Cloudheim News

We just hit a major milestone: 100,000 wishlists! 🥳💯

Seeing this level of support for our first game as a new studio means so much to us, and we can't wait to show more! From everyone on the Noodle Cat team, thank you for supporting Cloudheim. 💙

Hey everyone!

We just shared our latest trailer, showing the heart of your base: the crafting and shop system that takes place on Odin Shell.

In case you missed it:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


What’s unique about the crafting in Cloudheim is that there are no menus! All the loot you’ve collected while out on your adventures is stored in a magical chest. From there, you interact directly with stations: toss ores into the forge, drop meat on the grill, or line your shelves with finished goods to sell. All of this happens in-world.



Loot is shared party-wide, and this applies to anything you craft as well. Newly forged weapons are unlocked for everyone, so no need to worry about fighting over that rare dagger or crafting it three times over. As you discover more items, you’ll get stronger, learn new skills, and improve your combat capabilities — just in time for your next expedition!




Crafting isn’t just for equipment: you’re also running a store and meeting the needs of visitors from distant lands. Customers will come and go with various requests, and fulfilling them earns you more gold and reputation.

Expand out your base with new areas such as the garden, which can grow herbs, and then use those plants in the alchemy nook to craft potions to sell. Or maybe build out the kitchen, cooking up tasty dishes like tomato soup and grilled skewers to serve to your hungry patrons.


Keep your store well-stocked and word will spread. Soon enough, you’ll have a bustling little corner of the sky to call your own.



For this Q&A, here are the folks whose work helped shape this portion of the game:


[h3]It’s interesting that this game has a shopkeeping component. Was this always the vision?[/h3]

David: We always knew we wanted to make a game that had both combat and shopkeeping, but it wasn’t clear how much of a mix it would be.

Kim: As a design goal, we wanted to focus on content that was fun to play with a group of friends. As we continued developing the game, the shopkeeping aspect evolved to complement and enable more fun combat.

[h3]How does the crafting portion of the game fit with the action and exploration side?[/h3]

Kim: Exploring and defeating enemies is the “gathering” phase of the game, while crafting is the “production” side that allows for personal and team-wide improvements, both materially in the items you can equip, but also passively via stat increases from certain upgrades and expansions. So, crafting improves your future expeditions by making you more efficient at defeating enemies and faster at exploring.

Crafting also supports player agency in our game. As you craft and unlock more gear, you can choose to bring exactly what you want into battle and explore different playstyles and loadouts. You can also choose to be an efficient shopkeeper with a system in place, oooor you can just throw things on shelves and call it a day!


[h3]How do you approach designing a crafting system with no menus?[/h3]

Kim: It can be a challenge for sure! As designers, we’re constantly thinking about things like, “Does this match with what players expect with the systems of this world?”, “Are the crafting stations intuitive enough to use without too much instruction?”, and “Are players able to get what they need in a balanced way?”

David: Sometimes you’ll come up with something that seems fun on paper, but ends up being more of a chore when implemented.

Kim: When done successfully, it’s great to see players enjoy something when “It Just Works(™).” No need to look up a guide or wiki. The way our crafting works matches our combat — both are very hands-on and keep you involved with the game world.

[h3]How do these features add to the cooperative feel of the game?[/h3]

David: So, we didn’t intentionally go about making a no-menu crafting system. It came out of trying to figure out a way to allow friends to craft together. Menus tend to conflict with that.

Kim: There’s an old story called “Stone Soup” where everyone is throwing together ingredients. Our crafting system is like that, where a group of people can work together to make cool stuff. With multiple crafters, you can coordinate who takes on what, and make lots of different items as a result.

Also, your store isn’t the only thing on Odin Shell. I encourage exploring every nook and cranny in our game! As a designer, I love being able to hide little treasures, puzzles, and other activities throughout the map. I want to give players the ability to play together and have fun in interesting ways.


Whether you're out adventuring or crafting back at your base, Cloudheim is what you make of it, especially together with friends!



It’s not too late to sign up for our Closed Beta Playtests! The first wave of invites will be going out SOON™…





With our next blog, we'll be covering the vast biomes and maps that you can explore in Cloudheim. From frosty castles to sandswept tombs, we can't wait to show more of this world.


See you then!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Looking forward to building out your base? Let us know in the comments!

Hi everyone!

The team has been hard at work on the game, and we’re now officially taking signups for Cloudheim’s Closed Beta period.

Cloudheim is a co-op game set in a colorful fantasy world, combining physics-based combat with crafting and base management. If you're looking for some fast-paced action with a dash of downtime, this is your chance to be a tester and have your feedback shape the game!

We’d love to get more eyes on Cloudheim and hear your thoughts. Sign up now to be a part of our upcoming playtests!

• Signing up will add you to the waitlist until we start rolling out invites.
  
• Details will vary depending on tests, and more specific information will be sent to invited testers.
  
• Make sure to check your inbox, including Spam/Promotion folders!
  

Why am I being required to sign into Discord?
A lot of playtest communications will be happening in our server, so we've made it an initial requirement to participate.

Do I have to connect my Steam and/or Epic Games account?
We're running different playtests on different platforms, so if you want to increase your chances of being invited, we recommend both.

When are the playtests happening?
Details will vary depending on the test. Invited playtesters will receive confirmation emails with more info.

What happens if I don't get in? Do I need to sign up for each playtest multiple times?
Some of our tests will be looking for only a small pool of players, and the requirements will be different with each one. If you don't get into one, that's okay! You only need to sign up once to stay in the pool for future invites.



We can’t wait to share the game and hear your thoughts. For the latest playtest news, such as dates and invite waves, make sure to join our Discord server. 👇

Hellooo cool cats,

Welcome to the next edition of What’s Noodling, our dev blog for Cloudheim! In case you missed it, we recently premiered our new combat trailer at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase. You can check out the video here:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


Cloudheim offers four playable classes, each bringing unique strengths to the battlefield.

• The Spellblade weaves physical attacks together with magical abilities. Cast down a crash of lightning or lay down a healing aura to turn the tide of battle!
  
• The Outlander favors big, heavy-hitting attacks, striking down foes to expose their weaknesses and wearing down enemy armor.
  
• The Treasure Hunter jumps in and out of battle with their swift movements, always on the lookout for vulnerabilities to maximize their next attack.
  
• The Sentinel brings both defense and utility to the field, with skills that can summon tools, buff allies, and knock around enemies to change up the playing field.
  

All four classes in Cloudheim allow you to experience the robust combat system in different ways. We wanted to hit a wide spread of interests and playstyles, resulting in the classes you see here.

Of course, you’re not locked into any one choice — any unlocked weapon and skill is yours to freely equip and mix around. Try switching things up: how about launching a grobb with your hammer and then blasting them with a beam?




We managed to wrangle some of our team's game designers and gained some insight into what goes into designing an action game like Cloudheim. Take a look!



[h3]Why an action game?[/h3]

David: I love survival-craft games and play all of them. But, most of them are set in dark worlds with a slower, more strategic approach to combat. This felt like a great opportunity to make a game in a genre I love while doing something different, and really focus on the moment-to-moment experience and how it feels to use skills in combat.

Kevin: Something we wanted to avoid was “window overload” where more of your time is spent in UI menus than really experiencing the world and its gameplay. It’s like having you and your friends show up to a party but everyone whips out their phones. The hope with Cloudheim is that we can capture the fun of exploring, looting, and crafting in a more immersive way.

[h3]What would you say makes Cloudheim’s combat unique?[/h3]

Kevin: One thing we agreed very early on was to make combat the differentiating factor compared to other games in this space. With our team, we really wanted to bring more elements that are usually seen in fighting games into the project. For example, the sense of timing and flow you get from a combo in real-time — and being able to remix it as you go depending on the flow of battle. Or how addicting it is to try juggling an enemy in air as long as possible. We've spent a lot of time trying to give the player a strong sense of control over combat, and aimed to make it easy for anyone to go cook up a combo. We want each new fight to feel like you're about to create another chaotic masterpiece.

Ivan: With Cloudheim, the chaotic and physical nature of each engagement means you’re always adjusting your moves on the fly. Even if you come in with an idea of what combo you want to execute, odds are you’ll be changing it up depending on how the battle goes. Blink, and you might miss a good opportunity to juggle an airborne Grobb.

David: There’s a system in the game called Mana Burn, where you can keep casting skills even on cooldown, but at a cost. Do it too often, and you enter a state that has your movement greatly reduced, and any next attack can K.O. you. Stronger spells naturally fill up the bar faster, so there’s an added layer of decision-making that comes with this kind of risk-and-reward mechanic.



[h3]Are there any challenges in making this kind of game that people might not realize?[/h3]

David: Starting out, we weren’t even sure if it was possible to make this game. Having fluid, combo-driven combat in a peer-to-peer multiplayer environment was certainly a big undertaking.

Ivan: The playable characters in this game are very powerful. Monsters can easily be tossed and juggled around. When trying to design enemies that can still feel threatening despite this, some choices might be at odds with our combat values. It’s a worthwhile challenge to find that balance!

[h3]Any gameplay tips for players?[/h3]

David: There’s a lot of room to leverage the animation cancelling in our game. Try mixing different attacks together, such as throwing a thunder spear in the middle of a weapon combo — if you press fast enough, you’ll still be able to complete the attack chain.



There you have it! We hope players have as much fun with our combat system as our team has had in developing it.


Can you guess which of the four classes is the most popular so far? We polled across our communities and the winner is…

🥁Drumroll, please… 🥁

…the Spellblade!

Here is a breakdown of the results:



Running around the world and conquering dungeons is fun, but eventually you gotta bring all that loot to your base. We’ve covered the action part of our action-craft game… you already know what’s coming up!

Our next trailer will dive into the mechanics of blacksmithing, shopkeeping, alchemy, and more.

As a teaser, here’s an NPC mid-contemplation. Which potion do you think they’ll buy?


Stay tuned!