Between Realities: Devlog #9

Steam post image In the stories told close to the fire, Portals have never been “convenient doors.” They are oaths of stone, carved with runes and guarded by silences as long as winters. People say the forest swallowed them, then spat them back out when someone speaks the right word.

Dungeons, instead, are places that remember. Stepping inside is like putting your foot into an ancient tale… and finding out that the fairy tale, sometimes, bites.

In the past few months, we’ve talked a lot about the forest that gives life to Among The Trolls. but it won’t be the only place you’ll get to explore.

Scattered across the archipelago are ancient structures resembling portals - gates leading to dungeons you’ll need the courage to face if you want to uncover what truly brought you here. Places with weight, ritual, and personality.

Gates engraved in the Kynnykset

Among birches and lichens, you may catch sight of solitary arches made of ancient stone, marked by a symbol Anna has the unsettling feeling she’s seen somewhere before. Where, is a question only you will be able to answer. These structures - almost out of place - are the portals.

They are not carved into the rock, nor rooted in the earth. They stand in a place called kynnykset, the Threshold. It was the tietäjät - the shamanic keepers of these islands - who forged them with arts few still remember. Steam post image

Some of these portals lead very far away, others to places that demand careful preparation. You’ll be called to uncover why they exist - and, above all, what they protect. Just keep in mind that the Threshold does not forgive those who cross it carelessly.

Once you’ve located them, opening these gates will require Portal Pages. Think of them as pages bound to a destination… and to its “word.” By using them, you’ll open true passages into Dungeons.

Dungeons, places with their own story

We’ve designed dungeons as places with a distinct identity, each telling a specific story. Without major spoilers, one thing is certain: they are not all the same. Some will be shrouded in mystery; in others, you’ll feel constant tension and be forced to find a way to survive; and some will feel like places someone truly used.

Once you’ve completed their exploration, you’ll be faced with two options: return to the same place where you entered, or emerge somewhere else.

When the exit leads elsewhere, one of our favorite ideas comes into play: an alternate way out - a stone opening, a “different” fissure, a passage that feels like it has been waiting for you forever. But even here, exits aren’t always immediately usable. You’ll need something else before you can change your route.

Each time you find a new page, you’ll know that you’ll be able to open a passage - one that may hide knowledge, treasures, or take you where no other path could ever reach.