If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that we’re not short of survival and crafting games. Whether you prefer an intense struggle to stay alive or a cosy craft-em-up where you can focus on building your dream home, there are more than enough options out there. That said, we’re so inundated with the genre that it can often be tricky for games to stand out. Witchspire makes an admirable effort, leaning into the whimsical end of the spectrum, but, at least at this point in its development, it doesn’t quite offer enough to differentiate itself.
As with a lot of games in the genre, the plot and set up here are almost entirely inconsequential. I couldn’t tell you a single thing about the narrative context surrounding the game, despite finding numerous lore drops dotted around. That doesn’t mean it’s a dull world; there are are some interesting locations to explore, including ruined temples and even trips back into other realms, but if you’re after a strong hook then you won’t find one here.
Witchspire does feature a robust character creator though, with all the standard features you’d expect to help you make a character that feels uniquely ‘you’. My favourite part of the process was choosing my coven, of which there are a handful, including the Wildroots who focus on the healing magic of nature, and the Tomekeepers with their penchant for brewing potions. I settled on the Cloudpiercers, as the allure of a flying broom was too much to resist. It’s a nice little snapshot into the various factions and the ways in which they differ.
Once out in the world it’s fairly standard survival and crafting fair. There are trees to chop, rocks to mine and critters to kill. The difference here is that everything has a whimsical magic skin applied to it, so rather than an axe you’ll be using a spell to chop down trees. It’s quite nifty, as you can use your primary action to whittle away at trees and rocks or expend some mana for a special move that’ll usually destroy it in one, leaving you free to hoover up the resources.
There’s also a steady stream of quests to tackle, leading you to areas of interest on the map where you can farm materials before travelling back to your home base to dabble in upgrades or decorate it to your tastes. Home is simply wherever you place your hearth, and upgrading it allows you to spend skill points to unlock upgrades, ranging from material improvements like crafting brooms for flight to small stat boosts for you and your familiars. Everything works well enough, despite its Early Access status, but I struggled to find anything here that really grabbed me. Other than the cutesy witch aesthetic (which is admittedly lovely) there was nothing here that felt particularly exciting or different that hasn’t been seen before in the many, many games in the genre.
One area that it does innovate in, though, is the familiar system. It’s quite cool, and brings a little bit of Pokémon into the genre without outright copying Nintendo’s homework (looking at you, Palworld). At the start of the game you’re given a choice between four familiars, all sufficiently different and with their own strengths and weaknesses. Despite a cool looking cat and owl, and a dorky looking cloud thing, I went for Quol the ethereal dragon, mainly because it was the only one that looked like it could cause some damage.
With a tap of a button your familiar can fight enemies on your behalf, with the shoulder buttons reserved for special moves once you’ve unlocked them. At first this seemed great but I very quickly realised how weak they are, even when fighting enemies their own level. They’d chip away at enemy health bars but it was far quicker for me to jump in and use my spellsword to really deal some damage. Levelling up my familiar definitely helped but at no point did I feel they were particularly strong, and I didn’t feel confident sending them out to fight on my behalf. You can capture a new familiar by defeating it in battle and then picking up its essence if it hangs around, and there are ways to increase the likelihood of this happening, but of the handful of critters I captured none were very satisfying to use.
As the game is currently in early access I’m reluctant to comment on performance and polish too much. Generally speaking it was pretty decent though: my Legion Go 2 probably wasn’t the ideal way to play but it managed well enough and the game is quite pretty at times, with soft colours helping it feel cosy. Despite being told controller support wasn’t quite ironed out, I actually found it alright and didn’t have too many issues although there are opportunities to add some quality of life features, such as a single tap to move items between inventories. As of right now this felt a little arduous and clunky but it should be easy to remedy.
The game is surprisingly tough at times too, and despite clear level guidance on the quests I found some of them were a real struggle as combat can be a bit janky. One early quest sent me to some ruins where I was teleported to another realm for a boss battle, and even though I was the recommended level, my familiar and I were doing next to no damage but were forced to fight as there was no way to leave the arena. I was able to dodge his spinning death beam move, but Quol didn’t quite get the memo and simply stayed at his side attacking and getting melted by the death beam, making the whole thing incredibly frustrating.
One other thing that’s worth noting: the game allows you to play with up to 3 friends. I wasn’t able to test this out, but I imagine there’s a lot more fun to be had if you’re in a coven with a few pals, slaying the local Froblin population and building an elaborate home. I can definitely see how the game could lend itself better to multiplayer than it does single player.
If you absolutely love the genre and are looking for a new cosy entry then Witchspire will probably appeal to you. For those who need a little more from their crafting games though then this may simply be a “one to watch” for now.
Witchspire in is early access on PC via Steam now.