Dreadwinter Devlog - April 2026

Welcome

Hey there, welcome to this month's Dreadwinter devlog!

There was quite a lot of work going on outside of development this month, so progress was a little bit slower. Still, there are a lot of little things that have been added to the game, and many changes behind the scenes, so I'll go over the highlights! ːsteamhappyː

Also, Dreadwinter is part of the 2026 Wholesome Kitchen Event, which as you might guess, showcases a load of games focused around cooking, kitchens, and anything culinary related (like coffee!). It runs until May 11, and there's plenty of discounts going on during the event!

Map

I've added a map into the game! You can hover over most locations, (such as Dreadwinter, the observatory, or Gelado & Co.) to see who's in the area. Hopefully, this makes it easier to find people, and navigate around.

I had a lot of fun making this, since I never really took the time to look at the town as a whole, and it made me appreciate the world I've made a bit more. I've been working on Dreadwinter for quite a long time now, and it's easy to forget about the scale of the game I'm making, so this was a nice reminder!

Regular Customer Notes

As you know, your regular customers are a key part of the game. As you get to know them through their weekly visits, you'll figure out what kind of drinks they like and dislike, as well as other things about them!

To help you keep track of this information, I've added a note board system to their character pages. The notes will build up as you fulfil their requests, and figure out their tastes through their responses to your drinks. (I've redacted some info to avoid spoilers! ːsteammockingː)

Heart Events

I've started adding the classic heart events into the game! ːluvː

You're probably already familiar with them, but for those that aren't, these are character events that occur when you've reached certain points in your relationship with a character. You'll get to know their story, and perhaps even help them find a conclusion to it!

Joint Heart Events

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but one feature of Dreadwinter is the concept of joint heart events. These are secret events involving multiple characters, that dive deeper into their stories, and can have lasting effects on the game.

The requirement for these events will be a little more tricky to meet, generally needing you to have a high bond with 2 connected characters, and also completing a secret requirement as a catalyst for the event, which you should be able to work out once you've gotten really close to them.

Adventure & Combat

There's been some developments to combat and exploration as well! I've been working on adding more cards into the game for combat, and fully implementing the elemental reaction system.

You can use elemental spells and attacks in combat, which can react with each other to produce different effects, from simply increasing damage, to generating shields, and even drawing more cards!

This should make combat a lot more interesting as you progress, but as always, this is optional, there's no requirement to engage in combat in Dreadwinter!

Hollowither's Edge, the first dungeon you'll encounter, is almost complete as well! I'm working on rigging together the boss for the dungeon, which is probably different from what you'd expect!

If you played the demo