Press Kit: The Wolf of Derevnya
Description
A jaded hero from an earlier age.
A village beset by a mysterious monster.
And secrets as deep as the earth.
When the villagers of Derevnya begin turning up maimed, suspicion falls on you. Track down the beast to clear your name and save the village—but to unravel the mystery, you will need to confront your own past.
The Wolf of Derevnya survival-horror narrative game set in the rich medieval world of Kievan Rus'.
Factsheet
Developer:
Nightwell Games
Release Date:
April 3, 2023
Platform:
Steam (Windows)
Itch (Windows)
Website:
nightwellgames.com
Regular Price:
USD $5.99
Re
History
For Nightwell Games' inaugural title, we wanted to create a game that would showcase our main areas of focus: Narrative, emotional tone, and handcrafted aesthetics, while also remaining within an achievable scope for a solo studio. The Wolf of Derevnya fit these requirements well.
Chapter 1 had its first outing on Itch in 2022, where it was featured in InkJam 2022 and Spooktober 4th Annual Visual Novel Jam, earning 5th place in the former with a score of 4.4/5 in the Narrative category.
The Steam release features a lush new UI while continuing the story that received this enthusiastic reception.
Features
Trailer
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85,000 words with an approximate playtime of 7-8 hours
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Over 1000 meaningful choices
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Intricately-woven narrative seamlessly shapes itself around your decisions
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Four main endings, each with many variations
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Craft your own backstory from 7 possible tales
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Puzzle sequences add challenge and complexity
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Over 40 hand-drawn ink and pen illustrations
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Atmospheric, ethereal original soundtrack
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You can pet the cat
Images
Praise
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"The atmosphere was absolutely top-notch, as was the prose." - Stepwise, InkJam reviewer
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"I'm in love. That's one of my favorite types of games. Every piece is superb, the soundtrack/SFX, the art, the GUI, and the story...Amazing work!" - kimineechan, Spooktober reviewer
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"Really enjoyed this; fantastic atmosphere with expansive-feeling choices and intriguing hints about the wider world. Looking forward to playing more!" - starkholborn, InkJam reviewer
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"The breadth of the text and choices. The overall components (sound, visuals, writing). The quality of narration. I was thoroughly engaged. Well done." - b-r-i-a-n, InkJam reviewer
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"This was such a delight! And by delight, I mean I was basically half on the edge of my chair the whole time...Everything just fit together so well to create a haunting experience that grew more and more nerve-rattling as it went on." - Carrot Patch Games, Spooktober reviewer
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"Like I cracked open an old Goosebumps book and just got sucked in." - Red Moon Rising Development, Spooktober reviewer
Credits
Design and Story
Gwen C. Katz
Art
David Bowman
Music and Sound Design
Anthony Ford
UI Design
Maja Luna Hunyadi
Calligraphy
Joline's Archive
About the Creator
Gwen C. Katz is an author, artist, and game designer living in Pasadena, California. She considers herself a gaming classicist, drawing from the full history of film and literature to create unique games that pack an emotional punch.
Her studio, Nightwell Games, released its first game, The Wolf of Derevnya, in 2023. Wolf is a survival-horror choose your own adventure game about a medieval Russian village menaced by a werewolf.
Her publication credits include the historical novel Among the Red Stars, which was a 2017 Junior Library Guild selection, and short stories in venues like Vastarien, Cast of Wonders, and We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020.