Mirthwood News

Hey Everyone, Daron here from Bad Ridge Games.

Curious about your adventures in Mirthwood? Whether it’s meeting new people, building up your character, or unraveling rich storylines; there is much to do and experience beyond your farm. In this post, we’ll explore what questing looks like in Mirthwood.



[h2]Exploration[/h2]

To start, it’s important to understand a bit about the game world. Mirthwood thrives on exploration. Our central thesis has been to merge the cozy comforts (and challenges) of home-building with the freedom and adventure of open world discovery. Hand-crafting a diverse, dangerous, and rewarding map has been a major point of focus for us.

Comprised of six main regions and many sub-biomes, the world of Mirthwood stretches from deep woods to desolate wasteland, from dark barrows to frigid mountain foothills. Unique locations dot the landscape, offering opportunities to uncover stories, find rare loot, and fight for survival.




[h2]Questing[/h2]

[h3]Main Storyline[/h3]
Mirthwood will feature a central storyline for you to unravel at your own pace. Having fled a war-torn homeland, you arrive on the shores of the Free Lands, ready to rebuild your life from the ground up. You will begin to uncover the secrets of this new land - and critically - understand the reality of its past…and your future.

[h3]Side Quests[/h3]
You will also find many side quests to collect (or ignore). These range from emotional matters of heart, to quirky adventures, to the mundane medieval favor. Some quests are shaped by the tangible needs and desires of the game’s characters. Contracts play a big part here, allowing you to hunt down some of Mirthwood’s fabled foes.





[h2]A Dynamic World[/h2]
No world stays the same forever. Key to Mirthwood’s design is the principle of change. Here, seasons will pass, the economy will shift, and NPCs you know, your friends, will die. While Mirthwood has its share of crafted stories, we also want you (and the world) to generate your own, with the hope that no two playthroughs are alike.





Here are some of the things we’re working on, and what you should expect as you quest and explore in Mirthwood:

• The Toils of Medieval Life
  NPCs are at the mercy of the world, just as you are. Disease, poverty, and other dangers are at the doorstep.
  
• Choice & Consequence
  Some scenarios will present you with choices of permanent significance. This can involve the life and death of characters, effects on the landscape, and more.
  
• Dynamic Events
  Events like dust storms, blizzards, or attacks on towns can be generated by the game’s storyteller. These present hardships to navigate as you play.
  
• Clues
  Occasionally, you will stumble across clues leading you to environmental stories, maps, or other encounters generated as a response to actions in the world.
  
• Morality and Renown
  The choices you make will affect how others perceive you. Your Morality and Renown will be weighed and measured. Who will you choose to be?
  

We want everything you do to be worth your time. For us, that means generating meaningful stories and encounters, finding fun and epic loot, and customizing and leveling your character as you see fit. And let’s not forget about the homestead altogether. We want to give you a chance to impact the world and the characters you meet, not as a savior - but on your terms.

We hope this gives you a little more insight into what questing in Mirthwood will look like. Let us know your thoughts and feedback fellow adventurers!

Today we're taking a look at how items, leveling, and progression are handled in Mirthwood. We're tossing items into the discussion because they exist in a shared context with these other systems; they can often play off of one another, sometimes to great effect.

Let's start with leveling. In Mirthwood, you'll level up individual skills simply by performing them. The more time you spend working the fields, the more adept a farmer your character will become. Perhaps you will specialize in crops, orchards, or animal husbandry. You might even craft a wine so delicious that your brand becomes famous across the world.

But, what if you'd rather role-play a ranger or Robin Hood type? Maybe a charismatic charmer? Your time spent performing actions in those categories will play a part in how skilled your character is there. We want you to feel that your character is a reflection of your actions, and so those actions contribute to relevant skills rather than a generic XP pool.

There are currently six skill areas you can progress in; Melee, Archery, Farming, Trades, Social, and Survival. So then, what does progression in these categories look like?



Once you've leveled up a skill a few times, you'll be rewarded with skill cards. These cards serve as perks or boosts for your character. The further you progress in a particular skill, the more fun and powerful cards you'll receive.

Cards will need to be added to your hand to take effect, but thoughtfully so, as your hand has a limited number of slots. This is where you'll need to think about the composition of your hand as it relates to your character or playstyle. Do you want to stack your hand with Charisma cards, or remain balanced and mix skills?

You'll never be completely locked into a particular hand, we want you to experiment and have fun. Opportunities to swap cards and expand your hand will be present during the game. But if you want to completely recompose your hand, it'll take some time and effort.



Lastly, let's touch on items and how they impact the world of Mirthwood.

Continuing in theme, items are presented in card format in your inventory and when trading or crafting. Mirthwood will employ a rarity system, with card colors informing you what rare or legendary gear you might have on hand. Stats will be displayed on item cards, and in some cases, an item might have a Trait attached to it.



Traits are a way for items to have impact beyond base stats. A Jester's Hat might have a Silly trait, persuading townsfolk that you might actually be funny (even though, let's face it, you're not). Wearing the complete Jester's outfit will render the Silly trait even more potent. Further still, try pairing the Jester's outfit with the Comedian skill card sitting in your hand. Even the grumpiest of grumps will find your jokes funny.

Many different traits can be found on items throughout the world. Some impact social behavior, while others might offer unique combat abilities. It's up to you to see what else you might find out there.

By combining the systems we've covered here, our hope is that players will have the tools to experiment and build fun characters, or dive into role-playing by stacking their hand. Either way, we'll put the power in your hands.

Perhaps it's no surprise that a game citing Fable as inspiration is trying to do it all; Mirthwood calls itself an "RPG life sim" but it also has some seemingly deep character traits, farming, crafting, and more. Bad Ridge Games has just reintroduced Mirthwood with a new reveal trailer that showcases farming, fighting, and a rather ethereal vocal soundtrack, along with plans to launch sometime in 2024...
Read more.

Mirthwood is a new medieval fantasy RPG and life-sim adventure in the works, and it sounds right up our alley.

So much so, we are a bit disappointed we'll have to wait until next year to get our hands on it.

But good things come to those who wait, and wait we shall for the Bad Ridge Games title.

Read more

We're glad you stopped by, we can't wait to share more about this world with you.

This post will serve as a brief introduction to who we are, and more importantly, what Mirthwood is all about. We'll also touch on what you can expect in the coming weeks and months. We're eager to have you embark on this journey with us, so - let's jump in!


At its heart, Mirthwood is an immersive medieval fantasy world that allows you to choose who you want to be. It’s a game where your choices matter, where the world around you is alive and may come for you - and your neighbors.

The idea for Mirthwood was born from a shared love of fantasy, adventure, and the simple joy of cultivating your own little corner of the world. We wanted to create a game that blended the tranquil satisfaction of farming with the thrill of combat, role-playing, and the exploration of a large, diverse open world.

Traveling an ancient forest path


In Mirthwood, you’ll manage your own homestead, with the freedom to cultivate a wide variety of crops, orchards, and livestock. You'll also have more freedom of expression than most games, as we won't confine your creativity into grids.

You will encounter a diverse range of foes as you branch out, take on quests, and explore the open world. Surviving enemies and the elements will require strategy and skill. Your character will be a reflection of your choices, beginning with the custom character creator, and continuing with the specializations and skills you will unlock over time. These are influenced by your actions in the game.

Mirthwood is set in a richly detailed, dynamic world, ripe for exploration. From serene farmlands to dark, mysterious forests, each environment is unique and filled with secrets to discover.

A calm night at the Hazy Hag Tavern, the bard plays a lively tune

The characters in Mirthwood are as diverse as the world itself. You'll meet friendly townsfolk, eccentric hermits, and perhaps a few unsavory personalities. Each one plays a part in the larger story of Mirthwood.


This has been a very brief glance at Mirthwood. We'll be diving deeper into the mechanics, characters, and world of Mirthwood in future blog posts. Expect in-depth looks at our farming system, DNA system, combat and RPG mechanics, character profiles, and updates on our development progress.

Spending the day at home


We're a two-man team located up in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Our backgrounds are primarily in the game and film industries, with gaming being a shared passion of ours.

We've got a few other contributors from around the US helping us with a number of tasks, including crafting a high-quality original soundtrack. Our friends at V Publishing are helping us bring Mirthwood to a screen near you.