The last few years have featured a stream of visually impressive titles from Chinese developers coming at a regular clip. That trend continues with Of Peaks and Tides, an open-world survival sandbox game revealed with a debut trailer Thursday by developer CyancookGames.
Inspired by Eastern mythology, Of Peaks and Tides takes place in Everland, a world the gods abandoned after a long celestial war. The once-thriving civilizations built by mankind’s tribes have been reduced to ashes after 1,000 years of conflict, and the Ascent — a tower that once connected the realms of humans and gods — lies crumbling at the heart of the world.
After the gods departed, the forces of nature they once governed went out of control, leading to natural disasters that prevented civilization from rebuilding. Divine remnants and unique beasts created by the gods now roam the land, posing deadly threats to everyone unlucky enough to come across them.
So, needless to say, this is a dangerous and magical world, filled with remnants of humanity’s lost glory. You’ll embark on a journey — either solo or with friends — to uncover these remnants, explore the vast open world, and help rebuild the once mighty human tribes.
That journey will take you through several biomes, each with their own unique challenges. Lushland is plagued by constant floods, the Gobi Desert is home to Fire Ravens that whip sand dunes into fiery storms, and Mount Nyenchen is beset by endless blizzards.
To help survive these harsh conditions, you’ll need to build yourself a base. You can choose whatever location you want, and you’ll build from scratch using wood and other materials you gather. You can build your base on the ground or in the mountains to use the environment to your advantage … or you can rise above that environment and build on the back of one of Everland’s giant beasts.
Many of the world’s beasts can be tamed, from the adorable Owler to the massive Si (pictured below), and each requires a different strategy. Some prefer offerings, while others will only respect shows of strength. The benefits of taming each beast depend on its size. Some can be used as mounts (including flying mounts), but if you successfully tame a big enough beast, you can build your base on top of it — and boom, now you have a mobile base that can travel with you as you explore.
While each of the environments has its own natural disasters, they all have dynamic weather systems that will change as you explore. You’ll deal with rain, snow, fog, and certain terrain types will get special types of weather. But you’ll find the weather can cause unique and unexpected interactions.
For example, if you’re wearing the Lotus Suit (a piece of equipment you can craft), it will bloom when it encounters rain and you’ll suddenly be covered in flowers. And you can use hazards like floods and sandstorms to your advantage, luring beasts into them to weaken them.
And as you probably noticed from the screenshots throughout this article, Of Peaks and Tides’ visuals are eye-catching, built in Unreal Engine 5 but maintaining a distinct identity thanks to its Eastern mythology inspirations. The verdant Lushland looks like something pulled from a fairy tale, while snowcapped Mount Nyenchen is treacherous and threatening.
The first trailer and batch of images only give us a brief glimpse of the world, with more reveals and information to come in the future. Of Peaks and Tides is scheduled for release on PC via Steam in 2026, and it’s available to wishlist now. For more information and to stay up to date on the latest news, you can check out the Steam page and Twitter account.
