Procedural biomes

Windrose generates a procedural archipelago for each player, with island layouts, resource distribution, and biome placement varying between games. While the overarching biome types are fixed, their arrangement and size change. Character progression carries between worlds, so players can start a fresh world without losing levels or recipes.

Known biomes

Caribbean tropical islands

The starting biome, described as the "cradle of piracy." This is where players wash ashore after being shipwrecked by Blackbeard. It features tropical islands with basic resources: trees, rocks, ore deposits, and basic fauna. The Steam Next Fest demo covers this biome across three islands. It serves as the game's tutorial zone, teaching survival, crafting, and combat fundamentals.

Swamps

Marshy islands with dangerous creatures, including the Swamp Creature (a large boss-type enemy whose tooth can be used as a weapon component). The demo includes access to swamp areas with tougher enemies than the starting biome, including Drowners, zombie-like enemies that appear in early game. Swamps provide unique plant-based resources for crafting and cooking. Visibility is reduced and terrain is uneven, making navigation trickier.

Highlands

An elevated biome with rocky terrain and different resource distributions. Details on the Highlands are limited, but it represents a mid-game area with enemies tougher than the starting islands.

Jungles

Dense tropical forests with unique flora and fauna. The jungle biome provides rare plant-based materials for alchemy and cooking. Thick canopy reduces visibility and the uneven terrain creates opportunities for ambushes from both enemies and wildlife.

Ashlands

A scorched, volcanic biome revealed in the August 2025 devblog. The Ashlands represent a late-game area with high-tier resources and correspondingly dangerous enemies. The volcanic environment introduces corrupted enemies with supernatural abilities, tying the biome to the game's supernatural forces lore. The Ashlands contain new quests, expansive dungeons, and challenging boss encounters.

Biome-specific content

Each biome has its own:

• Resource types (different ores, plants, animal drops)

• Enemy types and boss encounters

• Environmental hazards (poisonous gas, volcanic heat, deep water)

• Building materials designed to reflect their biome, so outposts feel rooted in their surroundings

Environmental storytelling

Story in Windrose is "woven into the atmosphere rather than delivered through dialogue alone." Locations and objects are placed to "spark a question and reward curiosity with a piece of lore, a hidden item, or a clue pointing to something bigger." This means biomes are not just resource zones but narrative spaces that reveal the game's supernatural mysteries through exploration.

Navigation

Players can use constellation navigation when sailing between islands at night, using the stars to orient themselves across the open sea. This ties into the game's nautical theme and adds a layer of immersion to the exploration loop between islands.

Future biomes

The alpha featured three biomes and more are planned for Early Access. Character progress carries between different procedurally generated worlds, so players can start a fresh world to explore new biome arrangements without losing levels or recipes. Biome additions are a natural fit for Early Access content updates.