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Curse of Resthaven

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Curse of Resthaven

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In this single-player narrative roguelite, govern a cursed island as you investigate your niece’s mysterious disappearance. Interrogate, trade, upgrade, and embark upon card-based expeditions to uncover dark secrets – before the next cataclysm strikes.

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Devlog #3: The Challenges of Writing a Time Loop Game

Apr 15

Hi everyone, it’s Matt. I’m one of the writers and game designers for Curse of Resthaven!

When we were coming up with the story for CoR, we knew we didn’t want it to be a simple beginning, middle, and end sort of affair. We were keen to try something different, so we introduced the idea of a time loop as an additional mechanic for world building, discovery, and replayability.

Six days after you arrive at Resthaven, a cataclysm wipes out the colony and all its inhabitants. The island’s fading goddess sends you back to the moment of your arrival, with your choice of boon to help you make progress on your next run.

The obvious benefit of having a time loop mechanic in your video game is it gives a player an opportunity to replay scenarios. Whether it’s repeating entire days/weeks, or rewinding a few seconds of action/combat, it gives the player a vehicle to do a couple of things:

See a problem from a new angle
Take a path they didn’t before
Learn more about an event/scenario
Try a new approach for a hurdle
Perfect the timing of a certain action or tactic

But adding a time loop mechanic into a game can come with some big problems – the biggest of which being that your game may become too boring to play.

So how do you avoid that? How do you make playing the same scenario over and over again NOT boring or tedious?

For my money, there’s two types of time loop mechanics in games:

Instant Rewinds: This is typically used for games that centre around action or combat, where perfecting the timing of a button press or quick time event is the name of the game. In these cases, it’s highly likely a player will instantly replay these moments until it’s perfected. It may be frustrating, but it’s certainly not dull.

Longer Rewinds: This covers scenarios where you have to replay an entire in-game day or longer of content (like, for example, Curse of Resthaven!). This gives the opportunity for player-driven progression, especially in a narrative context, to deepen world building. But there's also a much higher risk of it becoming boring, tedious, and any other words you wouldn’t want to read in a review.

Given our love of storytelling at Hilltop, we definitely like working in the Longer Rewind realm of time loop mechanics. And we think some of the best examples of time loop games are in this vein:

Outer Wilds: A phenomenal, expansive puzzle-box timeloop experience. The system is entirely knowledge-driven, and every loop feels meaningful without artificial gating.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: The OG masterclass in scheduling and systemic NPC behavior. Slight friction from repetition and time management, but the loop creates unmatched world reactivity and pressure.

Deathloop: Extremely polished and satisfying once it clicks, especially in how it structures the ‘perfect run’ towards the end.

12 Minutes: The tight loop is mechanically clear, but repetition and trial-and-error can become frustrating.

The Forgotten City: Smart use of resets to streamline repetition and reward knowledge. More of a narrative-gating tool than a deeply systemic loop, but very effective at reducing friction. \[Note: lots of direct inspiration from this one for Curse of Resthaven. Fans of this game will feel it!]

Loop of Resthaven

From these games, we’ve learned a lot about what works when it comes to manipulating the space-time continuum. But, more importantly, we paid attention to the problems that can arise when travelling through time (other than becoming your own grandfather).

(For clarity’s sake of what’s to come, it’s important to know that Curse of Resthaven has TOPICS and LEADS. A TOPIC is a question you acquire and can interrogate people about to learn more information. A LEAD is a ‘quest’ you have to solve, where the steps are laid out and it gets updated as you progress.)

The biggest potential pitfalls of a time loop game built around longer rewinds (in my humble opinion) are:

1. Repetition of information

You learn something through interrogating someone and get a new Lead, an update, or maybe even a new Topic. You get to the end of your loop, rewind, and you have to talk to that person and learn it all again?!? No thank you!

In Curse of Resthaven, once you learn something, you know it. The main character, Governor Ambrose, may be stuck in the time loop like everyone else, but he at least gets to keep his memories (horrors and all!).

2. Retracing steps

Being forced to walk the same path repeatedly, while great for cardio, can be a lousy way to spend your play time.

Once a location has been discovered, the Governor remembers where it is and can fast travel to save time (but be warned, you’re missing out on organic discovery AND the nice artwork in our game!)

3. Losing what you’ve collected

You’ve spent all this time gathering items and gold, then they all disappear? Technically, I guess that makes sense, but it feels very punishing.

We, however, give the player the opportunity to upgrade a ‘lead-lined’ chest so they can keep some of their gold and/or items each loop. Technically, I guess that doesn’t make sense, but it’s a nice thing to have.

4. Not enough or small amounts of progression

You never want to feel like you didn’t accomplish anything. And while that is TOTALLY within the players control (one COULD waste their time by not doing anything before the next cataclysm), we wanted to make sure a player had ample opportunities to progress the main story of the game. And there are. Trust us. You just have to work the steps.

5. Not respecting a player’s time

We want this game to be fun, that’s what we’ve set out to do. We WANT you to discover things, and interrogate people and chase down leads. If the game is about repeating the same steps over and over again, then we haven’t done our job.

For these reasons, Curse of Resthaven is more rogue-lite than rogue-like. There’s no permadeath, complete reset of progression, or randomly/procedurally generated content in our game (except for the expeditions, where new ones pop up every loop).

In our game, knowledge is currency. You get to keep your progress and use it to your advantage against the poor souls that are trapped in the time loop and don’t even know it, and you don’t have to keep earning it the hard way. We aimed to create a more forgiving play experience, because at the end of the day, we WANT you to beat the game and see how the story ends.

Of course, this doesn’t cover all the problems that could be found with time loop mechanics, but it’s what we considered / focused on when writing and designing our game. And we hope our hard work pays off.

But if it hasn’t, you’ll never know, because we’ll have gone back in time and fixed it!

Matt

Curse of Resthaven

Devlog #2: Meet the Hilltop Studios team

Mar 12

Hi everyone, thanks so much for the continued support for Curse of Resthaven. It’s been an amazing two weeks since the announcement, and we’re thrilled to see so many of you getting excited about the game.

This week, we wanted to introduce the team behind it.

Hilltop Studios is primarily based in Toronto, Canada, with one of our key team members working out of Mexico. The Curse of Resthaven team is a mix of folks who worked on our first game, Lil’ Guardsman, along with some new faces helping bring the island of Resthaven to life.

BackgroundI co-founded Lienzo Studios, where I worked as Lead Programmer and Game Designer on three multi-platform games: Hunter’s Legacy, Mulaka, and Aztech: Forgotten Gods. I first joined Hilltop Studios to help with a research project for Nike, designing and programming a motion-controlled minigame collection. After that, I stayed on to help finish Lil’ Guardsman, which was a blast to work on, especially implementing and playtesting all the hilarious dialogue and wacky gameplay.

I’m also the sole non-Toronto member of the team, based in Chihuahua, Mexico. The game dev scene here in Mexico is full of passionate small studios doing their best to make an impact despite limited funding opportunities. Working with Hilltop has given me the chance to keep growing, working alongside an amazing, talented team.

Favorite Horror
Movies: Sinister, The Exorcism of Emily RoseBooks: Carrie, It, Coraline
Games: Silent Hill 2, Dead Space

All-Time Fave GamesMetroid Prime, Cloudbuilt, Portal 2

Fun factI play volleyball and Super Smash Bros Ultimate weekly with a group of good friends!

Background I was a writer and game designer on Lil Guardsman, and I've worked with Hilltop Studios for the past four years. Before working at Hilltop, I was Lord Chancellor at Medieval Times. (Editor's note: this is not a joke!)

Favourite Horror
Movies: Not many, because horror movies do their job remarkably well on me. I'm a sucker for the classics, so I’ll say Psycho. But if you consider multiple murders taking place at a dreary old mansion on a stormy night horror-esque, then I’d say Clue.
Games: Again, they do their job on me. I get very scared, very easily. But I really enjoyed My Big Sister by Ratalaika Games.

All-Time Fave GamesBig fan of The Legend of Zelda, loved Blue Prince, but the game that started it all was Red Hook’s Revenge (ImagiSoft Dos PC 1993)

Favourite AnimalThe common (and gorgeous) mallard duck.

BackgroundThis is my first time on a game project, as I previously worked in animation (Vida The Vet, Dot, Taqqut Studios). I'm a long-time massive fan of both horror and the 18th Century. I particularly love horror that is also weird.

Favourite Horror
Movies: Lake Mungo, 28 Days Later, Hereditary, Riaru Onigokko, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Sinners
Games: Look Outside, Little Nightmares, The Last Of Us, Resident Evil 8, The Quarry
Books: Higurashi, Oryx and Crake, and I also grew up with Darren Shan books.

All-Time Fave Games Look Outside, Little Nightmares, Last of Us, The Witcher 3, Baldur’s Gate 3, Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fun factMe and Clayton are partners of ten years and live together. I used to work as a dog groomer, bather, walker and carer. I love all animals, except chimps – they scare me.

Blood TypeB negative

BackgroundThe bulk of my professional experience is in animation, working as an animator on Looney Tunes cartoons, and as a background artist on Rick & Morty, Charlotte (2021), Carol and the End of the World, and other shows. I also illustrated a children’s book series called The Nguyen Kids.

I like to dabble in all sorts of visual media: illustration, photography, animation, graphic design, and even the occasional video editing. This is my first game project, so I’m hard at work learning Unity shaders and other tech art too.

Favourite Horror

Movies: Annihilation, Pan’s Labyrinth, Perfect Blue, Get Out, Shaun of the Dead, CoralineGames: I like horror games that incorporate beauty and whimsy, and aren’t wholly immersed in bleakness, discomfort, and scares. I like games like Little Nightmares 1 & 2, Scarlet Hollow, Resident Evil 4, and Half Life Alyx (if that counts).
Books: I’m not a big horror reader but I’m currently reading through Uzumaki.

All-Time Fave GamesFinal Fantasy 10, Persona 5, Okami, Yakuza 0, Kingdom Hearts (Yes, I like 1 more than 2! There are literally dozens of us!)

WeaknessesHeights, spiders, and water (at least until I learn to swim).

BackgroundBefore working in games, my background was in music. I worked across Canada as a musical director, conductor, and composer. I’ve always been a huge gamer, and when the pandemic brought the performing arts to a halt, we decided to pitch Lil’ Guardsman –and Hilltop Studios was born. On that project I co-created the game, led the writing team, and composed the music.

These days I’m also composing for a few other titles, but most of my focus is on Curse of Resthaven. We’re full steam ahead on the game, while also starting to cook up ideas for where the studio might go next.

Favourite Horror
Movies: The Shining jumps to mind first, which feels pretty appropriate for the kind of game we’re making. The Silence of the Lambs is also firmly in my all-time top five. I’m a big fan of Guillermo del Toro’s work, and Pan’s Labyrinth in particular has been on my mind a lot while we’ve been working on this game.
Books: Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my favourite authors, and her novel Mexican Gothic has been a tonal touchstone for our game. The remote setting, the creeping dread… it’s so good. Her book Silver Nitrate dives into some really fun occult territory, and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau also feels oddly relevant to some of the expeditions in our game. She’s fantastic. Highly recommend.

All-Time Fave GamesPlanescape: Torment, Grim Fandango, Witcher 3

Least Favourite MusicalCats

Our small but mighty team is doing some amazing work. More people will touch the game as we go, but at its heart it’s mainly the five of us building this strange little world together.

Thanks for being in the tent with us -- we can’t wait to share more soon!

Scott Christian and the Hilltop Studios team

Curse of Resthaven

Devlog #1: Introducing Curse of Resthaven

Feb 25

Hi, I’m Scott Christian, game director (AKA wearer of many hats) for Curse of Resthaven.  

My indie studio, Hilltop, shipped our first game, Lil’ Guardsman, about two years ago and since March of last year, our team has been hunkered down… wreathed in a mysterious fog for some reason… building something very different.

Announcing Curse of Resthaven and hitting “publish” on the Steam page was a surreal rush. I’m excited to launch our first dev diary, and begin our process of sharing what’s going on behind the scenes: how the concept came together, what we’re experimenting with, and what it’s really like building a gothic horror roguelite as a tiny studio here in Toronto, Canada. 

What is Curse of Resthaven?

At its heart, CoR is a genre-bending gothic mystery. It blends investigation and exploration with trading, light colony management, deck-building elements, and a seven-day time loop.

You play as Ambrose (that's him above), the newly appointed governor of a failing island colony on the edge of the Empire. You’re there to stabilize Resthaven, but also to uncover what happened to your niece, Amalia, who vanished a year before your arrival. To find her, you’ll need to dig into the town’s secrets, push further into the island’s wilds, and ultimately break the curse trapping you in a seven-day loop.

The world and characters came first. The mechanics followed.

Interrogation draws inspiration from classic adventure games like Gabriel Knight and modern greats like Disco Elysium, but we introduced a puzzle-piece grid and limited questioning to make conversations more strategic and game-y. You can’t ask everything, so you have to choose your questions wisely.

Trading evolved through a lot of prototyping before landing on a “haggling sim” model inspired by games like Potionomics and Recettear. It’s expressive, tense, and surprisingly personal.

Expeditions are where things venture off the garden path. The core loop of the whole game takes cues from games like Dredge, Cult of the Lamb, Loop Hero, and Darkest Dungeon, but instead of fishing or combat, our ‘venture out and do X’ is unique. You gather resources and companions, study the known variables of the map’s encounter cards, and choose your loadout carefully. We’re aiming for that sweet spot between strategy and luck.

And then there’s the time loop. Every seven days, the world resets, but you don’t. You carry forward knowledge, unlock skills, and choose a blessing from the goddess that grants both a buff and a debuff for the next run. Want to dominate trade? You can, but maybe the drawback is that interrogations are harder. It’s not a pure strategy game, but we are asking players to think strategically in a narrative-forward space.

There are a lot of systems rubbing up against each other, so it’s been hard to describe. But increasingly, it feels cohesive. Familiar in places, strange in others. And, hopefully, something that feels like its own thing.

Why we’re making this game

Someone teased me at an industry party: “You indie devs are lucky if you make good game and get really good at something… and then if you do, you immediately do a 180.”

Fair. After two years in the bright, comedic fantasy world of Lil’ Guardsman, I was hungry for something darker. Stranger.

I read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi, especially ones labelled ‘weird fiction’ and ‘speculative fiction’. Writers like China Miéville and Robert Jackson Bennett were big touchstones. So was Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation and his Southern Reach trilogy, with that creeping sense of the unknown pressing on and infiltrating at the edge of civilization.

Early on, we locked onto the idea of a frontier colony. That quickly became an island: isolated, self-contained, volatile. From there, influences started to converge: the communal unease of Twin Peaks, and the idea that beneath a polite surface is something deeply off. Even a show like Lost (the first two seasons are still solid!): a place where miraculous, terrible, and mundane things coexist.

Lil’ Guardsman was a trial by fire. We learned a ton about character, branching narrative, and emotional payoff. And we also learned (sometimes painfully) that story has to meet mechanics halfway. With Curse of Resthaven, we’re aiming for a more even balance. Trading needs to be satisfying on its own. Expeditions and upgrading town businesses need to feel ‘clicky’ without the narrative that binds it all together.

Indie games get to be niche. That’s one of our strengths. But with Resthaven, we’re trying to build something that bridges niches. Narrative players. Systems players. Strategy-curious players. And we’re building it in a way that can grow over time, even after we launch the base game.

Once you get past the disappearances, grisly murders, and unexplainable phenomena… Resthaven’s quite charming. So maybe we won’t do a 180 after this one.

Thank you to everyone who’s watched the trailer and wishlisted already. It genuinely means the world. We’ll be sharing much more in the weeks ahead.

Scott Christian, Hilltop Studios

Curse of Resthaven

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