Description

Rust and Rain in Ember Harbor is a gritty, narrative-rich experience set in a decaying industrial city where every small, seemingly insignificant choice you make echoes through the rain-slicked streets and cramped, neon-lit apartments, creating ripples that expand across the city's wide social and physical spaces, altering fates and reshaping the story. The project is fundamentally built upon a foundation of highly tactile and immersive interactions, designed to reward meticulous curiosity and deliberate patience rather than haste, making every discovered clue and solved puzzle feel earned and significant.

We are developing a responsive, adaptive soundscape where the musical score and ambient noise dynamically shift in response to the player's rhythm, investigative intent, and the emotional tone of the narrative, making the city itself feel like a reactive character. Environmental storytelling is the key to unlocking Ember Harbor's secrets; every grimy factory, abandoned arcade, and crowded market stall hints at the city's prosperous past, its desperate present struggles, and the looming future conflicts on the horizon. Our camera work is engineered to be seamlessly immersive, shifting with subtle purpose to maintain a cinematic flow and deep sense of place without ever intruding on the player's agency or control.

Gameplay elegantly alternates between phases of intense observation and planning, engaging exploration of the city's diverse districts, and pure, emergent serendipity as the world's intricate simulation unfolds around you. Mersey Forge adheres to a strict weekly prototyping schedule, prioritizing the validation of the core game's feel and atmospheric punch above all else, ensuring that every interaction feels impactful and authentic. Our performance targets are unwavering in their goal to deliver a perfectly smooth experience on modest machines, ensuring that the atmospheric immersion of Ember Harbor remains unbroken for every player.

Why Support Us?

Backing Rust and Rain in Ember Harbor brings a new IP to life without publisher constraints. Your support lets us pay artists fair rates and keep schedules humane. Independent funding safeguards creative risks that big studios rarely take.

Community feedback becomes part of our production loop from day one. Together we can push for accessibility and thoughtful difficulty options.

How It Works

Core loops revolve around exploration, light puzzle solving, and emergent encounters. Procedural layers are curated rather than random, ensuring intent guides variance. A modular narrative tracks motifs, not just flags, to recombine meaningfully.

Combat, when present, emphasizes positioning, timing, and readable telegraphs. We prioritize input latency, clear UI states, and frictionless camera control.

Our Vision

We want games that feel intimate even when the world looks grand. We aim for generosity without grind, wonder without bloat, and challenge without cruelty. We believe new worlds deserve new metaphors, not recycled tropes.

We measure success by how often players feel calm, clever, or quietly brave.

• Comfortable challenge with generous checkpoints.
• Readable visuals for low-eye-strain sessions.
• Optional systems that deepen mastery without forcing grind.

Rewards for Our Supporters

• $10 – Backer role and digital thank-you postcard.
• $20 – Early demo access and name in credits (supporters).
• $30 – Digital soundtrack sampler and feedback forum access.
• $50 – Full soundtrack, exclusive wallpaper pack, and beta key.
• $100 – In-game cosmetic set and supporter credit upgrade.
• $250 – Founder credit, private Q&A session, and two launch keys.

Support Us

If this resonates, lend your support and tell a friend who loves thoughtful games. Your pledge helps us turn months of prototypes into a complete experience. Together we can publish a title that respects your time and rewards curiosity.

Join us as early stakeholders in a world that will keep growing after release.