Xbox Exclusives Spotlight: Way to the Woods

Last week, we introduced a new feature for TA with our Xbox Exclusives Spotlight on Little Witch in the Woods. This week, it’s Way to the Woods, which stood out both on our complete guide for all the Xbox exclusives for 2021 and on our Xbox Indie Showcase recap as a beautifully atmospheric adventure game with a lovely fluid art style. Way to the Woods is an interesting one — it’s been in the works for several years, and we’ve had a number of trailers, but it still has such an air of mystery — so we thought it would be a good idea to reach out to its creator, Anthony Tan, and see what he could tell us about it. Read on for our round-up of everything we know so far about Way to the Woods.

What is Way to the Woods?

Way to the Woods is an atmospheric third-person action adventure game about a deer and fawn making their way through a strangely abandoned world, searching for home. Way to the Woods was created and is solo developed by Anthony Tan — an experience which he describes as “immensely challenging, humbling, and rewarding” — and features music from Aivi&Surasshu, the composers for Steven Universe.

When does Way to the Woods launch?

We don’t yet have a specific release date, but Way to the Woods is scheduled to launch this year.

Is Way to the Woods coming to Xbox Game Pass?

Yes! The Xbox Indie Showcase confirmed that Way to the Woods will join Xbox Game Pass as a day one addition.

What’s Way to the Woods about?

It’s an interesting question — every snippet we’ve seen of the game so far has shown off its bewitching atmosphere, but the story itself still remains a mystery. It seems Way to the Woods itself underwent a number of transformations during development, with Tan explaining how the game has “undergone several metamorphoses. I wasn’t excited by the ideas I was coming up with early on, and couldn’t find something that I felt justified the deer, the world, and the game itself. However, once I figured out what I wanted to do with the light ability, and the fawn, things picked up really quickly.” Way to the Woods has been in the works for a while, but Tan adds that it “only really began to form in 2019, and I’ve been trying to do justice to that idea since.”

Just what that idea translates into story-wise isn’t too clear yet, although that element of mystery seems to be a key part of the game itself: the description has it that while on your journey, you will “unravel the mystery of Cat Town, evade a hounding pack of wolves, and find your light to explore a world filled with the relics of the old gods: humanity.”

How does Way to the Woods play?

“When thinking about the gameplay for Way To The Woods, I looked to everything I enjoyed and tried to take pieces from it,” Tan says, adding that he “particularly enjoyed the ‘rolling’ aspect of Katamari Damacy, and the simple pleasure of rolling a small ball into a huge one.”

From what we’ve seen so far of Way to the Woods, the deer’s antlers function as the main tool for interacting with the world. A key part of the game ties into that tagline “all of the lights will guide you home” — the deer’s antlers light up and connect with other light to illuminate the world around her — but we also see her using them to push or break objects. “Your antler light is the primary mechanic for which you’ll interact with the environment, other than your movement,” Tan says. “The gameplay revolves around collecting and growing your light, similar to the Katamari ball. You’ll light up objects and props to gain a larger light radius, that will let you light up more and more things.”

What’s the Way to the Woods game world like?

Cat Town repeatedly crops up in descriptions of Way to the Woods, which suggests it could be a key location for the game — but according to Tan, “Way To The Woods takes place in a myriad of worlds. Cat Town is one such world that the Deer and Fawn lose themselves in on their journey back home.”

One thing that’s always clear when we’re given a new look at Way to the Woods is its gorgeous art style. Tan cites Studio Ghibli films like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke as key inspirations, along with Breath of the Wild, Journey, and “stylised games” in general. “I have strong feelings towards the readability of a game’s visuals. I really appreciate and enjoy clear, beautiful art styles in games,” Tan says. “More personal to myself, I appreciate a game that pays great attention to visual noise. Halo 1 and Dishonored are games that I think convey so much with so little. In the case of Dishonored, it’s fascinating to me how the detail is immense but subtle.”

When talking about a game world without humans, you might expect to see a more dire, post-apocalyptic setting, and while Way to the Woods is set in a strangely abandoned world — we see the deer and fawn venture through empty trains, shops, and stations — the fluidity of the game’s art style and the gameplay mechanic of growing the deer’s light do seem to add a more light-hearted element to the experience.

Any news on the Way to the Woods achievements?

“Oh god, I haven’t even begun to think about that yet,” Tan joked when we asked him — so, no news on Way to the Woods achievements yet (and perhaps not for some time!) but we’ll be sure to update here when we learn more.

In our previous round-ups, we’ve suggested that Way to the Woods could be perfect for fans of everything from Spirit of the North and Studio Ghibli to Lost Ember and Tokyo Jungle, with a bewitching art style, a haunting soundtrack, and a gently unravelling mystery to solve. What do you think? Is Way to the Woods on your radar? Let us know what you think in the comments!