Curse of Resthaven Blends Town Management, Deckbuilding, and Time Loop Horror
Seven days remain.
Good luck, Governor.
In Curse of Resthaven, you arrive as the newly appointed governor of a struggling island colony. Your timing could not be worse. Your niece has vanished. The island is cursed. And in seven days, everything will fall apart.
Unless you learn how to break the loop.
Investigate, Manage, Adapt, Repeat
Resthaven stands on the edge of collapse. Supplies are thin. Trust is thinner. Beneath polite conversation and boarded windows, something darker is at work.
As governor, your role demands balance. You must restore prosperity to the colony while uncovering the truth behind your niece’s disappearance.
You will negotiate with visiting merchants, upgrade local businesses, allocate dwindling resources, and question citizens who may not be telling you everything. Each decision affects morale, unlocks new leads, and shifts the risks that lie ahead.
And all of it must be accomplished before the seventh day arrives.
Card-Driven Expeditions Beyond the Walls
When answers cannot be found within the town, you venture into the wilds through branching, card-driven expeditions.
You construct a deck made up of
- Resource cards
- Companion cards
- Strategic tools that define your approach
Every journey into the unknown is unpredictable. Eldritch horrors stalk forgotten corners of the island, and survival depends on preparation, composition, and timing.
Your deck reflects your thinking. Your thinking determines whether you return.
Scott Christian - Hilltop Studio
"What was the specific spark that led to the creation of this project?"
Curse of Resthaven grew out of my love of horror, science fiction, and fantasy: primarily novels, but films and games as well. On all our games at Hilltop so far, we start with story first: the world we want to inhabit and the core relationships at its center.
Once the game world of Resthaven began to take shape - a surreal, cursed island colony - the mechanics came out of that. If you’re a reluctant governor trying to uncover the truth, that implies trade, rebuilding a struggling town, and pushing into dangerous wilds. From there, it was a lot of iteration and testing to sharpen the systems.
The game’s core loop takes cues from titles like Dredge and Cult of the Lamb, while the interrogation sections echo both classic adventure games and modern narrative gems like Disco Elysium. Trading draws inspiration from Potionomics and Racettear. It’s an ambitious mix of genres, but somehow it’s all clicking!
I think the game really works because the narrative pulls you forward, and the gameplay reinforces that momentum.
"Being near It'sToronto, did the city influence the game's setting or development style?"
In terms of geography… not so much. An 18th-century, gothic horror-inspired island doesn’t have a ton of overlap with Toronto’s east end. That said, we’ll always sneak Canadian easter eggs into our games somewhere… It's tradition at this point.
Where Toronto really shows up is in how we make the game. Like our last title, it’ll be fully voiced, and we’re working with an incredible roster of mostly Toronto-based actors.
More than anything, though, it’s the community. Toronto has an incredibly generous, collaborative gamedev scene. Curse of Resthaven has been shaped by hundreds of conversations, bits of advice, favours, and introductions from fellow devs in the city.
"Now that you're finally announcing, looking back—what was the most difficult technical or creative challenge you had to overcome to get to this day?"
One of the biggest challenges facing an indie game dev is time. Time to sharpen the concept. Time to build a prototype. Time navigating grant applications. Time pitching and negotiating with publishers. And, if you’re incredibly lucky, time to get all the pieces aligned so a partnership can actually start.
I’m beyond grateful to have such a phenomenal team for Curse of Resthaven, a group that shares a core with Lil’ Guardsman, for sticking with me through all of that.
It’s like climbing a mountain just to get to the starting line!
"This announcement is just the beginning. What can your new fans look forward to in the coming months—a demo, a closed beta, or perhaps a devlog series?"
The announcement trailer dropping feels like Christmas morning… the team has been champing at the bit to share what we’ve been cooking.
We’re planning lots of behind-the-scenes access through our Bluesky, where we’ll post updates and thoughts on the process. A Hilltop Studios/Curse of Resthaven Discord is in the works, where we’ll continue building our community and run rounds of playtesting.
A demo is coming, and anyone interested can wishlist the game on Steam to keep up with updates, devlogs, and release news.
In a world with tens of thousands of games launching every year, finding your people and bringing them into the tent is everything. The announcement trailer and Steam page feel like the first big step!
Live and Die by the Loop
When disaster strikes on the seventh day, the island’s fading guardian intervenes. You are sent back to your first morning as governor.
But this is no simple reset.
You carry your knowledge forward. You remember who lied. You understand what failed. Each loop allows you to invest in permanent skill upgrades while accepting powerful temporary blessings from a mysterious goddess. Her gifts grant strength, but never without consequence.
Progress comes not from perfection, but from patience. Mastery is earned across many attempts.
A Living Mystery With Real Consequences
Resthaven is home to more than 25 fully voiced characters, each with shifting motives and hidden allegiances. Interrogation is as strategic as it is conversational.
With three major narrative paths and randomized expeditions, no two loops unfold the same way. Every run reveals new fragments of truth about:
- The forces seeking control of the island
- The nature of the curse itself
- Your niece’s unexpected role in the events unfolding
Breaking the cycle requires more than strength. It demands leadership, insight, and restraint.
Gothic Atmosphere With Graphic Novel Elegance
Curse of Resthaven pairs eldritch horror with gothic intrigue through a striking hand-drawn, graphic novel-inspired art style. The island feels oppressive yet beautiful, drenched in creeping dread and faint glimmers of hope.
The experience is further elevated by an original score from the composer of Lil Guardsman, delivering music that captures desperation, mystery, and quiet resilience.
A Test of Leadership and Resolve
This is not a game about simply defeating monsters. It is about earning trust, weighing sacrifice, and deciding what kind of governor you will become when everything is at stake.
Seven days remain.
Will you restore Resthaven’s prosperity, uncover the truth, and finally break the curse? Or will you awaken once more, back at the beginning, with only your memories to guide you?
Check out the Steam Page
