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Oct 19, 2023
Sprout Valley is a sweet little farming simulator where you play as Nico, an adorable cat character. Take a step back from your busy life to live a simple life growing the garden of your dreams. Spend your days gathering resources and growing crops. Harvest and sell your crops, and use the resources you find to improve your relaxing island life. Even discover friends and interesting events as you live your life on the island!
Available Now
You can find Sprout Valley on Itch.io, Steam, and Nintendo Switch. And now it’s on Android and iOS so you can play on the go!
Cozy Islands is another cozy mobile game you should check out.
- Oct 18, 2023
We currently have Palia, the cozy MMO with zero combat and a focus on some pretty neat world lore. This was released in open beta in August of this year. Then there’s Loftia, a cute solarpunk cozy MMO whose early access isn’t coming until 2025! Now, there’s another possible cozy MMO to keep an eye on.
WorldShards is a sandbox MMORPG set in a fantasy world. What was once a prosperous world inhabited by cat creatures called meowkle, a terrible catastrophe shattered the land. Then, evil wargs attacked. Now the world is made up of numerous flying islands, and you’ll have to explore these fragments, fight the wargs, and restore the meowkles to their former glory!
You’ll receive the use of your very own flying island to turn into your home base. There, you’ll be able to build a house to suit all of your WorldShards needs. Process resources you gather, access crafting stations to make equipment and weapons, and more. Even recruit a friendly meowkle friend to help you out around the house or in your adventures.
Otherwise, take time to explore a beautiful fantasy world full of stunning vistas. Discover the mysteries and secrets WorldShards has hidden in its islands. Set up a useful teleportation system to generate islands that will be useful to you and your play style. Even solve puzzles and complete quests. Gather various resources during your adventures that can be used in crafting or trading. Also go toe to toe with the evil wargs and their ruthless king to help save the world. Engage in stealth missions or defeat them in dynamic battles that depend on your play style.
Coming Soon
WorldShards is currently being developed, but you can find the roadmap on their website. Early Access is intended for Q3 of this year, with a full release slated for Q3 of 2024! You can find it on Steam and Epic Games to add it to your Wishlist now!
- Oct 18, 2023
Here’s another slightly spooky game perfect for this Halloween season! With its whimsical, cartoonish art style and light combat encounters, this game rides the line between spooky and goofy. Originally released on the Atari 2600 in 1982, the Steam version of Haunted House is an updated, re-imagined retelling of the original. You can even pre-order a special edition of the original game here if you’re interested!
In this modern Haunted House, you play as Lyn Graves, beloved niece of famous treasure hunter Zachary Graves. Lyn visits her uncle’s home with her closest friends, only to find the house overrun with ghouls and monsters. Those creatures quickly grab her friend and spirit them away, leaving Lyn alone to free her uncle, friends, and contain the monsters! To do this, she needs to find all of the pieces to a shattered magic urn and put it back together.
As you sneak through Haunted House, you’ll encounter procedurally generated rooms, walls that shift and move, and unique encounters. Each room you encounter will be a brand new experience. If you’re knocked out, you’ll restart at the foyer and face a totally new floor layout and enemy placement. You need to sneak, creep, and dash through the hordes of monsters and ectoplasm to find your friends and uncle. Think on your feet to complete challenges as you face them. As you find your friends, they become playable characters with their own set of stats. These different skills can come in handy as you delve deeper into the haunted mansion. So, who you adventure with will come with its own new experiences!
Available Now
Haunted House is available now everywhere! You can find it on Steam, Epic Games, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Here’s a list of more slightly spooky games to try out!
- Oct 5, 2023
I had the chance to try out the dotAGE demo recently, and I have to say that it was quite fun! In this game you play as the Elder. You had a vision of doom, so took several of your fellow Pips (people) with you in search of safety. You find an empty, but flourishing valley to restart life in, and it’s your job to ensure your Pips survive the events foretold by the Prophecy you saw!
dotAGE blends turn-based village building and rogue-like survival to create an engaging experience. There’s not a moment where I was bored playing the demo. Every moment is full of trying to prepare and survive. You’ll direct your Pips to complete tasks like gathering food, building new homes or other useful buildings, herding animals, growing crops, and much more. The goal is to build a thriving new settlement that can survive the doom foretold by the Prophecy.
Plus, each run of dotAGE will be different. The Elder’s memories are unclear, so what you experience in one run may not be what you experience in another run. This keeps the game fresh and replayable. You can also change the difficulty of your gameplay to further challenge yourself and master the game, or just enjoy a cozy pixel graphics city builder in the easier mode. It’s up to you!
Available Now
dotAGE is available now on Steam! You can check out the demo before buying, too.
Parkitect, Havendock, and Autonauts are other great resource management games to try!
- Oct 4, 2023
Next up in the Halloween recommendations is Mutazione!
Over 100 years ago, the “Moon Dragon” meteor struck a popular tropical resort town. Those who survived began developing unique mutations. At first, rescue teams tried to help. As they retreated, however, the survivors created a small isolated community called Mutazione. And now you play as Kai, a 15-year-old who’s traveling to the community to take care of her ailing grandfather, Nonno. Except, Nonno has other plans for Kai.
Spend your days helping grandfather Nonno as his health fails him. Make new friends with the other inhabitants of Mutazione. Even plant musical gardens and trade seeds with them. Also attend BBQs, boat trips, and band nights to get to know the town. But most importantly, embark on a journey to save the people from the lurking darkness. Secrets and betrayals simmer under the surface of this friendly community, and it just might tear them apart.
They survived an apocalypse, but they might not survive the small-town drama!
Available Now
You can find this charming supernatural story on Steam, Epic, GOG, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
More Halloween game suggestions can be found here!
- Sep 27, 2023
Play as Percival “Percy” Bilkin in this beautiful adventure puzzle game, Bilkins’ Folly. Percy is a treasure hunter on a mission to find out what happened to his mother and grandfather, both of whom mysteriously disappeared years ago. The problem is, his ship just got wrecked in a major storm, and now he has to find a new ship, reunite with his crew, and then resume his investigations. And of course, dig up hidden treasures along the way.
Bilkins’ Folly is a lovely narrative adventure that follows Percy and his trusty dog companion, Drayton. You’ll team up with your canine friend to uncover the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Percy’s family. Spend quality time with Drayton to level up your bond and earn points to spend on new skills. These skills can be used to clear puzzles. Also use Percy’s cartography skills to customize your map. This will help you solve puzzles, some of which you might need to come back to later in the game!
Socialize with the inhabitants you encounter, just remember they’ll remember how you treat them. Recruit aspiring sailors to join your crew. Fish for fun sea creatures and even enter treasure hunting contests to earn rewards. Play a number of different minigames in Bilkins’ Folly, too, like sheep herding, lock picking, and more!
And yes, you can pet the dog.
Coming Soon
Bilkin’s Folly is set to release in just 5 short days on October 2nd! You’ll find it on Steam, GOG, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation.
A Tiny Sticker Tale is an adorable adventure game you should also check out!
- Sep 20, 2023
If you haven’t taken a moment to check out Dredge, let alone play it, you really should. I have a review here that you can read, but it’s a spooky, cozy fishing adventure that really nails just about everything. You play as the captain of your very own fishing trawler as you explore a set of mysterious and remote islands, as well as the deep sea that surrounds them. Sell what you catch to the local markets, and spend your hard-earned money on boat upgrades that will allow you to carry more cargo, go faster, and fish deeper. While you’re at it, unravel the mystery surrounding the islands by talking to the inhabitants and completing missions. Just, be careful about being out at night. You might not enjoy what lurks in the darkness.
The Latest Update
Dredge has already released one paid DLC, called Blackstone Key, which gives players access to the locked workshop on Blackstone island, as well as a new engine option and talisman. However, the devs have recently released a new free update! This is actually their third free update, and this update includes some fun stuff, plus bug fixes.
This new update for Dredge now lets players customize their boat! After you acquire the dredge crane as part of the main quest line, you can head on over to Little Marrow where a new character has set up shop. The Painter will be able to make adjustments to the appearance of your boat. He starts with some basic options, but you’ll be able to unlock more as you discover paint ingredients. Dig through the different shipwrecks, including the new ones added with this update, to find different flags. You can then take those flags to The Painter to have them recolored and displayed on your boat. The Painter will also allow you to change the bunting that’s displayed (the little garland of triangle flags), including the color of it, too.
Previous Updates
The Painter being added is the biggest, and best part of this update. However, Dredge does now have crab aberrations, or crabberations as per the Steam update page. As well as a new filter to the Encyclopedia to display crabs, which brings me to the other two free updates. The first free update added map zoom and map pins, so you can set one of 50 markers in 6 different types on the map to have reminders for yourself. They can also be viewed through the Spyglass. The second free update added Photo Mode, so you can take pictures of the different creatures you come across. These include 10 new aberrations and 8 new types of wildlife, and now the crab aberrations! There’s also a Passive Mode, so you don’t have to worry about the things that lurk in the night for a more relaxing experience!
These are some great additions to an already great game. Plus, Dredge announced their next paid DLC, Ironhaven. This DLC will feature the mysterious Ironhaven Corporation who’s looking to establish a drilling operation in the area to revitalize the towns. Their ultimate goal, however, is unknown, and you may yet uncover it through meeting new characters and helping the company build its operation!Available Now
You can find Dredge on Steam, Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox!
- Sep 14, 2023
Palia is a free-to-play cozy MMO all about farming, cooking, fishing, and more. Expand your homestead and build a gorgeous home for yourself, while you’re at it. Play solo or with friends and immerse yourself in a beautiful new world full of interesting characters and compelling storylines.
August 10th, 2023 saw Palia enter the Open Beta phase, and the developers over at Singularity 6 have spent a lot of time patching bugs. This month also saw the very first game-wide event called the Maji Market. Players are able to set off mesmerizing fireworks, buy some tasty treats, complete a few quests, and take part in the Chappa Chase!
What’s New
Now, Palia has had its first update since entering Open Beta, and it’s got some fun content. Players can now explore the Temple of Flames and complete the bundles it has. Finish all four bundles to receive the very special Ancient Rock Garden item that can be placed in your yard. The fabled Kitsuu will visit the rock garden, and you can offer up items to it once a day for a chance at some rewards. Even more fun is that players can now befriend Tau, Hassian’s canine companion. You’ll even receive a cute Tau plushie for completing his friendship quests!
That’s not all this Palia update has to offer, though. You can pick up a brand new furniture set, the Emberborn Set. In celebration of the Temple of Flames being added, this new set is a beautiful, fiery addition to anyone’s home. Zeki’s Wondrous Machine has new items for you to win, too. And you can now multi-craft recipes on the workbench, which is such a relief to me. I couldn’t efficiently flood my plot of land with torches before! Players can now grow corn and spicy peppers in their gardens, as well as cook a number of new dishes:
There’s also some cosmetic shop updates, which you can read about, as well as a list of fixed bugs, and a list of known bugs that are being worked on. You can access all of that, plus the full patch notes here on their website!
