"Every hunt is an ancient ritual, a step within a fragile balance.
Before drawing the bow or following the tracks of a prey, one must listen to the will of the forest - and honor it.
My grandfather used to say that only those who showed respect earned the grace of Mielikki, the goddess of the woods and animals.”
As we prepare to open the doors to the world of Among The Trolls through the Closed Playtest starting in two weeks, many aspects of the game are passing under our radar. Among the latest is one of the pillars of survival within the archipelago: hunting. Recently, we’ve been working on its systems and polishing a few details, and today it’s the star of our deep dive into the game’s features in this month’s devlog.
HUNGER AND FAITH
While we want players to perceive traces of old beliefs and traditions throughout the world, hunting is designed foremost as a practical tool for gathering resources and managing hunger. But the choice of the bow or, later, the spear talk about a very physical relationship with nature. It takes time and energy to gather materials and craft your hunting tools. So, you need to be most efficient as your hunger grows and you get exhausted. You affect nature and nature affects you. You’ll begin your adventure with the bow’s handle already in your pocket. Like all weapons, the bow is subject to breakage, but even then, this piece to which Anna is so emotionally attached will never disappear from your inventory. You’ll keep it with you and will need to search for resources in the world to rebuild it. We want the bow to feel like a long-term companion rather than a throwaway item, tying weapon progression directly into exploration and scavenging.
Like a lot of things in Among The Trolls, weapons – like the bow – are tied to crafting. Arrows are a resource, and you’ll be able to craft them using the sticks you collect. They allow you to adopt a stealthy, ranged approach, particularly useful for studying your target and hunting highly alert animals like deer, which are a good food source. You can crouch and move slowly to keep animals from spotting you. This lets you get in position and take a good shot instead of just running in.
If you feel the need to practice your aim, we’ve got you covered: you’ll find Grandpa’s target range behind his cabin. It’s a spot where you can mess around with the bow, see what distances work, and get used to aiming before you head into the woods to hunt for real. That’s it for this month, and our next - and final - update of 2025 will be all about our closed playtest! We can’t wait to gather your feedback, and we’d like to remind you that you have until December 1st to send in your application and try to join the first wave of testers. Thank you to everyone willing to support us in this journey.