Table of Content

03 05 To the new Spiritfarer

01
The Beginnings
Early Concepts.................................... 04
Everdoor................................................ 10
Charon................................................... 11
Stella & Daffodil................................ 12
On the Boat
Stella’s Cabin..................................... 46
World Characters
Albert..................................................... 72 Eldritch horrors, endless caverns and dark, tentacled monsters filled our minds
Guest House......................................
Kitchen..................................................
48
49
Alex........................................................
Francis.................................................
73
74
in the summer of 2017. We’d just shipped Sundered, our second game, and we
needed a break. A break from the darkness, from difficult gameplay and from
Loom...................................................... 50 Susan................................................... 75 the sacrifice of one’s humanity in search for power (our daily struggle at that
Sawmill................................................. 51 Theodore Raccon Inc.................. 76 point).
Cellar...................................................... 52
The Produce Aisle........................... 53 We sought new horizons: colours, warmth and joy. But it simply wouldn’t be a

06
Chicken Coop..................................... 54 Thunder Lotus game without something more. A game with emotion, intention
Sheep Enclosure & Cow Stall..... 55 and reflection. A game which would become Spiritfarer, a cozy management

02
Lounge................................................. 57 game about dying.
Smelter.................................................
Archive Room...................................
58
60 World Destinations This artbook chronicles the artistic journey of Spiritfarer, of our small team
of artists and how we ended up making what became Thunder Lotus’ most
Spirits Hummingberg...................................
Furogawa............................................
80
84 ambitious game ever.

04
Gwen...................................................... 18 Crow’s End......................................... 88
Industrial District............................ 92 We hope you enjoy the journey as much as we did.
Atul......................................................... 20
Summer................................................ 22 Oxbury.................................................. 94
Alice....................................................... 24 Overbrook........................................... 98
Astrid & Giovanni.............................. 26 Sea Events
07
Gustav................................................... 28
Stan....................................................... 30 Jellyfish, Fireflies & Rabbits....... 62
Buck....................................................... 32 Pulsar Rays........................................ 63
Bruce & Mickey................................ 34 Nebula Pillbugs................................ 64
Elena.....................................................
Beverly.................................................
36
38
Dust Shades.......................................
Comet Showers.................................
65
66
Sundry
Jackie.................................................. 40 Shadow Steel Orcs.......................... 67 Storyboards....................................... 102
Daria.................................................... 42 Olga, Masha, Irina......................... 68 Hades................................................... 104
Lily......................................................... 44 Sea Dragons..................................... 70 Stella’s Memories........................... 106
2 Various Updates’ Key Art............ 110 3
Lexicon................................................. 112 Fair warning to all!
This book contains many, many SPOILERS for Spiritfarer. All of them.
 Early Concepts

On the train, there was this idea that some

spirits were generic spirits--those would come and go
on your train, and didn’t require a lot from you. The other
Spiritfarer’s boat initially started spirits were the unique ones, and those would have been
out as a static hotel. It came from the desire the ones that needed your help the most, those you end up
to create a story that would incorporate it to connecting with.
the myth of Charon and the river Styx. The
idea behind migrating it to a train was to
evoke the idea of life running its course, until
its final destination.

These designs were first pitches as to what the

types of train spirit passengers could look like,
It also allowed us to change scenery in a 2D and would serve as a launching pad for some of
environment, and explore new horizons. Trains evoke a very the later designs.
nostalgic, old timey feeling that we wanted to explore, and thus
was born the spirit hotel train!

4 5
Art: J. Gauthier Art: A. Boyer
 In what felt like a very natural transition, we ended up going with a boat hotel.
We chose the soothing sounds of waves gently rocking your boat over the mechanical
sounds of a steam engine running throughout the game, and it set the tone for what would
become a peaceful journey into characters’ final moments.

6 7
Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier
8 Top, p. 8-9: This was the first completed illustration that would serve as a visual guide for all of the 9
Bottom, p. 8-9: Our first attempts at illustrating the different times of day.
backgrounds in Spiritfarer. Art: J. Gauthier
 Everdoor Charon

The Everdoor was one of the first things we knew

we wanted in the game, before we even knew what our
protagonist would look like. Inspired by the breathtaking
Rakotzbrücke Devil’s Bridge in Gablenz, Germany, for how
perfect a circle it forms with its reflection once the waters
below are calm enough to allow it. We don’t remember
exactly how we first came across it, but it was hard not to
imagine it as a portal to another realm, and maybe to the
great beyond.

We wanted the scene to have

Stella’s first hello and first goodbye, Charon, was a fun
striking, vibrant colors while also invoking
character to explore. Having a stark contrast between a colorful Stella
serenity and comfort. The loud red of the
and a classical, grim and darker Charon was at the core of Spiritfarer’s
water is made peaceful by its stillness and by
inception. It also helped define how Stella would be influenced by
the soft, white billowing trees adorning it.
Greek mythology, as well as its significance to her. Figuring out how to
represent him in Spiritfarer meant figuring out who he was, and what
his personality was. Was he friendly? Goofy? Was he almighty, or even
evil? In the end, we decided Charon should be regal, while still being
amicable towards Stella, as he understands the monumental task
he asks of her. He knows his time is up, but trusts Stella to make the
10 journey her own. 11
Art: J. Gauthier
Art: J. Gauthier
 Stella & Daffodil Stella & Daffodil - Early Concepts

Stella, even from her first iterations, was always a kind and loving character.
She was meant to represent the best of people, and to illustrate how big an impact love
and empathy towards others can have. Her characteristically huge star hat reflects
her good - albeit sometimes a little childish - nature, and how, like a star, she shines
when she steps into a room. Though she is not without her own struggles, she knows
her life is made better by the people she has met and befriended, and it ultimately is
the reason why she meets all of her friends as spirits once more, before their own last
voyage.

Always accompanied by her trusty companion, Daffodil the cat, she takes strength
and pride in knowing she has helped people she cared about, even if sometimes with
just a smile. Daffodil can sense her sadness, and always makes sure to provide the
best support a cat can offer--cuddles and purrs.

As Spiritfarer’s creation evolved, it became clear to us that Stella had to have been
a real person, and had to have lived a real life. The world of Spiritfarer then became
a projection of Stella’s life as an end-of-life care nurse, imagined by her while she,
herself, was living through her final moments.

Back when our idea of “online” for Spiritfarer involved one person per ship, Stella was actually two
people; a brother and a sister. The sister was originally much younger, while the brother was slightly older.
The idea behind it was that you would pick a character, and encounter your sibling and their ship, online,
when you would meet other people. However, due to many time and budget constraints, we had to remove
the idea of meeting ship-to-ship, and it left us with one protagonist, and eventually... her cat!

12 13
Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier
 Silhouettes were extremely important to the development of
Stella’s design, as this was the way we figured out the angle at which
her hat showed off its shape the best, and how large it needed to be for
her to use in order to glide through the air. It also allowed us to see how
all of her previous clothes affected her movement readability, and we
settled for the puffy-sleeved yellow shirt and teal (very) high waist pants.
Her Everlight would also officially sit on her belt for good, and Daffodil
would later be given one as well.

The online concept explained in page 13 briefly

overlapped with the cat idea, but was quickly
scrapped for the aforementioned reasons. That
left us with a cute main character and her goofy
Daffodil, one we had to dress and the other to color!
(This is also when the star hat was born!)

14 15

Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier

 Early Spirits

In the beginning, every Spirit was cloaked, masked. Drawing

some of the inspiration from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, the idea
behind the uniformity of the characters was also to decrease the
amount of unique animations necessary to complete the game. The
hands also had to be hidden, in order to reveal nothing of the person
underneath. After many attempts at designing different versions of
this idea and briefly testing it in-game, it became clear to us that while
the uniformity permitted us to maximize the number of spirits aboard,
their anonymity lessened the possibility of any personal connection
forming with Stella, and by extention, the player.

We tried giving cloaked spirits different masks that we hoped would give them
enough individuality, but in the end, only being able to see the full Spirit really accomplished
the desired effect. That revelation, however, made us realize that there was immense
satisfaction in discovering a Spirit’s true identity, and offered a great potential in terms of
choice for the characters. A Spirit would have to choose to reveal themselves to you, and
that, to us, became important.

16 17
Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier
 Gwen

Gwen’s parents had been friends with Stella’s family long before they
moved to North America. As such, Gwen had been one of the very few constants in
Stella’s life up to adulthood.

Gifted with a brilliant mind and a pragmatic attitude, she had a mischievous side.
Being a couple of years older than Stella, Gwen had always been a big sister figure
for her; one who would always nudge her towards self-affirmation and taking the
risks she otherwise wouldn’t dare to take on her own.

Heir to an aristocratic but mostly dysfunctional family, Gwen had a difficult relationship
with her father. He was proud of his daughter, but would often distastefully parade
her and her intelligence as a way to receive self-aggrandizement.

Symbolic of her rebellious nature and her opposition to a guardian she had to call
“Father”, Gwen picked up smoking at a very young age. Yet, despite all her courage
and bravado, she never mustered the courage to smoke publicly or in front of him.
Ironically, smoking is what eventually killed Gwen, when she passed from lung
cancer in her 40s. As she reached the final stage of her disease, Gwen travelled
back to her parent’s manor in Northern Italy’s Alpine Lakes region, and considered
committing suicide.

Ultimately, Stella reached out to her at that moment, and succeeded in helping
Gwen accept her fate rather than taking her own life.

Although a woman, Gwen as a Spirit owns magnificent antlers, which symbolise the
admiration Stella has for her friend, and how she managed to carve out a brilliant
career in a male-dominated professional world. Gwen’s house was probably the first one we ever drew. As such, it went through
a fair amount of changes. When her loom became its own building, we gave her a reading
nook, along with some storage for her books and fabrics. When designing for Gwen,
elegance and tastefulness were always our primary concerns. We tried many palettes
before settling on dark blues and pastels, which we felt not only balanced eachother out
nicely, but got across her witty yet down to earth personality.
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Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Atul
Atul’s shed is just like him; bright,
practical, and full of surprises! It features a
little desk with an easy to access tool display,
a framed picture of him and his union friend
Zaz, and a big industrial shelf, where he
stores his personal possessions. The teal we
Inspired by one of our team members’ departed uncle, Atul is a chose for his home is a call back to Stella’s
playful, boisterous character with a heart of gold and a neverending appetite own cabin, a visual representation of their
for food and life. Stella’s paternal uncle, he emigrated to northeastern France familial bond.
at the same time as Stella and her parents, before they settled a decade later
across the Atlantic Ocean.
As a true handyman, he occupied various technical functions in many
construction fields until he found his true vocation: union leader, fighting for
the rights of disparaged workers.

Atul took great pride in teaching Stella all he could about life’s little things, from
fishing to cooking, to simply sitting and enjoying the sunset.

As cheerful and petulant as could be, Atul hid an emotional hole that
unfortunately could not be filled, regardless of all the love he received, no
matter how sensational the gourmet food he ate was.

While Stella was still in Europe in her early twenties, Atul disappeared without
a trace. This was a great shock to Stella, and she never truly learned what had
happened to him. His disappearance was one of the reasons Stella decided
to move to North America with her mother, Marie, and her second sister, Lily.

The white lily Atul wears is a symbol of purity, a quality Stella has always seen
in her uncle’s intentions.

Spot his small carving of Stella, a

project he never got the chance
to finish.
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Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Summer

A true child of the earth, Summer grew up on a midwestern farm, in a very

strict household. Her job as an agronomic engineer led her to work with large farming
corporations, where she developed breast cancer due to their heavy use of chemicals.
Her sickness prompted her to leave her town behind, to heal. That is how she met
Rose, the love of her life, and Stella’s aunt.

During her recovery, Summer developed an interest in biodynamic farming. Her

journey toward better health also led her to embrace her more spiritual side. It is at
that point in her life that she vowed to live every day in the glow of what she called the
universal love. With Rose, she built a blooming garden in a remote area for just the two
of them. Many happy days were spent in this house they made for themselves, until
Rose passed away.

Summer’s last decade was filled with struggles. The loss of Rose left her adrift, and
without her by her side, she found it hard to take care of herself. Then, when her cancer
came back, it was for good. She died with Stella by her side.

Summer was the person who inspired Stella to become a nurse. On the boat, she
appears to her as a teacher and a nurturer. The oxeye daisy, her spirit flower, is a
symbol of patience, a quality most useful to farmers.

Summer’s first request to Stella is a lush space filled to the brim with plants. It is hard to imagine her living
anywhere other than a garden. The use of natural materials and warm, terracotta colors, were all done purposefully to
evoke both her love of the earth, and her interest in sustainability. Indeed, having a darker wall facing a huge window is
22 an earthship architectural concept that Summer would likely know about. It helps with energy conservation! 23
Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Alice

Soft spoken and unobtrusive, Alice is the kind of person who

prefers keeping quiet over inconveniencing someone else. A stay-at-home
mom, she spent most of her adulthood looking after her children and taking
Alice’s house is a humble home that is well cared for.
care of her family’s domestic life. Engaging with Alice meant doing so of
The wallpaper border was used to evoke a very specific
your own volition, as she would never dare impose herself.
aesthetic, the one of a place that was once up with the trends,
but hasn’t been updated since. The faded pinks and the soft
The timidness of her character was by design, as we knew it would contrast
yellow are balanced by dark, bottle green.
well against the personality of other passengers the player would likely
already have on board, like Atul, Gwen or Bruce. Through her requests,
Her bed, always unmade, was drawn so to get across that
we wanted to show her slowly opening up to Stella, overcoming a shyness
freed from the fear of another person’s gaze, she is as playful
that would often hide her true passions (fashion, travels, Swedish romance
as she is passionate.
novels).

Based on a team member’s grandmother whose passing coincided with the

beginning of Spiritfarer’s production, we also wanted to address the pain of
slowly losing a loved one through sickness and age. It’s something most of
us go through, often first via the loss of a grandparent, and Alice’s departure
was meant to evoke that experience, and hopefully, offer catharsis.

As for her place in Stella’s life, she represents a turning point in her vocation
as a nurse. Alice was the first patient to die in Stella’s care, an experience
that reaffirmed her will to work in end-of-life care.

Peace Lilies can bloom at low light and in crowded pots. A subdued flower
that contents itself with little, it felt like an appropriate pick for Alice. As for
the choice of a hedgehog for the animal representing her, we felt it got
across her gentleness while foreshadowing how dementia would later make
her lash out at Stella.

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Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Astrid & Giovanni
When designing Astrid and Giovanni’s house, we pulled a lot of inspiration from
our Creative Director’s anecdotes about his grand-parents’ home. Tales of hoarding and
Astrid and Giovanni were both inspired by our Creative Director’s grandparents’ horrible 70s interior design inspired us to go all in with orange tones and mismatched
lives, personalities, and stories. They are the cursed lovers of Spiritfarer’s world. The two of trinkets. A comfortable bed with plush fabrics made sense for Astrid, someone whose
them crossed paths with Stella as she was still a teenager in France. The pair quickly became concerns are material, not aesthetic. Meanwhile, the green sofa provides fertile ground for
substitute grandparents to Stella, who had never known her own. Giovanni’s borage flowers after his departure; it is where he would spend his nights when
he’d hurt Astrid so badly she couldn’t bear to sleep next to him.
Astrid, an extravagant, assertive woman who dedicated her life to others while at the same
time being caustic and a bit self-centered, is represented in Spiritfarer’s world as a regal lynx.
Having hid jewish children in her mother’s restaurant’s basement during World War II, Astrid’s
life had been shaped by her political convictions, as well as by her love for her husband,
Giovanni. Tormented by her husband’s unfaithfulness, she finally accepted to sever her bond
with him as he betrayed her one final time, and passed away at a very old age, with Stella by
her side.

Just as their fates intertwined in life, Astrid only thinks about being reunited with her lover, and
asks Stella to find him through the course of her sojourn aboard the Spiritfarer’s boat.

Flamboyant and dazzling, Giovanni fought in the war as well in the

Resistance, then carved for himself an ordinary life of trade and simple pleasures.
Extremely careful with his appearance and his witty one liners, Giovanni always
made sure to do everything in his power to charm everyone around him, even if it
sometimes involved doing shady things just to win someone’s heart. Up until his
death by heart attack, Giovanni stood by his “Carpe Diem” motto. He understood
the pain he had caused Astrid, without being truly sorry about it.

Giovanni is adorned by a borage starflower which represents the courage he

incarnated during the war in Stella’s eyes, as Astrid’s mallow flower is synonymous
with how much she became consumed by love.
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Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Gustav

Loosely based on one of our teammate’s great-grandmother, Gustav

is a peculiar character. As Stella travelled through Japan as a young adult,
emancipated and in control of her life for the first time, she meets Gustav. A
spectacular German art curator, Gustav has a brilliant career that leads him to
travel the world, curating exhibitions for a multitude of museums and galleries.
His extensive knowledge of art, history, and architecture sometimes makes him
come across as a smug intellectual.

At a relatively young age, Gustav develops a degenerative disease that physically

paralyzes him, but leaves him with a clear of mind. He continues working as
much as he can, but his condition stifles his career, sours his mood, and forces
his mind towards more contemplative subjects.

On our boat, Gustav acts in a rather aloof manner. He is not a passenger

that requires a lot of care. Rather, he wants Stella’s help to organize one final
exhibition, the one he dreamed about but couldn’t realize during his life, due to
his medical condition.

While he may sometimes appear demanding and ungrateful, he never does

anything for himself: the gallery he’s building is for all to discover and enjoy. In
a similar manner, his seemingly pedantic behaviour hides a deep selflessness:
he judges harshly because he believes that humanity should strive to leave a
positive lasting mark.

In his Spirit form, Gustav adorns a red poppy which is a symbol of pleasure,
sacrifice and remembrance.
Gustav’s house was initially designed without actual information on his character, hence the first wildly
inappropriate color scheme. Once we sat down with his writer, his whole physical space was revamped. By dividing the
back of his house in two, we created distinct spaces in an otherwise small room. His writing desk is inspired by Walter
Gropius’ famous office, a nod to Gustav’s love of modernist design. A few of the things on display in his museum are
replicas of pieces made by our team member’s great-grandmother.

28 29
Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Stan

Stanley is a wonderful 8-year-old boy who met Stella as he was losing

his fight against a fatal disease. Cheerful and whimsical, Stanley is gifted with an
analytical mind which allows him to crack one-liners and aphorisms. His wisdom
makes full grown adults blush in humility.

Stan loves to experiment with all sorts of things, and is always delighted when
Stella is by his side. She plays with him and considers him like a real person, not
underestimating him.

To Stella, the very idea of someone like Stan being in paliative care represented
an immense challenge. How could such a gentle, innocent and young soul end
up in her ward? This difficult grasp with a heartbreaking reality is portrayed in
the world of Spiritfarer by the unusual way in which Stan winds up on the boat.
Stan is, at first, a seed fished from the sea. He then must be planted in the garden,
where he “grows”, and is eventually plucked from the ground.

As the youngest patient Stella ever had to take care of, Stan left an unforgettable
imprint on her. He helped her realize that death can take many forms, and that
wisdom and peace of mind can be found in the most unusual patients.

The fungal nature of Stan is also a testament to this difference, as well as his
peculiar four arms which help put more emphasis on the unbelievability of his
character. To add a more personal touch to the character, some of the drawings
Stan makes of Stella and some passengers have been made by a real 6-year-old
boy by the name of Hector, who is a team member’s son.

After claiming the Guest House for himself, Stan builds himself a fort using the couch and tables. He keeps
everything that was previously there, and cherishes the portrait of Stella & Daffodil that previously decorated the wall.
30 Jacob, his beloved and magical pet beetle, occupies a place of honor in his room. 31
Character Design: J. Gauthier. Mushrooms: M-C. Lévesque Art: J. Gauthier Drawing of Atul & Giovanni: E. Ruggeri
 Buck
Buck’s house is a simple suburb bungalow, the kind with
wood panelling and a dank basement. Dark teals and purples were
used to evoke the design sensibilities of the 90’s, as well as his love
of all things magical (purple) and medieval (green).
Inspired by our Creative Director’s teenage friend who died at
the young age of 18, Buck is a an intriguing character and the only Spirit
who takes the form of a mythical creature. A basilisk with a petrifying
gaze, Buck has already taken his final form when found by Stella.

In a strange way, Buck has already passed on when Stella meets him.
In Stella’s life, Buck was her sister Lily’s friend who died in his teenage
years. Stella remembers Lily’s recounting of many of Buck’s, after his
death. Although Stella never actually met him in life, his story fascinated
her, as well as the geeky personality Lily described when she talked
about him. Buck’s habits of escaping his reality through tabletop RPG’s
led Stella to believe, in a very peculiar way, that his attunement with the
end of his life defined him. This made her fall in love with Role Playing
Games, idealizing Buck in the process. To Buck, the game is of the utmost
importance, as he is simply having fun, while living in denial of reality.

Adorned with rue flowers, Buck bears the burden of sorrow and regret.
His life was never fully lived and it was never really within his grasp to do
so.

A collection of Buck’s favourite

characters, from the Halfsies Frego
and Pam, to Intestines, the broody
anti-hero.

32 33
Character Design: J. Gauthier. Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Bruce & Mickey

Bruce and Mickey are two very odd patients Stella

encounters during her senior year as an end-of-life care nurse.
Mickey, an imposing and intimidating behemoth of a man, ends
up in a coma after receiving gunshot wounds while in a car chase.
His brother Bruce never leaves his side, accompanying him in the
most extreme, dangerous, and illegal activities. The two of them
are inseparable and, at Mickey’s arrival in Stella’s care, become a
staple of the ward for many months.

Bruce always talks “on behalf” of his brother, in denial that Mickey
simply is not there anymore. Incapable of coming to terms with the
fact that his brother, while technically alive, is beyond salvation,
Bruce keeps on making outlandish requests and angry comments,
which merely shows his pain.

In the Spiritfarer’s world, Bruce, although a tiny hummingbird,

carries his giant bull of a brother everywhere. Bruce is the one
making requests to Stella. To her, Bruce and Mickey represent
the strength of the fraternal bond, as well as how demanding and
difficult patients can sometimes be.
Mickey wears a fennel flower to represent forgotten strength and
Bruce, a heliotrope, symbol of neverending devotion.
Big and ostentatious, this disaster of a house takes up
more square footage than any other home on Stella’s boat. The
facade’s chaotic use of materials and architectural styles is meant
to evoke the McMansion trend of the early 2000’s, a gaudy show
of wealth that has little regard for good taste and smart design.
Inside, two marble statues hold up subwoofers, as a way to class
up the joint. The adornment of the bull’s head over the front door is a
testament to Bruce’s grief, and how his coping mechanism involves
sublimating his own needs for those of his brother’s.

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Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Elena

Elena is one of Stella’s the last patients. She manages to

impress Stella with her toughness, stubbornness, and apparent
lack of empathy, even when faced with a fatal, short term diagnosis.

Extremely demanding and blunt, Elena is a teacher whose ideals

are perfection, ambition and obstinacy at any cost. Elena’s solitary
nature is shown by her cold appearance, and the fact that she is
represented as a sighthound betrays her competitiveness and
yearning for excellence.

The cypress is a symbol of dread and death in many cultures, and

Elena is the only spirit who willingly accepts death as a simple
moment, without hesitation.

When brainstorming Elena’s room, our biggest sources

of inspiration were nuns’ bedrooms and dormitories, as they
tend to have only essential furnishings. Sparse and to the point,
Elena’s room reflects her no-nonsense approach to life, as well as
her disdain for the unnecessary.

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Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Beverly
From the wool she’s collected over
decades of knitting, to boxes upon boxes of photo
albums, we filled Berverly’s minuscule home with
all the trinkets and memorabilia we could manage.
Her space had to be lived in, warm, like an old family
Everyone knows a “Beverly”: someone sincere, blunt and unapologetic. farmhouse. Beverly being the smallest spirit also
When they speak, their words sound harsher than they really are. They put it provided us with a great opportunity to play around
plainly, but their intent is never to be mean. That’s just the power of words, or with scale, like with the door inside of a door that
more so, quick wit. only she and Daffodil can use, or the attic that fits
no one else but her.
Born in a small rural community in Georgia, Beverly knew everyone in town.
Thanks in part to her extended family and her incredible social skills, her
plainspokenness made her many friends and even more enemies. She always
had a piece of gossip to dish around. Her ace in the hole would be that comment
that would make you rethink that second helping of pie or you holding hands
with your girlfriend before marriage.

After moving up North to the city, her link to that small community was somewhat
broken, having fewer friends and family. She might say that “my kids have
families of their own”, to explain why they didn’t visit often.

She finds comfort in the presence of her younger downstairs neighbour, Stella.
As time progresses, her illness, Alzheimer’s, becomes a bigger burden on her.
Defined by her choice of words and her impeccable memory, she feels her brain
slowly tricking her. The desire to pass along her life’s stories becomes her main
focus. Stella is right there, documenting her memories, for this arduous task.

The red anemone, Beverly’s flower, was a powerful symbol of death and the
act of forsaken love in Greek myths. Those themes were explored with the loss
of Beverly’s husband at a young age and her disease eating away at her most
valuable trait, her memory.
The Clocktower was an early attempt at conveying the passage of time to
the player. A cool idea in theory, it ended up not really meshing with the flexibility of
our boat’s layout. Indeed, the building was often out of frame, and when zoomed
out, illegible. A clock tower being small and narrow, we initially assigned it to be
Beverly’s Spirit house, since she was the only passenger small enough to live in it.
That’s also where the idea of turning it into a cuckoo clock came from.

38 39
Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque & E. Ruggeri Art: M-C. Lévesque. Clocktower: J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Jackie
As a requirement for completing her nursing education, Stella had
to complete a mandatory internship. She was sent to a very remote and
frankly destitute hospital, to assist in the severely understaffed psychiatric
ward it housed. The internship, although very short, left a lasting impression
on the young nurse-to-be. There, she shared the night shift with Jackie, a
large, jovial orderly, whose sanguine personality she immediately bonded
with. He felt like a breath of fresh air in the neon-lit atmosphere of the
decrepit ward. Most of all, she liked his unconventional methods, which
contrasted with the dull procedurality of the day staff. He was very close
to some of the most troubled and difficult patients, and seemed always
capable of calming them. Stella was relieved by this attitude of his, as it
gave her some breathing room to perform the duties for which she was
woefully unprepared.
Through his lodgings, our aim was to display Jackie’s
turbulent relationship with self-esteem and caretaking (both of
others and himself), as well as his attempts at getting his life back
on track. As such, we planned Jackie’s space as a cross between
a frat house, a posh rehab center and an on-call room. It is not,
like most spirit houses, a space designed as its inhabitant’s ideal
accommodations. Rather, it is the only space that Jackie, at this
point in his quest, is capable of asking for: somewhere he can
pretend he’s still helping out. Later on, as he realizes he’s the one
in need of help, and that he’s in it for the long haul, he will attempt
to re-decorate. With the newly painted white bricks, the self-help
books, the inspirational poster, we wanted to evoke this idea of
someone trying very hard to better themselves, but not knowing
where to start.

As Stella became more comfortable with her job, she started to notice
irregularities in Jackie’s work. A patient’s bath would have been skipped, or
their sheets would not have been changed. Stella, while uneasy, did her best
to pick up the slack, and didn’t bring up the matter to Jackie or his superiors,
blaming the overwhelming amount of work that was thrusted upon them for
these mistakes. Then, one day, an incident involving Jackie and one of the
most unstable patients of the ward, Daria, left Jackie seriously wounded. An
internal investigation revealed that Jackie had been neglectful in his duties,
and he was promptly fired.

After his dismissal, Stella uneasily took Jackie in for a while, letting him
sleep on her couch. There, his neglect and self-loathing became obvious,
getting Stella to wonder how she could have been so obviously fooled
before. Jackie died soon after in a traffic accident.

Jackie’s flower, the red dahlia, is a symbol of power, sanguinity, and inner
strength, It is also, however, a symbol of dishonesty, betrayal and instability.

40 41
Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque & E. Ruggeri Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Daria
Daria was a young patient under Jackie and Stella’s care, when
the latter was still in training. She suffered from a series of physical and
psychological symptoms that required her to remain institutionalized,
the most obvious one being spectacular fits of catatonia. After Jackie’s
termination, Stella became one of Daria’s primary caregivers, and thus
grew closer to her.
Getting to know her was difficult. Daria’s family’s visits were rare and
brief, and Daria herself gave little information on her past. Still, Stella
managed to gather that Daria was a brilliant and popular, albeit
eccentric, schoolgirl. She was a gifted musician and a talented painter,
well on her way to a prestigious career. However, as a young adult, her
condition started to worsen, and became so bad that she had to quit
school. The next several years were forever a mystery to Stella. She only
knew that they took a heavy toll on the young woman’s health.
Against departmental protocol, and perhaps still emboldened by
Jackie’s rebellious style, Stella smuggled in art supplies for Daria. This
tremendously helped improve Daria’s condition, enough so that, after
a relatively short time, she could be moved to another, more adapted
facility, where she lived for several years in a stable and peaceful
condition. Stella visited her often and, when she finally succumbed to
her numerous health issues, Stella, now an experienced palliative care
nurse, was by her bedside.
Daria’s flower, the saffron crocus, is associated with creativity,
invention, sexuality, love and death. It is also a deeply practical plant,
used for millenia for its culinary and medicinal properties, as well as for
its vibrant pigment.
42
Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque & E. Ruggeri
Daria’s environment is very important to her story.
Her narrative is, after all, one of being misunderstood,
sometimes even neglected, by the very institutions that
should care for her. We wanted to get across her creativity
and drive for self-expression through the kinds of tools and
resources she might’ve had access to before Stella’s arrival.
Pencils and paint brushes are too sharp, according to her
caretakers, so she asks for posts-it notes and uses them
to create abstract mosaics. A garbage can becomes a
basketball hoop, to chase away the boredom. Frustration at
her bat-unfriendly standard issue bed has her sculpting a
self-portrait out of construction paper; she hangs it over the
mattress, a cheeky jab at the orderlies who call her difficult
for sleeping on the second floor.
It was important to get across that Daria’s mind was rich,
bright, brimming with the desire to create and communicate. Any
opportunity we found to display that, we took. Her being stuck atop
a tower was also meant to communicate the isolating nature of her
condition.
43
Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Lily

Being a younger sister is hard, especially if your sister shines as bright

as Stella.

Separated by a six-year gap, Lily and Stella never really saw eye to eye on most
things. Lily always thought of Stella as the prodigal daughter in her family, infallible
and destined for greatness. She admired her older sister for her dedication and
her resilience. However, she also despised her for the same reasons. Lily always
hated being compared to her big sister: every mistake, every slip, every flaw was
always compounded by her radiant example.

Stella was never one to shy away from tough situations, death included, while Lily
would hide at its mere sight. The loss of their father was a particular heavy blow
for Lily, while it solidified Stella’s calling to become a nurse. Two different paths
were drawn for two members of the same family.

With the addition of Lily to our cast of characters, our desire was to explore
the link between our tangible world and the universe of Spiritfarer, created by
Stella’s subconscious. We wanted a conduit to traverse between these two worlds,
speaking directly to Stella from another plane. Lily becomes a wayfarer for Stella’s
memories and clarifies different scenes in the game that were previously more
abstract. Lily, with her shared past with Stella, was the perfect candidate for that
task.
When it comes to family, there is no one better to tell you unpolished and raw
truths. That is where we find Lily, by Stella’s bedside, to guide her big sister
through old memories and her last moments.
While Lily only appears at night, she takes form as a swarm of butterflies (a
particular challenge for our animation team!) that is anchored by a lobelia flower.
Due to her unconventional place in the
Spiritfarer narrative, we never planned for Lily to have
a house of her own. Instead, her presence is made
known through the gradual growth of white Astra
Balloon flowers all over the captain’s lodge. These are
Stella’s very own spirit flowers, a star-like bloom known
to attract butterflies. Throughout the game, they take
root in Stella’s space, overtaking it inch by inch until,
like death itself, they become inevitable, something
our protagonist is forced to face in the shape of a
sister, a loved one who will care for her while she’s still
around, and mourn her when she’s gone.

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Character Design: J. Gauthier. Flowers: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Stella’s Cabin
Compare the current living quarters to this earlier version of Stella’s
house. Aesthetically, it uses Stella’s iconography and color scheme, but gameplay
wise it is completely disconnected. There is barely anything to do in here. We
After a long day of work ferrying lost Spirits, Stella needed to have a
didn’t even know if Stella would sleep earlier on, since we didn’t know how to work
place to rest and spend time on her own. For the player, that meant a space to
it into the loop. The shelf on the right was designed for the purpose of keeping
plan future travels. The map projector, a diegetic piece of UI, was an idea we’d
trinkets, mementos, things found or given to you during your journey. But as the
been toying with since the everlight’s inception. Tying such an essential part of the
pre-production went on, the idea of keeping objects given to you by departed
game loop to an in-universe object, one that both the player and Stella interact with
spirits as little trophies felt both tasteless and underwhelming.
regularly, was our attempt at making the daily routine of a Spiritfarer grounded.
The blueprint table, situated outside the house, serves a similar purpose. By
placing these objects in the living quarters, we wanted to transform the cabin
from a place you could imagine Stella spending time in, to a place she got to fully
inhabit through gameplay incentives. This is where she rests, where she thinks,
where she plans. By extension, this is where the player does the same.

46 47
Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Guest House Kitchen

The kitchen was designed around the same time as

the Guest house. At that point in the process, we still thought the
Stations would be situated in the Spirit’s houses. It made the
kitchen a space that we felt belonged mainly to Stella. As such,
cooking is a skill no one teaches her. Food is one of the most
immediate ways Stella knows to show love and affection, a trait
she shares with her uncle Atul.

A call back to Stella’s own living quarters, the Guest house

needed to feel like a communal space that belonged to the boat, but to no Just like the guest house uses soft blues and
spirit in particular. It is a space we could imagine Stella putting together, gentle yellows, so does the kitchen, tying it visually
guided by her own aesthetic sensibilities. The waves on the wall mimic to our protagonist. All the communal buildings
the ones in her room, and the moon mural evokes the sun that adorned were colored with that idea in mind, initially.
her earliest cabin. Although cozy, no Spirit truly feels at home here. It is,
until Stanley overtakes it, a liminal space where one awaits a true place
to call their own.

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Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Loom Sawmill

Similarly, the sawmill is a play on Atul’s

shed. The use of metallic and industrial parts,
paired with warm woods and orange accents is a
callback to both the outside and inside of his home.
Although not as narratively important to Atul as the
loom was to Gwen, being a handy-man is inherent to
his character. Since this station was also one of the
first to be finalized, this desire to stick close to the
character’s visual markers was still very present at
every step.

Initially situated in Gwen’s room, the loom is one of the first stations that was made into its
own building. Deciding to do so was an important step in the development process, as it freed the
spirit houses from the task of accommodating a minigame. It also meant we could have stations that
didn’t have to be so strongly tied visually to spirits. Obviously, the Loom being the first we ever made,
we stuck pretty close to the color scheme of Gwen’s house. It’s a skill that is very personal to her, so it
made sense to evoke her presence through the dark blues and the red accents.

50 51
Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque Previous Sawmill in Atul’s House Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Cellar The Produce Aisle

Just like how Gustav’s and Atul’s houses went through many
iterations, so did Buck’s. Our first attempt at creating his home had little
to do with his personality and interests, since we didn’t quite know who
he was at this stage in the production. It was mainly a prototype for future
buildings.

What used to be his home later morphed

into the cellar; we knew we wanted this station to be
shabby looking and the exterior already fit the bill
nicely. All we had to do was add a sign over the door.
The inside, however, was completely revamped. The
only thing we kept was the color scheme. By adding
more green and brown accents, the room went from
a sunny, terrarium-like space, to a cramped but
comfy fermentation station.
The garden, the field and the orchard are three
stations that we discussed a lot throughout the production.
They each were invoking very specific things: the garden
was meant to look like your suburban backyard garden,
the field station was to remind the player of a corn field
with white painted wooden fences, and the orchard, to
call back to a traditional apple orchard.

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Art: M-C. Lévesque Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Chicken Coop Sheep Enclosure & Cow Stable

Making a home for all these chickens was a lot of

fun--we wanted to invoke old farm barns painted
anew, and the red and white combo ended up
working perfectly in our favor.

When approaching the idea of Stella having

farm animals that were not spirits, we encountered
the challenge of making them visually distinguishable
from said spirits. So each farm animal design ended
up looking just a little more realistic in proportions and
behavior, as well as making sure that their eyes were
their realistic color, and not white and glowing like the
spirits’.

54 55
Art: J. Gauthier Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
 Lounge

The lounge was our very last station done. By then, we had
Giovanni fully fleshed out, and it helped with the direction his favourite
spot on the boat would take. Inspired by the beach bar aesthetic, we
wanted to create a place where he would feel at ease relaxing at, and
where other spirits could also gather at their leisure. We wanted to give
it a bit of a cliché “tropical” theme with all the colorful parrots adorning
the bar, the parrot-shaped glasses and the frog design on the large
vase. The flashy geometic shapes balance the natural color & texture
of the different woods as well as the macrame light fixtures, while also
56 helping the more modern couch fit nicely into the scene. 57
Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier
 Smelter
With the inside of the smelter finally figured out, we had to attack its exterior, a can of worms
all on its own. One thing to know about the boat’s building system is that any structure with a slanted
roof requires a flat alternate version, to allow the stacking of something else on top. In the case of the
smelter, which had not one slanted roof, but two, it meant creating a squared off extension for both
sides, and making them be togglable. These additions would also affect the platforms and the sign,
which both had many variants.
Easily one of the most complex stations we had to conceive.
Its gameplay was designed first, and making sure every gameplay
element had an in-world representation that made sense in-world
was a monumental task. As for all stations, save for the inventory
check, we tried to minimize the presence of UI when possible. If
an interaction could exist as a lever Stella and Daffodil could pull
instead of a yes/no prompt, we would prioritize it.

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Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Archive Room B-2522

When designing the Archive Room, we found

ourselves thinking back of old classrooms, musty libraries,
quiet places of learning. By using bottle greens and dark
wood panelling, we tried to capture the feeling of classic
academic spaces. Stuffy but warm, full of books and proudly
displaying their old banker’s lamps. All the technology one
can find in the Archive Room is purposefully outdated, a nod
at Beverly’s nostalgia as well as an attempt at sparking the
player’s own.

60 61
Art: M-C. Lévesque Art: E. Ruggeri
 Jellyfish, Fireflies & Rabbits
When a swarm of jellyfish is close by, the whole sky becomes
shrouded with them. The air grows thick, and as you see them approach it
becomes hard to breathe. They are a terrifying sight, especially if you’re Gwen
or Gustav.
The four levels of jellyfish swarm difficulty correspond to the four stages
of Gwen’s lung cancer, and the jellyfish themselves are an unfortunate
coincidental association, as she happens to have been stung by one on the
day of her first diagnosis, in Stella’s presence. During this event, Gwen will be
hiding inside until the swarm passes.
For Gustav, the fireflies are a metaphor for the “melodic” buzzing he describes
feeling to Stella, intense sensations at each of his extremities that turn out to
be multiple sclerosis. During flare-ups, Gustav would find comfort in listening
to violin. He slowly would end up paralyzed and inevitably, chair bound.
The visuals developed for the jellyfish and the fireflies event are the same
but represent very different things for both Gwen and Gustav. They needed
to feel overwhelming and to communicate fear, the darkness of the unknown.
However, every firefly and every jellyfish still manages to have just the tiniest
bit of light inside them, at times to represent hope, and other times, life’s silver
linings.
62
Art: J. Gauthier
Pulsar Rays
The moon obstructing the sun in Spiritfarer could mean a variety
of things, all of them spelling out excitement for Stella. The Pulsar event was
nicknamed “falling stars” during development, as it was meant to look like
these astral bodies became unstuck from the firmament, gently falling into
the waters surrounding the boat. Their peaceful descent was to contrast with
what would come next; an increasingly frantic resurgence from the waters and
around, pulsar-like beams traveling the air in arbitrary patterns.
Tied to the spirits of Bruce and Mickey, this event epitomizes both the
excitement and adrenaline-pumping fear they would feel during gunfights in
their lifetime, and how Stella would interpret these. Bruce, the hummingbird,
remembers it as a rite of passage, even after Mickey, the quiet bull, paid the
highest price for such actions, and would end up in a deep coma, leaving
Bruce in denial.
63
Art: J. Gauthier
 Nebula Pillbugs Dust Shades

While socializing through play is essential for children, playing

make-believe is most often a great way for them to develop their imagination.
It often gives the illusion that they can see things adults cannot, and is what
this event is based on. By gaining Stan’s trust, he grants Stella access to
his magic pet beetle, Jacob, which he claims can reveal little ghosts no one
else can see, and also grants her access to his overactive imagination. While
In life, we are often reminded of simpler times, often in
Stella is followed by little flying Jacob, she can see and catch said ghosts that
our childhood. These memories can be vague or tied to a specific
were spreading sadness on the ship, unbeknownst to her.
activity--such is the case for this event and Stella. As she remembers
her childhood days of snail harvesting at dusk, or after a heavy rain,
the memory melds with the one of Alice and her many children, and
how Alice loved to care for them. The activity takes the form of some
kind of hide-and-seek and tag game, where Stella has to catch and
bring back mother Rolly’s many children as they playfully crawl, roll,
and speed away from her.

Originally imagined to be a metaphor for one of Alice’s close friends,

mother Rolly and her kids represent a lot of the fun of having siblings,
or even just kids your own age to play and goof about.

64 65
Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier
 Comet Shower Shadow Steel Orcs

As his love for tabletop RPGs and fantasy universe intensified, Buck
became a passionate and dedicated Dungeon Master. As such, he spent
countless hours crafting props and creating adventures that sometimes
would go a little... overboard.

The Orcs of the Shadow Steel clan may only be cardboard enemies to some
people, but their realism is, according to Buck, rather breathtaking. Inspired
by old school 1980’s and 1990’s classic fantasy illustrations, the Orcs of the
Shadow Steel Clan are led by their war chief, One-Eye Omgrothog, whose
master is none other than the Lich-God Gor Nemloth. During her heroic
quest to light the fires of Trondor, Stella finds out that the toughest orcs can
only be vanquished using her Light Burst ability.

Purposefully based on and inspired by the ephemeral look of

sparklers and fireworks, the Meteor event relates Giovanni’s auditory
perception and memory of fighting in World War II. The loud explosions
put him on edge and drag old memories back to the surface, no matter
how colorful or how beautiful the light show is.

For Stella, catching the sparklers as they land, before they vanish, is an
act of kindness and selflessness as she empathizes with Giovanni and
understands the impact his trauma has on him.

66 67
Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier
 Olga, Masha, Irina

Designed to be a manifestation of three of Astrid’s closest friends, Olga, Masha and Irina are often
overwhelming to others, even to Astrid herself. Fond of idle gossip and endless conversations that seem pointless
to bypassers, their meetups are few and far between, but Astrid still manages to have a soft spot for them and will
happily indulge in talking rumors with each of them.

To Stella, they are also a depiction of the three sisters in her favourite book of the same name, by Anton Chekhov. It
occupies an important place in her heart, as it was originally a gift from Gwen, her best friend. The friend aspect of
this metaphor is expressed through the three sisters’ generosity, as they allow Stella to plant three resources of her
choice, and come back once they are ready for harvest.

68 69
Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier
 Sea Dragons

The three alternative colors to the

event’s progression, the last one
being incurable.

The Sea Dragon is what Summer sees as an incarnation of her fight with her cancer. Although she is a friend
to all creatures and wishes to heal them, every episode makes her doubtful of her convictions, but she returns having
learned from them. Only the very last one would end up getting the best of her, taking her to her final destination.

The Sea Dragons are designed to look more like sea serpents in order to resemble Summer’s spirit form. They give the
impression that they are more closely related to her this way, while never even uttering a word during each apparition.

70 71
Art: J. Gauthier Art: J. Gauthier
 Albert
Albert, Ô, Albert! What to say of our favourite dad-joke busting, loud-
laughing, loan shark friend? His design came from a simple desire to see if
we could manage to anthropomorphize sea mammals and make them fit into
the general aesthetic of Spiritfarer. He was the second NPC to be designed,
right after Theodore the raccoon. His creation came between the Spirit designs
on page 16, and right before the creation of Gwen, and inevitably set a lot of
guidelines as to what was an acceptable way to humanize animal figures for the
visual style we had set.
He may seem a little untrustworthy at times, but his jokes (a little lame, but shh,
don’t tell him that) are sure to win you over… eventually!
72
Art: J. Gauthier
Alex
The idea of a bus stop in the middle of the ocean struck us while
brainstorming for destinations, and stayed with us until the very end of
production. The same is true of Alex, who’s design came to us early on,
but who’s in-game role only became clear later in developpement. An
eccentric fellow with magical powers, Alex used to be an accountant. Only
upon discovering the desolated bus stops did his true calling become
clear: he was meant to be a bus driver. As such, the bus stop was reworked
to fit with his maritime vibe. Concrete sidewalks and ramps made way to
sandy reefs, cattails and kelp, an echo to cold Nova Scotia beaches real
seals like to hang out on.
73
Character Design: J. Gauthier Bus Stop: M-C. Lévesque
 Francis Susan

In a game filled with objectives, gathering and building mechanics,

Susan the walrus’ primary purpose is to deter Stella from collecting the
What happens when you think of onions, but you really want to draw a monkey? You end
unnecessary. What she considers unnecessary, however, is... a lot of things.
up with Francis, of course!
Her character is to be Gustav’s foil in his quest to curate rare authentic pieces
of art. She does not care to understand the reasons for what she sees as futile,
We like to think of Francis as that kind old merchant at the antique store you grew up close to, and
and will snidely hide away any piece coveted by Gustav if she manages to get
who would always take your beaten-up toys when you didn’t want them anymore. He’d even give
her hands on it first.
you candy for each one! And once you grew up, you realized he just disposed of the toys but still
gave you candy because he wanted to make you smile.
For all the antagonizing both Susan and Gustav inflict on one another, they
have some similarities. A close look at their respective living quarters reveals
Francis travels aboard his trusty jar of hoarding--err, of collectibles, I mean, and will happily greet
a love for the same beverages, both enjoy meticulously cared for objects and
Stella whenever she passes by. Always on the hunt for some new stuff to add to his collection, he
Bauhaus-inspired furniture.
will gladly accept anything she wishes to part with.
Design-wise, Susan was about creating a fun, imposing shape. She towers
This old onion-monkey carries with him the portrait of his great grandfather, renowned for his
over Stella and has a stone-cold attitude, reflected in the mountainesque
legendary collection that supposedly spanned three estates.
74 stature she presents. 75
Character Design: J. Gauthier Assets: Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque Art: J. Gauthier
 Theodore Racoon Inc. Permanent Objects

Sitting atop a large pile of Glims is one of many merchants
of Raccoon Inc., Theodore, staring at you with his adorable little face.
Which one is he? Impossible to tell! He’s smiling, of course, because he
has exactly what you need, and you have exactly what he wants! More
Glims! He and his family promise the world of Spiritfarer fair prices--
after a stern talk from a certain someone, of course.
Although all blood relatives (and even though all dream of becoming
merchants), not all raccoons exercise this profession. However,
the brothers who do succeed in becoming traders have to rename
themselves Theodore Raccoon Inc. The only raccoon trader who is not
officially recognized as such is a shady character named Randy, and
this unscrupulous retailer has set shop in one of Edgeborough Lane’s
back alleys.
Throughout her travels, Stella and Daffodil encounter and interact with a
few objects made of ashy brown rock, infused with what looks like pale yellow glass
that reacts and glows when Stella is nearby. This material is called Everlight, and it
is the same as the magic sphere she carries on her belt. The appointed Spiritfarers
have a direct connection to the world’s very energy, and it is why only they are able
to activate the shrines and open the chests.
The world’s core is made of Everlight, and will recreate its geographical structure,
topography and landmarks to match the current Spiritfarer’s memories. All that exists
in the game is a dreamlike representation of Stella’s life and work, as envisioned by
her. The only things that remain unchanged through every generation of ferrymaster
are those shrines, the buoy pillars you encounter at sea, and the Everdoor.
Treasure Chests
around the world

Theodore was the first NPC to be designed, and was all about creating a
short and unique silhouette, and his bouncy idle animation truly brought
him to life. Being the cutest NPC in Spiritfarer, it made sense for him to
have used his charms to sell his wares at top prices for as long as he
could.

76 77
Character Design: J. Gauthier. Shop: Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque Art: J. Gauthier
 Concept & Unused Art

Above, the concept of a very Swiss-inspired, log-house-filled village where sequoia-like evergreens were
platformable. Due to lack of time, it had to be removed from the game.

A lot of fun was had while sketching the mines! At one point, we thought of turning the “underground
level” trope on its head, requiring the player to climb up rather than down. We were especially fond of the ones
shaped like lightbulbs. The thought was that these had been so thoroughly excavated, all that was left of the site
was a delicate pillar with an inaccessible grotto on top. We pictured early mines to have ladders, mid game mines
Two early concepts of a resource gathering island. At first, we thought the destinations where Stella would find her to be covered in complex platforming, and late game mine to only be accessible through a late game skill, like the
wood would differ from the one where she can mine ore, hence these forest islands. bounce. In the end, making such unique levels that would only give the player one type of resources was not the
most practical use of our time and energy, so we scrapped it. 79
78
Top: J. Gauthier. Bottom: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
80 81

Hummingberg
 The canal village of Hummingberg is a beautiful sight to take in. With its colorful houses
sitting atop a solid bedrock, the village is decorated with a large wooden bridge that connects its
two sides. Once at the highest of said bridge, one can breathe in the fresh air blowing from the lush
mountains adorning the landscape.

Inspired by the stunning architecture of Innsbruck and Colmar as well as the jaw-dropping scenery of
Hallstatt, both located in Austria, Hummingberg aims to pay homage to the grandeur of the Alps and
the cities scattered across them. The Alps have a very special place in Stella’s heart as they are home
to some of her most precious childhood memories while vacationing there. They are synonymous with
piece of mind.

Hummingberg was was our very first destination started and completed and served as a benchmark
for future destinations. Although it was the first, it also took the longest to complete, as it was initially
designed with changing seasons in mind. The different seasons’ assets were eventually reused in
different regions, such as the winter ones in Nordsee Pier, Nordweiler, Loneberg, and Kaltstein
Bottom left & right: Concepts for the Hummingberg Lighthouse that
Mines, while the spring ones were scattered through the game.
we ended up tweaking and reusing for Nordsee Pier

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Concept Art: J. Gauthier Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
84 85

Furogawa
 Figuring out Hummingberg only took us a year. How hard could it be, then, to make a
new set of destinations from scratch? Pretty hard, it turns out. Thankfully for Furogawa and its
neighboring islands, we had clear inspirations, and a goal to recreate the same kind of serene
beauty we’d managed with Hummingberg. Based on the Japanese village of Shirakawa-go,
we set the town next to towering mountains that would pan across the screen as Stella hikes
her way through the rice patches. This desire to give depth to these landscapes proved to be
quite a challenge, due to the limitations that come with 2D platformers. Indeed, the ground the
player interacts with is usually flat for a reason in these types of games, and allowing somewhat
of a topside view meant all sort of perspective trickery. Many hours were spent painstakingly
managing colliders and sorting layer orders to get Furogawa and its many neighboring Islands
looking sharp, but in the end, it was worth it. With its soothing color scheme of pink, green and
white, it is a place that is meant to evoke a sense of calmness and peace.

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Concept Art: J. Gauthier Collaborative Effort by J. Gauthier & M-C. Lévesque
88 89

Crow’s End
 Crow’s End and all of its surroundings are misty, desolate places. Although this section of the game was never
meant to be uninviting, the term “unsettling” kept coming back when discussing it. First drafted as a marsh, it quickly
morphed into a rocky tundra where very little grows except conifers. Hard to navigate by design, all later concepts
would emphasize jagged forms, austere silhouettes and sharp inclines. It is not a place of comfort for Stella, but neither
is it one of horror. Rather, it exists in between, where discomfort lies. It makes sense then, that this is where Stella
meets Elena, someone who challenges her both emotionally and physically. Being also the last region of her journey,
it mirrors Stella’s discomfort with letting go, and moving into an unknown she’s met many times, but never truly gotten
acquainted with.

We initially wanted a lighthouse in the misty region. We’d found a lot of cool reference pictures of worm
down soviet buildings at the edge of civilization, which we really wanted to channel through these structures.
However, due to time constraints, we ended up cutting them.

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Art: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
 A lot of the earlier concepts for the Industrial district started as sketches for what we’d then simply labelled
“Unpleasant places”. Our Creative Director had asked us to sketch spaces that made us unhappy or uncomfortable. A
lot of what came through informed the look and feel of places like Bottom Line Corp, or Sandwich Walk.

The final look of the industrial destinations is tied to the city islands most of them are close to. They are, however,
intentionally more hostile than any of them. The colors are either toned down or made jarring and there is very little
greenery, apart from what can be seen further in the distance.

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Art: M-C. Lévesque

Industrial District
94 95

Oxbury
 The sketches on the left were initially
intended as unpleasant places, but
got re-imagined into the more vibrant
city of Oxbury

If Brooklyn and Montreal had a baby, it would be Oxbury. Through this region, we
wanted to portray the charm of lived in, unassuming architecture, the kind characteristic of
working communities. Cities can be unsightly, but the character their inhabitants give them is
what we wanted to capture through the landscape of Oxbury. Early on, we knew we needed tall
buildings to allow platforming, contrasted with lower horizontal spaces. These became parks,
filled with trees Stella could use as resources. By using a warm palette throughout the region,
we tried to avoid the cliche of the cold and uncaring metropolis. Blue is reserved for the sky in
Oxbury, as almost none of it can be found in the assets themselves. This use of brassier tones
also helped the city feel rustic and unpretentious.

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Art: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
98 99

Overbrook
 Our initial idea for the vending machine was to have it be
Raccoon Inc property. However, we later decided against
it. The Theodores of Raccoon Inc were never meant to have
the kind of world altering powers this machine was capable
of. That’s how it became Charon’s Vending machine, as he’s
the only being in Spiritfarer capable of such feats of magic.

Planned from the get go as an upgradable destination, Overbrooke was an ambitious undertaking. Indeed,
from the many stages of decay to the changing vegetation to the mosaics that end up adorning the walls, everything
had to be thought of in several interlocking steps. Thematically, we drew inspiration from hospitals, public schools and
other government funded buildings. For the colors, we went with oranges, beiges and browns, a palette that would
tie it back to Oxbury, the city Stella lived in as an adult. These hues could also easily go from warm and inviting to
suffocating and unclean, on top of evoking the palette of the 70s, a sign of the building’s old age.

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Art: M-C. Lévesque Art: M-C. Lévesque
 Storyboards

In a first attempt at figuring out what the Spirits’ Last Voyage would be like, we
decided to take the time to storyboard it, and then make an animatic to rough out the
timing. It proved extremely useful as a proof of concept, but also as the most effective way to
communicate the mood to the whole team.
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Art: J. Gauthier
The key art for Spiritfarer was a doozy to figure out, as we needed to communicate
a whole lot of things with it, and figure out what was most important at first glance. Was it the
personal connections? Was it the building of your boat? Was it Stella & Daffodil? Was it the
passage of Spirits? The traveling? All of those questions were answered in the final art, the one
you see on the cover of this book; the adventure, the impact of friendship and the boat building
ended up being our main focuses. It definitely makes one dream of going out at sea!
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Art: J. Gauthier
 Hades

Being a central figure in the dreamlike reconstruction of the Greek underworld Stella envisions, Hades both
represents death itself, inescapable and unavoidable, but also Stella’s own psyche as she engages in an inner dialog
with them during her final moments; they speak in their voice, yet say Stella’s own words as she is facing her own end.

For a long time called internally the “Mist Guardian”, Hades controls mists in the world of Spiritfarer, mist being always
linked to death, its proximity and the fear of it. The dark, purple mist surrounding jellyfish, fireflies and the dragon are all
Hades, in his most fearful form. The white mist the guardian owl is made of as well as the mist surrounding islands at
the edge of the world are synonymous with how close death is, and how inevitable it is.

Owls also symbolize wisdom and justice in ancient Greek mythology, explaining why Stella sees death itself represented
as a giant, misty owl.

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Art: J. Gauthier
 Stella’s Memories

Petrified in the glass-like structures of Hades towers,

Stella memories show specific, important moments in her life.

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Art: J. Gauthier
 Various Updates’ Key Art

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Art: J. Gauthier
 Lexicon

Market Care
Boutique Food Money

Thing Long
Boat Ingredient Train

Fruit Isolation Room

Coffee Mayor’s Office Fish

Vegetable Charon
Island Passage Divine - Sacred

Forbidden Mind
Everdoor Egg Tree

Dog Study
House Hard Boiled Egg Forest

Cafeteria
We made the call to have a fake written language in the game early on, to avoid
Town Lightbulb Branch translation issues, as well as to hint at the magical, metaphorical nature of the universe. While
coming up with said language’s general aesthetics, we looked at real life logographic systems,
Emergency
and drew inspiration from them. We are in no way linguists, however, so the rules of the written
Village Roof Garbage word in Spiritfarer are...flexible, to say the least.

Floor As such, not all logograms present in Spiritfarer have a direct translation, but most of them do.
Some words are even made up of a combination of glyphs. A good example of that would be
Port Warning Mine
the word “Raccoon”, which is written by placing the logograms for “Forest” and “Garbage” right
next to one another.

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Art: M-C. Lévesque
 For us, Spiritfarer has been an act of love, sincerity and
earnestness. From its smallest icons to its largest environments,
everything in Spiritfarer has been drawn, animated and crafted
with enormous care.

Its world, its characters and its stories were, in part, ours, and now
they are yours as well. We sincerely hope Spiritfarer moved you as
much as it moved us, and gave you even just a little bit of comfort
through your very own life journey. From the bottom of our hearts,
thank you.

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 In Loving Memory

Solange Amadéi 1931 - 2020

André Barnoin 1944 - 2020
René Boisclair 1949 - 1999
Madeleine Champagne 1927 - 2018
Héloïse Cliquot-Monette 2020
Brigitte Morvan Cliquot 1957 - 2018
Éric Ferland 1961 - 2009
David Henry Gamble 1929 - 2018
Suzanne Guité 1927 - 1981
Yolande Deslauriers Husaruk 1938 - 2019
Eugène Husaruk 1932 - 2018
Thérèse Labrèche Jolin 1924 - 2019
Gaétane Manningham 1960 - 2020
Simone Medici Vidal 1921 - 2018
Jerome Scoffoni 1980 - 1998
Dorothy Sylvester 1929 - 2018
Richard Sylvester 1928 - 2017
Thomas Tremblay 1924 - 2019
Louis Vidal 1926 - 1999

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