Playtesting has been going great.
There's a pretty sharp contrast between showing our game publicly for what is now the third time, and showing it for the first time. Certainly, the energy is different, and there was a much different pressure as we prepared for GDC. This latest playtest has felt less like we're showcasing or presenting to strangers, and more like we're growing with our community.
While we're working hard, of course, having daily made changes to the build based on feedback, the energy this time has been more relaxed, and far more like we're playing our game with friends and improving it, as opposed to pitching our game, and hoping it goes well. Even the first playtest had this air of anticipation and perhaps even a little anxiety, hoping people would enjoy it, and hoping things wouldn't go terribly wrong. So far, it's been quite smooth, and a lot more stress-free than previous tests, and the majority of feedback has been focused on bugs, which we've been happily stomping left and right.
So the last two weeks have been mainly two things - playtesting and migration. Feels like it's been that way for a while now, but as we move closer to Gamescom and TGS, Rinthine as it will be in Early Access is finally taking shape, and we couldn't be more excited.
Here's a bit of our progress the last two weeks:
World & Environmental Design
The art department has been focused on two areas in the gameworld for the last two or three sprints - the bathhouse rooms, and a special new area that I don't wanna spoil too much, yet. The ways you can navigate between rooms have been slowly changing as well, with the recent introduction of swimming/wading, but we're hoping to have quite a few puzzles and novel mechanics that will affect the way you can move throughout each area, and these new ideas need quite a bit of art and time to cook!
These aren't the only things that art has been building, but again, some of their newest work is going to be secret for a little while!
Tuning & Bug Squashing
On the technical and quality-of-life side of things, it’s been a busy couple of weeks:
Localization: We’ve completed a massive localization pass across game text, UI panels, and dialogue to make upcoming playtests accessible to players in China.
Cooking & Gathering: The cooking minigame got a nice touch-up, and we’ve expanded the resource catalog with new fishing baits, soil fertilizers, and crafting components.
Onboarding & Visuals: We've been continuously refining Sphinx, our Discord bot, and the onboarding process itself. Early-game night events have been tuned and we've refined Solitude visual overlays and shelter banners.
Under the Hood: Our art team built custom in-engine tools for precise 3D outline thickness control, while our programmers overhauled season cycling logic and map saving to squash run-breaking glitches, map fog bugs, and door-locking issues once and for all.
Quests, Kilns & Building a Home
A big goal for us recently has been making the core survival and progression loop feel smooth, tactile, and rewarding. To help keep you on track during long runs, we’ve added a dedicated Quest Log system featuring real-time objective updates and a recipe shopping list HUD that lets you pin required ingredients right on your screen.
Crafting itself is taking a big step forward with The Kiln. Instead of just pressing a button in a menu, you’ll now interact with physical mold tiles, arranging patterns inside key molds to fire custom items and materials.
Surviving the labyrinth isn't always about running for your life, though. Sometimes you just need to catch your breath. Our new Shelter Detection System now actively evaluates the rooms you build in. By placing down spawn points, workbenches, proper lighting, and cozy decorations, you can turn a cold stone chamber into a recognized home, actively keeping your character’s Solitude at bay. (And if you're starting a fresh run, check out the new "Expedition Mode" hub, which starts you off with a cozy nook packed with essential scrap, mining, and fishing nodes!)
Speaking of solitude,
the Wayfinder's been feeling really lonely. Wayfinder was so lonely, in fact, that we asked our community on Discord to make Wayfinder some buddies to keep his spirits up, and keep him company!
Naturally, you all delivered! Our community created some amazing companions to help ward off the darkness in the depths of the maze:
All this art was so encouraging to Wayfinder... he made some of his own:
