All posts tagged in Life Simulation
Jul 18, 2020
There are so many wholesome games coming out this year! Let’s take a look at some of them together!
Garden Story
Garden Story is an upcoming social sim adventure RPG. With an emphasis on helping the residents of a broken island, this game is undoubtedly wholesome. The game is being developed by Picogram and published by Rose City Games and VIZ Media.
The planned release window for the game is currently Spring 2020, although no official date has been given. The game will be released for Microsoft Windows, MacOS and Macintosh operating systems. An official price is yet to be announced.
About:
Players assume the role of Concord, who is a recently appointed village guardian. However, you will definitely be kept on your toes. Whether it be neighbours requiring assistance, or the sudden appearance of a strange rot that has seeped into the foundations of the once thriving island, Concord has his work cut out. Fortunately, he is not alone.
If you help friends with their problems, they’ll help you with yours. Care for the environment, explore new regions, solve puzzles, make new friends, and ultimately, help restore the grove to its former glory.
Features:
- Whilst restoring a run down island, players are also able to explore and cultivate the islands four regions as ‘Concord the Grape’.
- By fulfilling residents’ requests, fostering relationships with others, and making friends with fruity people, you may find that these people will help you out in return.
- Take care of garden plots, gather resources, and ensure to upgrade your tools to allow you to take good care of your home.
- Whilst solving puzzles and defending yourself against the insidious rot, you may slowly unral the mystery behind the island’s broken past
- By depositing and cataloguing resources you can create a library featuring the island’s lore.
- At your own pace, you are able to care for garden plots each day, choose to take a walk in the evening, or can concentrate on completing favors. The ball is in your park!
- Experience new things and fill your scrapbook with usable perks and traits.
You can visit the game’s website here. Alternatively, you can check out their Twitter account here.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons ( Out now on Nintendo Switch )
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is an upcoming social simulation game where you play as a human character living on a deserted island amongst anthropomorphic animals. Players can shop, socialise with the animals, and participate in activites such as fishing, catching bugs, gardening and decorating. Nintendo are both the developers and publishers of the game. Therefore it’s understandable that the game will only be released on Nintendo Switch. The game is set to release on March 20th 2020, and will retail for $59.99
About:
Tom Nook is ‘switching’ things up with a new business venture. This business venture is his exclusive Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway Package. Naturally, the Tanuki isn’t offering this for free. When you have landed on the island, you also find yourself landed with debt (yet again) by the tiresome tanuki.
Like in previous games of the franchise, players can participate in activities such as gardening, fishing, decorating, and interacting with a variety of NPCs (both old and new), etc. However, the game will also offer some new features. Examples include, collecting resources, crafting furniture and tools, new ways to interact with trees and flowers, more diversity in skin tones, outdoor stair, more multiplayer options, the handy ability to pole vault rivers etc.
Then of course there’s the tiny details that Animal Crossing fans quickly picked up on. These include, shirts with sleeves for villagers, overally realistic kneecaps for players’ characters, toe beans, and even shoelaces..
Features:
- Embrace your fresh start by customising your character and home to your liking. Decorate the island’s landscape (even with furniture, if you so wish), to create your very own perfect paradise.
- Utilise a brand new crafting system and collect materials to create a variety of furniture and tools.
- Relax and enjoy the activities Animal Crossing is infamous for such as gardening, fishing, decorating and interacting with charming NPCs and more. However, they can now be enjoyed in fun new ways on the deserted island
- Up to eight players can reside on one island. Four of these residents residing on the same island are able to play together simultaneously on one console
- Up to eight players can play together on one player’s island via either online multiplayer or local wireless. (For more information regarding how multiplayer works, click here).
- More information about the game can be found here.
- An awesome selection Animal Crossing decals can be seen here.
- For a selection of must-have merchandise, click here.
- Information about US pre-order bonuses can be found here.
- Information about UK pre-order bonuses can be found here.
Mineko’s Night Market
Mineko’s Night Market is an upcoming cat-themed crafting adventure game that celebrates Japanese culture. The game is essentially about friendship, choices, and of course, cats. The indie game is being developed by Meowza Games, and being published by Humble Bundle. The game will be released on a multitude of different platforms including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Macintosh operating systems.The exact release date for the game is yet to be determined. However, the game’s official Steam page says that the game will be release in 2020. Fingers (and paws) crossed! ?
About:
Playing as Mineko, a girl who has moved to a superstitious fishing town inundated with cats, you will uncover secrets whilst assisting Mineko in becoming a successful young entrepreneur. This can be done by completing tasks, undertaking quests and gathering resources in preparation for the weekly night market.
Players can craft a variety of odd items, toys, and trinkets, which can then be sold to townsfolk (who are now your customers) at Mineko’s night market stall. After you’ve finished selling your items, you can explore the Night Market yourself, where you can play mini-games, eat unusual foods, and purchase collectibles.
The game allows you to explore distant lands by unlocking different types of transport (which include buses, bullet trains and cat carts). Each land offers new people to meet and unique things to do, dependent on the time of day and season.
There are 16 uniquely themed markets every year which all feature a stage event that you can partake in. Examples of events include Taiko drumming, karaoke competitions, sumo suit wrestling, and more!
The better you perform at the market, the bigger and better the market will become, which may well attract new townsfolk and even celebrity guests!
Features:
- Players can explore the village and surrounding areas in order to discover a variety of rare resources and more importantly, make a bunch of new friends!
- You are able to craft a variety of unusual items by utilising the resources you collect whilst exploring
- Unleash you inner entrepeneur and barter with customers at the weekly night market to sell your creations
- Wander around the night Market to discover a variety of curious culinary dlights and collectibles
- Relive your childhood and take part in a variety of different Night Market games like cat racing, pachinko, and whack-a-tako
- Solve the mysteries of the mysterious Sun-Cat Abe and Mount Fugu Island
For more information regarding the game, check out this interview with one of the lead creators of the game here. You can also visit the game’s website here.
To bag some awesome game merchandise, click here.
Ooblets ( Out Now on Early Access )
Ooblets is now out on Xbox One and PC – more info right here.
Ooblets is an upcoming indie game that combines features of popular game franchises such as Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and Pokemon. Initially, the game was going to be published by Double Fine. Ooblets will now however be developed and self-published by the game’s two main devs, who created a tiny game studio called Glumberland in order to do this.
According to the game’s latest Devlog, Ooblets will release this year, although no definitive date has been specified. It has also been confirmed that the game will release on PC and Xbox One. The price of the game has not yet been revealed.
About:
Ooblets is essentially a game where players have to balance farm life, town life, and the unexpected pressure of having to deal with numerous different Ooblets. On the plus side, you get the experience of helping to grow and train your ooblets, explore strange lands, and have dance-offs!
Features:
- Starting a new life with a little rundown farm, you are able to improve, cultivate and customise this farm until it suits your liking
- With a variety of hairstyles and clothing to choose from, you have complete freedom to customise your character
- Break out your dance moves and take part in dance battles with both ooblets and fellow ooblet trainers alike
- Explore the world of Oob and its variety of different locations, each with unique biomes, plants, characters, and ooblets
- Plant ooblet seeds to grow your own friends. Eventually, they will bloom into baby ooblets
- Join an Ooblet Club to match your personality
- Upgrade your house and make it your own, with various decor and furniture to choose from
- Unlock some funky new dance moves by levelling up your Ooblets
- Acquire a variety of things whilst in Oob, including seeds, items, furniture, machinery, badges, and most importantly, friends.
Lots of awesome Ooblets merchandise can be grabbed here.
For more information about Ooblets, you can visit the Ooblets website here where developers regularly post updates in their devlogs. You can also follow Ooblets on Twitter and Facebook.
Rolling Hills
Rolling Hills is a life sim game where players run their own sushi restaurant in a town filled with anthropomorphic animals. The game is being both developed and published by Catch & Release, LLC. No definitive release date has been given, but developers are pushing for a 2020 release. It willl initially only be released on PC via Steam, but there is the possibility of the game being released on other consoles also.
About:
Rolling Hills is a life sim game where you get given your very own sushi restauraunt in a small village. This restaurant has been offered for free by inhabitants of the village. The only catch is that you help to rebuild their town. Players will have their work cut out. When not occupied with the sushi shop, you also need to rebuild the town as promised and improve the lives of your neighbours. On the plus side, you’ll make friends along the way. If you’re lucky, you’ll also attract some new villagers.
Make your restaurant successful by collecting different recipes and buying ingredients. You can then use your profits to profit the town. Watch your town improve and better the lives of townsfolk, customers and yourself through the actions you make.
Features:
- Assume the role of a novice sushi chef and start a brand new life in your very own sushi restaurant (which fortunately happens to be equipped with a fully-automated conveyor belt)
- Make new friends and socialise, whether you want to hang out at the cafe, participate in a role-playing game, or show off your knowledge (or not) at trivia night
- Improve your restaurant by acquiring furniture and uphold your end of the bargain by building public works projects across town
- Train and utilise your very own sushi robot to help keep your restaurant running… Your loyal lackey will even cover for you after switching the game off!
- Head down to the river and go fishing for fresh sushi fish. Also, you can be a model citizen and use the magnetic rod to reel in trash.
- Grow yourself some fresh vegetables by building garden boxes
You can follow the progress of Rolling hills on Twitter here.
Hokko Life
Hokko Life is an upcoming cute and cozy village life simulation game. The game is being both developed and published by indie game developer Robert Tatnell. Hokko life will be released for PC via Steam at some point this year. The cost of the game is not yet known.
About:
Hokko Life begins with your player stepping off of a train. Having taken over your very own (albeit a little dusty and old) workshop, you are free to craft and create to your heart’s content.
The quiet village which you now call home needs your expertise. Help tocreate an endearing town for those who live there. Armed with paint and tools, design, build and decorate new homes for your new friends.
Players are able to craft materials and combine them however they wish. This allows you to create new and amazing furniture and items for the town. By collecting flowers and mixing paints, you can then use them to design wallpapers, flooring and even clothing.
With plenty of choice, you could design a bright flowery wallpaper set, or instead opt to create an urban-industrial furniture collection. Whatever your taste, with a workshop at hand, you have complete freedom when designing a town for the villagers.
Features:
- Chop, mine and dig for resources by venturing out to the forest or the abandoned mine. After bringing those resources back to town, you can craft them into materials that are usable in your designs.
- Gather materials, head into your workshop and put your own spin on each item you make. The design table lets you build your own furniture. Here you can combine various shapes and materials using a simple yet powerful editor.
- Design a variety of wallpaper, flooring and T-Shirts for you and the villagers to wear. Feel like a famous fashion designer and get everyone in town wearing your bespoke designs.
- Enlist the help of the local builder in order to begin expanding the town. You get complete freedom over where buildings are located and then need to ensure they are ready for new villagers to move to town.
- Customize both the interiors and exteriors of any home. Release your inner interior designer and pick designs and place furniture to create a home your new friends will adore.
- Turn any plot of land into a place where plants and vegetables will grow. When your produce is ready, you’ll be able to sell it.
- Enjoy quiet moments at the various fishing spots located in Hokko and expand your fishing collection. The fish have unique habits, and so players will need to vary their approaches. Similarly, each catch provides it’s own challenge when you reel them in.
- Hokko is home to a wide variety of different insects. These insects can be caught and added to your collection. Be sure to keep a eye out, as some may be hiding in a bush.
Click here to check out an exclusive interview with the game’s solo developer.
You can visit the game’s website here.
Calico
Developed by Peachy Keen Games and published by Whitethorn Digital. Calico is a magical, relaxed and family-friendly simulation game where players are given an opportunity to run their very own cat cafe. The game is expected to be released on Steam at some point during Summer 2020. The game will most likely release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and MacOS shortly afterwards.
About:
Calico came about due to the game developer’s obsession with cats, magical girls and fluffy animals. However, wanting to create a game that would appeal to everyone, she also included creatures such as lizards, birds, deer, raccoons, dogs, turtles, red pandas, foxes, etc.
She then shares about how she wanted to publish a game that would make players feel ‘soft, happy, cuddly and cozy’. If that wasn’t wholesome enough, she has said in an interview that she just wanted to create a game where the only goal is to have the best time possble.
However, simply running the cat cafe is not the only things that players can do. The game also incorporates enjoyable aspects from other popular gaming franchises such as Animal Crossing. Similarities between Calico and Animal Crossing include the simulation aspects of both games, and the ability to place furnitire and decorations in your buildings. A perk about Calico however, is that the animals will not leave, the shop never closes, and crops never die.
Features:
- As all animals are interactive, players can explore the village to find cats and other animals, including raccoons, deer, dogs, turtles, red pandas, foxes, lizards, etc. The animals can be befriended, petted and played with
- Players can ride on giant cats ( as you do? )
- Run your café by filling it with animals, furniture and yummy café eats!
- Use magic potions to change your animals and environment
- Meet magical girls, witches and other townspeople who you can help and befriend
Little Witch in The Woods
Little Witch in The Woods is an upcoming life simulation RPG. The game is currently in development by Sunny Side Up Games. No official release date has been given, but the developers are aiming for fall of 2020. They plan to release the game on Steam, and are hoping to release the game on Nintendo Switch and PS4.
About:
Little Witch in the Woods is an adorable fantasy RPG. You play as a super cute witch named Ellie. Close to graduating from witch school and becoming true witch, Ellie must experience the life of a witch as an apprentice. This involves moving to a new town and living in a witch’s house in a forest. Upon arriving to the town however, she is inevitably disappointed to find the in a state of disrepair, and a town which is virtually empty.
As the school is grading how well Ellie completes various tasks, she must explore the mysterious and magical region to gather the ingredients necessary for her potions. These potions can be used in other ways in the game too. Many of the ingredients can be acquired from obliging plants and creatures. The more rare ingredients can be obtained in the nearby village, where a curious bunch of NPC’s reside. By helping them out, they will reward you with ingredients, and some useful items as well.
Additionally, lending these characters a hand improves your relationship with them, and allows you to upgrade the small village. The game’s NPC’s, each with their own stories can sometimes move in or out of the village. It is possible to date these NPC’s, but they may not be human..
Features:
- Experience life as a witch apprentice in a mysterious fantasy world
- Explore the game’s mysterious and magical village and region
- Connect with a variety of plants and animals in a unique ecosystem
- Gather the the ingredients required for potion-making from obliging plants and animals. Rarer ingredients can be obtained as rewards for helping out NPC’s
- Create a variety of different potions such as the: Healing Potion, Clean Potion, Tickling Potion, Twinkle Potion, Sneezing Potion and Hush Potion
- Meet the handful of residents in the the small village, each with their own story.
- Upgrade the village into a larger one by lending a helping hand to its inhabitants
- Woo NPC’s enough, and you may find yourself a lifelong partner (although it may not be a human)
Check out an interview with the game’s developers here. You can follow the developers on Twitter here.
For more witch-y games, check out these ones.
You can also check out these upcoming magic school games and add them to your calendar.
Alchemic Cutie
Alchemic Cutie is a wholesome pixel-art-stylised RPG set on a colourful Island named Wimba, where you players can tame wild jellies. The game is in development by Vakio and Viridian Software, and will be published by CIRCLE Entertainment this summer. Alchemic Cutie will be released on itch.io. and Steam. A price has not yet been announced.
About:
Set on Wimba island, players get to tame slime-like creatures called Jellies. There are over 4,000 visual styles for jellies, each with unique traits and statistics. Players will have to meet the needs of their Jellies, which inlcude hunger, energy and happiness. Raise the perfect jelly companions and you may be in with a chance of claiming the top prize in one of the game’s eight competitions. In order to improve your jelly’s abilities, you can use alchemy in order to create special items with various powerful affects or to change items into something more rare and powerful. When you’re all jellied out, you can explore the island and uncover its secrets. In the village you can chat with its inhabitants and choose whether to form friends, or if you’re so inclined, rivals.
Features:
- Explore Wimba island and discover various jellies, items and quests
- Wander around a village and befriend the quirky, entertaining, and complicated characters that live there
- Utilise the Jelly raising and alchemy systems available for players to master
- Participate in a total of 8 fun jelly competitions where you can show off your Jelly raising skills and win medals
- Utilise the game’s modding feature and add your own villagers, quests, items, maps and more to grow Wimba Island. You can even build an island your own
- Release day modding support
- Share Jellies with others using special codes
If you would like to receive updates regarding the gaem, or share your modding creations after the game’s release, you can do so by signing up to the game’s ‘Cutie Club’ here.
Peaceful Days
Peaceful Days is a farming RPG simulation game reminiscent of Harvest Moon games. The indie game is being developed by Nhat Nguyen and published by Nhat Nguyen and Huiyin Studio. According to the game’s Steam page, Peaceful days is set to release for Microsoft Windows on August 31st 2020. It is currently priced at £7.19.
About:
Heavily inspired by the Harvest Moon series, Peaceful Days is a farming simulation set in the attractive Aurora Town, which is located by the sea. Living up to its title, the game appears to be peaceful and wholesome. Players have the freedom of character customisation and farm customisation too! Players can build friendships with the town’s inhabitants, become an important addition to the small seaside town, and participate in a variety of interesting festivals. Additionally you are able to build your very own farm from scratch. In your spare time, you are free to discover fish that you have not yet caught, spend time in the mine to discover ores necessary to upgrade your tools, play minigames, solve puzzles plus more.
As of February 3rd, an early access version of Peaceful Days became available on Steam.
Features:
- The ability to customise your farm, with 15 different types of buildings to choose from
- The ability to customise your character
- Players can receive various requests from the town’s inhabitants, including making deliveries, searching for items or part-time jobs etc, with the game’s request system
- Minigames
- Festivals to participate in
- The ability to raise a variety of different animals, waiting for you to unlock
- Grow lots of crops every Season
- Uncover secrets about the town
- The presence of mine puzzles waiting to be discovered over at least 20 mine floors
Upcoming features include:
- A house customisation system
- Improvements in character customisation
- ‘Heart Events’
- More minigames
- More mines floors and puzzles
- May 12, 2020
Picontier is an upcoming pixel art-stylized miniscape RPG. The game’s 2D art style, alongside its life simulation elements, make it comparable to the likes of Stardew Valley and the original Harvest Moon games.
Picontier is currently in development by game developers Kan Kikuchi, and indie game dev company SKIPMORE, who are best known for their Fairune and Drancia series titles.
The game is being published by Flyhigh Works Co., a company established in 2011 that specializes in localizing Japanese, English, and Chinese titles. They have published numerous notorious and successful titles such as Cat Quest, Cat Quest II, Celeste, Subara City, and more.
It was originally hoped the game would release for a variety of platforms including PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and surprisingly, Nintendo 3DS. However, it will now release solely on PC and the Nintendo Switch eShop.
About:
Picontier is a slow living miniscape RPG game allowing players to enjoy life on a whimsical island after they are washed ashore. Its life simulation elements include farming, crafting, fishing, and mining. Like Stardew Valley, the game also appeals to the more adventurous of gamers by offering excitement. Players can journey to the game’s dungeons to fight monsters.
Additionally, the game contains a charming story and a variety of strange island creatures to communicate with. Some examples include a giant blue water beaver and an enormous cow snoozing on a ranch. The game therefore seems to tick all the boxes where depth is concerned.
Features:
- Farming
- Crafting
- Fishing
- Mining
- Dungeon crawling
- Fight monsters
- A charming narrative
- A variety of interesting and unsual characters to interact with
The following Switch announcement trailer gives an exciting insight into what to look forward to in Picontier
There is currently no set release date for Picontier. However the following tweet posted by Picontier’s Twitter account suggests it could be playable as soon as this year.
- Apr 26, 2020
The developer of Hokko Life, Robert Tatnell, has been answering many great questions on Discord.
For those that have only been following Hokko Life semi-closely, the developer has been answering a lot of in-depth questions about his game and the development process. The answers to these questions give us a closer look at what exactly is going on behind the scenes of the creation of this super adorable upcoming life sim game.
FAQ’s about the game
As previously mentioned, many great questions have been rolling in about the game, and Robert has been kind enough to answer as many pertinent questions as possible. Like how will customizations work? Will there be dating? For the full list of FAQ’s, it’s as easy as joining the conversation on Discord!
On how time works.
“Well, that’s a very big question…! But in Hokko Life, time progresses at it’s own pace and isn’t tied to the real time. You can sleep to advance time to the next day, for example.
On relationships.
“The game features a relationship system that tracks how you interact with villagers and is used to unlock things like new dialog and whether or not characters can move to your town. This system can be expanded at a later date. As such there’s currently no dating gameplay between the human player character and the animal villagers.”
On Stamina Bar.
“No plans for an energy/stamina bar at the moment. Have considered this sort of thing but I don’t want to put awkward limitations on the player; there could be something encouraging you to sleep at night, but I don’t want to knock the player out and force them onto the next day (or similar)”
On playing as an animal.
“Oooh! This is one I get asked a lot! I didn’t realise it was such a popular request! For initial release there’s no plan for you to be able to play as an animal; it would involve a lot of work that I don’t have the bandwidth for. Given how popular it is though, it would be wonderful to add something like this at a later date; but I cannot promise anything!”
More info.
In the FAQ’s page, there is also mention that the game will not feature multiplayer functionality, but you can share the things you create in the game. The current release for Early Access on Steam is set for late 2020. There is no set price, but the game will not be free to play.
As it stands, Hokko Life is only releasing on PC, but will come to consoles depending on how everything goes. This is a solo-dev project with a single outside collaborator for music.
For more information on the game, you can follow the progress of development on Twitter. For a closer look at the developer, check out my interview with Robert from October of last year.
For more cute life-sim games, check out my coverage of the upcoming indie based on Japanese rural life.
- Feb 18, 2020
Roots of Pacha is an upcoming farming/life sim that takes place at the dawn of mankind.
I can’t help but get super excited at the prospect of a new farming or life simulation game. No matter what, there is always something new and unique to experience as we enjoy this genre from the eyes of many different developers and artists.
Roots of Pacha certainly has an all new adventure for us to partake, as we explore, discover and create all the things that make the world what it is today. Build the world from the ground up, quite literally.
From discovering irrigation techniques for more sustainable farming, to domesticating wild plants to create an array of healthy vegetation; Roots of Pacha is sure to give the feel of living life at the beginning of our race.
Some great features to expect in Roots of Pacha
The developers mention taking inspiration from our classic favorite farming/life sim game like Stardew Valley and Story of Seasons, but with a hint of Civilization and Age of Empires. So we can expect to see some of the classic features that we have grown to love over the years.
Do some cave exploring to harvest materials for higher grade tools and simple machines, after inventing them of course. How about fishing to help add variety to your diet and help you stay fit for all your community building endeavors.
After helping to build your community, get to know those who have come to inhabit it. Develop lasting relationships, and maybe even fall in love. There will be much to do by way of social life when not tending the crops or deep sea fishing.
Multiplayer Focus
The developers have also mentioned having built the game from the ground up with multiplayer in mind. Play with a friend from the start, and share everything. Live in the same home, go fishing together, frolic at festivals and even participate in cutscenes all in local co-op.
More info
Roots of Pacha is currently in development by a small indie studio comprised of just three people, two brothers and their good friend. The game is being developed for PC, but there is mention of brining the it to all major platforms somewhere down the line. There is no set release date.
For more information on this charmingly pixelated title, you can check out the official website. For up to date information on the game as it develops, be sure to follow the official Twitter page.
More Life Simulation games!
This life simulation game about Japanese Rural Life is one of the most anticipated upcoming indie games, check it out here!
For more cool upcoming indie games, check out my coverage of Wildspeakers.
- Nov 25, 2019
Life and village simulation games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley have always been my favorite kinda games. Meet all sort of new characters, participate in seasonal events, decorate a home and create relationships with the villagers are simply fun actives in video games. Circadian City is all of that and so much more!
About Circadian City
Circadian City is a life simulation RPG game where you control and jump into the role of your own character in a procedurally generated dream world. As you live the daily life you will need to attend to all sort of different activities, make breakfast in the morning, head out to work, meet new people and even catch a movie at night.
Making Friends isn’t Easy
The developers clearly state that you should not expect to make friends overnight by simply being overly nice and spending an evening with a villager. The relationship system in the game is complex and you will need to spend a lot of attention and care to build a new friendship. There are many different interests and even memories come into play.
Interestingly enough the game is also allowing for same sex marriages and anything in between. Developer Nowhere Studios is a big supporter of hetero and LGBTQ romantic options within the game.
Circadian City Release Date
You can already wishlist Circadian City on Steam right now. The release date is currently slated for Q1, 2020. Publisher Way Down Deep will also be brining the game to Nintendo Switch, however players on the hybrid console will have to wait until Q4, 2020.
I will definitely keep an eye on this one!
More Life Simulation Games
If you are looking for more life simulation and RPG games make sure you check out Hokko Life a village simulation game heavily inspired by Animal Crossing.
Take a look at this adorable Animal Crossing themed Tiny Garden Pals Gardening Kit!
- Nov 13, 2019
The kooky 2D adventure/sim-life game Village Monsters is now available to be downloaded on Steam.
As you know, I have been keeping an eye on Village Monsters for some time now. It is a relaxing and whimsical adventure game developed by sole creator, Josh Bossie. Take on the role of the last man living in a world inhabited by monsters. With everything that you’d expect from a good life-sim game, with a monstrous twist, Village Monsters is one adventure that you won’t want to miss out on.
Features List
- Befriend dozens of whimsical monsters, each with their own quirky personalities, interests, and problems to solve.
- Pursue many interesting hobbies that let you hunt for treasure, collect and train creatures, cultivate mushroom gardens, and catch legendary fish.
- Buy a fixer-upper and sink your entire life savings into it to make it your very own comfy-cozy homestead.
- Engage in a variety of daily tasks and activities like earning money with a part time job, joining in village events and holidays, going on adventures – or just hanging out with your monster pals and watching some TV.
- Unravel unique personal stories as you build friendships and learn the history (and secrets) of the village and its inhabitants.
- Explore vast and strange areas outside the village ranging from vibrant forests, arctic deserts, fog-choked valleys, and the ruins of a best-forgotten empire.
- Immerse yourself in a truly simulated world that boasts shifting weather patterns, sweeping seasonal changes, and interesting system interactions.
- Harness the glitches of a run-down game and use them to empower your skills and fix this neglected world.
Village Monsters Trailer
For more information about Village Monsters, as well as the chance to purchase the game, check it out on Steam. Tune in on Twitter and Discord if you’d like updates on the games progress, as it is currently in early access.
- Befriend dozens of whimsical monsters, each with their own quirky personalities, interests, and problems to solve.
- Oct 29, 2019
Hokko Life, created by sole developer Robert Tatnell, is one of my most anticipated indie games! Not only is Hokko Life a cute villager-life simulation game like Animal Crossing, it also brings a few new unique features to the table. Pun intended! The customization for Hokko Life goes quite in-depth with the capability to choose your character’s skin tone, to shaping and sizing your own furniture!
The game is still in early development, and since my interview with the creator and my other updates, we wanted to summarize everything we know so far! Although there is no release date or confirmed platforms other than PC/Mac as of now, let’s take a look at some older and newer screenshots which show quite an amazing progress!
Furniture and House Customization
All items you create for either inside your home, or that of a villagers’, as well as outside, you will be able to scale the size, move, and rotate! The UI has gone through many improvements including pre-set shapes that are now nice and organized under menus. Under these categories you’ll also find materials such as wood and metals to decorate with. So far you can use that painting tool to make T-Shirts, wallpaper, and flooring! The developer intends to add a option to cake decorating eventually.
Animal Character Personalities and Interaction
There’s a train station in town and at various times during the day characters will hop off the train. After you’ve met a visitor a few times, helped them out with tasks, and become friends with them, you’ll open up the option to ask them to move to town! When interacting with those villagers, there will be tons of new variety in the player and character conversations. Greetings will change depending on time of day and the weather. You can also wave at the villagers which puts them in a happy mood! Villagers will have visible reactions now; laughing, crying, getting angry, which can be triggered in dialogue.
Shopping and Accessorizing
The interior of the shops have their entire inventory laid out and on display. You can walk up to each item and interact with them before buying. The contents of the shops change every day, so you can look forward to checking what’s new as often as possible. Shopkeepers will have set hours and will otherwise have the store locked. The fashion store specifically recently got a make-over, both internal and external.
When creating your character, you can change hair color, eye color, skin color, and more! For now we get to see the most recently-added blue mohawks, buns, and buzzcuts! You can buy clothing at the above-mentioned fashion store such as hats, pants, tops, even headphones. Clothing is non-gender-specific, so you’re free to wear whatever you want too.
Activities: Farming, Fishing, Chopping Trees
The world is set up as different areas, each with their own activities and feel. There’s a dedicated town center for all your shopping needs, a lovely beach for night time strolls, some pleasant riverside walks, etc. Other core activities include farming with crops such as cabbages and radishes! Moreover, since a weather mechanic was added, rain can now water these crops. There are also the mines and forests areas that are randomly generated each day, full of lovely resources! Stuff your backpack full of these resources so you can later craft some items with them. I’m particularly excited with the adorable 3D fishing mini-game. It reminds me of Mario Party where you can scoop up some fish. There are even treasure chests added in the water that you can pick up too!
You can follow along what Robert’s working on next with his Devlog right here on his website! Of course, I’ll also be watching out for his monthly updates and will keep you posted on this adorable town-builder.
- Oct 21, 2019
Rolling Hills is a friendly life sim about opening your own sushi restaurant in a cozy little village. The game is created by an indie developer called Catch & Release which also made Star Billions: A Sci-Fi Adventure for mobile and Cold Iron for Steam and PlayStation Store.
Rolling Hills is still in very early development but is estimated for a release sometime in 2020 for as many platforms as possible, although they are a small team. I am really looking forward to this game coming out as it’s reminiscent of Animal Crossing but with sushi!
Key Features
- Start a new life with your own fully-customizable home and restaurant in Rolling Hills.
- Make friends with a cast of more than 50 unique characters.
- Craft your perfect sushi with classics like the California Roll and thousands of possible do-it-yourself rolls.
- Catch rare bugs and reel in big fish while you make memories with your new friends in the countryside.
- Get a little help from your animal friends, each with unique skills to help you run the best restaurant ever.
Angler 
Chef
For more updates on this game you can follow the developers on Twitter here and their Discord channel here.
Gameplay and more details!
For more details, some gameplay footage and more information on Rolling Hills, check out the latest updates on the sushi creation and a first look at the cozy little town!
To get the latest and fullest scoop of Rolling Hills news check out our designated news area for this game right here!
