Saltstone Studios ⚓️The Hearth and Harbour⚓️

St Patrick's Day Steam Sale Brings Irish Games to a Global Audience — Imirt Imirt - The Irish Game Makers Association is proud to present the Games from Ireland Steam Event , a week-long digital showcase celebrating games made in Ireland or shaped by Irish creative talent an...

We’re delighted to reveal the Irish Games art-piece we commissioned from acclaimed Irish artist and game developer @denmanrooke.com, showcasing some of the incredible games and characters from across Irish games, alongside touchpoints of Irish culture.

www.imirt.ie/news/2026/3/...

Close ups ❤️

This month we’re sharing this lovely Yorensday scene on the Temperance by @birbwell.bsky.social ! This was made for Christmas but we’re late sharing it, that’s our bad hehe

You can find Birbwell on tumblr as well!!

➕ Playable at New Game Plus

🍽️ The Hearth and Harbour - @saltstonestudios.bsky.social Games

Transform a run-down restaurant and shape your future in this management RPG. Decide what you’ll serve, and who you’ll become, as a storm brews and every choice carries weight.

🎟️ tickets.games.london

Thank you so much!!

I couldn't really find many pictures from Pale's development that weren't slightly cursed, but I would like to express huge gratefulness to our team that worked so hard to make this game exist, and are currently working just as hard on the next game 💙

We definitely didn’t forget today is The Pale Beyond’s THIRD ANNIVERSARY! Happy birthday Pale!

Thank you everyone who’s supported us! Friends and family and anyone who’s played the game and (hopefully maybe) thought it was good 💙

You really do meet all kinds of people when doing the daily service...

Unluckily for you, this particular customer loves to wax poetic 📝

Wishlist @saltstonestudios.bsky.social's #TheHearthandHarbour on Steam today!
🍽️ bit.ly/HearthHarbou...

A little sneaky preview of a new* location in The Hearth and Harbour! ⛵️

*location may be familiar to players who have finished The Pale Beyond ❄️

#indiegames #indiedev

Very VERY excited to see this familiar spot return.

A little sneaky preview of a new* location in The Hearth and Harbour! ⛵️

*location may be familiar to players who have finished The Pale Beyond ❄️

#indiegames #indiedev

We’re so excited to be part of @rawfury.bsky.social ’s Global Foodie Faire! If you like games about food n cookin’ then this is for you!

Wishlist The Hearth and Harbour! 🥘
bit.ly/HearthHarbou...

Check out the event, there are so many great games! 👨‍🍳
store.steampowered.com/publisher/ra...

Debuted an early demo of our game last week

Debuted an early demo of our game last week

🌍 Official Selection 2026 announcement 🌍

We’re excited to reveal the first Official Selection games for 2026, featuring titles from studios around the world.

Experience these titles first-hand at New Game Plus.

#LGF26

THE HEARTH & HARBOUR - Saltstone Studios

TURNBOUND - 1TK

RHELL: WARPED WORLDS & TROUBLED TIMES - SlugGlove

ASTRO BURN - Beyond The Pixels

PIGEON: A LOVE STORY - Wristwork

ECHOES OF MORA - Selkies Interactive

IMPRINTED - Cobalt Lane

FROG SQWAD - Panic Station

Heading to rendr today to get set up for the event! If youre in Belfast tomorrow and friday you can come and play a demo of The Hearth and Harbour! 🥘

“coldest place in the world is a great place to find love :]”

We are very into this ship and this beautiful art by @niko-trash.bsky.social 👀

Game Design Deep Dive PART 1 An Interview with the game designer and game director about our upcoming game, The Hearth and Harbour Hello everyone! Welcome to a new year! On our first day back to work, I sat down with James, ou…

If you're interested, Part 1 can be read here!

And if you like newsletters, you can sign up on our website to have these monthly updates emailed to your inbox so you don't miss anything!

saltstonestudios.com/2026/01/13/g...

Game Design Deep Dive PART 2 An Interview with the game designer and game director about our upcoming game, The Hearth and Harbour Hello again! Welcome back! On our first day back to work, I sat down with James, our game direc…

New blog post today!! Part 2 of an interview with James, our game director, and Ethan, our game designer, getting into the themes and thoughts behind our upcoming game The Hearth and Harbour!

saltstonestudios.com/2026/02/02/g...

Thanks so much!

In Lewthport, it pays to be kind 🥰

Strike up a friendly conversation with a vendor to learn new recipes, and even more artisans to befriend 🤝

Wishlist @saltstonestudios.bsky.social #TheHearthandHarbour on Steam!
🍽️ bit.ly/HearthHarbou...

Ever wondered how hand drawn animation is made for games?

Let’s go through the process of animating a character for our new game The Hearth and Harbour - from start, to finish!
(Thread 1/10)

Some of the important characters in the game animate when the player interacts with them - this makes them feel alive and responsive!
(2/10)

Cyril, your chef companion, might be the character you interact with the most! Cyril is a down-to-earth and loyal, but very tired, man, given that he works for you, and is also father to five hooligan kids.
(3/10)

The first step is to bully our dev director @thislop.bsky.social into posing for @jessanight.bsky.social to help figure out how best to get Cyril’s personality across.
(4/10)

For this kind of animation, Cyril has to start and end in the same position. Using his sprite as a base, we roughly sketch out the key frames - important poses in an animation.

The iso characters are small on screen, and we use limited animation techniques to stay within scope.
(5/10)

We use anticipation and overshoot frames at the start and end of a movement to imply the characters are moving a little more than they actually are.
(6/10)

The next step is tie-down - tightening anatomy and making sure each part of Cyril moves in a smooth arc and doesn’t jitter around.
(7/10)

This is also when we’re animating the fabric to help sell the overall motion - it follows a frame or so after he does, which adds weight to the animation.
(8/10)