Creators of ‘Township Tale’ Unveil Their Latest Dungeon-Crawler, ‘REAVE’

Alta, the creative team renowned for A Township Tale (2021), recently pulled back the curtain on their forthcoming dungeon-crawler extraction game, REAVE, during a sneak peek of their latest development progress. While the game is still very much under construction, they managed to give fans a glimpse into its intriguing systems, a fresh dungeon, and some adversaries players will encounter.

The newest developer log showcases several recently updated game systems and sections, introducing players to the largest room they’ve built yet, known as ‘The Fallen Bastion.’ According to lead environment artist Sean Ellis, this area presents a unique mixture of expansive open spaces and constricted passages, featuring a play of light and dark zones perfect for ambushing other players or concealing oneself from lurking foes.

In the heart of this grand space sits a magical pedestal. This enchanting spot serves as a summoning ground for boss battles, with a giant spider currently standing in as a placeholder for testing these confrontations. The studio assures players, “Don’t worry, that spider won’t be a permanent fixture. It’s just helping us simulate real boss fights as we fine-tune and create more tailored experiences.”

Alta is clearly not standing still—the team mentions that many areas they’ve previously unveiled are undergoing significant changes and improvements. In some cases, entire sections might even be replaced as the game continues to evolve.

Additionally, the developers are phasing out the old placeholder skeleton enemies with an exciting new model that offers varying levels of difficulty based on their weaponry and armor.

A core aspect of REAVE’s gameplay involves an in-world currency named ‘Echoes’ (a placeholder name for now). Players accumulate Echoes in a vessel that gradually fills, rewarding them for slaying enemies or scavenging the environment. These Echoes become vital resources to access loot rooms or to extract from dungeons, letting players return to the social space to cash in their treasures.

Eager to get an early taste of the action? You might get lucky by joining the game’s Discord community, which occasionally opens up limited tester slots. While there’s no official release date yet, Alta confirms they’re aiming for compatibility with Quest 2 and newer, as well as PC VR headsets.