>The first I ever saw of Eastshade was a single screenshot. In it, the sun stands high in the sky over a glittering river. Off in the distance, past the forest and its imposing trees, you can see what looks to be a city. Eastshade is full of such carefully designed landscapes: forests that invite you to saunter through them; buildings you just want to take a closer look at. Eastshade is a first person exploration game where every landscape looks like a potential work of art because that s the game. Whenever you feel like it you can pop down your easel and start painting. How does everything look this nice? How to explain that almost everyone you talk to is equally impressed by what they see?

Instead of busily overthinking what makes me react so strongly to what I see on screen in Eastshade, I decide to enlist a professional and pose my questions to Eastshade s lead developer Danny Weinbaum. He explains Eastshade s strong sense of place is deliberate, and the result of the difference between traditional game design, and his own point of view as someone with a background in environment design.

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Alice is on holiday, so this week it’s me, Alice, filling in for Alice. We’re deep in the trenches now, the game trenches, the February onslaught of releases. Metro is only just in our rear view mirror, and Brendan is almost a broken man. Anthem is in its bizarre week of early release for people who’ll pay for EA’s special version of Origins. Apelegs is taking the Battles Royales by storm. There is too much to do, so I might not remind people to send me what they’re playing, just so I don’t have to put it in this document, because I am busy playing some of the games that we have to play. I know, what a ridiculous thing to moan about, hey?

What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’re clicking on!

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There was a time when I wasn’t quite sure about paint ’em up Eastshade. It’s a slow starter, a little clumsy with its introductions, a little distant. But over time it won me over, really won me over. And now, as I idly sail a boat I’ve built through the twisting caverns on the coast, listening to the beautiful violin strains, discovering magical caves, I’m just in love with it. Enough that I’ll be just fine when the quote used from this on their store page reads, “I’m just in love with it.”

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Eastshade seems a much calmer take on open world fantasy adventures than most. It may have crafting and construction, but there’s no swords or bows or guns, just painting. Set up your easel, take in the scenes of its mellow fantasy world, and then trade the artwork to characters in exchange for items, information and more. If Wandersong was a fantasy bard simulator, then this is rarer still – a wandering artisan sim. The product of years of work by Eastshade Studios, the game is very nearly complete and due out on February 13th. Enjoy the sights in the new trailer below.

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