The Wandering Village Gets A Release Date

Easily one of the most interesting trailers for a city-builder at E3 these past few years, Stray Fawn Studio’s The Wandering Village caught quite a few eyes when it appeared in last year’s PC Gaming Show. Though we’d get only glimpses of the strange titan-like creature called Onbu with the village on its back in this post-apocalypse world, it has been something I’ve been keeping an eye on for obvious reasons. Inspired by the Hayao Miyazaki manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, The Wandering Village offers something interesting in the face of other city-builders.

Announced on Tuesday, you’ll be able to ride atop Onbu just next week. Wednesday the 14th of September, to be precise, as The Wandering Village heads to Steam early access for PC, Mac, and Linux at $24.99, according to the press release. “Combining city-building and resource management with rogue-like and survival elements, players will need to forge a close relationship with the giant creature if they’re to endure the dangerous, post-apocalyptic world,” as the press release notes. That’s Alexx sold, he loves anything Rogue-like/lite.

The press release continues on to say, “From farming crops and gathering rare resources, to scouting the environment and expanding their settlement, players must maintain the creature’s health while balancing the needs of their villagers if they’re both to survive.” So instead of just thinking about the little ungrateful sods yelling about their bins filling up during a strike, you’ll have to manage Onbu too. The twist, of course, is that Onbu is moving your city around and walking head-first into weather that is neither good for him nor your villagers. A bit like a cat, you have to let him do what he’s doing but you also have to deal with the consequences: parasites, poisonous spores, and the weather affecting Onbu and villagers alike.

It seems throughout The Wandering Village, that to succeed, you’ll have to forge a balanced relationship between Onbu and the village as resources dwindle and harsh circumstances take effect. I, for one, have been excited to get my hands on Stray Fawn’s latest title as the studio has created some fun and interesting games before, namely something I played years ago, Nimbatus: The Space Drone Constructor. Though this announcement is on short notice and exciting, it is also worth mentioning that The Wandering Village is also set to head to Xbox Game Preview, but won’t until 2023.