Prepare a feast for your forest friends in Hawthorn! Read on to learn everything we know, our review of the game’s early concept demo, and more.
Everything We Know About Hawthorn
Hawthorn Plot
In Hawthorn, players arrive in Windermere Valley, a woodland settlement first established as a trading post by woodland creatures. Over time, this settlement was abandoned amidst rumors of varmints, fairy lights, legends that linger among the trees. Now, arriving in this overgrown valley offers a chance to breathe life back into the forgotten village. As farmsteads sit untended and forest paths wind through reclaimed ruins, players assume the role of a small creature determined to rebuild the community from the roots upward.
To carry out this vision, players recruit fellow woodland characters to join the effort. Together, they refurbish homes nestled in the great oaks and fend off tricksters of the forest.
Hawthorn Gameplay
Hawthorn operates as a sandbox RPG with village-building mechanics centered around crafting, foraging, fishing, and so on. Players inhabit a small woodland creature and develop a lakeside settlement in Windermere Valley. The world is designed to simulate seasonal change and resource cycles.
NPCs can be recruited to automate or assist with tasks such as farming, crafting, and decorating. The game supports both solo and cooperative multiplayer modes, so players can collaborate on tasks like assigning homes to villagers and coordinating production workflows within the village. Key to all of it is exploration and resource gathering, with players venturing into changing wilderness zones to collect raw materials and encounter dynamic environmental events.
Hawthorn Release Date
Release Date TBA
Hawthorn does not yet have a confirmed release date. The game launched a Kickstarter campaign in May 2025, and according to its Kickstarter page, it is currently planned for release on PC in Early Access, with console ports anticipated later.
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Hawthorn Review (Early Concept Demo)
What an Adorable Mess
I love owls. Owls are adorable. They’re cute, the way they bob their heads, wide-eyed and judgmental, as though they know something you don’t. So when Hawthorn, a game that lets you play as one, dropped a short proof-of-concept demo, I was already halfway in. That it also happens to be a low-pressure exploration game with foraging and little woodland creatures? Even better. The demo itself can last less than an hour, but even in that sliver of time, Hawthorn manages to show the cozy, layered sim it wants to be.
Hawthorn comes from NEARStudios, a newly-formed indie team whose pedigree reads like a greatest hits compilation of AAA games. The developers have had their hands in the likes of Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, League of Legends, Bioshock, and Uncharted, which is the kind of resume that can make even the most cautious of players pay attention. But Hawthorn doesn’t feel like it’s chasing the scale of those titles. If anything, as it is now, it's stripped down and purposefully restrained. Hawthorn feels as though it’s content with slowing down and paying attention to the way footsteps echo through cobbled bridges, or how distant chimes punctuate the wind.
However, let me get this out of the way first. As this is a proof-of-concept demo, it is only natural for Hawthorn to feel pretty barebones. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This early concept acts as a window for us players into what the game wants to be.
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Welcome to Windermere!
Hawthorn casts you in the role of a woodland creature living among a community of animals—mice, birds, otters, and more—all busying themselves for an upcoming festival. You, like everyone else in the village of Windermere, have a role to play in pulling the celebration together. And even if your job is relatively simple in the context of this slice of the game, it gives just enough of a taste to suggest how larger systems of village life might later unfold.
There’s not a ton of meat in its narrative yet, but what’s present has just enough seasoning to whet the appetite. Each day, villagers poke their heads out with greetings, tasks, or reminders about the upcoming celebration. You’re encouraged to check in with them, prep for the feast, and gather ingredients to ensure everyone has a plate full of their favorite dish. The end goal is a village festival where you’ll serve food and tally the satisfaction of your neighbors in a cute little score screen that may hint at broader village morale systems to come. But for now, it’s all about learning the rhythms of your surroundings and soaking in the mood of a world that feels like it wandered in from the margins of a Beatrix Potter book.
I can’t overstate just how much I appreciate the atmosphere Hawthorn is going for here. It’s incredibly earnest, not in a saccharine or overwrought way, but in how it’s content to let warmth be the point. It lets you explore its systems at your own pace. In fact, I didn’t even start helping out with the festival until at least an hour in; before doing so, I was just happily exploring the sandbox of WIndermere and doing whatever I am allowed to do with the game’s limited scope.
Sure, it’s a very early look, and I’m aware much of the narrative scaffolding is still to come. But even now, the tone feels coherent. And while there isn’t much worldbuilding beyond what you see and hear during the day’s tasks, there’s a clear effort to make you feel at home.
It Takes a Village
Before you start checking off your daily tasks of foraging or prepping for the village feast, Hawthorn asks you to make one very important decision: What kind of woodland creature do you want to be? If you want to dart through the forest with speed, the owl is your best bet. But speed comes at a cost, as owls aren’t exactly great at handling tools. You won’t be able to chop stalks as an owl. For that, you might want to play as a mouse, as they can carry tools and handle the heavier lifting that comes with living in Windermere. But they can’t fish like an otter or an owl. Essentially, none of the three options can do everything on their own.
That’s where Hawthorn’s gameplay philosophy starts to show itself. The demo frames the village not as a series of systems, but as a network of neighbors. Every species has its own strengths and limitations, but you’re not meant to cover every role solo. You’re encouraged to ask help from your friends, or perhaps with another player down the line.
Having said that, the demo is still in its early days, and the gameplay loop is currently pretty light. Most of your time is spent gathering and chatting with villagers, with a bit of village building and exploration around the town’s outskirts. According to NEARStudios, there’s plenty more in the pipeline. The developers plan to expand the game’s core simulation systems to include seasonal changes and weather effects, deeper crafting, cooking, building, and fishing mechanics. Exploration will also broaden beyond Windermere’s borders, and the game’s systems will eventually tie into longer-term loops that affect village morale.
And for those who want more than cozy errands and festival prep, combat is coming too, though it’ll be optional. The developers have emphasized that they don’t want to compromise the experience for players who are here for the laid-back pace, but for those interested in action, they’re planning to add combat progression down the line. With some of the team’s background in franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, it’s a safe bet that they’ll know how to make fights feel substantial when the time comes.
And I really hope the developers get the funding they need to develop the game further. As much as I adore it and like it for what it is right now, it's still kind of a mess.
There are Bugs in This Forest
It goes without saying, but this is a proof-of-concept demo, so yes, there are bugs. And quirks. And more than a few moments where the seams are showing. That’s not a complaint so much as an expectation at this stage of development. You don’t walk into a workshop and fault the wood shavings on the floor. But it’s worth pointing out some of the current rough edges, especially since they give insight into where Hawthorn is heading, and where a bit of extra sanding is still needed.
Take flying, for example. Soaring through the trees as an owl feels amazing. You can tell what the devs were going for when you zip through wherever you please. But right now, it’s a little too slippery. Turning feels floaty and landing even more so. It’s still fun, but it needs some tuning.
Even worse than this, I almost soft-locked myself entirely. While poking around the edges of the map (as one does, don’t blame me), I tried swimming out of bounds, only to discover that it just… kept going. And going. Logging out and back in didn’t help either. The only way out was to flap my wings far enough beyond the boundaries of the world, then arc around the invisible borders of the map until I made my way back to the village.
There are also a few graphical glitches that shake the immersion a bit. Changing the graphics to anything higher than medium breaks the skybox completely.
However, I didn’t let it get in the way of my enjoyment. The exploration is already compelling enough that I found myself wandering off-trail and imagining what this forest could become once it’s fully fleshed out. Despite all the hiccups, I genuinely had a great time. Hawthorn’s exploratory pacing and gentle sense of place is relaxing and almost therapeutic. I found myself smiling more often than not, whether it was from the glitches or being greeted by a mouse NPC who was absolutely hyped for the feast. These bugs feel more like growing pains, and if anything they’ve only made me more excited for what’s to come.
If this is what Hawthorn looks like in a rough state, then I can’t wait to see what the team can do with more polish, funding, and time. I’m already planning to rope my friends into playing it with me, both the ones online and the ones I’ll probably have to bribe with baked goods. With time, care, and the right support, I can see Hawthorn becoming one of those games you return to just to be in it. NEARStudios hasn't announced a release date for either the full game or its Early Access launch, but they did hit their $200,000 Kickstarter goal. They didn't quite reach those multi-million dollar stretch goals that would've added a ton of features (like Doug Cockle, Geralt's voice actor, joining your village!), but what's here is still fun, and something I'll probably be diving back into again and again.
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Hawthorn Product Information
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| Title | HAWTHORN |
|---|---|
| Release Date | TBA |
| Developer | NEARStudios |
| Publisher | TBA |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam) |
| Genre | Life Sim, RPG, Sandbox |
| Number of Players | 1-4 Players (Local and Online Co-Op) |
| ESRB Rating | ESRB RP |
| Official Website | Hawthorn Official Website |
