Experience the legendary adventures of a brave courier rider! Bond with your horse and tame the open wilds of 13th century Mongolia.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Courier Video & New Key Art
about 2 months ago
– Thu, Feb 05, 2026 at 01:32:19 AM
Dear Backers,
We are excited to share something truly special with you this week! Enjoy our new five‑minute gameplay walkthrough video, “A Day in the Life of a Courier”, captured directly from the current build.
A Day in the Life of a Courier
The video features commentary from our experienced Design Director, Steve, who guides you through a full gameplay loop.
You’ll follow Naraa through one complete, eventful day in 13th‑century Mongolia, from preparing her deliveries as a thriving Yam courier to facing the many challenges of the open wilds.
We are quite happy of how everything is coming together, and we can’t wait for you to experience it! What did you think of the video above? Did you enjoy it? Any feedback? Please let us know below, or join our Discord for in‑depth discussions and everything The Legend of Khiimori.
New Key Artwork Revealed
We are also proud to unveil our new Key Artwork today!
It showcases the tone and atmosphere of The Legend of Khiimori, from the vast Mongolian landscapes, to the bond between Naraa and her horse, as well as the spirit and challenges of the Yam courier tradition.
We hope it gives you a good sense of the world that we are building for you.
New Key Artwork
Reminder: BackerKit Survey and Shop
Once again, we are using BackerKit for the fulfillment (sending out all rewards) of this Kickstarter campaign. So, have you answered the BackerKit Survey we sent out in January 2026 yet?
If not, please do now, so that we can send you the required game key in time for the Early Access launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store on March 3rd, 2026!
More information can be found in our Kickstarter Update #36:
EA Roadmap & Intro Video
about 2 months ago
– Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 04:59:01 AM
Dear Backers,
Our Early Access release date on March 3rd, 2026 is inching closer and closer, and our team is working hard to fit the most valuable improvements into the bit of time we have left to make the best first impression we can.
For today’s dev log, we want to dive more deeper into what you can expect from Early Access now that we’ve spent additional time on it, which updates to expect after the initial launch and which aspects of the game will take longer still.
System-Driven Gameplay
We already talked a bit about systems and story in our Update #35, but we’ll reiterate it here because this is an important topic we want our players to be aware of: Do not expect a main story in our Early Access release. The initial version of the game will have plenty of missions and things to do, but our focus is on discovery through exploration, and the hundreds of small personal stories that emerge from the gameplay itself, depending on the routes you take and the paths you go down. This also means that what a “playthrough” of the available content will look like can vary a great deal between players!
Intro Cutscene
With above being said, we do have a special narration-related treat for you today, and that is an exclusive first look at our Intro Cutscene, featuring Mongolian VO and English subtitles.
Did you enjoy the intro cutscene of our system-driven Early Access version of The Legend of Khiimori - please let us know in the comments below :)
Voice Acting
As you can hear in the video above, we are incredibly proud to introduce Erica Baatarbold as the voice of Naraa! Erica is a native speaker of both English and Mongolian, and we’re beyond thrilled to have her on board.
For the Early Access release, voice-over will only be available in English and Mongolian. Our focus is on conversations featuring Naraa herself, and we’re working with eight voice actors per language to give life to our most important side characters as well as generic NPC dialogue. However, not all dialogue will be voiced over at Early Access launch, since many texts are still subject to change.
We’re particularly happy to offer Mongolian language support, both in the voice over as well as in all dialogues and UI: Mongolian is often a low priority in localizing video games, and very few games come in Mongolian at all. Since Mongolian people’s roles are often limited to enemy hordes shouting commands, hearing regular dialogue in the language is rarer still.
Facial animations are already in(n) as well
Recent Additions
With the extra time we’ve had since moving our release back a few months after the successful Next Fest Demo, we’ve tried to improve on the most urgent fronts, based on the feedback we’ve gotten from people who played the public demo, as well as from you, our Alpha Playtesters!
Exciting recent additions and updates include the following:
We overhauled various aspects of the the horse riding controls, as explained in more detail in our Update #35. The changes include animation reworks, physics-based movement and iterating on controls while keeping what was already working well.
We added new items to craft and use, such as additional arrow types, powder pouches and other recipes
We created additional mission types and updated our cargo missions
We added Outpost Stables that allow for the player to change horses while on a long journey, including options to upgrade them
We added places where your hard-earned in-game resources can be invested for permanent upgrades such as building bridges or upgrading certain locations.
The map now contains more points of interests with specific rewards and challenges – we won’t spoil the details on this one though!
You got an interesting point there
Upcoming Updates
As you all know by now, Early Access is not the end of the road. We’ll absolutely keep our eyes and ears open for urgent feedback and reports, but we also have a lot of specific improvements already planned for the coming months:
For example, we plan to:
Overhaul portions of the user interface for better looks and easier understanding, such as the Horse Overview, Merchants, Crafting and parts of the HUD
Improve direct player feedback on things that are affecting your horse, e.g. what is causing its stamina/health conditions
Add more NPCs for the player to interact with, and making those NPCs feel more alive by making them busier and more emotive
Improve animal behavior AI for both horses and wildlife
Add more prominent wind and weather effects that affect you while riding, e.g. with the wind at your back giving you a speed boost
Further planned changes on our immediate to-do-list are iterating on cargo balancing, active item collecting and powder pouch gameplay feel.
Note that most of the Stretch Goals unlocked during our Kickstarter campaign will not yet be available in the Early Access release but are planned for later down the road, in time for the full-release of the game!
For a closer look at what’s planned, we recommend keeping an eye on our Trello Board:
When discussing our Early Access expectations, our Game Design Director recently put it best: “Early Access is a process.”
There’s the game that we have, and there’s the game that our audience wants. Even after months of playtesting and improving, there will inevitably be a gap in between those two things. Early Access is the tool that allows us – through your reviews, feedback and discussions – to find out precisely where that gap is, and to fix it in time.
For that, we hugely appreciate your patience and your passion, so we can together shape The Legend of Khiimori into the best game possible.
13th century Mongolia and its diverse landscape
BackerKit Survey and Shop
For the fulfillment of our campaign (sending out all rewards), we are using BackerKit. Have you answered the BackerKit Survey we sent out in January 2026 yet?
If not, please do so now, as we cannot send you the rewards or the required game key otherwise!
Selecting your preferred version of the game: PC or Console (answer can NOT be edited, see below)
Update your shipping address, in case it has changed (answer can be edited, see below)
Specify what name exactly you want to use for being mentioned in the credits of the game (answer can be edited, see below)
Input your personal 100-character message for the credits of the game (answer can be edited, see below)
IMPORTANT: Editing Answers & Deadlines
The answers to 2.), 3.) and 4.) can be edited later on. Currently the deadline for when you can make changes to your orders is set for October 2026. However, we recommend putting the data in asap in case you already know it, please.
Answer 1.) on the other hand can NOT be edited later on. Please make sure to answer it as soon as possible as we will launch into Early Access on March 3rd, 2026, and need to know if you want a PC or console version beforehand!
B: BackerKit Survey - PC or Console
If you choose PC (Steam or Epic Games Store) as you preferred version of the game, you will receive an Early Access key on March 3rd, 2026. The Early Access will automatically convert into the full game and will NOT be able to “opt out” of the PC version afterward.
If you go for a console version, you will need to wait until the full-release of the game until you will receive your key. We have a wide list of regions and platforms to choose from - please take your time to select the ones you desire. To ease the wait for the full-release, please do not forget that all Backers can already play the game in the Alpha Playtest on Steam, more info below.
IMPORTANT: PC Minimum Specs
Please keep in mind that a decent PC is required to run The Legend of Khiimori. The Minimum Specs are:
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 64 bit or later (Windows 11 recommended for Intel 12th and 13th gen CPUs)
Additional Notes: SSD required. Full Shader Model 6.6 (with Atomics) support is required
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C: Physical Game Versions
As clearly specified in our Kickstarter campaign, please keep in mind that we only offer physical versions for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. No matter what physical Reward tier you backed: if you choose Steam (Windows), Epic Games Store (Windows) or Xbox Series S|X you will get the game as a digital key via email.
D: Physical Rewards
The physical items will all be sent out with the full-release of the game. Game development is a constant process of exploration, and taking the time to listen, refine, and improve. The extra time will ultimately help us deliver a more rewarding and memorable experience for everyone, as specified in Update 29.
Don’t tell us you are NOT wondering what these mysterious structures are about?
All Backers can already play The Legend of Khiimori
Having issues joining the Alpha Playtest, reclaiming your exclusive Discord role or you simply can’t find the according email we sent out last year on Thursday the 15th of May, 2025, from the account [email protected]? No worries! Just write us a direct message on Kickstarter and we will help you out :)
Let’s go Shopping
As you may have noticed, our BackerKit Shop has opened as well and some hot items are already available! Make sure to stay tuned for more and even a few upcoming surprises…
The BackerKit Shop is opened to the public, everyone can buy The Legend of Khiimori merch there! However, you can be sure that most Kickstarter items will remain exclusive to our backers ;)
Please note that the items from the BackerKit Shop will not be sent out until the full-release of the game, just as it is the case with the physical Kickstarter Rewards.
Feel free to spread the news as this is a direct way to support the development of our game for those who have missed out on the original Kickstarter:
Taming the Open Wilds of 13th Century Mongolia
2 months ago
– Wed, Jan 14, 2026 at 08:24:38 AM
Dear Backers,
We hope you had a nice holiday and we wish you all a “Happy New Year 2026” - the year of our Early Access launch!
As you can image the team is super excited (and super busy) to make sure the Early Access launch of The Legend of Khiimori on March 3rd, 2026 on Steam and the Epic Games Store will be successful.
We will send out the BackerKit Survey soon, so that you will be able to select your system of choice, updated your details, and much more!
The Road to Early Access
As described in Update 33 “The Road to Early Access“, the priorities we set ourselves are about adding new features as well as polishing what’s already there:
Performance & Optimization: For optimized graphics and a smoother experience.
CCC: For better gameplay when it comes to the camera, the character, and the controls.
World & Design: To make the world feel more alive and add/polish content and features.
Basically, we want to make sure that the four main pillars of the game are already fun and accessible once we launch into Early Access: Authentic Horses, Believable Setting, Vivid Open World, Enjoyable Mechanics.
New CCC and Balancing in the upcoming Alpha Playtest
As promised, we worked on camera, character, and controls in the past months and you will be able to get your hooves on it in the upcoming Alpha Playtest update that is planned for next week!
We made quite a few changes to the horse movement, such as quicker turns, as you can see in “Rethinking Horse Movement” below.
Game Balancing is also an ongoing thing, especially when it comes to the game’s economy, so we are looking forward for your feedback on:
Is the game presenting you with problems that you don’t know how to solve?
Does the game’s economy feel balanced, or do you have too much or too little money?
Is the availability of resources too high or too low?
Thanks to your feedback from the Kickstarter-exclusive Alpha Playtest, we have revamped the CCC!
A: The Challenge
Horses are at the heart of The Legend of Khiimori. We want them to feel alive and authentic: powerful when galloping, precise when navigating tight spaces, and responsive to player input. Our initial custom movement system achieved much of this, but as development progressed, we hit some walls. After many discussions, we decided to take a leap of faith and rebuild parts of the movement from scratch, striving to ensure that the new movement will be more responsive and fun to ride!
We took our playtester’s feedback to heart, which repeatedly mentioned the following issues:
Horse Behaviour & Controls Especially turning, jumping, and brakingdid not feel dynamic enough.
Invisible Walls Player movement was restricted to ensure the horse only went where it makes sense. But what makes sense to us is not always what players like to do, right? ;)
Animation Stuttering Animations sometimes glitched. Thus, we decided to overhaul the animation system as well.
On top of that, the old system grew more and more complex and harder to maintain: any rebalancing would take longer than intended. So we took a jump into the unknown and decided to rebuild it from scratch, with the potential to bring the movement to the next level!
B: The Consequence
After prototyping and testing a completely new approach, relying more on the Unreal Engine physics simulation, we decided to take the leap for a full migration. Both, the movement controls and animations are being rebuild.
Of course, scope is still a challenge. Games like Read Dead Redemption 2 have over 6.000 motion matched animations, which would blow our budget. So we have to decide where to focus our efforts, and where to make compromises.
Not everything will work perfectly right away, and we need your feedback once the Alpha Playtest has been updated and during Early Access to get the most out of the new system.
C: The Outcome
Once migration is complete, you will notice:
Smoother riding
More responsive controls
Natural obstacle handling
Greater freedom to go where you like
Larger horse variety
Better performance
Horses are the soul of our game, and getting their movement right is non‑negotiable. This wasn’t just a technical refactor: it was about delivering the experience players deserve.
The new system is cleaner, faster, and unlocks many new possibilities, up to level designers being able to introduce more movement‑related challenges, making you rely more on your riding skills… and face more severe consequences if you fail.
We are not 100% done yet, and things will still need to be polished, but ultimately, this opens up a more realistic and fun riding experience. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters most!
First impressions of new CCC
Systems vs. Story
Did the headline grab your attention? Great, because it is an important topic for the Early Access version of The Legend of Khiimori that will be a system-driven rather than a story-driven experience (for now). So, why is that a good thing?
Generally speaking, story-driven games carefully guide players through a predefined narrative, offering powerful authored moments.
System-driven games, however, hand over that authorship to the player. Instead of being told what the story is, players create their own through interacting systems: movement, survival, traversal, consequences, and choice. Every decision, mistake, and unexpected outcome becomes part of a personal journey that exists only because you played the game the way you did.
This is what makes system-driven games so compelling: no two, self-written stories are the same, and the most memorable moments aren’t scripted cutscenes, but (in a best-case scenario) hard-earned triumphs, near-failures, and exciting journeys that emerge naturally from the world itself.
We hope that you will play an active part of this journey, giving us feedback (ideally via Discord), commenting on the game and thus creating a mutual success story!
System-driven: “Ride” your own stories!
Early Access Pricing & Backer Value
We want to be fully transparent about pricing and the Early Access Price will be 29.99 EUR/USD. As you know the “Game: Digital” Reward was priced at 39 EUR/USD on Kickstarter (Early Birds got it for 29 EUR/USD). Please keep in mind that every Backer doesn’t just get the game, but also…
READY FOR EARLY ACCESS / ALREADY RECEIVED:
Alpha Playtest Access (including the chance to actively participate in the creation of the game very early on)
Exclusive Discord Role
Digital Wallpapers
READY FOR THE FULL RELEASE IN 2027:
Kickstarter-exclusive Game Content (Avatar Warrior Skin and Warrior Horse)
Your Name & Personal Message in the Credits
Digital World Map
Your belief in the project made all of this possible, and these rewards are our way of honoring that support. Thank You!
Avatar Warrior Skin & Warrior Horse, exclusive for our Backers and ready for the full release of the game
Rest assured, we are listening to all your feedback from the Alpha Playtest - to tame the fascinating, wild world of 13th Century Mongolia together. We cannot wait for you to fully ride across it! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post a comment below…
2025: A Year in Review
3 months ago
– Wed, Dec 17, 2025 at 06:40:06 AM
Dear Backers,
Welcome to our final update for this year…. and what a year it was! From Kickstarter to Gamescom, from Alpha Playtest to Next Fest Demo, from a name change to a new Early Access date (March 3rd, 2026), this year was definitely a wild ride in all the best ways!
A Year in Review
Kickstarter
We kicked off the year by saddling up for this Kickstarter campaign and thanks to YOUR incredible support, we did not only reach our original funding goal of €60,000 in less than 20 hours, we actually managed to raced all the way to €504.798 from 8,889 Backers, making this one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of the German games industry!
Even more important, by reaching many exciting Stretch Goals we can now add advanced hunting, additional horse breeds, yummy (and not so yummy) cooking, and even Falconry to the game.
Backer Exclusive Alpha Playtest
So far, over four thousand of you have saddled up and redeemed your Alpha Playtest on Steam access since its launch on May 15th, 2025.
Still having issues? Please write us a direct message on Kickstarter and we will get you into the Alpha Playtest!
Playtime has varied as much as horse breeds: 59% of Alpha riders have played for an hour or more, with an average playtime of 1 hour and 23 minutes. A few hundred of you have already spent 20–50 hours exploring the world. While we completely understand anyone waiting for a smoother trail, the insights from that dedicated 5% are super valuable, helping us fine-tune the experience for everyone. Thank you!
And here is a fun stat from the stables: our Alpha Playtesters have sent in over 13,000 bug reports so far! That’s a lot of hoofprints on the road to making this game the best it can be :)
Gamescom 2025
Another highlights this year was Gamescom in Cologne, one of the world’s largest gaming events. It was an unforgettable experience for us as developers, meeting so many of our fans in person and giving visitors the chance to try the game.
And as you may remember, we were also giving our Backers access to the Gamescom Demo via Steam, to make sure you do not miss out on Gamescom 2025.
However, we didn’t just bring a few gaming stations to the event, we brought an entire Mongolian Ger to set the scene! And our booth was alive with music from amazing Zolzaya Boldbaatar, whose horse-fiddle and traditional throat singing also enrich the soundtrack of our game.
October brought another big leap over the hurdles (we do hope you love puns *gg) as we opened the gates for everyone with a free public demo during Steam Next Fest!
Even though playtime was limited, over 50,000 players tried the demo, with many sharing their feedback and thus further helping us to shape the game.
After Next Fest we even hit the 200,000 Wishlists milestone… with over 250,000 Wishlists as of today!
They grow up so quickly (humble blush)
Press Coverage
The Legend of Khiimori also got noticed by the gaming press and we have had some wonderful coverage! Here’s your chance to catch up or revisit articles (please note: some of these are a few months old, so they may still mention our former title or outdated release dates):
GamesRadar+: “This stunning open-world horse game smashed its $65,000 Kickstarter goal straight away, and it's bringing my favorite part of Red Dead Redemption 2 to 13th-century Mongolia.”Read
Polygon: “Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori has some of the most realistic horses we've ever seen in a game. 13th-century Mongolia is the setting for a horse game unlike any other.”Read
GamesRadar+: “This open-world game where you're a 13th-century Mongolian horse courier immediately proved more hardcore than anything Death Stranding 2 could offer”Read
IGN Germany:“Finally a good video game about horses? Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori fulfills deep-seated wants”Read
PC Gamer: “…the most detailed steed mechanics I've ever seen - Be right back taking a quick course on horse genetics.”Read
Community Contests
Finally, we have recently hosted a few community contests in our Discord, and we couldn’t be happier with the results!
To celebrate our fans and end this ”A Year in Review” with a blast, we are showcasing the finalists of your incredible submissions below:
Contest Entry by Claudia1103#
Contest Entry by ampule
Contest Entry by agentequus
Alpha Playtest: Updated
Yes! The Alpha Playtest has been updated once again and just in time for the holiday season. Here we go #changelog:
Game World
Cartographer’s position is changed according to environmental update (in the tutorial mission)
Updates on western and southwestern side (e.g.: new paths, obstacles, beautification)
Gameplay & obstacle improvements for South Canyon
Added/Updates hostile areas + adjustments to surroundings
Iteration on lootable ruins + additional ruin POIs
Improved rain and wind weather visuals
Adjusted animal spawn rates (e.g.: wolves spawning at night, deer and rabbit hunting grounds only during daytime)
UI/UX
New icons (e.g.: for cargo, food, craftables, mission types)
Implemented Prestige progress bar
Camera zoom options are part of the settings now
Integrated Horse Training UI assets
Introduced settings for volumetric fog and depth of field
Implemented accessibility feature: highlight (hostile) animals when nearby
Gameplay
Introduction of „Fire Challenges“: 12 spots can be found in the EA area
Updated Horse Switch tutorial (e.g.: with four horse choices)
Much of this would have never been possible without YOUR support, passion, and trust: THANK YOU SO MUCH!
We wish each and every one of you “Happy Holidays!” and hope you find some time to relax and get ready for the new year, 2026!
Will you be playing our Alpha Playtest some more (or for the first time) over the holidays? We are grateful for your feedback and comments below or on our Discord!
Your Team at Aesir Interactive
PS: As it is that time of a year again, we are shouting out Clean Up Earth.
Clean Up Earth is a relaxing, feel-good co-op cleaning sim where players restore iconic biomes and watch nature return in real time. You can play solo for a mindful loop, team up 2–10 players for cozy, collaborative cleanups or even join 30+ players on vast community maps to feel the energy of collective action. Even better, the project aims to support environmental NGOs via partner-funded micro-donations tied to in-game progress. Don't hesitate to support the project!
