Publisher Owlcat Games and developer Emotion Spark Studio announced console ports for Rue Valley, their time-loop narrative RPG.
Rue Valley is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PS5 alongside its previously announced PC (via Steam) version.
Alongside news of the console ports is word of a global collab with Movember, the leading men’s health charity. The new partnership aims to showcase how the immersive power of gaming can be used to explore mental health in new and meaningful ways. The new collab includes:
- Meeting Players Where They Are: Using gaming as a familiar non‑clinical space, Rue Valley provides a natural approach to promote mental wellbeing.
- Gaming as Connection and Healing: Through the dynamic narrative and compelling characters, players are encouraged to reflect and engage in meaningful conversations.
- Normalizing Therapy: Rue Valley’s thoughtful approach to storytelling helps players explore what therapy can feel like in a safe, immersive way.
“We’re extremely proud to be working with the Movember team,” said Marko Smiljanić, Creative Director at Emotion Spark Studio. “Our partnership helps us convey the importance of mental wellbeing responsibly, drawing on their expertise to ensure these stories feel authentic.”
Movember’s Australasian Director of Young Men’s Health and psychologist Tom Mulvaney added, “We are committed to meeting young men where they are at and working with them and their communities in innovative ways to improve mental health. This partnership reflects a great opportunity to meet at the nexus of mental health and gaming to improve the coping skills of young men, supporting them to navigate life’s stressors both in and out of the game.”
Here’s a rundown on the game:
Rue Valley is a new isometric narrative RPG about a man trapped in a time loop who is dealing with mental challenges. Rue Valley will be one of the first games published by Owlcat Games, following the announcement of its new publishing arm earlier this week.
As the players navigate the world and deal with the tough emotions of the main character, they’ll need to understand the true nature of what’s happening in Rue Valley. Each character players encounter has their own complex emotional story, including the main character who must rise from the depths of his own struggles to uncover the secrets behind the anomaly causing the time loop.
Features:
- Craft Your Personality: Be a cold-hearted loner in one loop and a melodramatic loudmouth in the next. Rue Valley’s time loop resets everything, giving players the chance to experiment with their personalities, actions, and answers.
- Store Your Memories: Important memories can be stored in a graph, unlocking unique interactions around the Rue Valley Motel and new mindsets to help build out the main character.
- Uncover the Secrets of Rue Valley: An anomaly has trapped the area around the Rue Valley Motel in a time loop. Experiment with the main character’s actions each day until you have enough evidence to solve the mystery.
- 2D Parallax Artstyle: Rue Valley has an instantly recognizable, visually appealing comic book aesthetic inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Disco Elysium.
