Hooded Horse, the publisher behind hits like Against the Storm and Manor Lords, announced that it has signed another upcoming strategy game with Minakata Dynamics’ Whiskerwood.
Whiskerwood combines elements of titles like Anno and Factorio, featuring city-building as well as automation mechanics. You take control of a group of mice, who found a city and exploit the surrounding environment for its resources, using all their ingenuity and muscle power to gather and produce ever more goods. However, they’re not doing this to attain prosperity – no, you’re essentially conducting forced labor operations, for all the wealth produced by the mice is being shipped to their cat oppressor, the tyrannical Claw.
Woe be upon those who fail to meet the feline tyrant’s resource quotas, for Claw won’t hesitate and send henchmen over to remind the mice of their place.
As your humble colony grows, so do the greed and demands by its cat overlord – how long will you agree to let your mice followers suffer before the seeds of revolution take root and defy your master?
Featuring over 40 commodities and complex supply chain mechanics, Whiskerwood is very much a follow-up to the Japanese studio’s previous title, Railgrade. Use conveyor belts, lifts, and pumps to get resources from A to B quickly and efficiently, for it’s the only way to make quota.
Aside from the economic aspects, the game contains a turn-based naval combat component for when your colony finally seeks to shake off the shackles of tyranny and tensions culminate in the Boston Cheese Party. Alright, I can’t take credit for that pun – it’s all on Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender, who said the following about the publishing agreement: “Mice always seem so hard working and industrious. They’re perfect characters for a colony sim/city builder. While I love cats, I can see them running a mercantile empire. And who doesn’t love the idea of a Boston Cheese Party?”
Minakata Dynamics’ studio head Daniel Dressler said: “Whiskerwood is our team’s passion project and the culmination of a decade’s worth of city-builder prototypes. It is an honor to work with Hooded Horse and finally bring our creation to life. Their way of business has enabled us to make Whiskerwood the best it can be and wholly without pressure.” So, unlike the mice’s working conditions in the game, then.
Whiskerwood will be coming to PC as an Early Access title at an as-yet undetermined date.
Read More
