Nov 16, 2023
Fantastic Haven is a lovely Zoo Tycoon type game where you run a safe haven for magical creatures. As people move towards more advanced technology, their desire to live in harmony with the magical creatures wanes. This puts the balance of magic under pressure, and it’s up to you to restore that balance. Take in magical creatures that are injured or endangered, and restore them to health. Then, release them back into the wild to help restore the magic of the world. Even try diplomacy and education to teach humans about the importance of these creatures. It’s not an easy job, but it’s worth it!
The Demo
I had the pleasure of playing the demo for Fantastic Haven and I have to say, it was SO short. I got a very small taste of what the game is about, and it left me wanting more. Building facilities necessary for taking care of animals, as well as advancing your research is great for game progression. Hand-crafting the biotopes needed to house the magical creatures is fun and lends a sense of creativity outside of building what amounts to a village with your buildings.
It’s apparent that, despite the short demo, Fantastic Haven will be fully involved and perfect for spending a day gaming. You conduct research, build golems to help you in your tasks, care for the creatures’ medical needs, build biotopes, feed creatures, and much more. It has a very apparent depth to it. However, that means there are menus upon menus for you to navigate. That by itself is fine.
Many complicated strategy and management games have that. Fantastic Haven’s research menu, building menus, creature menus, etc. are common enough. The only problem I found is that the text is TINY. It’s difficult to read, which makes it difficult to accomplish things in the game. The lack of tutorial was mildly frustrating, too. I don’t know if that was demo specific, but I hope so. The starting quests ask you to pan the camera, move around the area, and similar. It doesn’t tell you how to do that, though. So, if you’d never encountered using Q and E to turn a camera, you’d be totally lost and unable to progress the quest line.
Final Thoughts
That said, Fantastic Haven is absolutely beautiful and offers an immersive storyline along with its game play. I could see myself spending hours upon hours perfecting the layout of my village, negotiating with humans, and carefully building biotopes for creatures. It’s a magical adventure that calls me to play!
I’ll hold off on rating the demo, since they’re not always accurate to what the final game will look like. Just know that I think it’ll be a worthwhile game!
You can find Fantastic Haven on Steam, where you can Wishlist it. It’s not projected to release until Q2 of next year, though. There’s also plans for releases on Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox!
- Nov 16, 2023
Autonauts is a quirky little game with adorable low-poly designs. It combines the best aspects of farming, crafting, production, and resource management into one fun game. You’re a space explorer, and have set out traveling the universe to colonize new planets and automate production.
Start your Autonauts adventure by collecting sticks and stones. Your colonization plan begins with the bare basics! Craft simple tools using blueprints, and slowly build up your army of workerbots. These bots will help you in your efforts to colonize the universe. Use a visual programming language to teach your bots so they can be tasked with different jobs. Teach them how to cook, build, fish, farm, and care for your animals. Even expand your endeavors further by creating colonists that your workerbots can help through their jobs!
Now, Autonauts has some fun features that have been added since release. There are tons of bot scripting abilities, plus refinement updates that were requested by players. There’s a faster way to share bot codes, too. Upgraded storage transporters help level up your production. Then, there’s the Settlement Mode, which challenges players further. You’re must build a Metropolis with only 300 bots!
Available Now
You can find Autonauts on Steam, Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox now!
Neon Noodles is a game about automating a food factory if you’re interested in more automation games!
- Nov 16, 2023
Have you ever watched a post-apocalyptic movie or show and felt a spark of joy at nature slowly reclaiming vast cities? Well, Cloud Gardens might be perfect for you! It’s a chill game where you grow the plants that take over decaying urban dioramas. It’s a charming mix of sandbox toy, gardening sim, dystopian landscape builder, and puzzle game.
Cloud Gardens lets you engage in the freedom of sandbox mode with its lack of goals, or take on the multi-chapter campaign mode to complete tasks. Strike a balance between nature and manufactured by placing different items in the scene. The objects encourage plant growth, but each object needs to be covered in plant life before you can continue.
Once you’ve created beautiful landscapes, you can then download looping videos of them to commemorate your work and share it!
Available Now
You can find Cloud Gardens on Steam now!
Gourdlets lets you build adorable little cityscapes!
- Nov 16, 2023
The Tenants is your opportunity to build the rental property empire of your dreams! You’re in the driver’s seat of your new career, so you get to decide everything. Test your investment skills in order to earn money. Take risks or play it safe by finding the best bang for your buck. Then, choose who you rent to. Perhaps the aspiring musician will make a good tenant. Or even build a welcoming gaming haven for a group of gamer friends.
Just be prepared to deal with the various situations The Tenants has that will pop up between neighbors! How you react to things will have an affect on your gameplay. Deal with annoyed neighbors, and even problematic neighbors that might require police intervention. There’s more to it than just managing your tenants, of course. Take time to expertly design and renovate each of your rental spaces. Refresh the paint, redo the floors, and outfit the place with lovely furniture. The better the space looks, the more it’s worth!
Available Now
You can find The Tenants on Steam!
Perhaps checkout Dwarrows next!
- Nov 15, 2023
Smushi Come Home is an adorable little exploration game. You play as Smushi, a tiny mushroom, who’s been taken from their home and dropped in a large forest. You must find your way back to your siblings and home island by adventuring through the forest. Run, jump, climb, and glide your way through different areas. Complete puzzles to progress through your journey. Even befriend some quirky forest-dwellers who need your help!
A Cozy Adventure
Though short, Smushi Come Home was a wonderfully relaxing and chill experience. The game does a great job of showing you how to play, setting up the story, then releasing you into the world to experiment with your skills. It’s low stakes, and takes very little effort or thought to play. This is not some complex strategy game, and it’s perfect that way!
This game is great for unwinding after a long day at work, or curling up on a cold day under warm blankets. Explore the autumn-colored woods, glide through the dark and mysterious caves, and swim underwater in search of items. Smushi Come Home has gorgeous scenery and a cast of quirky characters to keep you entertained. I mean, you get to ride on the back of a capybara! What’s better than that? Plus, a number of puzzles to complete that provide a small challenge, but don’t hinder the chilled out enjoyment just add to its charm. It’s such a cute little game, and great for all ages.
Final Thoughts
I wish I could gush more about this game, but that’s hard without giving away spoilers! I really recommend it if you’re looking for something short, but fulfilling. It’s scenic, relaxing, and just fun to wander around the woods.
I give it:
You can find Smushi Come Home on Steam and Switch!
- Nov 15, 2023
There’s no lack of farming sims, I know. Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, Coral Island, Fae Farm, Paleo Pines, and so many more different iterations are out there for everyone to try. Farming has almost completely become synonymous with “cozy gaming” lately. What there is a lack of, is good phone game options for on-the-go gaming. Sprout Valley recently came out for both iOS and Android, and is a great paid option. It’s adorable and simple. However, if you’re looking for a free game to try, Harvest Valley might be right up your alley!
Harvest Valley is a simple farming sim where you can pick your own character from a few presets. You’re the new owner of a run-down farm, and it’s up to you to restore it and make it great! Clean up piles of debris to make room for farm plots and useful equipment. Plant watermelons, potatoes, and a variety of other crops to sell. Even travel to neighboring farms to help out NPCs with different farming tasks like planting, watering, and vegetable sorting.
Available Now
You can find this cute farming sim on Android and iOS now!
- Nov 15, 2023
Did you ever watch Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away and think to yourself “I’d love to run a bath house for spirits”? What better way to get to interact with the fantastical and wonderful, after all. Well, now’s your chance! Spirittea offers that opportunity. You drank the Spirittea and now can see all of the different spirits that are causing trouble in town. Humans have stopped worshiping and leaving them offerings, so they’ve become lost and purposeless.
Your job in Spirittea is to find those mayhem-causing spirits and help them solve their problems! They’ll only become paying customers of the bathhouse once you’ve helped them. This might involve getting the spirit a bowl of spicy noodles, digging up their long-lost treasure, or some other task. You’re also in charge of running the bathhouse, so you’ll need to keep it running smoothly. Sweep away cobwebs, provide clean towels to customers, collect used towels, and keep things dry and organized. Provide tasty meals for your customers while ensuring their bath water is heated to their preferred temperature. And make sure you plan carefully. Some spirits dislike each other, so sit them apart from each other, while placing friends together for best results!
When you’re not busy running your mountain-side bathhouse, be sure to talk to the townspeople of Spirittea. They each have their own unique personalities and schedules, as well as hobbies. Plus, many run the local shops which will be helpful in decorating your home. The shops can make a variety of furniture to fit your interior decorating tastes. Make your simple house a cozy home fit for you!
Available Now
Spirittea release November 13th, and is now on Steam, Switch, and Xbox!
Japanese Rural Life is another relaxing sim game! Set in the Japanese countryside, you farm, fish, and spend time with your pet.
- Nov 15, 2023
Are you looking for a simple town building game that lets you just craft a city without the pressures of choosing the details for everything? Townscaper is for you, then! The game is described as “more of a toy than a game” and offers a simple, casual experience. Pick colors from a color palette, then place buildings on an irregular grid. Create winding walkways full of tall, colorful apartments, or sprawling seaside shanty towns. Experiment with placing buildings and watch the underlying algorithm spawn arches, stairs, bridges, canals, and more! There are no objectives. There’s no real gameplay. Townscaper is just a relaxing building sim that lets you set your creativity free.
Available Now
You can find Townscaper in Steam, Epic Games, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Switch, and Xbox!
Tiny Glade is another relaxing, free-form building game without any objectives!
