All posts tagged in Atmospheric
Apr 17, 2024
Neko Odyssey by developer SECRET CHARACTER is for the cat lovers out there. Set out on a casual adventure in this beautifully atmospheric pixel art game where you take pictures of cats. Upload each of your photos to your social media in order to earn likes from your followers. As your popularity increases, your followers will even share tips on where to find more cats!
It’s not as easy as pointing and shooting, though. Each cat in Neko Odyssey is different and may require you to establish a friendship first. That’s not all you get to do in this charming game, though. As you explore the town and find different cats, you’ll unravel a storyline full of mysteries about the town. The pictures you capture will help you unwind those mysteries as they contain necessary information about what’s going on!
Release Date
Neko Odyssey is set to release on Steam sometime this year!
Cat Cafe Manager is another cat-centric cozy game to try!
- Dec 20, 2023
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery is an interactive narrative game that tells the tale of a young artist getting a painting ready for a gallery exhibit. Step into her shoes as she goes about her daily life cooking a simple breakfast, observing her grumpy neighbor, and finishing her masterpiece. Things aren’t all what they seem on the surface, though, as you’ll soon learn by unlocking familiar memories that relive the past.
The Story
I won’t give away the entire storyline as that takes the fun out of getting to play on your own, but it’s an incredibly beautiful one. Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery starts as this unassuming, easy-going little interactive narrative. You play as the young woman artist who’s trying to finish her grand masterpiece for a gallery submission. You cook a simple breakfast, prepare coffee, and work on an application at an easy pace. The quiet background music and the apartment that suits an artist’s spirit add to the overall relaxing nature of the game and story. Then you start experiencing some memories that flood back to the young woman. They’re comfortable, but emotional and their cutscenes look very Studio Ghibli inspired. There’s even some plot twists that keep you on your toes. Overall, it’s an engrossing story that I absolutely loved experiencing.
The Game
While it’s an interactive narrative at its heart, Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery is also a puzzle game. In order to finish the painting, you must find the woman’s missing paints. They’re locked away in different parts of the scene, and you need to solve the different puzzles to get them. None of the puzzles are super difficult, though, allowing the game to keep its relaxed tone. Plus, the controls are easy to use, and the game is only about an hour of play time. So, it’s a short and easy experience, but such a worthwhile one. You even get to physically paint the woman’s masterpiece, which was fun!
Final Thoughts
If you like the idea of visual novels, but want more of a role than just clicking through dialogue like in the Coffee Talk games (which I also recommend to people), then this game is absolutely for you. Besides, it’s gorgeously done, has a great story, and isn’t super hard. It’s perfect for a relaxing hour or so.
I give it:
You can find this game on Steam, Epic, Itch.io, Switch, PlayStation, Google Play, and Apple App Store!
- Dec 14, 2023
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery combines the idea of an escape room with a classic interactive narrative story. Experience a vivid, emotional story about a young artist who’s on the cusp of finishing the final piece of her gallery submission. She’s missing the necessary colors to bring her painting to life, and you’ll need to search for them. There’s more than meets the eye, though, as you soon discover.
With a 360 degree panoramic view of the small apartment, you can explore the young artist’s sacred space full of art and comfort. Behind the Frame will have you painting her masterpiece by filling in the canvas. Search for the missing paints by solving mild puzzles. Even learn about the grumpy old artist neighbor in an exciting, but relaxing experience.
Release Date
Behind the Frame is available now! You can find it on Steam, Epic, Switch, PlayStation, Google Play, Apple App Store, and Itch.io.
Coffee Talk and Tavern Talk are a couple of fun visual novels I think you should check out.
- 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!
- Jul 6, 2023
Lushfoil Photography Sim is a realistic photography game featuring true-to-life recreations of diverse locations around the world. You get to trek across the world and explore a variety of environments. Use your in-game camera to capture pictures of stunning vistas and lush landscapes. Complete objectives in each environment, as well as discover secrets.
Equipped with a professional DSLR camera, you’ll take the time to line up shots with the perfect angles and perspectives. Use a wide variety of settings such as auto/manual focus, flash, exposure, contrast, and more. While you explore Lushfoil Photography Sim, you’ll unlock other cameras and tools that will be useful for your adventure. Don’t be afraid to adventure off the beaten path, also. You never know what you’ll find!
Lushfoil Photography Sim is on Steam, but has no release date. However, you can add it to your Wishlist to keep an eye on it!
Alekon is another photography game, but with a magical whimsy to it. The Star Named EOS is also a photography game featuring an engaging first-person narrative.
- Jun 15, 2023
Explore, Use Magic, and Decorate
REKA is the perfect addition to the witchy video game genre, but even more perfect because it has that dark, mysterious atmospheric feel to it. In it, you play as an apprentice witch to the legendary Baba Yaga. You’ll venture across a mystical landscape with your chicken-legged cottage companion to develop your magic, and help, or hinder, villagers you encounter
Start your new and enchanting journey by fully customizing your character with the REKA creator tools. Then, set out to explore a land of beautiful forests, moist swamps, and spread-out villages. Gather materials and other supplies for your potions and quests as you run around this beautiful procedurally generated world. Brew medicinal potions to help heal ailing villagers, or conjure up some nasty poisons to hinder them. You’ll also encounter different wild animals that you can tame and take home with you.
When you’re not being benevolent or causing chaos, take some time to practice your magical skills in the safety of your cottage, which follows you wherever you go. Make the cottage your personal sanctuary with furniture, decorations, and new crafting stations. REKA has complete placement freedom, making decorating your home easy and perfect for unleashing your creativity.
Coming Next Year
REKA comes out sometime in 2024, with no specific release date listed. However, it’ll be coming to Steam, where you can add it to your Wishlist to keep an eye on updates.
Want more witchy fun? Check out Magical Delicacy and Little Witch in the Woods.
- Jan 11, 2023
Garden and Customize Rooms
In Garden In, players will get to garden to their heart’s content. The objective of the game is to just grow a variety unique and beautiful plants. Pick from a variety of different pots, throw some soil in it, and plant a seed. Each plant will require different things in order to grow, like clay or rocky soil, but each one wants your time, love, and some care in order to grow and flourish.
You can also create hybrid plants. Take a larger hybridization pot, put in two compatible seeds, and see what you get! Try to discover all the different hybrid plants to fill out your herbarium. Plus, you’ll get to customize your plant rooms to fit your personal aesthetic and mood. You have control of the colors of the room, and the backgrounds can be changed, too. Arrange your plants, change the color palette, and set whatever mood you want for each room.
With no timelines and no quests or goals to complete, Garden In! is the perfect game for the casual gamer. It’s also a good game for the creatives looking to just relax.
Coming Soon!
Garden In! Will be available on Steam in about two weeks, on January 26th! You can add it to your wishlist to receive an email when it releases.
For more gardening fun, check out Garden Paws, A Garden Witch’s Life, or Strange Horticulture.
- Jul 19, 2019
A Juggler’s Tale is an atmospheric 3D puzzle sidescroller set in a medieval puppet theater play. The game is currently in development by a team of indie developers made up of: Sven Bergmann, Steffen Oberle, Enzio Probst, Dominik Schön. The release date window is between late 2019 and early 2020 coming first to PC, and then PS4 and the Nintendo Switch.
This hauntingly beautiful and creepy art-style coupled with the story’s tragic tale reminds us of the movie Coraline. Alternatively, Coraline is turned into a ragdoll when stumbling upon the Other World. In A Juggler’s Tale, you’re trying to escape the life of a controlled puppet forced to perform! All the while you can hear the narrator explain Abby’s actions and the voice of the antagonist tempting you to return. Most of which is being recited in rhymes might we add. Although you must forge on and help Abby to navigate the dangers of the world, and free her from her strings (shackles)!
About A Juggler’s Tale
Play as the string puppet Abby as she flees from her captors into freedom and adventure: a world of beauty and wonder – but also danger! She finds herself in a war-torn, medieval fairytale, surrounded by ravaged, starving citizens and hunted by the relentless cut-throat, Tonda. Who can she trust? Can she avoid the traps and betrayal? Despite dangling from her threads, Abby learns that she can still influence her destiny – if only by winning over the audience. Help Abby navigate a traumatized, yet hauntingly beautiful world. Lead her forward through riddles and around traps, evade her pursuers and find – perhaps – freedom!
To follow the creators on their official website, click here. Furthermore, if you enjoy the telling of sombre fairytale stories and solving puzzles, check out Another Sight – Fantasy Adventure With A Cat.
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