Warm weeks, cold weeks
Fourteen warm days, then fourteen cold ones. Rain, light snow, hail and heavy snow. Winter buries the berries, freezes the water and slows your walk.
First-person winter survival Coming soon
Donner's Gourge
Prepare while the weeks are warm. Hope you prepared enough.
In development · Windows PC
About the game
A homestead at the end of the trail
You asked for somewhere quiet. The people who sent you offered a homestead in a remote Canadian valley, and a payment for life if you would live there. They did not hide the catch: the people who lived there before you went missing, and they would like to know why.
The valley is a bowl of tall pines about 1.6 km across, with a waterfall, a river, a small lake, a cave and four trails leaving camp. Your camp has a fire, a small cabin, a ruined shed, a woodpile and a food cache. Fourteen warm days come first. Fourteen cold days follow, with deeper snow, hail, storms and a frozen river, and then it begins again.
Forage the trails, craft at the camp table, set bird traps and learn what the animals do. Everything you rely on runs out: firewood burns down, water has to be boiled, food spoils and the cabin wears in storms. There are no quest markers. You work out what to do next from the trails, the journal and whatever the camp is short of.
Features
What you’ll do
Reserves that run out
The fire goes out when the firewood does. Boil your water. Raw meat spoils in two days and smoked meat keeps for twenty-one. Warmth is its own meter.
Build and repair
Patch, reinforce and insulate the cabin. Repair the ruined shed, build chests, and craft arrows, spears, an axe, a smoke rack and bird traps at the camp table.
Deer, wolves and a bear
Animals see and hear you. Wolves hunt outside camp from dusk, and the bear charges if you stay. Butcher a kill with an axe or a spear, and read prints in the snow.
Five places beyond camp
A waterfall crossing, an abandoned camp, a wrecked supply sled, a lookout and a cave. Each is a short trip with a reward and a clue for your journal and map.
Know before winter
The Readiness panel counts your real food, water and fuel days, your shelter and your camp defense, and gives a rough two-day outlook.
Questions
FAQ
Can I play it yet?
Not publicly. Donner's Gourge is a playable prototype in active development (version 0.11). Leave your email for one message when there is something to try.
Is it multiplayer?
No. For now it is a single-player, first-person game for Windows.
Do I die?
You can. At zero Health you wake at the cot eight game hours later. The meat and water you were carrying are lost, and the rest of your pack waits where you fell for two game days. Nothing you built is lost.
Is the valley a real place?
No. It is a fictional valley inspired by the Cassiar Mountains and the northern Rockies, and the people and the mystery are the game's own. The name nods to a famous winter disaster.
What should I expect?
Survival hardship, hunting and fictional violence, with darker themes planned as the story grows. The mystery is the point, so the guide leaves it alone.
The valley is open. The winter is not finished.
Questions about the valley? The studio reads every message.