Overview
Curse of Resthaven is a single-player narrative roguelite RPG that places a missing-person investigation inside a six-day countdown to catastrophe. Developed by Hilltop Studios and published by Digital Bandidos, it combines governing an island colony with deck-building expeditions. Finding the protagonist's niece, Amalia, means dealing with the town's problems as well as its secrets.
Resthaven's hand-drawn, graphic novel art frames a story of gothic intrigue and eldritch horror. The colony's residents have competing motives, while outside forces seek control of the island's power. The search for Amalia connects that larger struggle to a family mystery, giving the investigation personal stakes beyond saving the colony.
How does governing Resthaven work?
Town management in Curse of Resthaven revolves around allocating resources, improving businesses, and negotiating with visiting merchants. These decisions affect the colony's prosperity and open investigative leads, so spending decisions also help shape the search for Amalia. The core responsibilities include:
- Resource allocation
- Merchant haggling
- Business upgrades
- Resident interrogations
Across Resthaven's four town zones, more than 25 fully voiced characters offer information filtered through their own interests. Interrogation makes trust part of the investigation: a resident's motives and changing allegiances matter alongside the practical question of what that person knows about Amalia. Running the colony creates reasons to engage with the same people who guard its secrets.
Card-based expeditions beyond the walls
Expeditions carry the investigation beyond Resthaven through branching, card-driven encounters. Players assemble decks containing resources and companions, making preparation a decision about what to bring and who should accompany the journey. Those choices shape how expeditions unfold as the search follows Amalia's trail into the island's wilds.
Resthaven's randomized expeditions bring eldritch threats into that search. Branching encounters create different situations across repeated journeys, giving deck composition a role beyond simply collecting more cards. Preparation matters because the selected resources and companions influence how each expedition develops.
What survives the six-day loop?
When catastrophe strikes after six days, Resthaven's weakening guardian returns the protagonist to their arrival. Memories and experience survive the reset, while permanent skill upgrades provide progression across attempts. Temporary blessings from the island's goddess introduce another decision, pairing beneficial effects with penalties that complicate their appeal.
The Curse of Resthaven demo includes a complete six-day cycle and the first day of the following loop. It covers all four town zones, and saves transfer to the full game. That scope includes the reset itself, making persistent progression part of the opening chapter rather than something introduced afterward.
Three main narrative paths give the investigation different directions, with successive loops revealing more about Amalia and the forces pursuing the island's power. Randomized expeditions vary the journey, while retained knowledge changes the context of familiar conversations. The narrative roguelite structure makes understanding Resthaven a form of progress alongside permanent skill upgrades, tying repeated attempts to the central mystery.
