Mikiwam: Solarpunk Herbalism

An Indigenous fantasy narrative about complex relationships, magic, and post-colonial futures.

The Story:

This land is our home.
It's also home to many strange and wonderful beings, with powers far beyond human understanding.
When this land was young, our people made treaties with some of those beings. They took pity on us.
When people are born, they are adopted by a being who watches over them.
These beings may Gift them a tiny portion of their power.
Gifts are meant to help all of us survive together, but they can be dangerous if a person has no mentor to teach them...

Now, the Crown government has fallen. People everywhere are rebuilding their communities, remaking the abandoned cities, and forming new homes and structures of governance. There are few people left who know about or believe in the Gifts, and those who have them struggle to understand what they're experiencing.

You play as Awâsis, a healer's apprentice, as she learns how to use her Gift. Awâsis recently left Sonîsîpîhk city to move back to her mother's home community. Struggling with visions she can't control, and strained relationships with her family, she is taken in by the mysterious healer Matsi, who says she can teach her.

Gameplay:

Awâsis sees people's moods as elements, and she can use plants to influence people by shifting them into a different element. Use her gift to influence the lives of a colourful cast of characters. Your choices ripple out to affect people's relationships and the larger community's development. As you learn about new plants, you can find new reactions and storylines. People are not always who they seem to be.

Features:

• an alternate Indigenous-fantasy world set in the aftermath of decolonization, created by a Nehiyaw (Plains Cree) team
• magic elemental tea-making gameplay! boil pretty plants in a kettle!
• the choice of tea you serve influences character storylines
• queer romance options
• face moral dilemmas and question who to trust
• check Awâsis's journal to see her notes and reflections as the story progresses
• art hand drawn by Nehiyaw artist Caeleigh Lightning
• get cozy with an original Lofi soundtrack by Nehiyaw musician Taylor Lightning