
- 70/100
- Players4 ratings
- 69/100
- Critics3 reviews
More scores
- Metacritic13 critic reviews
- 73/100
- Metacritic usersuser score
- 62/100
- GameFAQsTough
- 3.44/5
- Player reviews
- 76% positive382 reviews
- Steam Deck
- Playable
- Runs on
- Windows, Mac, Linux
- Price
- US$29.99
Where to get it

2016 · Snowcastle Games · Adventure · Indie
Earthlock
An original turn-based role-playing game set in a world of machines and magic, a world that stopped spinning thousands of years ago.
- Released
- 2016
- Platforms
- LinuxNintendo SwitchPlayStation 4Wii UWindowsXbox OnemacOS
- Genres
- AdventureIndiePuzzleRole-playingStrategy
- Developers
- Snowcastle Games
- Publishers
- Snowcastle Games
- Series
- Earthlock
- Modes
- Single-player
- Perspective
- Side view
- Themes
- ActionFantasy
- Country
- Norway
- Age ratings
- PEGI 12USK 12ESRB E10+
- Languages
- Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Spanish (Spain)
- Copies sold
- 2.5 million as of 2023-09-07
- Entry
- #1 in Earthlock
- Time to beat
- 22hmain story33hcompletionist
About
Earthlock (formerly titled Earthlock: Festival of Magic) is a 2016 role-playing video game developed and published by the Norwegian company Snowcastle Games for Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Wii U. The Xbox One version was launched on September 1, 2016 worldwide. The Windows, OS X, and Linux versions, initially planned for release at the same time as the Xbox One release, were postponed to September 27, 2016. The game is planned to be the first volume of an Earthlock trilogy.
The Wii U version was released on September 7, 2017 in Europe, and on September 14, 2017 in North America. A version for the Nintendo Switch was released on March 8, 2018. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who were heavily divided. Some called it a nostalgic throwback with memorable characters, while others panned its design as dated, and its art style, gameplay and/or story as bland or unoriginal.
›Story
Long ago, a cataclysmic event struck the magical world of Umbra. Suddenly and mysteriously the planet stopped spinning. Volcanoes awoke and oceans moved. Kingdoms and civilizations were buried or drowned.
Soon, the scourging sun took hold of one side of the world, while dark winter seized the other. Today the glory and might of the old world is buried and the only habitable region can be found in between.
The evidence of Umbra’s past lies scattered about as ruins, treasures and artifacts. In the new world, rebuilt but far from as advanced as the old one, archaeologists and scavengers supply the rich and powerful with ancient technology and magical artifacts exhumed from ice, sea and sand. It is a world divided by those who dabble in magic and those who tinker with technology.
You start off as Amon, an audacious scavenger from a small desert town, who gets embroiled in a treacherous conflict between the mighty Suvian Empire and those who want to bring Suvia down.
Your quest for peace will take you to the corners of the world to unlock the secrets of Umbra’s mysterious, catastrophic past. Along the way you’ll explore oceans, vast deserts and snow-buried lands, rebuild your island base, gather seeds to sow and harvest ammo, get more allies to join your quest, crack puzzles and overcome fierce monsters.
Players say
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
The game plays as a non-linear role-playing video game with turn based battles. In combat, characters fight in pairs - a "warrior" and a "protector". The warrior uses consumable items such as ammunition, while the protector can perform spells like healing and shields. When the characters are damaged by enemies, they accumulate support points, which can be used to activate other moves. Pairing different combinations of characters unlocks different moves and tactics, greatly affecting the flow of battle.
Story
The game's story takes place in the world of Umbra, where a cataclysmic event occurs that stops the planet from spinning. This leaves part of the world scorched by constant sunlight, part of it perpetually cold due to lack of sunlight, and a patch of livable land in between. The incident ends up burying much of the past advanced civilization, but humanity survives and society begins anew in the habitable part of the planet. The story follows the adventurer Amon, who, among his usual activities of scavenging ruins, gets entangled in a much larger conflict with the ruling Suvian Empire.
Development
The game is inspired by early Square Japanese role-playing games, though Snowcastle wanted to subvert common genre character stereotypes. Development for the game started as early as 2011, with a pre-alpha build trailer being released in May 2013. The game was originally just known by its subtitle, Festival of Magic.
In November 2013, the game was placed on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter with the aim of securing $250,000 in funding. However, Snowcastle later pulled from the platform, due to it getting lost in the crowd during the holiday season. A fresh Kickstarter campaign was launched in March 2014 with a lowered goal of $150,000. This second campaign was successful, raising $178,000 in April 2014. The game's plot was written by comic book writer Magnus Aspli.
Reception
Prior to its re-release, the game received an aggregate score of 56/100 for its PlayStation 4 version and 66/100 for its Xbox One version, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Its post-revamp Nintendo Switch version received a higher, though still mixed score of 73/100.
Legacy
The game received a more casual spin-off, Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Adventure, a single-player or co-op adventure and crafting game about exploring a mysterious island. It was initially released for PC on November 9, 2023, and, later, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, on March 21, 2024. A sequel, Earthlock 2, was also announced in 2020, and planned for release in 2022, although it was delayed several times. The sequel was re-revealed in 2024, with the plot revolving around exploring and bringing life back to the Desert of Kor using a special "Desert Ship". An additional game is reportedly planned due to a deal between Snowcastle Games and Jagex.
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
Editions and related releases
- Expanded editions
- Earthlock
- Built on it
- Earthlock
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Years
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Platform libraries
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
