Skip to main content PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES Search PC Gamer View Profile Movies & TV Gaming Industry PC Gaming Show Newsletter Signup Community Guidelines Affiliate Links Meet the team About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine Subscription Why subscribe? Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£35.99View Spring Prime Day Monster Hunter Wilds Marvel Rivals Cozy gamers rejoice: Witchbrook finally has a release window, and yes, you can fly around on a broom with your friends Justin Wagner 27 March 2025 The Stardew Valley-reverent life sim about a magic school just got a new trailer and aims to release later this year. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Witchbrook - First Look Trailer - YouTube Cozy games are as big as ever, with the likes of Stardew Valley maintaining their vice grip on chilling out and relaxing enthusiasts. It's hard to imagine how the formula for an unwind-'em-up could get much more appealing, but setting things in a school for witches seems like a good start. So it goes in the new Witchbrook trailer that dropped during today's Nintendo Direct, featuring mopeds, flying brooms, and the game's picturesque setting, the seaside city of Mossport. If all that sounds great, the trailer also teases a Winter 2025 release and gives the most detailed look yet at the game's specifics; and while there's disappointingly few magic school life sim games to compare Witchbrook's vibe to, it seems like Chucklefish has the idea down pat. The first look shows classmates gathered around a ritual magic circle, chatting in big pointy black hats, and parking their flying brooms in the witchy version of a bike rack. In fact, forget everything else, the flying brooms are the real home run from this trailer: sailing over windmills and meticulously decorated gardens never looked so good. I'm also glad for the emphasis on the mundane aspects of witchy life, like a character using a wand to refill a basket of spilled fruit or decorating their home by levitating tables around to their liking. This is no grandiose, death-defying adventure, but the quiet, humble road to graduation. As art director Steph Caskenette put it in a press release accompanying the new trailer: "Witchbrook is our love letter to thoughtful living, the quiet magic of slow moments, and the connections we share with each other and the world around us." In four-player co-op, it sounds like a spellbinding sort of virtual hangout, but I'm even more tantalized by how Chucklefish CTO Rodrigo Braz Monteiro emphasized the simulation aspects of Witchbrook in the press release, saying "I don't think that the level of simulation and fidelity we've aimed for in this game is expected of any games short of AAA, and to see it realised in a pixel art indie game has been very satisfying to us … we're only sharing a small glimpse into a vast game." It'll draw comparisons to some pretty exceptional games taking after Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, so I'm eager to see if Witchbrook can stick the landing. It's a far cry from Chucklefish's other work, but they've nimbly gone from genre to genre already with tactics RPG Wargroove and space sandbox Starbound. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. If the new trailer has you under Witchbrook's spell, the game is available to wishlist on Steam. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releases Best PC games: Our all-time favorites Free PC games: Freebie fest Best FPS games: Finest gunplay Best RPGs: Grand adventures Best co-op games: Better together Justin Wagner Social Links Navigation Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now... You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Latest in Life Sim Cozy gamers rejoice: Witchbrook finally has a release window, and yes, you can fly around on a broom with your friends Inzoi cheats list: how to use the money cheat and move objects freely Opal Flutterfin locations in Hello Kitty Island Adventure How to craft a pickaxe in Hello Kitty Island Adventure Inzoi roadmap for 2025: What's planned for all 4 Inzoi game updates this year Inzoi launch times and release date Latest in News Cozy gamers rejoice: Witchbrook finally has a release window, and yes, you can fly around on a broom with your friends StarCraft fans taunted by the announcement of a new StarCraft... board game 'Medieval Batman' completes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 pacifist playthrough with zero kills and 535 knockouts Ubisoft and Tencent are forming a new company that will take control of its most successful franchises: Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six The biggest update since Path of Exile 2's early access launch is coming next week, bringing a new class and a bunch of endgame changes Path of Exile 2 director isn't worried about ARPG competition, in part thanks to seasons: 'So long as people are willing to come back and play our game for a month four times a year, then I'm good' More about life sim Inzoi cheats list: how to use the money cheat and move objects freely Inzoi roadmap for 2025: What's planned for all 4 Inzoi game updates this year Path of Exile 2 director isn't worried about ARPG competition, in part thanks to seasons: 'So long as people are willing to come back and play our game for a month four times a year, then I'm good' See more latest Most Popular Path of Exile 2 director isn't worried about ARPG competition, in part thanks to seasons: 'So long as people are willing to come back and play our game for a month four times a year, then I'm good' The biggest update since Path of Exile 2's early access launch is coming next week, bringing a new class and a bunch of endgame changes StarCraft fans taunted by the announcement of a new StarCraft... board game 'Medieval Batman' completes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 pacifist playthrough with zero kills and 535 knockouts Ubisoft and Tencent are forming a new company that will take control of its most successful franchises: Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six Promising '90s style point-and-clicker Rosewater rides out today, featuring trail-worn cowpoke authors and weird alt-universe science OpenAI's GPT-4o model gets image generation update for all of your anime-style selfie needs My favourite, most underrated anime golf game series is actually getting a PC entry for the first time in its nearly 30-year history A modder keeps turning Monster Hunter traps into Lego bricks so that the monsters will know true pain, and they've just done it again You've probably been pronouncing Balatro wrong all along, but 'it's kind of a gif/jif situation' HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most Best 14-inch gaming laptop in 2025: The top compact gaming laptops I've held in these hands Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I've tested Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Eagle OC Ice SFF review Nacon Rig M2 Streamstar review MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Ventus 3X OC White review Thunder X3 Lab-X review The First Berserker: Khazan review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Contact Future's experts Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cookies policy Advertise with us Accessibility Statement Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Please login or signup to comment Please wait...