Wildflower Interactive Announces Coven of the Chicken Foot

Coven of the Chicken Foot - Announcement Trailer

Bruce Straley and the team assembled at Wildflower Interactive have revealed their first game after three years—Coven of the Chicken Foot. It was my personal highlight of last week's Game Awards.

"After the dungeons have been plundered and the monsters all killed, an elderly witch quietly gets to work. In this emotionally-rich, stylized, single-player adventure - Gert will need to build a bond with a peculiar creature if she’s to fulfill a coven’s oath."

You can (and should) watch the trailer below.

The game is giving me major Studio Ghibli vibes, along with the likes of Ico, The Last Guardian, etc. The game is all about two characters and the connection between them, something that Bruce has been working on in the video game space for over 16 years; way back to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves with Drake and Tenzin.

The game's Steam page offers more details about the game, its design, and characters.

"Gertie is not your typical hero: She won’t be swinging swords or double-jumping her way past dangers. Instead, she must learn to work with and adapt to her peculiar companion to survive."

The creature/monster/companion sounds like a natural evolution of the ideas and tech of games that shoot for that non-playable ally with a meaningful relationship. Sure, I would think of Tenzin or Ellie, but also Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite or even your horse in Red Dead Redemption II.

"As they journey together, the creature slowly reveals an independent streak and motivations of its own. Built on pioneering tech, Wildflower Interactive has crafted a non-playable ally companion unlike any other; a dynamic, responsive creature that reacts and evolves its abilities and motivations throughout the player’s experience."

If you'd like to read some behind-the-scenes about how the game's trailer game to be (you all know how I am a sucker for behind-the-scenes), you may do so in the company's newsletter on Substack. I do wish it was just a blog post on their site, but I get it.

"We knew it was important to create a strong introduction to our characters, to tease the world they’re going to explore, and definitely, definitely, definitely show gameplay."

It's a good look at a completely remote team and their process too.

"We’re an all-remote team spanning Europe and North America, so much of our work is done asynchronously. Slap-dash versions of the trailer were whipped together for conversation, while the notes and ideas were flying back and forth across continents and time zones."

There's even a little old Mac vs. PC troubleshooting involved. Although, I do have to call out the capitalization of "MAC."

"Then in the final hours, due to some MAC vs PC codec incompatibilities (why can’t we all get along), our smooth landing was botched and we were frantically solving final-render problems right up to the deadline."

I am excited to see what this game is all about, whenever it comes out.