relaxing game Archives - myPotatoGames
Loading

All posts tagged in relaxing game

  • svgMar 20, 2024Indie Highlight

    Post Image

    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.

    • svg
    • svg
    • svg
  • svgMar 14, 2024Reviews

    Post Image

    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!

    • svg
    • svg
    • svg
  • svgFeb 22, 2024Indie Highlight

    Post Image

    Welcome to Minami Lane! This lovely little life sim by indie developers Doot and Blibloop is a short, but wholesome play. It lets you build your very own street where you can decorate and manage shops. Build cozy homes to attract villagers to your street. Choose from a number of different colors for the roof and walls to create the perfect look. Your villagers need more than just a comfortable place to live, though! 

    Keep the villagers of Minami Lane happy by meeting several of their needs. Beautify the neighborhood with decorations, shops, and attractions. Parks add a beautiful pop of natural color and provide the perfect spot to relax. Ramen shops serve up delicious steaming bowls of food. Boba shops give villagers tasty treats to boost their mood. There are other shops your villagers may want, too. Plus, each shop has its own inventory and effects on the neighborhood. Play missions for a challenge or sandbox mode to focus on the creative side of building. 

    Release Date

    Minami Lane releases in just 5 short days on Steam! Grab the demo now to prepare for the release on February 28th. 

    If you prefer a free-form building game with no objectives, try Tiny Glade!

    • svg
    • svg
    • svg
  • svgFeb 1, 2024Indie Highlight

    Post Image

    Play as the adorable raccoon Rocco as he prepares for winter in Seasons of Rocco by developer Vivid Visions Studios. Rocco looks to you for guidance, so you’ll need to spend the fall seasons assisting him in gathering what he needs to survive the winters. Explore a tranquil world searching for fruit amid the colorful leaf piles. Take them back to his Tree House to sort them for later use. Be sure to gather enough to sustain Rocco over a long winter! 

    When spring comes in Seasons of Rocco, venture out as Rocco to explore a landscape now exploding with blooms and growth. Plant seeds you collected from the fruit eaten over the winter so you can have a bounty come next fall. That’s it! This game is a chance to step back and relax while you explore gorgeous landscapes and relish the beauty of different seasons while preparing for them. 

    Release Date

    Seasons of Rocco is currently available on Steam and is free to play!

    This game reminds me a lot of Smushi Come Home, which is another cute and relaxing game that focuses on exploring and gathering.

    • svg
    • svg
    • svg
  • svgJan 10, 2024Reviews

    Post Image

    The year is 1986 and you play as Meredith Weiss as she takes a step back from her busy tech career to deliver mail in her hometown. Lake follows Meredith as she returns to her lovely home town of Providence Oaks, Oregon, a sleepy lake-side town with just a few residents. You’re filling in for your dad for the next two weeks as you explore the town and get to know the residents. Some are friendly new faces, and some are familiar pals you grew up with. Deliver mail during the day, then spend your after work hours keeping to yourself or hanging out with friends. There are no wrong or right answers in this game, but they all shape your experience! 

    Gameplay

    I found Lake to be somewhat frustrating at first. You walk SO slowly, and there’s not a ton to do besides deliver mail and talk to people. Then I realized, that’s the point. In a world full of high adrenaline platformers and fighting games, this one forces you to slow down and enjoy the simple things in the world around you. There are no cell phones or modern computers to distract you. You deliver mail in a gorgeous town, build relationships with the townspeople, and just take in the scenery. Plus, driving around is fun, and the autopilot feature allows for some great sightseeing. 

    This is an ideal walking simulator, really. The mountains in the distance paired with the lovely wooded areas of town, and the idyllic small-town are so peaceful and perfect to just stroll through. The sun shining adds a relaxing atmosphere to the unhurried little town. Plus, there’s no timer or clock to compete with. Lake doesn’t have you on a schedule to deliver to each house by a certain time or within a certain limit. You can just get to it when you get to it, so take the scenic route around the lake! When you’ve finished your mail route and any side tasks you want to complete, you can return to the post office to end the day. Then, you’ll have the chance to hang out with friends or chill out at home. Rinse and repeat. 

    Graphics and Audio

    The graphics in the game aren’t top tier, mind-blowing by any means. However, the scenery is still beautiful. Providence Oaks is adorable, and driving through some of the tree-lined roads is highly cathartic. Lake’s homes and their yards border on perfection, which makes them a little too cookie-cutter, but they’re well designed. The character’s facial features seem a little plastic as only the eyes and mouth move, but they’re always well dressed. The clothing choices often scream ‘80s, which helps with setting the time period. Otherwise, there isn’t a ton that makes the game feel like it’s in the ‘80s besides some of the movie posters at the rental store. 

    As for the audio, Lake’s mail truck is equipped with a radio that plays country-pop songs. Thankfully, you can toggle the radio on and off, because the songs are far from my idea of enjoyable. They often were too loud for my tastes, too. I would have much preferred some ambient muzak or lo-fi jams, but these songs are fairly on-brand for the time. They felt overpowering, though. The music didn’t fade into the background and mix with the scenery to create the perfect relaxing experience. 

    Final Thoughts

    Overall, I really enjoyed Lake. It was relaxing and set in a gorgeous area. I know many people had issues with glitches early on, but I’m guessing they’ve been patched out by now as I had no issues. Engaging in a short story delivered through character interactions made it easy to learn who people were while getting some backstory on Meredith, too. Plus, no timer or clock lets me chill out and explore and get things done at my own pace. It really allowed me to just take in the scenery. 

    If you enjoy walking simulators with little to do gameplay-wise, and enjoy slower games, this is for you! 

    I give it:

    You can find Lake on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation.

    • svg
    • svg
    • svg
  • svgDec 20, 2023Feature

    Post Image

    We’re another week closer to Christmas and I can’t wait! I love going around the neighborhood looking at people’s decorations. I think that’s part of why ACNH having lights in trees feels so satisfying to me. What else is super exciting about the Christmas season, is the new gaming systems and games you get! And with Steam Decks being fairly popular, what better way to celebrate the approach of the holiday with some gift ideas for that system? 

    The following list only features games that have been Steam Deck verified, to save the gamer in your life some troubles and heartache!

    My Time at Sandrock

    My Time at Sandrock is the long awaited sequel to My Time at Portia. And just like the prequel, this one takes place in a post-apocalyptic world 330 years after the Day of Calamity destroyed a lot of modern technology. You accept the role as a builder of Sandrock, a desert community. Gather resources to build machines, befriend locals, fight enemies, and lead the town to economic prosperity! Uncover the backstories for over 30 NPCs while you forge friendships with them. Complete side quests, play fun minigames, and even team up with a friend to play the game together! 

    APICO

    APICO is a lovely game where you leave your boring city job and return to Port APICO, where you grew up, and return to your beekeeping roots. The APICO islands feature a set of lush, beautiful environments for you to explore. Each biome has its own breed of bees for you to discover. Gather resources to use in your studies or crafting. Make and sell Apicola (honey) and other beekeeping items you will discover. Play fun beekeeping minigames, without the stings! More importantly, breed different cross breeds of bees and discover 30 new species to help repopulate the APICO islands with. Plus, uncover the secrets of the islands while you explore. 

    I even have a review of APICO here, if you want more information!

    Cornucopia

    Cornucopia offers the same comfortable features players have grown to love from the farming game genre, but in a lovely 2.5D pixel art style. You plant 52 types of fruit trees, 15 types of berry bushes, and grow 52 different crops, including their different artisan varieties. Sell crops or cook them up in one of 200 different recipes! There’s also logging, fishing, mining, and pet breeding to occupy your days. Also enter the pets into competitive races or use them to help you fight monsters. Then, kick back and relax with some crafting and decorating.  Unlock furniture and decorations to turn your farm into your favorite getaway. Make friends with Cornucopia’s NPCs, too. Who knows, maybe one of the over 47 NPCs will catch your fancy! Romance them, go on dates, and unlock their romantic cut scenes. Even marry one, start a family, and decorate their room in your house. 

    While the Iron’s Hot

    Play as a simple journeyman blacksmith in While the Iron’s Hot. You’re looking to become a master blacksmith. This game features an exciting combat-free experience. Journey to the mystical lands of Ellian where you’ll meet a cast of quirky characters. Explore tunnels full of puzzles and resources. Master every step of the blacksmithing process. Smelt ore, turn metal into ingots, and shape them into useful items. Use your skills to repair machinery to open up new areas to explore. Craft equipment that helps you explore new regions. Even work hard to restore the defunct blacksmithing town of Stal. Revitalizing the village just might prove to Eillian’s artisans that you’re worthy of being a master blacksmith!

    Loddlenaut

    In Loddlenaut, you play as an interstellar custodian who has been hired by the spacefaring mega corporation GUPPI to clean up their mess. They’ve inundated GUP-14 with pollution, and want you to restore the planet. This is an open-world ocean adventure where you’ll get to explore this beautiful alien planet, along with the corporate ruins of GUPPI. You’ll find remnants of their buildings, ships, and machinery that have all sunken to the bottom of the game’s ocean. Use your bubble gun, clean up the trash, remove oil spills, and uncover clues about the past inhabitants. Unlock better gadgets to help you clean up different types of ocean pollution. Recycle the trash you collect and use it to craft items. Even befriend cute little axolotl-looking creatures called loddles!

    Did you get a new Switch instead? Or perhaps you got one for someone and want some games to go with it. Either way, check out my list of 5 Farming Games for Your New Switch!

    • svg
    • svg
    • svg
  • svgDec 13, 2023Snack Size News

    Post Image

    Are you looking for a simple, but gorgeous exploration game with no combat? Then Submerged: Hidden Depths is perfect for you! This game is a self-described third-person “relaxploration” adventure where you simply explore a the ruins of a world. You take on the roles of Miku and Taku. Miku is cursed with a mysterious power that she’s determined to use for good, and Taku simply doesn’t want it to tear them apart. 

    Submerged: Hidden Depths will take you on a relaxing, low-stakes journey through the submerged ruins of a drowned city. There, you’ll discover the crumbling remnants of skyscrapers and streets as you search for the secrets of what happened. You’ll encounter obstacles along the way, and will need to solve puzzles to overcome them. You’ll simultaneously learn the story of the brother and sister pair as you explore the ruined city, too. Plus, you can collect items and upgrade your trusty boat! 

    Ready for your laid-back adventure?

    Release Date

    You can find the game on Steam, Epic Games, PlayStation, and Xbox now. And while Submerged: Hidden Depths is a sequel, it’s not necessary to have played the first game. However, you can find the first game, Submerged, on Steam, too!

    Eastshade is another beautiful walking simulator.

    • svg
    • svg
    • svg
  • svgDec 6, 2023Reviews

    Post Image

    Station to Station is a relaxing puzzle experience set in a voxel-art world. Transform the world from dull and drab, to vibrant places full of life by building railways. Build connections for commerce and passengers across the countryside. Get the necessary materials to the production plants that need them, and then the finished product to the cities that need them to create thriving landscapes. Complete the puzzle elements and solve logistical conundrums while optimizing your train routes for the best results! 

    The Maps

    Each level of Station to Station starts as a dull, lifeless landscape. It’s uninteresting and borderline boring, and it’s certainly an uninviting place for people and animals to live. However, as you make railway connections, the maps transform into gorgeous dioramas full of flora and fauna. There are six different biomes, each with a handful of levels. Each of those levels, while set in a specific biome, and therefore have the same atmosphere, differ from each other in their layouts. This offers just enough difference to keep the game visually appealing. 

    The voxel art style provides a visually beautiful and intriguing element to Station to Station, too. I’ve restored the color and life to a map only to sit panning around the map watching the individual pieces. Watching the camels in the desert, or the bustling little villages in the grassy meadows is one of my favorite things to do. Observing all of the little details that were added just absolutely sucks me in. 

    The Puzzles

    Station to Station offers quite a bit of content, plus has announced more to come in a recently posted roadmap. I’d classify the “puzzles” as more objectives than puzzles, but that might be nitpicky. You have a set amount of money to use to build your connections. There are a limited number of cards to help you with discounts and such, too. However, you’re ultimately trying to build railway connections within a specific area of each map. Sometimes that’s easy, and sometimes it takes a little more trial and error. There’s also a few extra optional objectives per level you can complete to increase the difficulty level. 

    Nothing is overly difficult, though. I didn’t sit stuck contemplating a problem for long stretches. Plus, Station to Station gives you a couple of options for redoing the level. There is a reset button, making returning to the absolute beginning of a level easy. Or, if you just need to redo a little bit, you can return to a checkpoint instead of wiping the whole level. They’ve both come in handy when figuring out how to play and how to complete a level. 

    Final Thoughts

    What Station to Station boils down to, though, is you place train tracks to connect buildings, then you move on to the next level. That’s it. This is not one of your deep, story-driven or deeply puzzling games chock-full of different mechanics and facets. It’s a simple game with a gorgeous art style, and that’s ok! This is perfect for me when I’m in a puzzle mood, but don’t want to be stuck on a problem for long. It’s a great low-pressure, low-stakes experience.

    So, if you’re looking for something more, this isn’t for you. If you want that low-pressure experience, though, I recommend this game! I give it:

    You can Station to Station on Steam!

    Want more reviews? Check out my reviews of Witchy Life Story, APICO, and Little Sim World!

    • svg
    • svg
    • svg
svg