Windrose mixes procedural island generation with hand-crafted points of interest. The live Steam store description says the Early Access launch build contains over 90 hand-crafted points of interest, while the About This Game section rounds that broader exploration pitch up to over 100 hand-crafted dungeons and points of interest. The key idea is the same in both descriptions: the world layout changes, but the important sites are authored spaces rather than random noise.
What Counts as a POI
POI Family | What You Usually Find There |
|---|---|
Ruins | Lore, loot, treasure clues, puzzles, or combat encounters |
Caves and mines | Ore, darkness, tighter combat spaces, and occasional side rewards |
Pirate camps | Human enemies, chests, trade goods, and Blackbeard-aligned loot |
Shipwrecks | Repair materials, chests, salvage, and sometimes quest progression |
Hidden caches | Smaller secret rewards that encourage cutting foliage, platforming, or reading the environment |
Boss or quest spaces | Major story fights, sealed interiors, and chapter-gating encounters |
Known Launch-Build Examples
Example | Type |
|---|---|
Ruins | |
Hidden cache | |
Enemy camp network | |
Broader catch-all for caves, ruins, boss interiors, and other curated spaces | |
Treasure-note destinations and dig sites |
How POIs Work Inside a Procedural World
Island layouts and travel routes vary between worlds.
The major sites themselves are designed by hand, so their encounter logic and purpose stay recognizable even when world geography shifts around them.
This is why discovery still matters: the map is not just empty filler between fixed towns. Your world asks you to go find the authored spaces.
Why POIs Matter More Than Simple Loot Runs
They drive quest progression and boss routes.
They are where many named treasure notes, plans, and unique or semi-unique rewards enter the game.
They teach the difference between surface survival and Windrose's deeper exploration game, especially once you move beyond the starter coastline.
What To Bring
Food buffs and healing
Oil Lamp or another reliable light plan for darker interiors
Fast Travel Bell or a tent plan if you expect multiple runs
Enough inventory space that one good chest does not force an immediate retreat
See Also
Dungeons - the deeper breakdown of dungeon-scale spaces
Coastal Jungle - where many players first learn Windrose's POI rhythm
Foothills - where POIs begin to feel more like mid-game content than tutorial landmarks
Bosses - how major encounters fit into the world's curated spaces