Devlog #7: Time Loop 2 - Electric Boogaloo

Hi everyone, Scott here.

Matt recently wrote an excellent post about time loop games in general, and where Curse of Resthaven fits alongside them. If you haven't read it yet, start there.

I wanted to get into the weeds a little more and talk about how our loop actually works.

One of the funny things about marketing a time loop game is that every trailer is technically a spoiler. For roughly the first hour of Curse of Resthaven, Governor Ambrose has no idea what's coming. You, the player, absolutely do.

I'll avoid spoiling how the loop nests into the narrative. That's something I'm really excited for players to experience themselves, but I can pull back the curtain on some of the systems that make it tick.

Building a Colony... Again

You arrive in Resthaven as its newly appointed governor, only to discover a colony that's... seen better days.

Every business has fallen to its lowest tier, producing only basic goods. Several vendors reject questioning until you improve their livelihoods, and a few key businesses aren't even open without your intervention.

A lot of your first run is spent simply getting the colony functioning.

That's intentional. It gives you a chance to understand the town, meet its inhabitants, and slowly build an economy before everything goes terribly, terribly wrong.

The obvious question then becomes: Why would I bother upgrading the town if I'm just going to lose everything?

That question occupied an alarming amount of our early game design conversations. We gamed out six scenarios for how the loop, progression, and what stays and goes could function.

Eventually we landed on a balanced solution, and part of that is building upgrades persist across loops.

Every investment permanently improves Resthaven. Vendors produce better goods, generate more wealth, and become more useful every time you return.

Narratively, the townspeople remember none of this, but their circumstances have changed so their dialogue changes too.

A merchant who initially berates you for letting their shop decay may, in later loops, greet you with suspicion, gratitude, or entirely different concerns because their business is now thriving. It's one of my favourite examples of gameplay progression quietly changing the story without anyone acknowledging that a time loop exists.

Steam post image The initial upgrades for the Manufactory, which produces ‘War’ resources

Interrogation Instead of Inventory

We don't have traditional adventure game inventory puzzles (there will be no ‘rubber chicken with a pulley’ or ‘cat hair moustache’ scenarios on Resthaven). Instead, you're collecting Topics. Every conversation teaches you something new: a name, a rumour, a location, a relationship, a motive.

Those topics become questions you can ask elsewhere. But just as importantly, you're learning when things happen. Who leaves town? Who meets secretly after dark? Which conversations only occur on certain days?

The first loop is often about discovery. Future loops become about execution. Knowing exactly where to be, and arriving before events unfold.

One of my favourite quality-of-life ideas that we borrow comes straight from The Forgotten City.

The very first NPC you meet is your valet, Garet. There are a number of quests that, once completed, you can simply delegate. These became known as Garends (Garet errands).

Steam post image Curse of Resthaven interrogation UI

A Skill Tree... Really?

A few weeks ago someone posted:"Why does every f@#$%^& indie game need a skill tree?"

Fair question. And yet… our game has one too. And I promise it needs to be there. Our ‘tree’ has two branches:

• Tradecraft focuses primarily on governing: commerce and trading.

• Fieldcraft primarily improves expeditions and exploration beyond the colony walls.

Skill points are earned throughout a run and spent between loops, giving each attempt a sense of permanent growth without undermining the mystery.

Steam post image Skill Tree (Work-In-Progress): Tradecraft and Fieldcraft

Boons: Choosing Your Next Run

Probably the most overtly roguelite system in the game is what happens at the end of each loop.

Before beginning again, you're presented with Boon Cards. You must choose one. Each offers a powerful advantage paired with a meaningful drawback.

We also include a "Cipher" card: a no-effect option if you'd rather skip the chaos and play a more straightforward run. But this may or may not be shuffled and come forward when you want it.

It's become one of my favourite systems because it quietly nudges players toward trying different strategies every loop.

Steam post image Three of the possible Boon Cards you may be dealt

Changing Fate

As Governor of Resthaven, you already have a certain amount of control over how the colony fares. You have less control over its people, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless to help them against the grim fate the island faces.

As mentioned above, the people of Resthaven have lives and routines. People they will meet with. Disagreements they will have with you and with each other. Tragedies that will happen to and around them.

Exploring each loop is primarily about witnessing these different events, but you can intervene with the right information – gained through the skilled use of interrogation.

Restoring the colony is not just about upgrading businesses and preventing the cataclysm. It’s also about helping the people themselves. Who will you be able to save?

Steam post image RIP Joan (?)

Designing around a time loop has been one of the hardest parts of making Curse of Resthaven. Almost every system has to answer the same question:"What carries over, and why?"

It took us a long time to find the balance between meaningful progression and the excitement of starting over without falling into the well-known traps of what can make a timeloop game a slog.

Now that all of these systems are finally working together, it feels like the game I imagined when we started cooking the idea in 2024.

I can't wait for players to get their hands on the demo and start breaking the loop in ways we never expected.

Thanks for reading.

• Scott Christian, Game Director