As soon as a pixelated scene of a green-haired girl riding a broom came into focus during the Nintendo Direct March 2025 showcase, I audibly gasped. I instantly recognized the style of the "spellingbinding adventure" on screen, and shouted "Witchbrook" before the title even entered the picture.
As a longtime fan of games like Stardew Valley and the life sim genre in general, I've been following Chucklefish's upcoming magic school RPG for years, and I could hardly believe I was finally seeing it in action. Originally teased all the way back in 2016, Witchbrook was first officially announced the following year, and has been in development ever since.
The last major update on the project came in 2019, but we've not seen so much as a wand or pointy hat from Chucklefish over the last five years. I've never stopped hoping for it to make a big comeback, though, and the latest Nintendo Direct at last answered my prayers. With our first proper glimpse at some Witchbrook gameplay, it looks every bit like it's going to be well worth the wait. From snippets of magic lessons, to shots of witches socializing, and even sharing a cup of coffee at a cafe, everything I've seen and read about what awaits us in the setting of Mossport has reignited my excitement all over again. In fact, I'd go as far as to say there's never been a new life sim that's called my name quite so ardently.
