Before I played an early version of Crescent County, I didnt know that an in-game version of a motorized, magical broomstick could feel right. But here I am, drawing wide arcs through the gently swaying grass of the Isle of Morah, identifying the perfect hillock to glide off from, and intuitively following paths of flowers to shortcuts across its open world. Youd think thered no right way to depict something as bizarre as this, but as I feel a leyline-powered boost ignite the rumble of my controller, I start to think, well, maybe.The debut game from Electric Saint a two-person development team made up of Anna Hollinrake (Fall Guys) and Pavle Mihajlovi (Erica) Crescent County is part-open world exploration, part-dating game, part-gig economy delivery challenge, part-racer, part-life sim, and all-centered around that motorbroom experience. Its ambitious, and with so many moving parts, you might expect it to have come together in pieces but the real origin point was straightforward.One of the earliest pieces of art that inspired Crescent County. Credit: Anna HollinrakeHollinrake has been painting images of what she dubs witch-tech for years, building a following as people fall in love with the bright, curious worlds she creates in static form. Choosing to leave the world of AAA development behind, and contacting Mihajlovi to create the tech, there was only one setting they wanted to bring to life together.The number one piece of feedback I get when Im at conventions selling art based on this world, or on social media when I post images of it, is that people wish that they could live in the paintings I create, she tells me. Im an art generalist for games and have worked along the whole art pipeline, but my specialty is infusing moreish worldbuilding into my work, from concepts to full 3D environments, that give a sense of place, with little story hints throughout. I really want to give people the opportunity to step into a lovingly crafted, painterly space that feels both joyful and a little melancholy and that, critically, they feel at home within.It means that Crescent County wasnt built out of disparate mechanical ideas that the developers wanted to jam into one playspace every choice has been made because it fits the theme. Even in the early form of the game I play, that comes across. As main character Lu, your motorbroom is key to everything you do you arrive on the island and take part in a race, then become the islands delivery courier. That job allows you to meet characters you can get to know (and romance), afford furniture for your apartment, and to customize your broom and go further, faster. In Crescent Countys world, motorbrooms arent a vehicle, theyre a culture.Motorbroom racing is an underground sport, practised by a small group of the coolest people you know, says Hollinrake. Its very inspired by roller derby and the roller skating community (Im an avid quad skater myself!), and we wanted to capture that punk, do-it-yourself attitude within motorbroom subculture.In terms of racing though, its more about friends challenging each other in playful ways (like seeing who can get up the mountain first), than it is about big formal races with sponsors and crowds, adds Mihajlovi. If you win, you can expect to learn some secrets about the island, or maybe get a hot tip on how to get a particular broom part, but you can also choose to lay back and spend some more quality time with a racer you have a crush on.That idea, that every activity can affect another, seems key to Crescent County. Youre building a life for Lu on the island a race can lead to romance, a delivery job could net you new decorations, and even the house creation element (so often a side activity) can have effects on the wider game.Were really interested in how we can take classic, cozy house decoration and make it push our story forward rather than being purely for aesthetics, explains Hollinrake. In that classic scouring-Facebook-Marketplace way, you can do jobs around the island for people wholl pay you back with a couch they have in the shed and arent using. Inspired by our own experiences living in crappy house shares in our early twenties, we know how big of a difference each single piece of furniture can have on your social life or sense of place you cant have a dinner party without a dinner table, and getting your new friends around it lets you chat late into the night and deepen those relationships. Even if the spaghetti bolognese you made was terrible.It leads to what promises a very satisfying loop the more you play, and the more you engage, the more opportunities await you. Again, building Crescent County as a living world rather than a sandbox, is the key. The games organized into days and nights that pass based on what you choose to do (you can deliver by day, and race by night), rather than through a linear cycle, which gives you an incentive to choose the interesting thing rather than the efficient thing.Each day brings a host of new opportunities to earn some cash, make your flat less sad, and learn more island drama, says Mihajlovi. Youll get to pick who you want to help that day whether its because you want to know a particular bit of gossip, you want to get a specific broom upgrade, or because your friend Rava has promised you shell give you her unwanted and admittedly ugly couch if you help round up her wayward sheep. You can either plan out your route carefully, or take it a bit more casually and ride around and see what you get up to. At the end of the day you can take your weird couch home, pick where to place it, and invite your friends over for a movie night who point out you dont actually own a TV.All of this would be moot if the brooms themselves didnt feel quite so good, and the Isle of Morah wasnt quite so fascinating a location. That connection to Hollinrakes art means that this world is a deeply interesting place unfamiliar silhouettes clutter the horizon, and the sheer fun meant that I spent as much time simply going places than doing, well, Lus job. The final piece in the puzzle, then, is in creating a motorbroom that suits you.Broom customization is both about building a motorbroom that looks amazing and feels just like you, but its also in how you decide how youre going to navigate the island, says Mihajlovi. Whether you want to speed down the straights, cut across a field, or glide over a canyon, different broom setups will open different paths and playstyles. You can also put Sigil Stickers on your broom that give you weird and wonderful powers, like an offensive sideways phase shift that you can use to bump your rivals off the track, or a more forgiving 10 second rewind that lets you retake a corner if you didnt get it quite right.The way the team is winding together mechanical and narrative benefits to the player isnt just fascinating its unusual. Its the kind of thing that might have been hard to pitch at their previous studios, meaning self-publishing with ID@Xbox has been a boon:Were huge fans of the ID@Xbox program and before that Xbox Live Arcade, says Mihajlovi. It birthed or enabled so many of the games that we love, and in a lot of ways the whole indie wave that got us into the games industry in the first place. I actually remember the first Summer of Arcade, and how exciting and validating it was as a teenager to see indie games on a console, so its incredible to now be a part of the program.With a two-person team, the game still has a way to go until release and theyre not set on a release date just yet but the early version I play makes abundantly clear how wild, weird, and ambitious Electric Saint is getting. Just like its motorbrooms, Crescent County might be unfamiliar, but its feeling just right already.Crescent County is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. You can wishlist the game now.Crescent CountyElectric SaintGet it nowDiscover this beautiful open world racing on the back of your very own motorbroom. In Crescent County you play as Lu, as you move to the island under tense pretences, eager to start afresh. Its a game about finding home in a brand-new witch-tech universe.During the day youre a motorbroom courier; delivering packages, herding sheep, and setting off fireworks. You find yourself building a life through helping the locals; getting to know their struggles, and their island home. Plan your day every morning by picking your jobs, and then zoom around the island getting things done! The better your broom is the more you can do, and the more of the gossip you uncover.After youve made some change, head down to Bos workshop to upgrade your motobroom and make it your own! Replace parts to improve your brooms handling, top speed, or gliding ability, and pop some Sigil Stickers on it to enable special powers such as Phase Shifting and Time Rewind.At night, use your customised motorbroom to defeat your new friends in improvised races around the island. Discover shortcuts on ancient ley lines, and sprint through abandoned power stations in rebellious, secret races to win new broom parts.Start in your cousins empty bedsit and collect furniture from the locals to scrap together a cosy new life for yourself on the island. The better your home is, the more activities you can do with your new friends. Cant have a dinner party with a table, or a date without a couch!