Tidewrack, PC and console
A salvage survival game about a drowned coastline and the machines left running.
Independent since 2019
Small team, weird games, shipped
Fourteen people making systems driven games with hand built worlds. Two titles shipped on PC and console, a third in production, and contract engineering when the calendar allows.
2titles shipped
14people on staff
480kcopies sold
6 yrsindependent
Games and services
What we have shipped and what we take on
Contract work is quoted per milestone with a defined deliverable.
Nine Lamps
A short puzzle game about lighting a city that keeps rearranging itself.
Untitled third project
Announced next year, playtests open to newsletter subscribers first.
Systems design consulting
Economy, progression and combat systems reviewed and rebuilt with your design team.
Unreal engineering contract
Gameplay and tools engineering for studios who need senior hands for a stretch.
Porting and platform certification
Console porting and cert submission for teams shipping their first console build.
About the studio
Fourteen people who all touch the game
Saltbox was founded by five people who left a large studio after their third cancelled project. We stayed small deliberately, we self fund with contract work between titles, and everyone on staff plays the build every Friday. Both shipped games were made in under three years with no crunch weeks, which we track and publish internally.
•Both shipped titles delivered without mandatory crunch
•Self funded through contract engineering between projects
•Open playtests with the community from early production
Reviews
Players and partners
“Tidewrack is the only survival game where I read the machine logs instead of skipping them. Ninety hours in.”
Kai M., Player review
“They came in for four months of Unreal engineering and left our tools better than the feature they were hired for.”
Dana R., Studio production director
FAQ
Studio questions
Where can I buy your games?
Tidewrack and Nine Lamps are on Steam, the Epic Games Store, PlayStation and Xbox. Buying direct from our own store gives us a bigger cut and gives you a Steam key anyway.
Are you hiring?
We hire in small bursts between projects and post every opening on this site and nowhere else first. We do not accept unsolicited resumes, but the newsletter announces openings before they go public.
Do you take publishing pitches?
We do not publish other studios' games. We do occasionally take contract systems design and Unreal engineering work, and that is the right door if you want to work with us.
When is the next game out?
The third project is in production with an announcement planned for next year. Newsletter subscribers get into closed playtests before anyone else, which is the only date we can honestly promise.
Contact
Say hello
Press requests, contract inquiries and bug reports all reach us here. Bug reports get a build number, please.
Phone(873) 555-0173
Address2211 First Avenue South, Studio 4, Seattle, Washington
HoursMon to Fri 10am to 6pm Pacific