''Windblown'' is an upcoming action roguelike video game developed by

Motion Twin Motion Twin is an independent video game development studio, that initially specialized in online video games and has most recently worked on Roguelike, roguelite games. Founded in 2001, the company is a worker cooperative enterprise based in Bo ...

, and co-published by Motion Twin and Kepler Ghost. It launched in

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...

for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

on October 24, 2024, with a full release anticipated for 2026.

Gameplay

In ''Windblown,'' the player controls a Leaper, an anthropomorphic creature in a world made up of floating islands. The Leapers, who live in the Ark—a village of their kind—work together to explore the nearby Vortex, fighting off Sentinel robotic creations that patrol the islands within it, while locating survivors, materials, and gear to bring back to the Ark. The character can use up to two weapons with various combination attacks, along with other gear and powerups they gain while exploring the Vortex. If the Leaper dies, they are returned to the Ark, losing their gear but retaining materials, which allow them to unlock new gear and abilities for future exploration.

Development

achieved success with their roguelike ''

Dead Cells ''Dead Cells'' is a 2018 roguelike-Metroidvania game developed by Motion Twin and Evil Empire (company), Evil Empire, and published by Motion Twin. The player takes the role of an amorphous creature called the Prisoner. As the Prisoner, the pla ...

'', first released in 2018. As they transferred ongoing development of the game's expansions to

Evil Empire An evil empire is a speculative fiction trope in which a major antagonist of the story is a technologically advanced nation, typically ruled by an evil emperor or empress, that aims to control the world or conquer some specific group. They are ...

, the group began to brainstorm on what their next game would be. While they initially wanted to move away from the roguelike genre, they decided to build upon what they learned through ''Dead Cells'' to create a new roguelike. One goal with ''Windblown'' was to introduce cooperative multiplayer, compared to the single-player ''Dead Cells''. Another was to give the player the ability to quickly move about the game's levels, placing islands that they could reach in sight and providing routes to get there using a dash ability. Initially this was an ability with a cooldown but they found the game's pacing was improved by allowing the player to dash indefinitely without any cooldown. They wanted to maintain the same goal as ''Dead Cells'', in which each run for the player would feel different, and tried a variety of metagame systems such as ideas borrowed from '' The Binding of Isaac'' and ''

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

'', ultimately returning to a similar approach they had used in ''Dead Cells'', which the player can unlock new weapons and gear that will randomly appear during a run by spending materials collected from previous runs. Motion Twin also wanted to improve on the dual-weapon system from ''Dead Cells''; while the player could switch between one of the two weapons they carried at any time within ''Dead Cells'', there was no other benefit from this switch. Within ''Windblown'', they added an "Alterattack" system that allowed extra boosts when the player switches between weapons. The team also looked to the ''

Monster Hunter is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games, beginning with first installment '' Monster Hunter'' for the PlayStation 2, released in 2004. Titles have been released across a variety of pl ...

'' games to expand on what abilities they could incorporate into their weapons. ''Windblown'' was first announced in December 2023 as part of

The Game Awards The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. After working on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awar ...

. Motion Twin began

alpha testing Software testing is the act of checking whether software satisfies expectations. Software testing can provide objective, independent information about the quality of software and the risk of its failure to a user or sponsor. Software testing ...

with about 300 users in February 2024. The game entered its

release in October the same year, following the success of early access in refining ''Dead Cells'' before its full release.

References

External links

* {{Motion Twin Upcoming video games scheduled for 2026 Early access video games Indie games Motion Twin games Multiplayer and single-player video games Roguelike video games Video games about animals Video games developed in France Video games set on fictional islands Video games with customizable avatars Windows games Upcoming video games