Meal Cliffs is a level designed in Unity as a modification to the historical shooter Holdfast: Nations at War. The game, as an emulation of combat during the Napoleonic Wars, contains many levels centered around wide open fields to facilitate large columns of marching players. Meal Cliffs was designed to challenge this by introducing an unparalleled sense of verticality to the game. Players can battle across the top of the cliff through a narrow passageway, or march into the valley for more advantageous terrain at the cost of being isolated from their team.
In July, 2023, the game completed its community map design contest. While Meal Cliffs was not in the final selection of winners (whose maps would be ported into the game officially), a key member of Anvil Games Studios, who develop the game, noted that while its deviation from the game's norms is why it didn't make the cut, they found it by far to be the most interesting out of the selection.
A tree being placed during the development process. The entire map was designed by hand placing assets and painting textures.
After a major update to the game in late 2023, the Meal Cliffs project was renewed with a sequel: Meal Cliffs Remastered, featuring smaller, climbable cliffs, the new howitzer artillery piece, and a custom, destructible bridge which would become a major choke-point during in-game events.
In January, 2024, after a graphical overhaul to the game, Meal Cliffs was returned to once again for the final installation in what would become the trilogy. Meal Cliffs III sought to merge its divisive verticality with the open fields the game's maps typically demanded. In a new, badlands environment, teams would fight either across the map's opposing high points, or through the crevices below.