Good news for fans of Chucklefish or those longing for some game to remember their love for Stardew Valley. Spellbound, Chucklefish’s new game will include a magical digital world every Harry Potter fan has dreamed of. And you are even able to date your love interest in this game.
Let’s face it: Stardew Valley is everybody’s darling. So the attempt at achieving this status for another game is indeed brave. But with the expertise that Chucklefish, publisher of the indie farming simulation, earned while taking part in Stardew Valley, this shot might be successful.
Finn Brice founded Chucklefish back in 2011. He recently shared in an interview with Redbull the development and thoughts he and his team had while developing Spellbound. To be honest, all the influences made my head spin. While heavily inspired by Stardew Valley (and therefore Harvest Moon as well as Rune Factory), there is one big thing flashing in my mind: Harry Potter.
We’re fans of Harry Potter, and after reading the series we were left longing to experience our own path through magical school life, where we could make our own best friends and develop our own identity in a magical world.
Hearing that you enroll in a magical school in this game was essential to that though and Brice confirmed the reference to J.K. Rowling’s bestseller in the quote. Other ideas for this game were taken from Studio Ghibli animations, Steven Universe as well as Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series and Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom Series. An interesting mixture of inspirations! But also the gameplay is somewhat interesting. Finn Brice said:
Players should expect to build up their magical proficiency by undertaking school projects. This might have them growing magical crops and creatures in herbology or taking on the denizens of the forest in elemental magic. School life is just as important as magic however; a lot of time will be spent meeting and befriending the varied cast of characters, taking on quests, awkward attempts at dating and a host of side activities.
So Spellbound is supposed to be highly entertaining, providing a world with many things to achieve and attend to. Chucklefish wants to provide a high replayability. Stardew Valley left many players losing themselves in Pelican Town, achieving more and more while building the relationship with others in this simulation. Wrapping your love interest around your finger might be easy in Stardew Valley… But Brice shared some bits of advice for future players:
We’re expecting players to be a little shocked the first time they get dumped.
We’re attempting to portray a gameworld in which the characters have their own motivations and desires. We want the player to feel as if they’re part of an autonomous world rather than a world that revolves around their desires.
Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise? Sounds like it. But who hasn’t had their heart broken in school life? Even though it might be painful, this feature caught my attention as my curiosity as to how Chucklefish will realize this goal.
Even though the main target will be a PC launch, Chucklefish loves the Nintendo Switch. With Stardew Valley’s release on this device, they hope for the same future regarding Spellbound and all other of their major projects.
Are you into a “Harry Potter dating sim” and curious about this new attempt to follow in Stardew Valley’s footprints? Leave a comment in the section below to discuss this game with us.
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