Ritual of Raven: Everything We Know

You can never have enough of cozy farming as Stardew Valley continues to add spice to farm life. Many games have followed in the footsteps of the popular simulator. Some have managed to stand out, others not so much. It’s the age-old question Ritual of Raven is faced with as the developing team strives to carve its own path in the genre. Here’s everything we know about Ritual of Raven so far.

What is Ritual of Raven?

Ritual of Raven is an upcoming cozy farming simulation game with a twist. Instead of planting crops yourself, you’ll enlist the help of elemental magic to thrive. You’ll cast spells to grow a magical garden. Meanwhile, you’ll run into quirky characters who ask for help with all sorts of needs. But the prime of them all will be to use your magic to control the portals that are letting chaos into the village.

Story

Ritual of Raven will be a story-based game where players will follow a protagonist who has the power to cast spells. But it won’t just be you who has the elemental magic. Other characters in the game also have magical abilities, which they use to create portals between worlds. But something went wrong in the ritual, resulting in the portals becoming unstable. Everyone lost something precious to the portals while new characters began arriving through the gates. 

Your character stumbled through one of the portals and met up with a local mage called Sage. She asks for your help to find her missing Familiar, Flufferstoop, and in return, she teaches you magic. So, you set out on the quest in the company of your cheeky Familiar Raven. Onward, you’ll learn new skills that help you hone your elemental power. The more you play, the more you update the Book of Shadows. Once you’re stronger, you’ll find the Portal Keepers to stabilize the portals and save the village.

Gameplay

Ritual of Raven plans to incorporate farming simulation and storytelling. It’ll take you on a charming tale that tasks you with a quest to save a village from doom. Check out the key features you can expect in the final game below.

• Arcana Constructs – Apparently, if you farm crops yourself, they will lose their magical power. So, to ensure a bountiful harvest, you’ll “enchant Arcana Constructs,” which are magical cards, each with a different function. Some Arcana Constructs will help you plough the land, others will help you sow seeds, others will water the crops, and others will harvest. Ritual of Raven will feature 22 Arcana Constructs to help you nurture a thriving farm.
• Characters – Ritual of Raven’s Steam calls the characters you’ll meet “weirdos.” So, you’ll likely be meeting quirky characters who are open to becoming friends with you. They will ask for your help with different tasks. But you can also trade with them to gain more useful ingredients for your spells. Meanwhile, you’ll learn their backstories and help them foster closer relationships with one another. 
• Magic – With different seasons, you’ll want to keep track of how they affect your harvest. Some moon phases grant more power to your crystals and harvest, by extension.
• Decorations – You’ll have the freedom to decorate your farm and village as a whole. You can do so by visiting Pistachio to buy unique furniture to make your home stand out.
• Collectibles – As you channel the power of Arcana Constructs, you’ll learn new recipes and collect crystals. These will populate the Book of Shadows, which will keep growing as you hop from one portal to another.

Development

Developer Spellgarden Games and publisher Team17 will be working together to bring Ritual of Raven to market. You probably know Spellgarden Games from their work in the cozy small business simulator Sticky Business. The studio is based in Stuttgart, Germany, and prides itself on developing cozy and quirky games laced with relaxing gameplay and diverse characters.

Team17, on the other hand, is no stranger to the gaming industry. They are an award-winning developer and publisher that has brought several games to market, including Dredge, Worms, Moving Out, Overcooked, Hell Let Loose, and many more.

Trailer

Check out Ritual of Raven’s announcement trailer on YouTube. The less-than-a-minute video showcases the art style and gameplay you can expect in the final game. We follow a “Traveller” as they explore a vibrant and charming world. The cards system seems easy enough, with Arcana Constructs for harvest, field, seed, water, and more. Depending on the cards you select, the respective action takes place on the farm, breeding vibrant crops. 

You also have an inventory of different types of plants. Meanwhile, the Book of Shadows keeps track of your progress, recording the ingredients and recipes you discover. It’s also the place that shows you the pending quests you need to get to, like summoning a companion raven. You’ll be chatting with your raven as you play, with some of the conversations potentially packing lots of quirky dialogue. Besides, you’ll meet many more characters and venture into decorating your farm with lights, colorful furniture, and more. Overall, it seems Ritual of Raven will pack lots of content that we can’t wait to jump into.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

Ritual of Raven will launch sometime in 2025. Unfortunately, that’s all we know about the launch window, with Steam indicating that the release date is “to be announced.” However, we can confirm that the upcoming game will launch on Nintendo Switch and PC platforms via Steam. 

If you have a Steam account, you can add Ritual of Raven to your wishlist as soon as it drops to get a notification and support the development of the game. Whether the new game will launch on consoles later or if there will be any editions for preorder remains to be seen. You can still keep track of any new updates on the official social handle here.

So, what’s your take? Will you be grabbing a copy of Ritual of Raven when it drops? Let us know over on our socials here.