The Co-Director of The Last of Us Unveils a Radically Different New Game

In a night dominated by intense trailers for high-octane action games, one reveal at The Game Awards caught everyone’s attention for its unique charm: Coven of the Chicken Foot. This title broke the mold of the evening, presenting a single-player experience with stunning cel-shaded graphics, featuring an elderly woman as the protagonist. This marks the debut game from Bruce Straley, co-director of the original The Last of Us, since his departure from Naughty Dog in 2017.

In a recent interview, Straley opened up about his unexpected exit from Naughty Dog, which came shortly after the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. After spending 18 years with the studio, he began to feel trapped in a cycle of repetition as the company focused on its signature style of games. Over the previous two decades, Naughty Dog had also produced titles like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter before honing in on the cinematic action of Uncharted and The Last of Us, the only franchises they’ve released since 2007.

“I felt like I was answering the same questions over and over again,” Straley shared. “We were kind of in this paradigm of this style of game—that I was part of creating! But it felt like I’ve been in this position before. My brain isn’t good with that type of repetition. I need new problems to solve, I need new creative outlets. I’m not saying there wouldn’t be opportunities there, but couple that feeling with the idea that I was working really, really hard at something that wasn’t mine.”

Coven of the Chicken Foot represents a bold departure from that cycle. As the first game from Wildflower Interactive, a small team of 16 formed in 2021, it’s described as an “emotionally rich, stylized, single-player adventure.” Players take on the role of Gertie, an elderly witch, who is joined by a quirky creature that learns from her actions to assist her on their adventures through forests, dungeons, and swamps. The game promises that this unnamed companion will be an NPC shaped by the player’s choices.

Elderly women are often underrepresented in gaming, typically relegated to villainous roles. The only other instance of a playable elderly woman that comes to mind is from Tale of Tales’ 2008 title, The Graveyard, which I found delightful. Coven of the Chicken Foot looks enchanting, though its creature design and vocalizations remind me a bit too much of Ori. While there’s no release date yet, you can already add the game to your wishlist on Steam.