The Stillness of the Wind follows Talma, an elderly women approaching the final years of her life. Residing in a quiet, desolate town, she watches all the former inhabitants leave one by one, and must find a way to sustain herself appropriately.
Talma’s simply maintained lifestyle consists of tending to her home, subsisting, and surviving off of her farm, looking forward only to letters that arrive from her family in the city, the content of which grows increasingly disturbing over time. Players take on her role, and design their own personalized routine that revolves around tending to livestock and taking care of the farm. The only human interaction encountered occurs with the traveling merchant who delivers the letters, but remains more of a stranger than an acquaintance. Through the letters, Talma can take a view into life in a city that feels distant and threatening to overtake the world she’s familiar with.
While the game attempts to be more of a peer into Talma’s isolated life, some farming simulator mechanics are present in the gameplay. There’s not much inhabiting the world, but what there is to accomplish must be done with precision. Eggs that are collected from the chickens, and milk or cheese that is made from the goats can be traded with the merchant in an effort to self-sustain, and in return for items such as seeds, fables, and shotgun shells. At times, Talma may just want to attempt a trade with the merchant to experience that bit of human contact. Otherwise, wandering in the desert, focusing on your chores, and taking time to reminisce as you draw patterns in the dirt may be the only acts keeping you sane while the loneliness and worry about the mysteries coming from the city continue to loom.
The Stillness of the Wind will be available on Steam and itch later this year, but the game’s prequel, Where the Goats Are, is currently available on itch, where you can name your own price for it. The publishers over at Surprise Attack just released a teaser trailer for The Stillness of the Wind that you can check out below.