Valheim collides with Stardew Valley in glorious new RPG

This upcoming Stardew Valley-inspired game looks like a genuine delight, and you can even play it a little earlier than intended (if you’re lucky).

Romestead is a 2D adventure survival RPG from first-time developers Beartwigs and publisher Three Friends, and it looks like a mish-mash of so many incredible games that I don’t even know where to start.

Firstly, you’ve got Valheim’s crafting and survival influences. Then there’s a bit of Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare in there too, with the whole zombie invasion side of things. And let’s be real, the aesthetic is very much Stardew Valley-coded.

I suppose you could also say it’s a bit like Rome: Total War because it’s set in Rome, but… nah, that seems like cheating.

The aim of the game in Romestead is to bolster your city by day (by making friends with your villagers and upgrading your production), so you can defend yourself from the zombie invasion by night.

You can also play through the game with up to eight people if you choose, but, much like Stardew Valley, it seems that the focus of the game is on the single-player offerings.

As much as it feels super easy to keep comparing this one to Stardew Valley, I think I actually prefer the art style that Romestead is going for here. Funnily enough, it reminds me a lot more of Harvest Moon’s art style.

I’m pretty excited to try this one out for myself, which is why it’s a good job that you can currently sign up to be a part of Romestead’s ongoing playtest.

That might be your best bet to play this one any time soon however, as there’s currently no release date listed anywhere for it. It also sounds like (for the time being at least) that this one is a Steam exclusive, so console owners are going to have to hope that this one does well enough on PC to earn itself some console ports.