Cloudward

ended

A survival, narrative-driven, rogue-lite for VR. In Cloudward, players steer and manage their own flying ship on their journey towards the clouds, to escape the deadly Elderstorm that dominates the world of Vael. To reach safety, players need to avoid dangers, gather resources, upgrade the ship, hire crew, and make small story-event decisions. Every run is different, as the maps and occurrences are generated randomly. The journey is difficult, and failing will happen a lot at the beginning, but persistent progress will help the player to be better prepared each run, like having more starting resources, unlocking more and better crew members to hire, or even unlock better ships. The story of the game revolves around the young, non-binary Jal (meaning wandering spirit or traveler), a fisher from the town of Thureik, who was separated from their family a long time ago. The player will set out every year on Jal’s journey to the Starscape, the last secure place in the world, in hopes of finding out their family’s whereabouts and unveiling the mysteries of the shroud and the Elder. The game’s themes are survival, environmentalism, and family. Despite the challenge of reaching the end of the game during a run, players will still progress the game’s overarching narrative and obtain persistent upgrades. On their journey, players will encounter many obstacles, hazards, and enemies, which will require them to defend themselves. Combat in Cloudward is either done via the ship cannons or head-on with Jal’s saber.