Bramble: The Mountain King - What We Know So Far

Not every great horror game is all about bullet-scavenging, monster-shooting, survival adventures like in the "Resident Evil" or "Silent Hill" series — as the success of indie darlings like "Little Nightmares" and "Limbo" can attest. Compelling terror can be found in juxtaposing the cute and powerless against the terrible and gruesome. From developer Dimfrost Studios and publisher Merge Games comes another atmospheric horror that puts players in the shoes of the semi-defenseless in horrific circumstances: "Bramble: The Mountain King."

Set in a dark fairytale world inspired by Nordic folklore, "Bramble: The Mountain King" follows the journey of a young boy trying to rescue his kidnapped sister from a troll. With gorgeously detailed environments, cinematic cutscenes, and macabre creatures that would make the Brothers Grimm tales sound like age-appropriate bedtime stories, it seems "Bramble” is shaping up to be another amazing indie PC game you won't want to miss. Here's everything players should know about "Bramble: The Mountain King."

According to the Dimfrost Twitter profile, "Bramble" has been in development since 2018 and was initially titled "Vaesen." The indie developer first started posting test renders of a gnome player character in April 2018, garnering some attention with the creative and hair-raising enemy design. It wasn't until September that Dimfrost announced the game would undergo major concept changes, postponing the scheduled demo release and assuring fans that the project was still being worked on. On May 16, 2019, Dimfrost unveiled "Bramble: The Mountain King" with the unnamed gnome replaced by the child character who would go on to become Olle, the main protagonist.

"Bramble: The Mountain King" is set for release sometime in 2023 without a concrete target for any particular quarter. In an exclusive interview with TheXboxHub, developers Fredrik Selldén and Josua Manneback stated that they would be posting any new details or updates regarding the release date to Dimfrost Studios' social media channels.

Currently, the Steam page and the Dimfrost Studios' Youtube channel list three trailers, each running for one to two minutes. The oldest, released in June 2021 for E3, is a cinematic trailer that sets up the game's frightening folktale atmosphere and features a re-render of the water-borne creature from the original "Vaesen" trailer that caught many people's eyes.

The gameplay trailer, released in November of the same year, shows off more of the environments and creatures featured in the game. It seems the world of "Bramble" — on top of being infested with monsters that wouldn't seem out of place in a "Witcher" game — will also be exponentially larger in scale than the player character, adding a sense of helplessness in the vein of "Little Nightmares."

The latest trailer, released in June 2022 during the game's feature section at the Future Games Show, dives into the real-life folklore of the aforementioned water monster and promises many more terrifying creatures taken from the darker side of Nordic folklore.

In the TheXboxHub interview, Fredrik Selldén and Josua Manneback stated that "Bramble: The Mountain King" will feature a mix of combat, platforming, adventuring, and more. In addition, the developers mentioned puzzle-solving and stealth action as some of the included mechanics, stating that they wanted gameplay to feel like a natural part of the story that works to help immerse players in the narrative.

From the gameplay trailer, it looks like "Bramble" will include classic side-scroller platforming segments, high-tension chase sequences, and some open exploration. So far, there haven't been any clues as to what combat will look like — or if the protagonist will actually be wielding the knife he used with gusto in the cinematic trailer. That said, prospective players can keep an eye on the game's official Twitter page for regular updates or sneak peeks.

"Bramble: The Mountain King" can currently be wishlisted through its official Steam page.