France based solo game developer and retro 3D animator Xena-spectrale began posting early development footage of their upcoming project back in 2021, with fans online now being rather familiar with the overall vibe of the non-linear survival horror game, whose title was officially decided upon only earlier this month as Tower of Tears. Fans have been itching to get their hands on this nostalgic and surreal piece of media for a while now, as was the case with the previously discussed Eternity Egg by USERLANDS. Xena’s use of early development footage and art in marketing their vision for the game through the years directly mirrors the approach seen by USERLANDS. Similarities can also be noted between the two in their shared preference toward a low-poly, surrealist visual style. Though their marketing approaches so far have been reminiscent, with their shared reliance on social media in spreading their game’s art style within indie gamer circles online, Xena has recently announced their intention to run a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to fully realize the vision they set out for Tower of Tears. With the Kickstarter slated to begin in tandem with a free-to-play demo, as is typically standard for Kickstarter projects, new and familiar fans will finally get the chance to enter the eerily nostalgic 3D metroidvania world that blends Animal Crossing-like character design with Nintendo 64-era Legend of Zelda ability/mask unlocks, combat, and more.

Demo + Kickstarter launching simultaneously next month 💧 pic.twitter.com/5CvCWeHYPu

— xena-spectrale (@xena_spectrale) November 21, 2025

Tower of Tears thrusts players into the forboding world of “The Tower”, a hulking prison of verticality, oozing with interconnected, branching pathways and dark mysteries around seemingly every corner. In this setting, the player takes on the role of Tear, the latest “Tower Keeper”, despite their lack of knowledge regarding exactly what that title means for them. Through careful survival and exploration, reaching the top of The Tower may lead Tear closer to understanding what the tower even is, and what the statement “… MOTHER is calling” might mean.

The art direction of Tower Of Tears is strikingly reminiscent of the two previously mentioned titles, Nintendo’s Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, though their gameplay is where it begins to stray into more of its own identity. Various face covering masks akin to the N64 classic are available for the player’s use in unique scenarios, complete with their own effects and abilities attributed to them. Footage frequently displays the robust revolving inventory system, which, alongside character designs, shines through as likely inspired by Animal Crossing. The player can be seen entering a floating, circular pocket/inventory menu throughout many clips of gameplay footage, allowing the player a selection between a wide range of unlockable tools, weapons, and masks. So far, the known weaponry and tools seen by the public in early footage include a buzz saw launcher—capable of both projectile combat and vertical traversal—a “tear thrower”, an MP3 player, a digital camera phone, a slingshot, a fishing rod, and at least three unique masks.

Fans online are understandably ecstatic at the announcement that the long-awaited 3D survival horror metroidvania, Tower Of Tears by Xena-spectrale, will be releasing its free-to-play Steam demo alongside a Kickstarter campaign sometime this month.