There are very few game genres that I dislike. For example, I’m not a sports fan so I’m happy to support the Texans during the NFL season, but I don’t know if I’m playing Madden. Likewise, I am not a fan of games that mimic real life. I want to roleplay as a magical magician, but being a mafia don does that for me. But survival games are probably my favorite. The idea of cutting down trees for hours while simultaneously managing hunger, thirst, and my own sanity is an absolute chore, and even the most fantastical entries of genres like Runescape DragonWilds and V Rising can’t draw my attention. When I learned about the debut title of the exar studio, Witch SpiritCertainly, it was a survival experience, but my mind sank a bit – the trailer was amazing and the aesthetic was perfect, but can I overcome the aforementioned thirst, hunger and depression? At Gamescom 2025, I sat with studio director Liam O’Neill and game director Oliver Granlund, and a guided tour of Witchspire’s magical world with a guided tour, maybe, maybe, perhapsI found a survival challenge for me.
Envar’s survival game said O’Neill was inspired by things like Breath of the Wild, Studio Ghibli, and even Minecraft, and nodded to the Swedish heritage of developers visible in the game’s sparkling lakes and deep fjords. You are cast as a witch drawn into another world through various dimensions by the honorable witch Spire, a beacon of ancient, inexplicable energy. To revitalize the towering monuments and return to real homes, you reveal the mysterious corruption that taints the land. The game’s trailer shows an adorable little owl transforming into a vicious, red-eyed predator aimed at tearing the limbs from the limbs. That’s all for now, but it’s easy to ruin my day at the same time while piquedling my interest – leave the cute li’l person alone.
But the star of the witch show is its countless creatures. Granlund introduces me. Chirili introduces Chirili, a bright orange hamster-like rodent. The duo highlights you when you immediately recall Palworld do not Work your companions in the sweaty egg ammunition factory and emphasize that your journey is about growing as an animal and a witch. Your pets will actively contribute to your base (for example, they heat up the pot to generate electricity and run on wheels), but the “animal slavery” element that has so divided the Palworld has no place in the witch’s world.
These pets also play an integral role in the game’s playability. “All creatures lay eggs on rare occasions,” O’Neill tells me. “One creature might be just a general version, but there is no special version (no attacks). You can then encounter rare, epic, or legends, and have different randomized traits that bring to the table. For example, you’ve found your favorite creature. Version. “Catching all the cute creatures sounds good to me. Count me.
But Witchspire definitely releases at a bad time. From 2024 to 2025, we began to see the survival genre expand, and our direct competitor, Runescape DragonWilds, was launched a few months ago. Some of the Witchspire systems are reminiscent of Jagex’s fantasy romp (for example, you can throw a spectrum x to cut down a tree), but for me, Witchspire feels like a more refined fantasy and survival vival experience. It’s all a bit of a touch – when you enter build mode, the astral projects the witch onto the broom. You can use it to investigate your new home from all angles. Similarly, you use the Spirit’s army to tear the rocks and remove minerals. Each becomes a small “klink” that is satisfying when the blade connects to the stone. Have you cut down a small forest on your trip? Use your magic to grow new things quickly. To me, Dragon Wild feels like a basic survival craft game with magic stuck on it, and Witch Spires is interwoven with every element of its gameplay.
Similarly, Witchspire does not have a meter of thirst and hunger, or weapon durability in that respect. One of the bans on my Dragon Wild presence was that both bars consistently limit my exploration, producing clean water, and cooking food could literally remind a fireball or crack rocks with thought. Destroying these core systems may be too radical for survival enthusiasts, but that’s one of the reasons why I’m attracted to games.
“When you talk about how you can survive without drains (thirst, hunger, stamina meters), that’s where the map comes out,” says O’Neill. “If you’ve become a little more familiar with the game and enter the desert or tundra, there are more risks in these areas, so you’ll need to create certain gears, and that particular gear may be a little more limited. But that’s an aggressive choice. But you’re there.
“We enter survival mode when you explore and adventure,” says Granland. “We’re not pushing those systems on you, but if you’re being pushed into the world, the world may be pushed back. The sun will burn you in the desert, but there are caves you can pass through and caves you can make.
Witchspire is, in my eyes, a somewhat cozy survival experience – a home in the middle of a welcome between the harsh reality of pure endurance and the stern reality of bliss. “It’s okay to feel like the game is similar to other games,” says O’Neill. Granlund describes it as the “gateway” of “a player who crosses an animal fascinated by friends who play games like Rust.”
Hardcore survival experiences have been feeling a dozen dimes these days, and the more they are, the more I am interested in the genre. Witchspire feels like he’s making something new – something with a sprinkle of true fantasy talent and survival sparkle. I was very honest and excited to see what was coming next, away from the promise I had. Of all the myriad things I’ve seen on Gamescom this year, Witchspire is at the top of my “games on the game list” along with my beloved Bloodlines 2 – it certainly is highly rated.
