Introducing Kagari: Covenant of the Seven Shrines

Night in a small village square. A boy in a green cloak stands behind a stone brazier with a burning flame, in front of a large bronze bell in a red wooden frame, with lantern-lit houses on either side. — The flame before the bell, at night. Work in progress.

Long before Kagari was founded, beasts tore across these lands. Then a travelling priestess came and calmed them, and chose the strongest seven to guard seven shrines. She built a village in the valley, and a flame still burns before its bell for the promise she made.

For generations, the shrine keepers tended their duties and the village thrived. But over time, families left to find a better life elsewhere, and the keepers' descendants forgot why any of it mattered. Today, the priestess and her promise are just an old town legend.

First look: the legend of Kagari, in a minute. Watch on YouTube.

A village that forgot

You arrive with an inherited letter and an old house on the edge of town. Kagari is small and a little quieter than it used to be, and the people who stayed have known each other all their lives.

Seven shrines, one old promise, and a village that forgot.

Getting to know the villagers is where it starts.

Morning in the village square, with villagers, a striped cat and low tiled roofs under a blue sky. — Morning in the square.

A stone stair through autumn trees up to a small red shrine hall. — The stair up to one of the shrines.

A shrine court on a sea cliff with a stone bridge, clear water and a waterwheel. — A shrine court by the sea.

The roads to the shrines

Each shrine sits at the end of an old keeper road, through the woods, along the coast or up into the highlands. Most of them haven't been walked in years. Now that the keepers have let their duties slip, the guardian beasts waiting at the end of them are restless, and the roads out of the village are no longer safe.

The hero swings a sword at a large white-and-red fox while an orange strip on the ground marks its next attack. — The Hearth Fox. Stay out of the orange.

Fights are in real time. The ground shows where an attack is about to land, so the trick is reading it early and moving before it arrives.

Between journeys

There's a homestead to look after, seasons and weather to live through, and a village that is slowly paying attention again. We'll write more about that side of the game later.

Where it's at

Kagari is in development for iPhone, built in Godot, with original characters, art and music made in-house. The screenshots here are work in progress, and some things will look different by the time it ships. We'll share more on this blog as it comes together.

Play it early

When Kagari is ready for outside eyes, we'll open a small playtest on iPhone through TestFlight. It isn't open yet. If you'd like an invite, leave your email below and we'll send one when it starts. We'll only use it for the playtest invite and to tell you when the game is out.

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