Indie Highlight
Feb 6, 2020
The Harvest Moon inspired farming RPG, Peaceful Days, is now available on Steam.
Peaceful Days is a cute indie title that I have been keeping an eye on for some time now. It has everything you look forward to in a good farm life-sim. Farming, building, crafting, raising animals and partaking in seasonal events are all included in this wonderful game by solo developer Nhat Nguyen.
On February 2nd, Nhat announced that he has released the game in early access on Steam, and is now available at 10% off, making it only $8.99. For those that haven’t been keeping up with Peaceful Days, this is quite an amazing price for such an all-inclusive game.
The official release date is still set for August 31st, this year. No word yet on a Switch port, but this is certainly the type of game that, if all goes well, will end up on the Nintendo Switch. Will keep you posted.
Official Trailer
Keep in mind that the game is still in development, so you may encounter bugs, which is the point of early access. For more cute games like Peaceful Days, check out my coverage of Coral Island.
- Feb 5, 2020
Japan has become the status symbol for everything cute and adorable ( at least in the Animal Crossing World ) and this title made by a small indie development team known for Food Truck Pup is now making a life simulation game about Japanese Rural Life!
Game Start LLC is a small development team that recently caught my attention for their adorable mobile game Food Truck Pup, where you play as a pup and run a food truck in a village filled with other puppies, its adorable and tons of fun. You can read more about it here.
Japanese Rural Life
The small team has not revealed a lot of information as of yet. They did however tease us with a first screenshot that not only features an adorable art style but also gives us a first look at what the game may entail!
Game about Japanese Rural Life by GAME START LLC Farming, lots of farming!
The first screenshot of the game does feature what appears to be a garden and could hint at an extensive gardening focus in the game. You can already see that the little guy in the image is hard at work growing, carrots, turnips and more!
Fishy, fishy, fishy…
The little garden plot in front of the cabin also includes a tiny pond with a fish in it. Since this game is a life simulation game with a focus on farming I would think that this little pond is used to raise fish and farm fish!
Japanese Rural Life Release Date!
This article was updated with the most recent information on June 6th, 2021.
The developer recently lifted the curtain on the Japanese Rural Life Release Date and revealed some adorable details about a mountain candy shop, take a peak right here.
You can also join the developers on Twitter to follow the progress of the Japanese Rural Life game!
More Life Simulation and Farming Games
If you enjoy life simulation and cute games make sure you check out Witchbrook the Stardew Valley of magic – as well as Little Witch in the Woods!And Peaceful Days a Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon like game is now available as well!
- Feb 2, 2020
Since release, the wonderfully positive reviews for Mythic Ocean have been flowing in!
It has been nearly a month since the official release of Mythic Ocean on Steam. Since then, everyone who plays has pretty much the same reaction as I did when I got to try it for myself, which is wow. This is one god-like simulation game that you don;’t want to miss out on.
In Mythic Ocean, you are tasked with the duty of teaching some young Gods how to run the universe. Exactly what you teach them is entirely up to you. That’s right, all your decisions have consequences. Do want a world of chaos, or a world of order. There are many possibilities, and tons of opportunity for replay-ability.
What the fans say!
You don’t have to take my word for it. Many others who have tried the game have spoken their minds as well. The decision is unanimous; Mythic Ocean is a must play for all god-like game lovers that also enjoy an immersive story with enchanting graphics.
“The story is really interesting. Every interaction you make with a character changes the course of the story, this is basically that game you imagined where “I wonder if I say this changes anything” actually can change something.” – “The Spookster
“Absolutely breathtaking game! The graphics and style are utterly gorgeous and the characters are all fresh and unique! ” – MYSTHIA“Mythic Ocean is a charming and beautiful game where you can teach a pair of twin deities that rules were made to be broken, deliver insults to a dolphin, and encourage the cutest little creature in the world to CONSUME. Or you can choose not to. Your decisions decide the next world. Choose wisely. Or entertainingly. In fact, do both, since this story has tons of replayability.” – aseth
These are all reviews from Steam.Prologue Trailer
To see more of the amazing reviews, check out the Mythic Ocean Steam page. For up-to-date information on Mythic Ocean, you can follow the game on Twitter.
- Feb 1, 2020
The adorable indie, Littlewood, grows cuter every day! Marriage and relationships coming soon!
Sean Young, the developer of Littlewood, has been working diligently to add all kinds of new goodies to his game. Not only that, but there has been major effort made lately into making the game run more smoothly. Squashing all the little bugs in an early access game can certainly be quite the task.
Luckily, Sean was nice enough to let us get our hands on it so we can help find all those pesky bugs, report them, and help make the game absolutely perfect. Littlewood has certainly gained the attention of many life-sim fans, and has so far proven itself to be a wonderful and worth-while game.
What’s new?
Sean recently released a huge list of all the changes made recently to the game that were implemented in the update. This list includes lots of new decor items for your home and town. Not only that, but many of the bug fixes mentioned above where also put into the game.
The new decor includes tables, chairs, wallpapers and much more. There have also been a few new events added to the game, including the Bug Swarm Event (sounds exciting). These are just a few of the changes that have been made to Littlewood. To see the full rundown, you can check out the devlog here.
Littlewood Trailer
Stay in tune
To keep up-to-date with all the changes coming to Littlewood as they arrive, you can follow Sean Young on Twitter. To check out the game for yourself right now, you can purchase Littlewood on Steam for $14.99. For more games like Littlewood, check out my coverage of Snacko.
- Feb 1, 2020
Snacko is a cat themed indie game where you spend your day fishing, exploring, farming and decorating your own little home. The game has now undergone some rework and looks cuter than ever.
Looks aren’t everything and when it comes to video games it really doesn’t matter to me if its HD next gen graphics as long as the visuals can deliver an immersive experience. Games like Snacko rely on actual fun gameplay mechanics and cuteness rather than groundbreaking graphics. However, this did not stop the small team to make Snacko look even cuter and more adorable than it already did!
What is Snacko?
Snacko is a farming simulation game developed by an indie studio called bluecurse, based in Vancover, BC, Canada. The founders, husband and wife Jordan and Erisa, wanted to create a world “where cats rule the land” and so the project began in 2018.
Farm, Fish, Craft, Socialize and Explore!
Snacko is all about fishing, farming, exploring and creating your own little home. You can craft tools to help you gather resources and of course you play as a cat! How cute is that!
Snacko is designed to deliver a relaxing experience much like Stardew Valley or even Animal Crossing. You can start a garden anytime and grow crops as you please.
Of course you can design your home and even the town to your own liking, decorate and build easily and create your perfect little world. You can even befriend the many villager animals you choose to invite into your town!
Snacko Gets Visual Upgrade!
The small development team has taken every cute asset found in Snacko and reworked it to look even cuter and more colorful. In the latest Snacko Dev-Blog update the people behind Snacko explained why they changed the look of the game.
The developers explained “…the main reason is that we felt like all the assets lacked consistency. Most of the assets were made over the span of many Snacko reworks, and the result was a very Frankenstein’d look. ” Take a look at the example below – old looks left and the and improved feel on the right side!
When does Snacko Release?
Snacko is currently in development and is scheduled to release on PC and Nintendo Switch sometime in 2021, it’s a little bit to go but perfection can’t be rushed, right?
For now you can admire the Snacko Teaser Trailer below, I sure have been watching it multiple times! If you’d like to connect with the developers you can follow them on Twitter here.
More games for Cat lovers!
If you are a big fan of cats you might enjoy this list of 9 – one game for each cat life – cat themed games you can play on Nintendo Switch!
- Jan 31, 2020
Giraffe and Annika is an adorable 3D adventure & rhythm-based action RPG with a cat-eared protagonist and it’s almost here!
Giraffe and Annika is developed by atelier mimina and published by Sony Music Entertainment which seems to make for a great combo. The game features not only beautiful visuals but if you happen to love cats you probably feel right at home here.
About Giraffe and Annika
You will find yourself playing as Annika on her adventures in the mysterious island of Spica! Tasked by the young boy Giraffe, she sets off to find pieces of the stars. Solve the islands hidden mysteries!
Open World is yours to Explore!
As you explore the gorgeous open world you will meet a lot of unique and interesting characters, obtain quests, solve puzzles as you embark on this engaging journey. The huge world that is yours to explore reminds me a little bit of what Zelda: Breath of the Wild has to offer. Hidden secretes to uncover, areas to explore and so much more – the adventure awaits!
When can I play it? And What platform?
Giraffe and Annika is coming to Steam on February 18th, 2020. The developer has already confirmed it will also come to PlayStation 4 as well as Nintendo Switch at a later point but a little more time is needed to make these two version the best they can be.
- Jan 31, 2020
The team at Rolling Hills recently made public their January devlog, and the game is looking wonderful!
Rolling Hills is a super cute life-sim about running your own sushi restaurant in a town full of anthropomorphic animals. All of the inhabitants are amazing and friendly, and even fix up the restaurant to give to you for free. In return, they would like a little help sprucing up their town.
Rolling Hills is still in development, and the devs are pushing for a release of sometime this year. So far the game is only announced for PC, but will most likely come to console, if all goes well. And looking at some of the recent changes, my guess is that we will eventually see Rolling Hills on the Nintendo Switch.
What’s in the update?
The developers have been working diligently on many upgrades to the overall aesthetic of the game. The buildings have recently gone through some fine tuning in an effort to really make the town come to life. It is mentioned that there is an effort being made to “make things cuter, smaller, and more detailed.”
The feel of the environment has changed to that of a more simple style, allowing the town to see more progress, as opposed to an already pretty developed zone at the start. With all of these lovely upgrades being made to the game, it appears that Rilling Hills will definitely have a nice comfy home in the life-sim genre.
More Info
Rolling Hills is coming to Steam sometime this year. The developers are also considering a console / Nintendo Switch version of the game. I have reached out to the small team to see if they can share any more details on platform and release date!
For more information on the recent development of Rolling Hills, as well as the opportunity to help the game grow, you can see the full devlog on their Patreon page.
To stay up-to-date with what is going in on with the game, you can also follow on Twitter and Discord. For more cute game like Rolling Hills, check out my coverage of Hokko Life.
- Jan 30, 2020
In an effort to make positive change, House House has pledged to donate to Pay The Rent.
For those that don’t know, the super popular Indie game “Untitled Goose Game” was created in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne was once inhabited by a large indigenous tribe called the Wurundjeri. Their land was taken from them, and amounts to what is now the great city of Melbourne, which as of 2018 has a population of around 5 million people.
Making amends to generations past has been a part of American culture for some time now. Although, some would say not a big enough part. While it is usually not my way to get involved in these sorts of things, I know it is always wonderful when I see a developer/s using their newly gained wealth to effect positive change in the world.
What was given?
House House has promised to donate a minimum of 1% of their profits to the Pay The Rent movement, an organization set out to ensure that the descendants of the original inhabitants of the land still receive due pittance for the current occupation of non-indeginous.
After the huge surge of fandom revolving around the maniacal goose, 1% of the profit is sure to be no small number. This is quite a generous gesture, hopefully setting the trend for other successful studios/businesses.
City of Melbourne To stay up to date on what’s happening over at House House, you can follow them on Twitter. For more information on Untitled Goose Game, you can see my coverage here, or check out the official website. For another wholesome example of dev’s making a difference, check out what’s going on with To The Rescue.
