Keepers of Umbrasil

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• Announcements·7 Jun 2026Official

  Demo is Live

  Come meet the first 6 Forest Spirits. They'll teach you what it means to be a Keeper: how to care for and restore the Sanctuary, and how to navigate the shifting paths of the Forest.Meanwhile, I'm working on some more fun additions to the full game (and maaaybe sneaking some into the demo).Difficulty tiers to some gathering and tending tasksVisual ambience to forest areas (falling leaves, fireflies)7 additional habitats14 more Forest SpiritsAdditional furniture for the Keeper's homeThe culmination of the Keeper's storyStretch: Steam Deck compatibilityStretch: Hidden Critters (find the critters hidden in every forest area for a reward)May the Forest find all who are wild-called.
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• Announcements·21 Apr 2026Official

  Gameplay Loop: A Day in the Life of a Keeper

  I wanted to describe the day to day loop in a bit more detail. Hopefully, this helps give a feel for what it's like to play the game. Keeper's GoalThe player is the Keeper of the Sanctuary. The keeper's main goal in the game is to rebuild the sanctuary. Of course that means buildings to construct, but more importantly, it means bringing the Forest Spirits back to the Sanctuary. This will be the high-level narrative arc over the day to day loop.Generally, the Keeper's day has two parts: explore the forest in the morning, then return to the Sanctuary to tend to its needs and invest resources found in the forest.ForestThe forest is set on a grid and at each new cell the player can choose which paths to place based on the paths they have collected in their Tarot deck. Every day, the player can choose a new forest layout based on what resources they seek or what forest spirits they wish to summon or learn more about.Every forest path, or area, has different resources to collect through familiar cozy game mechanics like fishing, flower-gathering, and bug-catching. Each gathering task has a unique cozy mini-game. As you collect resources, you also have a chance to collect critters. These are creatures (mostly) based on real life forest animals with some creative liberties taken for fun.While the forest's day to day function is a place to gather resources, the beating heart of it is interacting with forest spirits. Every spirit besides the starters has unique map layouts required to summon them. As players venture into the forest, they will find hidden caches with rare resources and occasionally clues as to how to summon creatures or find their rare memories.Every spirit has rare memories and unique dialogue that can only be revealed by bringing their token to one of their favored areas.SanctuaryOn returning to the Sanctuary each day, tending tasks appear. Little tasks to take care of the Sanctuary like scooping leaves out of the reflection pool or sorting your inventory. S...
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• Announcements·21 Apr 2026Official

  Forest Spirit Pipeline & Previous Devlogs

  I am currently working on our eighth forest spirit and wanted to post to Steam a bit more about the process involved in making a forest spirit in the game. Creatures are the most complex content in the game as they are carrying the story and have the most complicated art needs. A summary of the pipeline is identity --> story/personality --> sprite --> portrait --> token --> quests --> memories --> furniture --> dialogue --> animations --> bark. I'll break each step down a bit more.IdentityAll forest spirits are based on a mythological or legendary creature. I chose all 20 identities early on to ensure we had a good spread across animal types and that each could meet the game's tone and visual identity - e.g., no humanoids, could be made cute or pretty.StoryEach spirit besides the starting cast has a journey the player helps them through to deal with some past trauma/baggage and build trust with the Keeper. Early on, I identify loosely what themes and main struggle this spirit's story will have and how that fits into the larger narrative of rebuilding the sanctuary.Sprite Now that I know their identity and story, what should they look like? Even with a basis in myth and legend, there is a lot of creative freedom to represent different creatures. I aim to have all the creatures have a touch of magic or fantasy about their appearance.Portrait Recently killed the need for a separate portrait image as the sprites are way more interesting to look at than a zoomed in face.TokenEach spirit has a token that players can collect. The token unlocks memories when carried to certain places in the forest. Each token is a stone miniature of the sprite.QuestsThe real heart of the development of each spirit. What problems do you help them with? How do those problems and solutions manifest in game? How do they speak? What will they reveal about the Sanctuary's past? What boon will they grant once they trust the Keeper?MemoriesSix illustrations and captions that are rewarded for progre...
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