Ritual of Raven News

[h3]Our demo for Ritual of Raven is NOW LIVE! ✨[/h3]

Hey everyone! 🌿 We're so excited for you all to experience our witchy farming-sim game and to hear your feedback on our Ritual of Raven demo!

Ritual of Raven is our cosy, witchy farming sim – but you don’t do the farming yourself. Enchant magical creatures to help grow your farm!

[h2]Play via our Steam page! 👇[/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2066520/Ritual_of_Raven/

[h3]Ritual of Raven - Key Features:[/h3]

• 👋 Befriend magical characters - Meet witchy and magical characters that you can befriend and trade with.
  
• 🌱 Grow your farm - Enchant Arcana Constructs, magical creatures who help you grow the ingredients for your Rituals and complete your book of shadows.
  
• 🧺 Decorate the area - not only your farm but the magical world beyond, to your liking with many customisation options.
  
• ✨ Explore the world - Jump into the magical world of Leynia and interact with portals across the land that have erupted!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
We hope you enjoy our demo and can't wait to hear what you think of Ritual of Raven! 💜
[h2]Keep up to date with Ritual of Raven! 🔮🐦‍⬛[/h2]

Ritual of Raven X/Twitter Spellgarden Games X/Twitter Spellgarden Games TikTok

Hey everyone! We can’t quite believe it, but we’re already way into 2025 which also means we’re slowly but surely making our way towards our planned release date! 🤫

Initially we wanted to talk about some general game features today, but as we did a little playtest in December, we got TONS of awesome feedback and spent the last few weeks tweaking and overhauling some mechanics. So of course we want to share those changes with you! 😍



One of the things a few players mentioned was that it can take quite a long time to get from one point to another on the map. Especially when your pockets are full (dang forageables, right? 😅), but you need this one specific item for a quest, so you gotta go home and get it before returning to your previous location and before you know it two in-game hours have passed… 😶

That can be frustrating, we hear ya! So - we decided to approach this with two different changes! ✨

[h2]🏃 Running[/h2]

The player character can now run! Either hold down Shift (on keyboard) or LT (on gamepad) or enable toggle running in the settings and you will zoom across the map much faster!

Check out the difference that makes! 😮



[h2]📍 Teleports[/h2]

We didn’t stop at the running though, no no! We also decided to implement fast travel as per teleport points! 💨

These teleport points aka pillars can be found all across the map and will be unlockable using Shards (our in-game currency), so you can easily hop back and forth between different key locations! 💎





There’s lots of different things to do and see in the world of Ritual of Raven - but one of the key mechanics we’d love for you to use is of course the farming! Enchanting and optimizing the little constructs to automate your magical garden is truly at the heart of the game! So we were super interested to hear your feedback here! 🌼

[h2]✨ Magic Preview[/h2]

Some of you reported that it felt as though you had to babysit the constructs because you weren’t quite certain the laid out cards were correct. And listen, if you want to look at the constructs carrying out the enchantments, then you shall do so (we often find ourselves quite mesmerized by the look of a busy farm). 🥰

But of course the idea here is that they take care of your garden for you, so you can go explore the magical world around you! 🌱

So we decided to implement a magic preview feature! Now, once you’ve laid out all the command cards, you can let the constructs show you where their path would lead, if there’s anything obstructing them and what actions they’d carry out before actually committing to it! 👏



[h2]🤖 Faster Constructs[/h2]

And in addition to the preview feature, we’ve also decided to make the constructs much faster for most of their tasks!

So in case you do want to stand there and gaze at them (we get it, truly!), it’s now even more fun to do so! And of course that way the constructs are also able to tend to more of your garden and you can take your farming game to the next level! 💦





All that is fine and good to hear about, but you know what’s even better? You can see & try for yourself! Because we have a demo coming March 3rd! 🤩

Make sure you’ve got Ritual of Raven on your wishlist and keep an eye on our Steam page in the next couple of days!




We’re very excited to hear from you!
- Spellgarden Games 🔮

Hey there! The holidays are just around the corner and so is the new year, but we didn’t want to leave 2024 behind without another update about Ritual of Raven - lots has happened once again after all! ✨


In our last Dev Log we got started introducing you to some of the quirky characters waiting for you in Leynia and as promised, there’s more friends to meet! 🥰

Once again we’ll show you their different moods that can show up in conversations and tell you a few snippets about who they are! Let’s go!

[h2] Coco (she/her)[/h2]
Coco is who you want to talk to if you require any seeds for your farm - safe to say Raven absolutely loves her. 😋

She is friendly but can be a little shy at first and generally tends to be on the introverted side - her lovely and down-to-earth character makes her the perfect counterpart to Charly! 🌈



[h2] Charly (she/her) [/h2]
Charly can be the exact opposite of Coco in some ways: excited, outgoing & loud. But maybe that’s exactly why they work so well together. 💜

She tends to talk without really thinking things through first which can lead to some… interesting moments. But she never actually means any harm!



[h2] Dan (he/him) [/h2]
When you first meet Dan at his restaurant, he can seem quite cranky and reserved. He does actually care very deeply about people though, so it might just be worth it to befriend him! Especially for his famous moist seed cake! 🍪



[h2] Huxley (he/him) [/h2]
The best dressed sloth you will probably ever meet! Huxley is a rather sleepy & slow fellow (he is a sloth after all 🦥), but that doesn’t stop his curious mind! Quite an intellectual being, you will probably find him somewhere close to some books! 📚



Our game isn’t fully voiced as that would have unfortunately blown up our budget 😭 - BUT each of the characters have little vocal sounds to express their emotions alongside their pictures (think “Ah!”, “Hmm…”, “Uh-hu.”). We’ve been able to start implementing those these past few weeks and it’s just amazing to see their personalities come to life! Makes us smile every time! 😍


This is something many of you might be excited about: We’re working on character customization! ✨

It’s still very much a WIP feature at the minute - there’s currently only 3 different hairstyles, a witchy hat, some glasses and just 2 options for tops & bottoms - but we’re still looking to add some more options in the future! Oh and you can already customize the colors! 👕

Seeing the random little chars whenever we start a new save game is already really fun though! 🎨




Another “small” change we’ve made to the world is letting it be completely overgrown with grass upon your arrival! 🌿

You can either pluck these weeds yourself or enchant some constructs to take care of the cleaning for you! You can even get various little rewards for cleaning! 💎

Or you know, you may also leave them up for that overgrown vibe! 😍




With the ability to decorate your farm AND all the other areas (yes, even the town center), we of course have been working on introducing more items for you to use! And while our artist Sophie has already added tons of stuff, she still has some more pixel magic up her sleeves! 🤩

Let’s give you a sneak peek with this time lapse of a witchy bureau! 🌙



We now have a decent assortment of different tables, chairs, wardrobes & many other furniture pieces! We cannot wait to see how you will decorate your farms! ✨



And thus concludes our little update just before the end of 2024 is approaching! We’d like to thank you all for your support this year and all your wishlists so far, we cannot wait to share more updates with you in the future! Here’s a tiny teaser to hold you over in the meantime: 📚 & 🎣! 😉

Happy holidays & a happy New Year! We’ll see you very soon!
- Spellgarden Games 🔮

EDIT: Our Ritual of Raven Closed Playtest sign ups are now closed! 🔒

We greatly appreciate all the interest in our Closed Playtest! 💜 For those who signed up, please look out for email confirmation and sign your Confidentiality Agreements by Friday 22nd November.

As the game is in early development, we're inviting a small group to this playtest. If you've been unsuccessful and not received an email this time, please keep an eye on our social media channels for future opportunities to experience Ritual of Raven!

--------------------------------------------

Hey everyone! 🌿

Today we're excited to announce that we'll be running a small Closed Playtest at the end of the month for Ritual of Raven. We'd like to invite members of the community to register their interest in taking part today!

Please note: As the game is early in development, we will only be inviting a smaller number of players so there is a chance you may sign up and not receive an invitation to take part. There should be opportunity for more playtesting in the future though!

[h2]🔮 Closed Playtest - Key Information[/h2]
If you are interested in joining our playtest, please please fill in our form here to confirm your interest! You'll also find all key Closed Playtest information below!


[h3]🐦‍⬛ Closed Playtest Timings[/h3]
Playtest Sign up: Friday 15th November - Sunday 17th November
Confidentiality Agreements Sent Out: Monday 18th November - Friday 22nd November
Playtest Begins: Monday 25th November
Playtest Ends: Friday 29th November

[h3]🕹️ Who can take part?[/h3]
Anyone over the age of 18 is welcome to register their interest and take part.

[h3]🔮 What will you be expected to do? [/h3]
You will be required to take part within a closed playtest area in Discord to provide feedback around the game and its contents.

As this is a closed playtest, you will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to getting access to the game. As we are running a small closed playtest and in the event that we reach capacity, we will only send out an agreement to those who have been selected to take part in the playtest.

We would also like to invite some players to use a platform that can record your gameplay and voice as you play to gain more in-depth feedback, if you are interested in doing this then please respond that you'd be happy to take part on Question 4 of our sign-up form.

[h3]⏳ How long roughly will the game be?[/h3]
There should be 4-6 hours of gameplay for you to play through! Please make sure that you can dedicate this amount of time within the above dates before signing up.

[h2]✨ Sign up for our Closed Playtest today! ✨[/h2]

We will provide more information about the playtest and the types of feedback we are looking for via Discord once the playtest has started!

Thank you and see you all soon! 👋
[h2]Keep up to date with Ritual of Raven! 🔮🐦‍⬛[/h2]

Ritual of Raven X/Twitter Spellgarden Games X/Twitter Spellgarden Games TikTok

Hey everyone! 🌿 A LOT has happened since we first announced our new game Ritual of Raven and we’re super excited to show you what we’ve been working on! Let us give you a little update about some of the new features and details! 🔮


Seeing as this is our first dev log, let’s get started by introducing you to some of the lovely NPCs that will welcome you to Leynia and help you on your journey! (Or is it the other way around? 😅)

We gave each of them at least 5 different reactions - or moods you could probably call them (looking at you Rejecting Raven) - that show up in conversations. Let’s meet them!
[h2]Sage (she/her)[/h2]
As the first person you stumble into upon your arrival, Sage will help you find your way around the farm and introduce you to magic! Let the witch lessons begin! ✨

[h2]Raven (he/him)[/h2]
Raven will join your side as your animal companion - your familiar - and therefore support and be with you through everything! It’s surely good to have a friend - especially one with a side of cheeky remarks! 😌
(Just make sure you always have enough seeds and sparkly things for him.)
[h2]Bowie (he/they)[/h2]
As the somewhat self-appointed local Orientation Wagon, Bowie is sure to welcome you to the village with his guitar always by his side.

[h2]Pistachio (they/them)[/h2]
Pistachio is who you need to go see when it comes to furniture and decorations! They are very proud of their portal fishing skills - but is that really the whole story?

We’re excited to introduce you to some more villagers soon!


We can’t possibly write our first dev log without mentioning our Arcana Constructs! They’re a mix of robot and magical being and can be found all over the world! Once unlocked you can enchant them to take care of your magical herb garden! 🌱

As they also hint at some more areas coming soon, we can’t reveal them all just yet, but here’s some constructs doing their cute little walk animation for you:


We’re very happy to report that we’ve been working hard on implementing all the quests and storyline in general and our game now actually has an ending!! 🥳

We don’t want to share and spoil too much here, but save to say it feels really awesome and a little surreal! Now it’s really down to making this a well-rounded game and filling it with more details & personality!


Speaking of: We needed to do just that with the beginning of our game as well, to give you a true sense of progress and always some new small things to do as you go on your journey.

So we’ve now added a new feature: ✨spell jars✨

Spell jars are essentially small rituals you can perform to clean up the world and make it more home-y or also unlock areas filled with new forageables! You can find and collect fragments of spell jar recipes all over the world! That way you’ll be sure to be a busy witch. 🪄


Even with all these implementations and improvements, it’s save to say we still have a decent chunk left to do between a variety of bugs as well as lots of unfinished areas…

And here’s a little peek into what is coming up next: Character Customization! 🎨

We’ve already started implementing the bare bones so the colors can be changed, but we’re far from done! More coming soon! 🤫



Until next time!
- Spellgarden Games 🔮