of those lucky projects. The fund operates in a developer-friendly way: “We want to fund your game. We don’t want to publish your game. We don’t want your IP. We just want to see fun, original, and clever games get made,” explains Innersloth. For Coldblood Inc., this means they receive money to develop Neverway (helping pay for things like art, music, and living expenses during development) without having to give up creative control or ownership. It’s a win-win, because the Neverway team retains their independence, and Innersloth gets to foster a cool new game without heavy oversight. In practical terms for players, seeing the Outersloth name on Neverway is a sign that the Among Us creators believe in this project’s potential.
As of now, Neverway is planned for release on PC (Windows, and likely Mac/Linux as well) via Steam. The developers have not announced an exact release date yet – it’s listed as “To be announced” on Steam, meaning it will come out when it’s ready. Given the early reveal and the scope of the game, a release sometime in 2025 or later is a reasonable guess, but we’ll have to wait for official word. Console releases (for platforms like Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, or Xbox) haven’t been confirmed at this time. However, many indie games do make their way to consoles eventually, so it’s something to watch for in the future. For now, PC gamers can wishlist Neverway on Steam to show support and get notified when it launches.
If you’re interested in Neverway, here are some useful links to keep handy:
Official Website: The developers post updates and information on the Neverway official site – including screenshots, newsletters, and more about the game’s world. It’s a great place to get an overview and sign up for news. neverwaygame.com
Steam Page (Trailer): Neverway’s Steam page (complete with the announcement trailer) is live here: Steam – Neverway. You can watch the trailer, see more screenshots, and add the game to your wishlist on that page. store.steampowered.com/app/2318330/Neverway/
Outersloth Info: To learn more about the funding program backing Neverway, check out Outersloth on Innersloth’s site. It explains how Innersloth is helping indie games like Neverway come to life (without the usual strings attached). www.innersloth.com/outersloth/
Neverway has all the ingredients to be a standout indie title: a veteran creative team, a novel blend of genres, and support from some big names in indie gaming. The concept of juggling cozy farm life with eldritch horror is unusual and exciting. Gamers who love RPGs with rich stories, or life sims with a twist, should keep an eye on this project.
As development progresses, Coldblood Inc. will likely share more details on characters, combat, and the mysterious lore behind the “Neverway” itself. Until then, fans can join the community via the official site or social media, and get ready to step into Fiona’s shoes for an adventure that goes from peaceful to nightmarish in the blink of an eye.
If you’ve ever wondered what comes after you “start over on a farm” in a game – in Neverway’s case, the answer might be darker (and more fascinating) than you expect!
