In this medieval fantasy world, magic is outlawed and inquisitors walk the streets. You’re a witch. Keep your head down, keep brewing, and whatever you do, don’t let them catch you snapping your fingers.
Altus Ludus, a one-person indie studio based in Belgrade, Serbia, has revealed its debut game, The Witch Simulator, and opened its Steam store page.
The Witch Simulator is a simulation game about the survival and daily life of a witch who must hide her identity in a world where magic is strictly forbidden.
Players can explore the world gathering mysterious ingredients, brew magical potions to sell in secret, hunt dangerous monsters, and wield powerful elemental magic in combat, mixing life-sim activities with action at their own pace.
The game supports immersive single-player play as well as online co-op for up to four players exploring and working together.
A Witch in Hiding, Brewing Potions in a World Without Magic
As a witch, you’ll roam forests and other regions gathering plants and ingredients and learning new potion recipes. Sometimes you’ll need to hunt dangerous monsters for rare materials.
Finished potions can solve villagers’ problems or be sold directly. You can even set up a stall and haggle with townsfolk over prices. What kind of witch you become is up to you: earn villagers’ trust by selling potions at fair prices, or become a wicked witch who cheats customers for extra coin.
Some problems can’t be solved with potions alone. Take on villager requests to hunt monsters and bring back the parts they need, or fight to defend the village when it’s under threat. These actions tie into your reputation. The ultimate goal is to build enough renown to make it through the castle gates and bring down the Grand Inquisitor who threatens all witches.
The developer cites The Witcher, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films as inspirations for the game’s world.
Evade the Inquisition: Elemental Magic and Broomsticks
In a world where magic is banned, staying undetected matters. Inquisitors patrol the villages and castle surroundings. You’ll need to use magic out of their sight, and when you sense danger, a snap of your fingers hides the traces of magic around you.
Miss an inquisitor’s approach, though, and you’ll be in trouble. According to the developer, if an inquisitor comes knocking and you refuse to open the door, they may break it down and come in anyway.
It’s more than a craft-and-sell life sim: the need to use magic while keeping your identity secret adds constant tension.
Flowing Elemental Magic and Broom Flight
Magic-based combat and exploration are also central. The developer highlights an elemental magic system built on fluid simulation: rather than playing fixed animations, spells flow, splash, and spread like liquid.
The broomstick, a witch’s signature, is more than transport. Fly across the world, race, or use it in combat.
Playstyle is up to you. Become a master artisan focused on brewing and selling, a bounty hunter tracking dangerous monsters, or dabble in a bit of everything.
Players will explore multiple regions with distinct environments, battling monsters and bosses. A day-night cycle and full controller support are also planned.
Solo or With Friends: Up to Four-Player Online Co-op
The Witch Simulator supports single-player and online co-op for up to four. Invite three friends to gather ingredients, brew potions, and fight monsters together. Voice chat for co-op is also planned.
Per the Steam page, the game supports interface and subtitles in 13 languages, including Korean, English, Japanese, French, German, and Italian, with full English voice-over.
A Software Developer’s First Game
Altus Ludus is a one-person studio based in Belgrade, Serbia.
Developer Mateja has worked as a professional software developer since 2014, and founded Altus Ludus to finish a game of his own from start to finish rather than stopping at prototypes.
He handles programming, design, and overall production himself in Unity. For art and music, the game combines work by contracted artists and a composer with licensed assets and self-made resources. The studio name combines the Latin altus (“deep”) and ludus (“play”).
A Demo at Steam Next Fest in February 2027
Altus Ludus plans to release a free demo of The Witch Simulator during Steam Next Fest in February 2027.
Since the game is still early in development, the demo will be the first real chance to see how potion crafting, elemental magic, hiding from inquisitors, and four-player co-op fit together in practice.
Who This Is For
Strong fit for: players who love witchy life sims with crafting and shopkeeping; fans of stealth tension and moral choices; friend groups looking for a four-player co-op fantasy sandbox; anyone drawn to grounded medieval settings in the vein of Kingdom Come: Deliverance with a magical twist; players excited by physics-driven spell effects.
Cautious fit for: players who prefer to wait for a demo before wishlisting, since it’s still early in development.
What to Watch For
The February 2027 Next Fest demo is the key milestone. Big questions: how well a solo developer can balance a wide range of systems (crafting, haggling, combat, stealth, broom flight, co-op), and whether the fluid-simulation magic delivers on its promise in real play.
The Takeaway
The Witch Simulator flips the usual fantasy power fantasy: magic is the thing you have to hide. Secret potion stalls, a reputation system that rewards honesty or greed, inquisitors who will kick your door down, flowing elemental spells, broom races, and four-player co-op make for an ambitious debut from a Belgrade solo developer. If the systems come together, the long road to the Grand Inquisitor could be a memorable one.
Wishlist now on Steam. Demo: Steam Next Fest, February 2027. Release: mid-2027.
Information regarding ‘The Witch Simulator’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Altus Ludus (Developer: Mateya) |
| Publisher | Altus Ludus (Self-distributed) |
| Genre | Action · Adventure · Casual · Indie · RPG · Simulation |
| platform | PC (Windows) |
| Release date | Mid-2027 (Steam notation: Q2 2027) |
| Player count | Single player, 1-4 player online co-op (voice chat supported) |
| language | 13 languages including Korean (Steam) |
| Reactions/Evaluations | Steam Next Fest demo scheduled for February 2027 |
| Steam Page | Shortcut |
