Neverway doesn't want to be Stardew Valley. Instead, the devs are going as "weird as possible," Larian-style

Stardew Valley inspired an entire generation of videogames. It feels like every day we see a new game like Stardew Valley from some obscure developer, most of which are riddled with microtransactions and predatory monetization. But amid the MTX dumpster fire, there are some gems: titles that take the life sim genre to the next level. Neverway is one of those games.

Neverway's premise isn't dissimilar to other farming games: you're the newcomer on a mysterious island, and you set to work scavenging for resources, romancing villagers, and beating up monsters. Where it diverges, however, is the fact that there's a potentially malevolent Lovecraftian-esque entity that's trying to make a deal with you, and the boundary between our world and the titular Neverway - a cosmic realm beyond our own - is slowly beginning to fade. As the barriers weaken, monsters are spilling onto the island, and it's Fiona's job to take them down while simultaneously managing her farm, relationships, and her own trauma.

Yet, despite its pixel-esque Stardew stylings, it's very clear that Neverway is a very different experience. There's lashings of horror, RPGs, and even soulslikes. Reinventing the Stardew wheel in 2026 is no mean feat, but as I said in my preview, Neverway absolutely accomplishes it. I ask Coldblood Inc about the game's general inspirations and its approach to standing out in such a saturated space.

"While we took some inspirations from Stardew Valley, I'd say Neverway is a very different game on its own," Coldblood Inc co-founder Isadora Sophia tells me. "It's interesting because I see a lot of people nowadays asking for 'new' games that do something different - but every time we do something different, we see a lot of pushback.

"For example, when choosing a low color palette and while we were getting early feedback, a lot of people advised us that it felt risky and that we should go for something more colorful and safer. This has happened many times during development, from our mechanics choices to the way we explore the story.

"I think a lot of games get lost in a saturated market precisely because of that - they often choose to go for something safer and familiar, but that ends up not making them stand out," she muses. "At this point, we've learned that our best move is to trust ourselves and do something that feels authentic to us - which is often very scary!"

She notes that Larian's approach was a huge inspiration for the team. Baldur's Gate 3's success is no secret, and stemmed from the fact that the developer was allowed to do exactly what it wanted to do, in its own time. BG3 leaned into the things that make Dungeons and Dragons so unique and enjoyable, and we've been calling for triple-A games to do so ever since. "Instead of trying to make something that 'pleases everyone,' [it's about] focusing on doing something as weird and deep as possible for people that absolutely love the genre, and always wanted to explore more of it."

Neverway certainly does that: it's not a happy game. You're confronted with Fiona's trauma straight off the bat, and I was impressed by just how real her depression felt. I ask how the team approaches 'gameifying' real-life issues, and how it's gone about creating a "weird and deep" world that mirrors Fiona's mental state.

"I think whenever you're dealing with serious topics, it's important to find the levity in it whenever there is an opportunity to do so," says Disasterpeace, who's handling Neverway's soundtrack (you'll recognize him from Fez and Hyper Light Drifter). "Isa [Isadora] and Pedro [Medeiros, Coldblood co-founder] have created a world that is an excellent backdrop for Fiona's struggles, because it often exists in contrast to her. She gets herself into a scenario that is so crazy that, even though on paper it is objectively terrible, it helps her grow as a person and casts a mirror on her old problems to see them in a new light."

"Being depressed and alone really stinks - but having to make a Faustian bargain with an evil creature from a parallel reality, whilst no doubt exciting on some level, does seem a bit worse. I think we're all trying to extract some humor from the irony."

The game's unique color palette also infuses Neverway with an overarching sense of eeriness: the deep purples and greens are, in some ways, evocative of corruption and sickness. The fiery reds and dark oranges of the city feel hostile, almost like they can burn. "We started with the purple and something about it felt right and unsettling, so we wanted to explore more on that," Sophia tells me.

"We also try to create variety by shifting the color palette between areas and times of the day in-game, while also exploring the uncomfortableness that the lack of colors can create by tying it with the themes of the game." Those colors even inspired the music, with Disasterpeace stating that they "helped him find a new angle."

"The nature of the story creates an opportunity to have the music exist in a certain paradigm, let's say the 'regular world,' and then to play with expectations and break out of that box when we're dealing with the 'Neverway,' which is a special, different type of reality," he says. "So it's been fun to create a very strict set of rules about how the music should sound, and then find ways to break them to support the experience." But, perhaps most importantly, he also says that the team is looking into vinyl. Insert eyes emoji here.

Neverway is set to release in October 2026. Its Prologue demo is live on Steam right now, and I highly recommend taking it for a spin. It's one of the most unique games I've played this year, and it's shot straight to the top of my 'games Lauren wants to play in 2026' list. So go on, let those eerie whispers guide you. I won't judge, I promise.