Aug 16, 2023
Just under a month ago, the Neopets Team announced the nostalgic pet sim game was undergoing a lot of changes. This includes new management. You can see the full announcement and information here. There were also promises to overhaul the website and bring it back to life. And they’ve already made good on one of those promises.
Games! We can play the full library of games again! The Neopets Team have announced that Ruffle, a Flash Player emulator, is now being used on the website. This emulator allows you to get back to playing all of your favorite Neopets games to earn those sweet, sweet Neopoints. Here’s the official statement about it:
I’m personally most excited about getting back to playing Meerca Chase!
- Aug 16, 2023
Square Farm is a cute puzzle game about the charming little plot of land you’ve just bought. On that plot is a fertile square field. You’ve now set out to master the skills of square farming in order to earn a bountiful harvest. Even raise animals to help earn more money and make your farm a success!
Square farming is easy to understand. Square Farm provides the seeds that come in different odd shapes. Each crop comes in its own set of shapes. You’ll have to fit the different shapes together to fill in a line, column, or 3×3 square. When you fulfill one of those requirements, the crops will be harvested! If you fulfill multiple requirements in one go, you’ll harvest higher quality crops.
Progress through the different seasons and raise seasonal crops for better profits. With the money you earn from your harvests, you’ll be able to upgrade your home, buy farm animals, and helpful tools to help you profit more. Square Farm even has a small town for you to visit. There, you’ll find a handful of characters to interact with. Bring them flowers you’ve grown to increase your friendship levels and learn their stories.
Square Farm is a laid back, relaxing experience with forgiving mechanics. There’s no penalty for not clearing every block on the screen. You’ll only earn money from the crops you’ve harvested, of course. That just gives you time to master the placement of your crops!
Available Now
You can find Square Farm on Google Play as well as Steam!
Farm Keeper is another fun farming puzzler you should checkout!
- Aug 10, 2023
Alpaca Rancher is a sweet 2D game where you raise alpacas! This casual life sim lets you explore the world where you’ll meet fun new characters. They’ll even assign you quests. Discover helpful items that make traveling easier, and even find some zen locations perfect for relaxing in.
While you explore Alpaca Rancher, you’ll come across all sorts of stylish alpacas. Help them find a cozy home by taming them and taking them to your ranch. Take care of them by feeding, brushing, and shearing them. You can then sell their wool so you can buy upgrades to your farm buildings.
Also spend time foraging for food, seeds, and other resources while you explore Alpaca Rancher. You’ll be able to plant those seeds on your farm to grow a variety of crops. Water them and use fertilizer to help them grow into the highest quality food. Feed those crops to your alpacas to help them grow higher quality wool, which will earn you more money.
Create a cozy and prosperous little ranch where your alpacas will be happy!
Coming Soon
Alpaca Rancher does not have a release date listed. However, you can find it on Steam, where you can add it to your Wishlist.
Want another creature collection game? Check out Bug & Seek, a bug catching game.
- Aug 10, 2023
Welcome to the planet of Utopia No 8, where your dreams come to life! This adorable sci-fi style MMORPG with toy-like characters has a ton of features. Team up with friends to create a social circle. Gather resources together, even communicate via audio chat. Or if you’re not a chatty person, you can befriend people through the mini-game rooms.
Start by customizing yourself by choosing from thousands of clothing options, plus dyes to create the perfect look. Get a hold of the design script, and you can even design your own styles! Utilize your gathered resources to make clothing, as well as furniture, and food. Then, open a shop of your own to sell your creations or build an entertaining amusement park instead. Utopia No 8 lets your creative ideas come to life, whatever they may be.
You’ll also be able to pick a piece of land to build your own home on. Then, design it and decorate it however you want! Go for a warm, inviting space, a cozy gamer’s paradise, or anything else! Utopia No 8’s decorations are functional, too, so don’t forget to interact with them to find out what they do. Don’t forget to decorate the garden, either. You’ll be able to craft a lush outdoor space for you to enjoy, as well. You’ll also be able to engage in farming and animal husbandry, as well as caring for an orchard and greenhouse plants.
As for players who don’t want to be social, Utopia No 8 has you covered. You can befriend and raise your very own pet called PIYA. This pet is a reliable resource collector, as well as the perfect social companion. You and PIYA can even go to the Arena to have a friendly match against others!
Coming Soon
Utopia No 8 is coming to Steam soon. Early Access is supposed to start in November 2023, followed by a release in 2024, and a full release in 2025. You can find the roadmap here on the Utopia No 8 website!
Check out Palia, in the mean time!
- Aug 9, 2023
Slothtopia is a charming family-friendly life simulator where you play as a sloth! Start by customizing your very own character. You’re in control of the colors, hair, gender (with a pronoun write-in available), name, and more! Customization options don’t stop there, though. You can dress your sloth, as well as beautify the island and your home by placing decorative items around town or in your house. Create the perfect place for you.
You’ll farm, fish, build relationships, and even catch monsters in Slothtopia. Natural resources are abundant, and the sea is where you’ll find fish and adventure. Grab your trusty boat and spend the day on beautiful ocean waters fishing up tuna to serve for dinner, or feed the island’s monsters. You can even fish the island’s lakes! The villagers rely on farming to survive, too. Sow your fields, plant seeds, water the plants, and harvest your crops.
As for the monster’s, the island of Slothtopia has a bunch of them. Don’t worry, they’re friendly and more like service animals once you tame them. You’ll need to feed them fish to keep them happy, but you can also pet and train them. Training them will level up your relationship and its abilities. Once they’re trained, you can send your monsters on tasks to catch fish, farm, or even romance that special someone.
Speaking of romances, Slothtopia has many friendly villagers that are your friends and family. They’ll assign many of the tasks you’ll complete, as well as help you with completing them. They’re powered by intelligent AI to give you immersive and dynamic conversations. Spend time getting to know them, level up your friendships, and even start a romantic relationship!
Coming Soon
This adorable game will be available in 2024 on Steam! You can add it to your Wishlist now to keep up with it.
- Aug 9, 2023
Detective Pikachu had a relatively positive reception when it was released. It was a top-selling 3DS game in the US in March 2018, and was in the top ten 3DS games in June and July. It also landed in the top 12 on the UK’s 3DS chart. Overall, it received fairly average ratings from various critics. However, it did spawn a fun movie, and now a sequel!
Detective Pikachu Returns finds you in Ryme City with the coffee-loving Pikachu and his human partner, Tim Goodman. A jewel theft occurs that sends the detective duo down a mysterious path. It’s up to you to find out why Harry has gone missing and what is causing the Pokemon-related incidents around Ryme City.
Use Detective Pikachu’s ability to speak directly to Pokemon to gather clues and information from the monster companions you encounter. Some of them will even help you out using their special skills, like Growlithe who can track scents. Tim will interact with the humans to gather information, and together, Tim and Pikachu will solve multiple cases across the city in Detective Pikachu Returns!
Coming Soon!
Detective Pikachu Returns will be on Nintendo Switch October 6th! You can pre-order it now.
- Aug 9, 2023
Trade Tales opens with you winning a small farm lot in a brand new town through a lottery. You’re eager for a fresh start and decide to take this opportunity to prove yourself and build a new life. You’ll embark on an exciting journey in a brand new town rich with culture. Forge new friendships, assist the locals, and even discover your unique talents. Then, take time to explore different skill sets that can earn you money like fishing, farming, foraging, and mining.
But Trade Tales seeks to set itself apart from all the other life sims out there by allowing you to craft your own experience, and it just might achieve that. Along with the usual farming and fishing, you’ll be able to engage in trading, offering services, applying for jobs, or even start your very own business! You can then use your money to upgrade your home or invest in other businesses. Here’s the list of business opportunities you’ll find in the game:
The unique features don’t stop there, though. Trade Tales has set an ambitious goal of setting themselves apart, and they haven’t skimped on the features to do it. There is a smart AI dialogue system that allows you to chat with NPCs as if they’re real people. This allows you to experience captivating conversations that have endless possibilities. You won’t find the same set of recycled lines every time you speak to an NPC.
You’ll even have access to modern tools like smartphones and computers, cameras, and drones. All of which will aid you in your Trade Tales journey. The smartphone comes with useful apps that allow you to communicate, research, shop, navigate, and more. Plus, the mines offer a challenging puzzle experience instead of the mind-numbing repetition of breaking rocks.
Trade Tales will have unpredictable outcomes that add a bit of realism to the game. Business endeavors may not always yield profit, and mismanagement can lead to the closure of your business. You might even lose your entire field of crops to a super typhoon. Fall in love and even have romantic rivals, adopt pets, or even win the lottery. There’s so much to do!
Whatever you choose to do, and however you end up playing, Trade Tales promises a unique gameplay with the ability to lead your own life. Even when you finish the main story, there’s more for you to do and experience!
Coming to PC and Switch
Unfortunately there’s not release date information for this great game. However, it is supposed to come to PC and the Nintendo Switch. Hopefully we’ll see it soon! You can find Trade Tales on Facebook to follow along with their development.
Want more life sims? Check out my review for Pretty Princess Magical Garden Island!
- Aug 3, 2023
With Palia’s open Beta release on the horizon, and its lofty promises of a free-to-play cozy experience, I’ve gotten more and more excited at the idea of having cozy MMOs. We have a hoard of relaxing, cozy games to play these days, but sometimes you just want to have a whole community you can play together with. And now, Palia isn’t the only cozy MMO coming to the market! Loftia is another adorable MMO for the cozy gamer crowd.
A Cute Solarpunk MMO Packed With So Much To Do
Loftia is still in its early stages, but it shows great promise. Drawing inspiration from fan favorites like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, the game seeks to carve its own path into the genre with some familiar elements.
Set in a new, solarpunk world you’ll be able to play solo or even build your very own community of people. Loftia encourages socializing by utilizing group quests and server events. You’ll be able to celebrate events like Halloween together by playing special mini-games that will give you the chance to win prizes like wallpapers, skins, outfits, and more! Group quests will take you on adventures across breathtaking biomes with friends so you can uncover the secrets of Loftia.
Loftia allows for total customization, too. Design your character and dress them up in a number of different styles. Then, you can decorate your home to fit your aesthetic. Want to live out your cottagecore dreams? Or perhaps you want to set up the gothic home you’ve always hoped for. Maybe you even want to create a gamer’s paradise. Whatever you choose, you’re free to make your home however you wish!
While you build up the perfect set of decorations for your home, you can go out and explore the world or even settle in for some farming! Loftia has over 50 different crops you can plant and harvest. The game even focuses on sustainable efforts, so you’ll get to use a community garden or hydroponics to grow your crops. Plus, you can level up your farming by becoming a beekeeper or wine maker. And when you get tired of farming, gather resources to upcycle items! Turn an old tire into a pretty little garden planter for your home.
Plus, so much more. Loftia is absolutely packed full of things to do. Just chill with friends. Hang out with the local NPCs. Explore the world solo or with friends. Join an existing club or create your own. Even adopt a pet! You get to choose how your adventure goes.
Release Date
There’s currently no release date. Loftia is on Kickstarter now, where you can check out the stretch goals, but it has been funded! Expect to see this lovely game on PC and Switch when it does come out!
