This New Witchy Platformer is From The Last of Us Director

Coven of the Chicken Foot is the debut fantasy puzzle platformer from The Last of Us co-director Bruce Straley’s studio Wildflower Interactive, coming to PC via Steam with a witch, a creature and zero dialogue.

Coven of the Chicken Foot: Bruce Straley’s New Game

Bruce Straley, the co-director behind Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us, is back after nearly a decade away from game development — and he’s not making another blockbuster. His new studio, Wildflower Interactive, has revealed its first game, Coven of the Chicken Foot, a fantasy puzzle platformer about an old witch and a strange creature bound by an oath. There’s no dialogue, no combat-heavy missions, just a focus on storytelling through animation and the growing bond between the two. It’s weird, quiet, and a far cry from the cinematic chaos Straley helped define at Naughty Dog — and that’s exactly the point.

Coven of the Chicken Foot is the first game from Bruce Straley's new studio, Wildflower Interactive
You play as Gertie, an elderly witch teaming up with a strange creature in a fantasy puzzle platformer
The game has no spoken dialogue and leans on environmental storytelling and animation to tell its story

Coven of the Chicken Foot: the basics

Coven of the Chicken Foot is a single-player fantasy puzzle platformer where you play as Gertie, an elderly witch trying to fulfil an oath after the “heroes” have already looted the place.

You control Gertie, not a shiny knight or chosen one.
She partners with a large, odd creature that learns from how you play.
There’s no dialogue – the story is told through visuals, animation and the world itself.
You explore dungeons, forests, catacombs of fallen heroes and nasty bogs.

Instead of another sword-swinging action game, Wildflower is going for something more low-key and strange. Gertie isn’t double-jumping her way across chasms; she’s a slow, deliberate character who survives by working with her creature companion and reading the environment. The pitch is basically “fantasy adventure, but from the witch at the edge of the map, not the hero on the statue.”

Bruce Straley and Wildflower: from Naughty Dog to weird witches

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Bruce Straley spent 18 years at Naughty Dog. He started as an artist on Jak and Daxter, then moved up to co-direct Uncharted 2, The Last of Us, Left Behind and Uncharted 4 before stepping away from the industry in 2017.

18 years at Naughty Dog on Jak and Daxter, Uncharted and The Last of Us.
Left the studio and the industry in 2017.
Returned years later to found Wildflower Interactive.
Wildflower focuses on “small-ish, creatively charged, uniquely stylised” games.

For anyone who’s replayed Naughty Dog’s work recently – like our guide on how to play The Last of Us Part II Remastered in order – Straley coming back with a smaller, more experimental project is interesting. Instead of chasing another prestige PS5 epic, he’s built a studio specifically aimed at trying odd ideas like wordless storytelling and a heavily AI-driven companion.

A “playable relationship” instead of just a sidekick

Wildflower’s big sell is the bond between Gertie and her creature. The studio describes the companion as something that observes your play, adapts and develops new behaviours over time, changing how you move through the world and solve puzzles.

The creature is non-playable but central to traversal and puzzles.
Its behaviour shifts based on how you interact and what you do.
It has its own motivations and personality, not just “press X to boost you up a ledge”.
The story is about this relationship as much as the fantasy world.

We’ve all seen “AI companions” that mostly mean “NPC that shouts tips and stands in fire”. Wildflower is talking up something more systemic: a semi-open, puzzle-heavy world where the creature doesn’t just follow you, but changes how routes open up and how solutions appear. If it works, this could feel closer to building trust with a pet or familiar than babysitting yet another escort mission.

Wordless storytelling and a different take on fantasy

One of the boldest choices: Coven of the Chicken Foot has no spoken dialogue at all. Gertie and the creature don’t share a language, and the game leans on animation, sound, and environment design to communicate what’s going on.

No voiced lines, no text boxes full of lore dumps.
The world – dungeons, forests, catacombs, bogs – does the heavy lifting.
The story questions who the “real heroes” are after the usual fantasy quest is over.
Visual style mixes charm with darker undertones rather than pure grimdark.

For players in the UAE used to big cinematic franchises, this sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s closer in spirit to the quieter narrative streak we see at awards shows – the same world where indie and “indie-adjacent” games regularly stand next to blockbusters in our Game Awards 2025 winners list.

Who is making Coven of the Chicken Foot?

The game is developed and published by Wildflower Interactive, the new studio founded by former Naughty Dog veteran and The Last of Us co-director Bruce Straley.

Which platforms will Coven of the Chicken Foot release on?

Right now it’s only confirmed for PC via Steam, with single-player support and no console versions announced yet.

Is there a release date or UAE pricing yet?

There’s no release date or launch window; the Steam page lists the release as “to be announced”. Regional pricing for the UAE has not been specified yet, but you can already wishlist the game on Steam to get notified when it’s closer to launch.