Ophelia Payne

A little over 2 years ago, I played (and reviewed) a delightful game called Lil’ Guardsman. I knew nothing about it, or the studio that made it, until that time. Since that day, I have been a fan of Hilltop Studios and have anxiously awaited to see what they would create next. Lil’ Guardsman was easily one of my favourite games I’ve played; the clever writing, the fantastic characters, all made it an easy recommendation.

While I’ve stayed in touch with Hilltop Studios over time, I had known “something was coming” but was told to expect something totally different from Lil’ Guardsman.  Now, I am happy to have played the demo for their newest game, Curse of Resthaven, and while it is VERY different from Lil’ Guardsman, I am happy to report it’s just as exceptional, and I was blown away by what I had the chance to play thanks to the publisher, Digital Bandidos.

Across my approximately 5 hours of playing, I was met with something much darker than Lil’ Guardsman’s bright, funny and cartoony gameplay, and I stepped into a dark and mysterious roguelite full of mystery, political intrigue and an unsettling time loop with a sense of constant dread lurking in its midst. There are also elements of inventory management, a bit of deckbuilding, and even some town management elements. There is a lot going on in the gameplay for Curse of Resthaven.

You play as Ambrose, the new Governor of Resthaven, who also happens to be searching for his niece, Amalia. What happened to the previous Governor? That’s part of the mystery. The first person you meet is Garret, who acts as your Valet and guides you through the town, helping you to become familiar with your surroundings. 

It’s clear that Resthaven is struggling from the moment you arrive. The market is almost empty of food, buildings are run-down, and so are the locals. What is also clear early on is how well the characters are written and developed. Clearly, Hilltop Studios has a knack for character creation. One of the strong points of Lil’ Guardsman was how memorable the characters were, even if you only met them briefly. Each character I met in the Curse of Resthaven demo was interesting; the conversations were well written, and the voice acting I experienced was top-notch.

As each day ends, you end up in a dream world; you collect some upgrade cards, and you begin a new day. But it’s your first day on the island again. While for everyone else it’s the first day meeting you, you have all your knowledge from days before to help you make better decisions and further your progress on this day.

Time loop games don’t always hit for me, and I’m not always sure why. Perhaps it’s too complex, or too easy. Or maybe it’s just because it can sometimes be an easy and too-often-used gameplay mechanic that I roll my eyes the first time I loop back to the beginning. This was definitely not the case with Curse of Resthaven, and I think that had a lot to do with knowing my loops weren’t infinite. You have 6 in-game days before the end of the mysterious island you arrived on. Also helpful in keeping me interested was that during the evening/loop moment, I was able to open upgrades. These came in the form of a sort of tarot card given to me by an unseen entity. Choose your upgrades wisely, though; each positive upgrade also has a negative consequence attached to it. I love a game where choices matter.

Remember to question everyone you meet. You will need clues to find out the answers to many mysteries in Resthaven. You get 3 questions to ask each person, so choose wisely.

Since you are the newly appointed Governor, you can’t spend all your time searching for Amalia. You must also attempt to help Resthaven prosper. Your primary methods for doing that, at least early in the game, are trading and expeditions. Trading involves a little luck and some risk-taking, as you can haggle with the traders docked in port. Each business in town will have one item you can claim for free to trade, and each ship in port will have one item to sell.

The expeditions take a little more time and planning, as you will use the skill cards you collect and different companions you meet to build your group to explore with. These also come with positives and negatives, and choices here will influence the town once you return.  Be sure to consult with the town’s oldest resident, Agata, for help determining what your cards mean if required.

If it’s not evident from the images included here, this game is stunning. It’s full of a Lovecraftian tone and feeling, and I was completely blown away by the details I saw.

As it’s a demo, I am willing to ignore any small blips, like a few audio bugs I encountered. They weren’t there on my second playthrough, so it’s possible it wasn’t the game at all, and the only big problem I had was that I wanted more; I need to find out the secrets, and I want to explore more. This is obviously a good problem to have, and I can’t wait for the full release of the game.

If you pick up the demo, here’s your mature content: “Curse of Resthaven is a narrative horror game intended for mature audiences. It contains illustrated black-and-white depictions of violence and murder, references to suicide, and themes of war and colonial oppression. The game also includes references to alcohol and substance abuse, psychological distress, and other subject matter that may be disturbing to some people.” 

Until next time…be good to yourself and be good to each other.

**Special Thanks to Hilltop Studios and Digital Bandidos for the review code**