Wanderstop News

The tea is ready; the shop is open: the question remains: is Alta ready to heal? Fortunately, you can now dive into Wanderstop to see!

[h2]🍵 Wanderstop is out now on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox! 🍵[/h2]

Thank you to everyone who has supported the team throughout development and leading into launch. If you watched our trailers, wishlisted the game, played the demo, created fanart, or simply just looked forward to experiencing Alta’s journey, we appreciate you!

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[h2]🎮 Ritual & Repetition: Designing Wanderstop 🎮[/h2]

We thought it would be fun to have members of the team shed some light on our goals and motivations with Wanderstop. First up? We have the wonderful Steve – Lead Designer at Ivy Road – here to talk about the design of the game.

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Here's an excerpt from the conversation~

Wanderstop is a slightly different experience than most cozy games. This isn't about deep systemic depth or the same kind of repetitive challenge put together by more traditional farming sims. Wanderstop is focused on its narrative experience and building out mechanics that support that through ritual, repetition, and aggregated meaning.

[h2]💛 Share your experience 💛[/h2]

One of the things we’re looking forward to the most is seeing what YOU make of Wanderstop as you play!

A common adage in game development – and most art forms – is that the final part of creating something is when the audience can take it, engage with it, and make it their own: we’ve infused our own stories and experiences into Wanderstop, and it’s time for you all to truly complete Alta’s journey by going through it yourselves.

We’ll be watching streams, enjoying videos, and reading comments, so please: let us know what you think, if you’ve connected with the game and its themes! The best way to help? Leave a Steam review sharing your thoughts!

You can also find us on Bluesky and YouTube.

Also! If you happen to have any bugs to report, please let us know here! We'll be keeping an eye on that form, and it'll be the best place to let us know if anything seems to be going awry.

[h2]🎧 Relaxing beats to sip tea to 🎧[/h2]

And, if you can’t get enough of Wanderstop, allow the sounds to carry you through the day ~ whether sipping tea (or hard at work), the OST by C418 is a marvel with over 80 tracks to enjoy!

[h3]Thanks again, and talk soon! Hope you all enjoy the game (and, hopefully, a bit of tea) ~[/h3]


🍵 The Ivy Road Team

Alta used to be a champion fighter. Now, she can’t even lift her sword. After she collapses in the forest, a kindly teashop owner called Boro invites her to join him. Maybe a spell of cozy gardening, cleaning, and making tea for customers will help her feel better? But it’s only an offer. You can go back into the forest at any time.

Obviously, I tried to leave. Firstly because I know how to accurately roleplay a stressed, overly devoted burnout who puts all their value in their vocation. And secondly because, come on. This game was written by Davey Wreden, the creator of The Stanley Parable. There’s got to be some kind of secret to ignoring the clear invitation of the game, right?

Read more

After co-designing both The Stanley Parable (2013) and The Beginner’s Guide (2015) in the span of two years, Davey Wreden found himself stuck in an emotional rut. Eventually, as he explained in an interview with PC Gamer, he set his sights on creating something “simple and peaceful”: a cozy game. This being said, when Karla Zimonja, co-creator of Gone Home and Tacoma, and Daniel Rosenfeld, a.k.a. C418, probably best known for being the original composer for Minecraft, joined forces with Wreden, the latter decided to shape the narrative of said cozy game around depression and burnout.

In 2021, during the Annapurna Showcase, the recently troubled Annapurna Interactive announced that they will be publishing Wreden, Zimonja and Rosenfeld’s game, who, in the years since, have rallied together to form a new studio by the name of Ivy Road. Besides the fact that it would involve tea somehow, the team, who, at the time of writing, has grown to include 17 full-time members, remained cagey... Read more

Good tea takes time to brew, and you’ve all been very patient…. which is why we’re extra excited to share that the demo for Wanderstop is now available for you to play!




[h2]🍵 Play the Steam NextFest Demo now! 🍵 [/h2]

We officially announced our demo’s availability during the Annapurna Interactive Showcase (more on that below)! As you hop in to enjoy the start of Wanderstop, we hope that you keep a couple things in mind:

🐛 See a bug? Let us know! We’ll be keeping an eye on Steam forums and social channels, but the best way for us to keep track is if you fill out this bug report form.


💾Demo saves will NOT carry over into the final game.We anticipate the demo taking you about 30-45 minutes to complete, and it’s intended to be a small taste of the wider tale you’ll experience in the game.

📌 Please tag us if you create content! We’re @ivyroadgames across Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, and would love to see what you think.

💌 Enjoy the experience! We’ve put a lot of love and energy into this game, and we hope you enjoy diving in, reflecting on the story, listening to the music, and feasting your eyes on this magical clearing in the woods. Thank you for giving it a try!

[h2]🎬 A New Trailer + the Annapurna Interactive Showcase[/h2]

Not only did the showcase give two of our team members – Davey and Patrick – the opportunity to share a bit more about the game, but it featured a brand new trailer from Ivy Road.

This trailer offered a fresh perspective on life at the tea shop, from a (perhaps) unlikely source. We sincerely hope you enjoy it!

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If you’d like a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the team’s process for this trailer, be sure to keep an eye out for our Xbox Wire post (coming soon!) And that’s right: We also announced that in addition to Steam and PlayStation 5, Wanderstop is coming to Xbox Series X | S! The game will be available on all three platforms on March 11, 2025.

In addition to the Wanderstop news, the showcase included a bevvy of incredible titles coming from Annapurna and their latest updates. Make sure you check out the full broadcast here:

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[h2]Thanks for all of your support 💛[/h2]

Be sure to follow us here on Steam (or find us on Bluesky!) to stay in the loop. March 11th is right around the corner, and we hope you’re ready to find out if you’re able to slow down, reflect, and savor some tea.

Talk soon,

The Ivy Road team