LogInIf the project hits the "Voiced Main Story" stretch goal, Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt from the beloved The Witcher, will join Hawthorn's cast.
Hawthorn is an upcoming co-op sandbox RPG developed by NEARstudios, an indie game studio founded by developers who worked on AAA titles at Bethesda, BioWare, and Naughty Dog. Recently, the studio announced that its Kickstarter campaign has gone live.
If you missed our coverage from last October, the game is set in a realm with anthropomorphic animals and fairy creatures. Players are tasked with building and growing a village in Windermere Valley, a forgotten trading post, and making it a paradise for the village NPCs. Currently, there are three playable races to choose from in Hawthorn: mouse, otter, and owl, so you can select whichever little critter suits you best.
Daily activities in rural areas include farming, crafting, cooking, and exploring. Setting up campfires, tables, and chairs, preparing ingredients to cook a feast for friends, and enjoying some nice chat could be so therapeutic. When exploring, you will experience changing weather and seasons, as well as unique random events. It features small-scale multiplayer, but you can certainly play solo.
In the description of the campaign as well as this video sharing, we could learn the background story of how Haowthorn was born: Heather and Jason, the co-founders, created this studio after realizing that few games cater to different playstyles, like action-adventure and building or cozier genres, among family and friends. They wanted a game where everyone could play together. This led to the idea of Hawthorn, a game where different player types can all enjoy.
NEARstudios
NEARstudios
NEARstudios
In the two days since the campaign started, 50% of the target has been reached. If you'd love to support the team in bringing this enchanting world to life and learn more details about its story and key features, don't hesitate to check it out here. The developers said that if the project hits the "Voiced Main Story" stretch goal, Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt from the beloved The Witcher, will join Hawthorn's cast.
And don't forget to follow the developers on social media for future game-related updates and wishlist the game on Steam. Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.