A solo developer in Seattle just reminded the internet why indie horror games absolutely slap. Moonless Formless dropped the official horror gameplay trailer for Withering Realms this week, and it’s clear this isn’t your typical spooky adventure. You’re playing as a ghost girl who pilots a two-meter tall doll stitched together from steel rods, human skulls, and harvested organs. And honestly? It looks incredible.
The new trailer showcases exactly what makes Withering Realms such a weird, wonderful mess. You’ve got combat that feels simultaneously tactical and chaotic, with a weapon crafting system that rivals games ten times its budget. The setting is a haunted Welsh town called Penwyll, and the atmosphere dripping from every screenshot and trailer frame suggests this developer understands how to build genuine dread without relying on jump scares.
What the Trailer Actually Revealed
The official gameplay footage dropped at the end of October and immediately gave us our first real look at Withering Realms in action. The trailer shows Clover, a nine-year-old ghost girl, controlling a massive doll through various environments including graveyards, crypts, and rotting estates. The visual style sits somewhere between 2.5D adventure game and top-down action RPG, with a perspective that keeps the focus squarely on movement and combat spacing.
What immediately stands out is how the game handles combat. The doll operates with four independent arms. Its two main arms serve as weapon slots and utility tools. Clover’s left hand holds consumables like healing flasks and grenades, while her right hand wields spell catalysts. This means you’re essentially controlling a dual-character system where Clover and the doll can perform actions simultaneously. The doll can be mid-swing with its greatsword while Clover launches a spell or chugs a potion.
The trailer showcases several weapon types slotting into the doll’s missing right arm socket, including a pivoting greatsword, a chain rock, a machinegun, and a flamethrower. Each weapon has primary and secondary attack options with different properties for crowd control and heavy damage. It’s the kind of combat depth usually reserved for big-budget action games, not solo dev passion projects.
The Developer Behind the Doll
Moonless Formless is a solo developer operating out of Seattle who established the studio in 2022. Before Withering Realms, they created Withering Rooms, a procedurally generated horror adventure set in a Victorian mansion that launched in early access in 2023 and received full release in 2024 across PC and consoles. That game earned respect from the community for its atmospheric horror and clever level design, even if some players found the combat and stealth mechanics rough around the edges.
The fact that one person is creating Withering Realms is genuinely wild when you consider the complexity on display. The developer even joked in a recent post that their “sanity is slowly eroding from working on this game every day.” That kind of dedication to solo game development is increasingly rare, especially when the result looks this polished and ambitious.
Moonless Formless clearly studied what worked in Withering Rooms and what didn’t. They’re refining the combat system to be more engaging, doubling down on the atmospheric horror, and building a more cohesive narrative around Clover’s quest to return to life. The developer has stated they want players to feel like they’re being thrown into a world and figuring out their place in it rather than sitting through exposition dumps.
Setting and Story
Withering Realms takes place in 1926, ten years after a massive occult event halted World War I and fundamentally transformed the world. The dead walk. Spirits roam freely. A gifted few can cast spells. It’s basically what would happen if someone went back in time and told the 1920s that the supernatural was real.
You play as Clover, a nine-year-old girl who awakens alone in a decaying mansion miles from the epicenter of the occult event. Spoiler alert right away: she quickly realizes she’s a ghost. Her only companion is a grotesque doll constructed from wood, metal, and human remains. Together they explore the mysterious town of Penwyll and surrounding graveyards, seeking a way to bring Clover back to life.
The setting is clearly based on Wales, with Penwyll being a fictional town that incorporates Welsh geographic and cultural elements. Previous game Withering Rooms was set in Monmouthshire, so Moonless Formless seems committed to building their horror universe within a specific regional context. That kind of specificity helps ground the game in a real place, making the supernatural horror feel more grounded and unsettling.
The game features multiple endings and a primarily linear main quest with optional content throughout. According to developer interviews, the narrative approach emphasizes player discovery over exposition. You’ll take control of Clover and the doll within thirty seconds of starting the game and figure out the world from there rather than sitting through lengthy cutscenes explaining what happened.
Combat and Upgrade Systems
The combat system in Withering Realms sounds deceptively simple until you dig into the details. Both the doll and Clover operate independently during fights. Each of the doll’s right-hand weapons has a primary attack for light combos and crowd control, plus a secondary attack for heavier hits that can carry the doll forward. The left hand holds utility tools like shields and pistols. Clover’s spells provide tactical support and enhancement effects.
The upgrade system goes surprisingly deep. Instead of traditional character leveling, you level up individual body parts of the doll. You can upgrade the left arm, right arm, legs, core body, and more independently. This means you could prioritize stamina reduction for your legs while boosting damage output on your arms, creating specialized builds tailored to your playstyle.
On top of that, there’s an extensive talisman crafting system. You craft talismans that attach to specific limbs, each providing unique stat combinations. You might craft a talisman that reduces stamina consumption and boosts fire damage, then equip it to your right arm when using the flamethrower. Later, if you’ve upgraded your stamina enough that consumption isn’t a bottleneck, you craft a new talisman focused purely on fire damage and swap it in. This kind of dynamic loadout management keeps combat fresh throughout the game.
The developer has specifically mentioned that stats like Luck, often ignored in other games, become cornerstones of powerful builds. That kind of thinking suggests a development team deeply interested in min-maxing potential and build variety.
The Day and Night Cycle
Many games treat nighttime as just daytime but bluer with a starry skybox. Withering Realms takes a different approach. In this game, night is legitimately pitch black. You can’t see anything without lighting sources. That simple design decision completely changes how you interact with the world.
The time-of-day mechanic affects what enemies you encounter and what secrets become available. Return to areas you’ve already explored during nighttime and you’ll face new, more horrifying creatures. You’ll also discover secrets that only appear after dark. It’s a clever way to extend content without just adding more arbitrary copy-pasted dungeons. The same physical space becomes a fundamentally different experience when the sun goes down.
This kind of environmental storytelling through level design is something Moonless Formless clearly excels at. From what we’ve seen in the trailers, the gothic architecture and decay of Penwyll looks appropriately creepy in daylight but potentially nightmare fuel in complete darkness.
When Can You Actually Play It
Withering Realms was originally announced for Early Access on Steam in Q4 2025, which would have been around now. However, the latest information from the official website suggests Early Access is now targeted for Q2 2026, pushing the release into spring next year. The full release across PC and consoles will follow after Early Access concludes.
The Early Access version will include the full campaign playable from start to finish. However, like Withering Rooms before it, additional side quests and a New Game+ mode will be added during the Early Access period leading up to full launch. The developer also plans to adjust game systems and balance based on community feedback during early access.
You can already wishlist the game on Steam right now if you want to keep track of development progress. Given that this is a solo developer, the timeline might shift as development continues, but that’s pretty standard for indie projects of this ambition.
FAQs
What is Withering Realms?
Withering Realms is a horror action RPG developed by solo developer Moonless Formless. You play as a ghost girl named Clover who pilots a large doll made of wood, metal, and human remains through a haunted Welsh town called Penwyll, seeking a way to return to life.
Is Withering Realms a sequel to Withering Rooms?
No, it’s a spiritual successor set in the same universe but with a completely independent story. The game takes place in the same fictional version of Wales but follows different characters. You don’t need to have played Withering Rooms to understand or enjoy Withering Realms.
When is Withering Realms coming out?
Early Access on Steam is targeted for Q2 2026 (spring 2026). The full release across PC and consoles will follow after the Early Access period concludes. You can wishlist it now on Steam to receive notifications when it launches.
How does combat actually work in this game?
You control both Clover (the ghost girl) and the doll simultaneously, each with two independent arms that can act at the same time. The doll’s right arm slots in crafted weapons like greatswords or flamethrowers. The left arm holds utility tools. Clover holds consumable items in her left hand and spell catalysts in her right. This creates a dual-character combat system where you’re managing multiple action types simultaneously.
What platforms will Withering Realms be on?
Withering Realms will launch on PC via Steam first during Early Access. Console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S will arrive with the full release after Early Access concludes.
Can you die in Withering Realms?
No, because Clover is already a ghost, she can’t actually die. The developer cleverly incorporated this into the story so death doesn’t feel like a game-over penalty but rather part of the narrative. You’ll respawn and continue exploring.
What are the weapon types you can craft?
The trailer shows a pivoting greatsword, chain rock, machinegun, and flamethrower, but there are more weapons not yet revealed. Each weapon has primary and secondary attacks tailored for different combat situations like crowd control or heavy damage.
Is there a level-up system?
Yes, but it’s not traditional. Instead of general character levels, you level up individual body parts of the doll separately. You can upgrade your left arm, right arm, legs, core body, and more independently to create specialized builds.
Who is Moonless Formless?
Moonless Formless is a solo developer operating out of Seattle who established their studio in 2022. They previously created Withering Rooms, a horror adventure game that launched in early access in 2023 and received full release in 2024.
Will there be a roguelike permadeath mode?
No, this is not a roguelike. While some areas and dungeons have randomized elements for variety, items, equipment, and story progress are retained when you respawn after an encounter.
The Bottom Line
Withering Realms represents exactly the kind of ambitious, creepy, imaginative horror game that only seems to come from passionate solo developers willing to push their sanity to the edge. The combination of a compelling supernatural premise, deep combat mechanics, atmospheric gothic setting, and genuinely unsettling design makes this feel like something special. The fact that Moonless Formless is crafting all of this alone is honestly mind-boggling when you consider the polish visible in the trailers and gameplay footage. Horror fans, action RPG enthusiasts, and anyone who appreciated Withering Rooms should absolutely wishlist this now. Q2 2026 can’t arrive fast enough.