All posts tagged in Casual
Mar 20, 2024
Meowjiro is a charming combination of job sim, raising sim, and collection game. You work part-time in a convenience store. There, you need to work hard and complete a number of tasks in order to earn your paycheck. Stock shelves, prepare soft serve ice cream, heat up food, and run the cash register. You want to build your skills as a clerk and make a comfortable life for you and your cat, Meowjiro!
Your goal to become an all-can-do clerk in Meowjiro will take some work and planning. You need to juggle customer needs with basic duties. And when it’s super busy, you’ll need to learn how to prioritize and work quickly to satisfy all of your customers. Many of the tasks are completed through mini-games within the game. Like serving the soft serve ice cream! You must time the machine correctly to achieve the appropriate size for the order and turn it off once it has reached the size needed. As you work, you’ll earn a paycheck, which you can spend on food for Meowjiro. Once your furry friend has enough food, you can also buy furniture and decor for your home to make it cozy!
Release Date
This adorable game is available now on Steam.
- Mar 14, 2024
Ever wanted to be the proprietor of your very own grocery store? Now’s your chance! Supermarket Simulator by developer Nokta Games is a relaxing first-person simulation where you do exactly that. Take on a very hands-on role in your supermarket by not only designing it, but stocking all your goods, too. You can even hire some employees to take the stress off you!
Optimize your shelves and displays for efficiency and aesthetics by placing your shelves where you want them. Then, use the computer in Supermarket Simulator to order items to sell in the store. Stock each item where you want it to go, and even set the prices. You want to make a profit, but also want to satisfy customers and earn more business. You also act as the cashier, ensuring each customer has a great overall experience. As you earn money, upgrade your shop’s space and interior decorations!
Release Date
Supermarket Simulator is on Steam now!
Or perhaps you’d prefer to run your very own vampire hotel in Bloody Hell Hotel!
- Mar 14, 2024
Spirittea is a cozy life sim all about helping out mischievous spirits. Developed by Cheesemaster Games, this relaxing sim is perfect for anyone looking to branch out from the usual farming sim. You play as yourself with some customization options, and you’ve just moved to a tiny town in what feels like the middle of nowhere. It’s generally a peaceful town, but the spirits have become restless and lost now that the townspeople have stopped worshiping them. It’s up to you to not only restore the bath house to give the spirits an outlet, but you’ll need to track them down and solve their problems, too!
Overall, It’s an Enjoyable Game
I’ve followed the development of Spirittea for a while, because as much as I love farming sims, having something different in the cozy game category is great. Plus, I love the idea of living in a rural Japanese-inspired town and running a bath house for spirits. It’s like my own personal Spirited Away without the consequences and bad guys.
The game starts with you meeting all of the townspeople, much like every other life sim out there. This time, though, you have Jan the dog to show you around. Speak to Jan and they’ll lead you to the villager, instead of aimlessly wandering around the town looking for people. It was an enjoyable way to force you to meet everyone and get a chance to see the town as you do it.
Being able to sleep at any time of day to advance the day by a few hours, or all night, is seriously one of Spirittea’s best assets. Sometimes you don’t want to open the bath house. Instead, you want to go fishing and catch some bugs, but you also want to do it at night. So, hop in your cozy bed and advance the clock! It was great when I was just done with the day and wanted to move on period.
Throw in the spirits with their different storylines and histories, and Wonyan being a sassy bit of comic relief, and it’s an intriguing game overall. Each of the spirits shows up in their own way, and requires some type of help that differs from the last. Plus, they look unique and have some great dialogue of their own. The character designs are done well, so everyone looks different from each other and easy to distinguish. The town is easy to navigate and explore, too. Everything together makes for a delightful experience.
There Are Some Cons, Though
As much as I enjoy Spirittea, there are some problems with the game. I thankfully didn’t encounter any bugs or glitches, so I suppose these are more gripes than anything. However, there’s definite room for improvement in some aspects.
My biggest issue is the map. It sways. When you open it, instead of the landmarks, houses, and trees being stationary, the sway and bounce to the music. It was a motion-sickness dilemma that posed a problem throughout my whole play. Plus, trying to find someone in the apartment building can be difficult because the sprites stack on top of each other so it’s hard to distinguish who is who. And if you’re at the apartment trying to see if your target townsperson is there, your marker is huge and covers up a good portion of that stack.
I enjoyed Spirittea’s addition of mini-games, and that they were unique. There was no carbon copy with a slight difference. I initially picked the hardest song possible in karaoke and wondered why it was SO hard, until I realized my mistake. The controls for that mini-game are great, though. My problem was with the fishing mini-game. You move your thumbstick the opposite direction instead of in the direction of the circle you want to select. It’s not very intuitive, and it wasn’t very cozy to have to stop and struggle every time I fished. Worse was the drinking mini-game not telling you anything about how to play or what controls to use. You just have to figure it out. Good luck!
Final Thoughts
I would still recommend Spirittea to cozy gamers looking for something different than the usual farm sim. It really is a delightful game, despite some of the issues. The storyline is unique, the characters are fun, and the visuals are nice. I really enjoy running my own bath house, too. It was simple and easy, and just overall fun!
I give it:
You can find Spirittea on Steam, Switch, and Xbox!
- Mar 13, 2024
We’ve had some great cozy MMOs announced over the years. Palia, which is out now, and Loftia and Utopia No. 8 are all some of the cozy multiplayer games I’ve been looking forward to. But if you’re coming from classic MMOs like WoW or RuneScape, Palia hasn’t quite met that massive multiplayer aspect as well as players had hoped. Then there’s Communite, which appears to really focus on that working together aspect people want!
Communite by developer JimJum Studios is an adorable upcoming cozy multiplayer game. Players exist in a tile-based world where they must work together to build and restore. Described as a city-builder, this cute game requires kindness and cooperation between players in order to successfully build the world! Then, tap into your creativity as you build a flourishing world full of thriving plants and happy rescued animals. Craft oceans with hidden volcanos and fun community gardens. Unlock news tiles as you play, and open up a world of possibilities with different biomes!
Release Date
Communite is coming to Steam this year! And it will be free to play!
- Mar 7, 2024
Minami Lane, developed by Doot and Blibloop, is a wholesome little street management game set on a Japanese-inspired street. Build homes to attract new villagers and ensure their needs are met by providing food and entertainment options. Green spaces like parks and hot springs beautify the street, which makes everyone happy, too! Decorate each building by picking from a set of colors, and strategically place your buildings to create an inviting environment. Complete missions or engage in sandbox mode to get creative!
Gameplay
Minami Lane is one of those short, but sweet games that lives in your brain just waiting for you to pick it back up and play again. There’s not a lot to the game overall, and it’s about a 2-4 hour playtime type of game. However, it’s so pretty, so cute, and just perfect enough to keep your attention and drag you back for more. It’s easy to pick and learn. You can use only your mouse to accomplish things by clicking. There’s no complicated controls or convoluted mechanics.
The game is perfectly laid-back in concept and actuality. You can pause the day, let it run normally, or even speed it up if you prefer. Plus, you can check the missions for the level at any time. What I found really neat was being able to save each villager’s request for a change to the street, which helped me better accommodate them. For example, some villagers prefer more egg in their ramen, and some wanted more daisies at the florist. I could save each of those comments and come back to them after the day ended so I could update the inventories of each shop. No guesswork or having to make use of my trusty notebook!
The color palette really adds to the charm of Minami Lane, too. It’s soft and pastel so it’s easy on the eyes, but nothing is muddled looking. This extends to the color choices you can make for your buildings, too. Nothing too bright or flashy is available, though I would love to see a larger color palette option for buildings. You can even pick a color for the park, which changes the colors of the trees so you can go for a cheery springtime cherry blossom look, or fun fall cozy look. Throw in the soundtrack with its peppy, but pleasant sound and it’s a perfect mix of visual and aural.
Final Thoughts
I loved every moment of this game. The simplicity, the adorable graphics, the ease of use. All of it. Plus, you get to pet the cats that show up and they make that great little “brrrt” activation noise. Everything about Minami Lane is charming and wonderful, and I can’t recommend it enough!
You can find Minami Lane on Steam now!
- Mar 7, 2024
Tracks of Thought is a charming adventure RPG where you play as an adorable ladybug. Your usual commute has taken a strange turn when your train plunges into a mysterious tunnel. Everyone has forgotten the final destination. Where is everyone going and what happened? It’s up to you to investigate and find out!
There are dozens of passengers on the train with you that you can talk to. They can help you solve the mystery, but not everyone in Tracks of Thought is interested in talking! Use a card-based battle-of-wits system to resolve any conflicts and find common ground with them. You might need to be logical, sensitive, or charismatic depending on the person. Choose your cards (and words) wisely to get their help! Each encounter will reward you with new cards or pieces of information necessary to solve the mystery of the train, so get to know everyone and help them out as you make your way to the Control Room.
Release Date
Tracks of Thought is coming to Steam sometime this year!
If you want more train-based games, take a look at Overcrowd: A Commute ‘Em Up, or Unrailed 2!
- Mar 6, 2024
Little Witch Cat Kiki by developer TinyBoxGames is a perfectly casual and adorable decorating phone game. If you’re looking for a super simple, but interactive game, this one is perfect! You play as Kiki, a cute little witch cat. Catch a variety of fish on a boat, and gather mushrooms and grass from the forest. Fulfill villager requests using what you’ve caught and gathered to earn money for decorations and house upgrades. You’ll unlock more characters, places to visit, and items to buy as you progress. Decorate each room of your house with different wallpapers, flooring, furniture sets, and placeable characters you unlock and buy through playing to create some really cute rooms!
Release Date
You can find Little Witch Cat Kiki on the Google Play store now!
And take a look at the developers other game, Tiny Boutique!
- Mar 6, 2024
Embark on an exciting journey in Brocula by developer Destroyer Doggo where you play as Brocula, a vampire who has just woken from a 500-year slumber. This world is bizarre and unrecognizable to him, plus his wealth has been stripped from him. Even his ancestral castle has been ravaged by time and is in ruins. Not everything is so simple and mundane as surviving in this new society, though. Can you figure out the times, settle in, and thrive?
You’ll need to navigate the unfamiliar capitalistic society in Brocula in order to be successful. Take on a series of part-time jobs at the coffee shop, garage, and restaurant to earn a little pocket money. Not only will you need this money to repair your castle, but you’ll need to wrestle ownership of it from the local mayor. You can also earn money by starting a farm next to the castle and selling your crops. Catch a variety of fish which you can turn into a bunch of tasty meals, too. And when you’re not busy with the mundane tasks of everyday life, you need to revive your cult. Restore the forgotten church and start giving sermons in order to attract members again. Or, go explore the everchanging forest to fight enemies and collect treasures!
Release Date
Brocula is set to Release on Steam March 27th. It is also listed on Xbox, and the developer’s website lists PlayStation, so hopefully that will come soon too!
Check out Voltaire: the Vegan Vampire for more vampire fun!
