Neverspring Chronicles

Word From The Developer:

I started this project in 2004, thinking it would be a novel. I finished it in 2025 as this video game. No team, no fans, no budget... but I did it anyways.

Neverspring Chronicles started as a book idea called Durance of Magic when I was a teenager. I didn’t have the patience or attention span to write a novel back then, but the desire to tell the story stuck with me. So in 2009, I switched mediums: I’d make a game instead.

I started taking myself seriously by being brutally honest with myself. I had no idea how to code. I didn’t understand proper game flow or how to write dialogue that worked in-game. I didn't have money to take any writing classes or anything so I had to teach myself... Coding, scripting, writing, pacing—all of it.

I taught myself what I needed to know with whatever I came across, and it probably shows. My only real storytelling education came from two YouTube channels—one focused on movie screenwriting and one on film critique. So the way Neverspring tells its story might feel different from your average JRPG, because it's shaped by cinema.

In 2022, I finally had something playable. It wasn’t perfect, but I put it out on Steam Early Access to motivate myself. The second I did… I realized how far I still had to go. I had learned so much during the development process that all I could see was how amateur it was. So I did the hardest thing for any game dev: I scrapped it and started from scratch.

I rewrote the game from the ground up, then released a new demo. A few kind souls left some encouraging comments but... still mostly silence. I learned a lot along the way, but the biggest lesson I learned as a solo dev? It's that nobody cares. And you can’t blame them! Everybody is busy living their own lives. Even friends and family who said “That’s amazing!” never so much as pressed the like button on a YouTube trailer. They never played a build. Never followed up.

So I stopped asking. I stopped posting. I just... worked.

Meanwhile, real life didn’t stop. Relationships came and went. I was in and out of the hospital. At one point I even lost my home. Literally homeless, car and tent, wiring a marine battery to my alternator to charge my laptop so I could keep working. There were days when I thought: ‘Why am I even doing this? Who is this even for?’

But I kept going. I had come too far and I had to finish this.

In March 2025, I hit publish and released Neverspring into the world, probably to sit quietly among thousands of forgotten titles... Part of me sure it would simply disappear into the same obscurity from which it came.

I couldn't help but remember what my dad told me as a kid when I said I wanted to be a writer:

He took me to a bookstore and pointed to all the fantasy novels on the shelves.

‘That’s your competition,’ he said. ‘You’ll never make it. You’ll be lost in the crowd. Don’t waste your time.’

Maybe he was right.

But what he didn’t know was what it feels like to create something for no one but yourself... And finish it!

No paycheck. No fans, no followers. Just a smoldering ember of hope and the need to create.

So if you're reading this, if you're out there working on something in silence and no one is watching... you’re not alone. Keep going.

And if you want to see what 20 years of quiet effort looks like… Neverspring Chronicles will be here.

Blurb & Synopsis:

Marrick and Natasha were just kids when a violent coup in the Imperial Senate took their father's life and split them apart. One became a street-wise thief on the run from his past. The other, a prodigy sorceress raised in secret behind monastery walls. But fate will bring them back together when a mysterious relic offers them a clue to their father's murder.

Step into another world where ancient gods slumber, waiting to be awakened by the wrong hands. Lead a party of reluctant heroes caught between the ambitions of a driven adversary and the mysteries of a shattered realm. Explore ancient ruins, treacherous forests, and forgotten temples, all while building relationships with a cast of unforgettable characters in a strange and fantastic world.

Features:

• A traditional 90's era style JRPG from humble origins almost 20 years in the making. Experience a rich and dynamic narrative for a classic story-driven adventure.

• Average playtime of 15-20 hours.

• Show your support for the little guys and see the hard work of multiple independent artists and musicians come together to form a strange and fantastic world.

• Interact with a cast of 10 playable characters through a well-paced story on a distant world.

• Traditional sideview RPG combat with just enough modernization to keep things fun and engaging without losing that 1990's feel.

• Explore hand-crafted maps bristling with riches and danger. Lots of easter eggs, hidden secrets, and optional content easily missed by the hasty adventurer.

• Enjoy a brand new fantasy world rich in established lore and history full of secrets to be unraveled. Your efforts will be rewarded with gold, power, and knowledge against your enemies.