Build somewhere worth defending
Raise a base out of what the collapse left behind, then hold on to it. Building is not a side activity here. It is how a foothold turns into somewhere you come back to.
In production
You wake injured, alone, and with no memory of who you are.
A story-driven open world survival RPG. Built by a small team, in the open, with the people who will end up playing it.
Development updates
Get told first.
Kickstarter launch, Steam news, playtest waves and the occasional long post about why something took three weeks longer than it should have. Nothing else, and one click to stop.
Or go one better: claim a numbered founder item for £3. Handed out in the order people claim them, in your inventory the day the game launches.
The world
A country that stopped, and the people still in it.
A collapse has swept the country. What survivors are left cling on in emptied towns, dense forest and infrastructure that is coming apart. Resources are thin. Trust is earned slowly, if at all.
You have no name you can remember and no reason to be here that you can explain. The settlements you find have their own problems, their own histories and their own opinions about strangers.
Explore an eight square kilometre open world, work out who you were, and decide what the people still standing are worth to you.
What you actually do
Six things this game is built around.
Everything below is running in engine today. When something is still on the workbench, we say so.
Recruit people to run it
Survivors can be persuaded to join you. Once they do, they work. Your base keeps ticking over while you are out in the world.
Reputation travels
Settlements talk to each other. How you treat one carries to the next, and it changes who trades with you, who follows you and who reaches for a weapon.
The story sets the pace
Progression follows the narrative. Push the story forward and you get stronger for it, rather than grinding a wall before the next chapter opens.
Companions with histories
The people who travel with you are written, not rolled. They have pasts, opinions and their own reasons for being out here.
Alone or with others
PvPvE. Play it solo start to finish or bring a group. Other players are part of the danger, not a separate mode bolted on the side.
From the build
Work in progress, shown as work in progress.
Captures come straight out of the editor. Nothing here is a target render or a bullshot.
Dev updates
Straight out of #dev-updates.
Whatever went into the build this week gets posted to Discord as it lands, and mirrored here.
Loading the latest posts.
Get involved
There are two ways in before launch.
Both are open now, both are free, and both put you in front of the build long before anyone else sees it.
Content creators
Early builds, permission to capture and publish ahead of launch, an asset pack, and a direct line to the people making the game. No follower minimum.
Apply to create →Playtesters
Closed PC builds, rough edges included. You break things, tell us how, and watch the fixes land in the changelog.
Apply to test →On the way
One is live. One is close.
Coming soon
Kickstarter
A campaign is being prepared to fund the run up to Early Access, with pledge tiers that put backers in the build early and their mark in the world. It is not live yet and the date is not set. Sign up for updates and you will hear it before it goes public.
Live now
Steam
The store page is up. A wishlist is the single most useful thing you can give us: it costs you nothing, it tells Steam to show the game to people like you, and it is what gets us visible on launch day. Xbox Series X and S follow after Steam.
Development updates
Get told first.
One list. Kickstarter launch, Steam news, playtest waves and the occasional long post about why something took three weeks longer than it should have. Nothing else, and one click to stop.
Community
Come and argue with us about loot tables.
Discord
Daily development chatter, build notes, changelogs and playtest calls. The quickest way to reach us and the first place anything gets announced.
Join the server →r/HollowCedar
Longer posts, screenshots and questions that deserve more than a chat line. Good place to go on the record with an idea.
Open the subreddit →