We play a lot of survival games. Sadly, we don’t enjoy most of them. If we play solo, then it’s painfully slow. If we’re in a group, then we can never agree on who does what. The start is usually very slow, and we can’t help but roll our eyes at all the trees we have to punch in that initial hour.
Witchspire is a wonderful exception.
Envar Games made a game that has implemented some very cool mechanics from Valheim and creature collector games, with one small difference. Here, we wear a pointy hat and build houses with astral projection. And, unlike most survival games, this one was really fun with friends, especially when it came to stopping underground corruption from eating a hand-crafted world.
Spells, Spirits, and Dodging Meteors
Starting out, we pick a coven. We rolled with the Foretellers, but you can choose any of five other groups. Depending on the chosen coven, you get a unique outfit and starting abilities. It’s quite possible to play as a male witch (which is technically a warlock?), and aside from gender, you can change skin, eye, and hair color. Once we were happy with our choice, we were immediately unhappy with the location we found ourselves in. Clearly wounded, we woke up in a dark cave. A potion helps, but the next step is getting out of there, so to the light we go.
The Dream Between Worlds
The beautiful, dreamy place that we find ourselves in is a tutorial of sorts, teaching us how to move and fight. We only have a sword, which is also technically used as a wand. Aside from basic and secondary attacks, we can sprint and blink (a fancy technique similar to dashing). Similar to Skyrim, the more we perform certain actions—like dashing, healing, or jumping—the more experience we get in that specific skill.
The First Choice: A Companion
In our dream, we come across four adorable creatures. Each creature is a master of a certain element and has a set of unique defensive and offensive abilities. We chose Quol—an ethereal dragon who fires a barrage of damaging projectiles and conjures a protective wisp. We never regretted our choice. Our dragon was like a miniature friend that we could command to go somewhere and do something, like stand on a pressure plate. You can also order it to attack a certain foe. It’s a weak creature at first, but with time, its power grows just like ours, and we become capable of great things.
No hunger in Witchspire though. At the very beginning, you focus on collecting branches, rocks, and the like to build basic objects. Later down the line, when you become more powerful, you can simply gather resources to beef up your magic. So, if you need wood, you can literally summon a mini-forest. But for the time being, branches and rocks are our bread and butter. Movement is fast, and exploring the beautiful world is highly rewarding.
Base building is equally impressive, in a way that’s rarely seen in other games. Since you’re a witch, you use astral projection to float up and slap walls down. No scaffolding or awkward positioning because a ceiling tile won’t snap right. What the devs did here works great and looks even better, especially slipping in and out of your physical form.
From the workbench that we crafted, we can make all kinds of tools and aids. Some of them will heal us, others will boost our defensive or offensive capabilities. Some resources can also be further refined so that we can build bigger and better things.
Then we go pick fights with ancient creatures. We beat them, collect their spirits, and use them as familiars. They aren’t just cosmetic pets; we guide how they grow to fit our playstyle. If you try the game in co-op, then everyone can take a different role thanks to a branching tech tree and character leveling. Working together is strongly encouraged. The world you’re in seems cheery at the beginning, but as you explore, you see that there’s corruption spreading underground. And then, there are meteors that fall from the sky. Solo or co-op, you are always on the move. It is always very fun. Nothing is broken or slowed down by unnecessary fluff.
Every time you level up, you unlock these luminaries or recipes. Some allow you to unlock the possibility to build structures like hearths, furnaces, or spinners. Others allow you to craft impressive tools or weapons like spell blades, wands, or pickaxes. Aside from that, certain luminaries can unlock abilities, like extra jumps, or improve your stats, like better luck.
Every single aspect of Witchspire screams high-quality. From the graphics and animations to the epic, orchestral music and sound effects, you get the feeling that you are in a larger-than-life world that hides so many wonderful things, all with just a hint of a Genshin vibe.
A Solid Foundation
While Witchspire isn’t a finished game yet, the quality is immense and the appeal is great! We had a really good time with what’s already here. Combat and building work well, pushing us to experiment and try things in a new way. We can’t wait to see what other creatures, stories, and spells will be introduced by the devs in the coming year. It’s really not necessary to wait that long, though; there’s already a lot of cool content to go through if you decide to check it out today. In time, as the devs hit those roadmap goals, Witchspire could turn into something truly special. And we can’t wait to see that happen!
ID Card
- Developer: Envar Games
- Publisher: Envar Games, Envar Publishing
- Platforms: PC (Early Access)
- Release Date: 10 June 2026
- Genre: Co-op Open-World Survival Crafting / Creature Collector
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