Today Polish developer Enjoy Studio announced that its upcoming cozy open-world life sim The Witch of Fern Island has an official release date.
The game, published by Freedom Games, will leave early access very soon, on February 27, and will be available on PC via Steam, GoG.com, and Epic Games Store.
It has been in early access for less than a year, having become available in May 2023.
The Witch of Fern Island was originally funded via a Kickstarter campaign that had 686 backers pledge €21,388 to bring the game to life.
Despite the fairly modest initial funding, Enjoy Studio managed to add a lot of content and features during the early access phase, including new areas that doubled the game's world size, lots of new quests and activities, quality-of-life features, and much more.
You play as Abrill, a young witch who was traveling to a magical academy but ended up crashing on the island inhabited by three magical cultures, the Boran, Apatut, and Kuqkw. Abrill definitely sees the opportunity in her misfortunes and decides to stay in order to unveil the many secrets of the island and its inhabitants.
You can check out the trailer accompanying the announcement below and see if it entices you to jump into the game.
The game includes many elements associated with the current trend of "cozy" games including farming, socializing, housing, fishing, fashion, and more. Yet there's more to it than meets the eyes, with extensive exploration opportunities and a complex magic system that interacts with the farming part.
You can grow herbs and magical plants and then use the ingredients to experiment with various enchantments. You can craft magical amulets, summon cute familiars, and even command the weather.
Of course, since this is an open-world game with witches, you can inevitably fly on your enchanted broom to help with exploration.
