All posts tagged in Sandbox
Aug 2, 2023
Desktop Virtual Pets
Remember back when desktop computers were chunky, took up a whole desk, and ran Windows ‘95? I do. In fact, my family kept that computer for decades longer than we should have. It still ran, but mostly sat and collected dust as we moved on to sleeker laptop options. There’s a lot of nostalgia surrounding that giant computer, though. From the screaming dial-up internet tones, to using the AOL browser, and all the fun that machine brought, I remember it fondly.
My favorite part, though, was the desktop pets and companions you could download. There were tons to choose from, too. There was Catz and Dogz for those who wanted a real pet, but couldn’t. You fed, watered, and played with your canine or feline fiends. There was even an adorable little sheep. Or, if you were the working type, perhaps you even used Bonzi Buddy who could talk to you, send emails for you, search the web, tell fun facts, and more!
Werydlets Brings The Nostalgia
Now, there’s Werydlets! While not quite the same as that cute little sheep who would run around your desktop, or Neko who would chase your mouse wherever you moved it, Werydlets does exist on your desktop. Choose from Wagyu, a cute little dinosaur, Mochi, who looks like a jackalope, and Gyoza, a sweet little cat. One of them is all yours to care for. You’ll feed and take care of your new little pet by collecting food, toys, and grooming tools. Even pet, tickle, and throw your pet around their habitat!
When you idle, your pet will dig around its island to gather resources like Shinies and Prisms, which can be used to buy more items to enrich their life. Werydlets also lets you dress up your pet, as well as decorate a home! Use stickers, accessories, and ornaments to make your pet even cuter. Then, collect furniture and decor to customize your house.
Coming Soon
You can find Werydlets on Steam. The roadmap lists July as the early release, and August as the first live event. Steam lists it as “coming soon”, so hopefully we do get it in August!
Speaking of virtual pets, have you seen that Neopets is making a grand comeback? You can check out the news here.
- Jul 19, 2023
Welcome to Fabledom, where you are the king or queen! A vast, beautiful land is waiting for you to colonize it. In this laid back city builder, there’s no need for optimizing. Simply build and shape the city of your dreams, and watch the settlers’ lives. Experience a fairy tale world filled with flying pigs, witches, and more. Watch the rise and fall of their relationships as you build a prosperous economy to create a flourishing society. Even find yourself a king or queen and fall in love. Build an army, then select a champion to provide your city with defense against vile neighbors and minions.
Fabledom is available now on Steam!
- Jul 19, 2023
Craft, Build, Farm, and Explore
ALOFT is an open-world sandbox game where you must survive living on islands set around a giant, eternal hurricane. You’ll build your base, set sail through the skies to discover new islands, and fight to eliminate the fungi corruption threatening to take over. Uncover the secrets of the past civilization, and learn about their demise by reaching new heights.
Build your base however it suits you. Block the harsh winds or allow them to pass through your structures, lay down some ziplines to get across the island faster, farm crops, and raise animals. Craft useful machinery like the windmill to automate your farm and free up your time. And when you tire of that, take to the skies of ALOFT with your handy glider to explore other islands.
Otherwise, craft a bunch of sails and oars to use your own island as a vehicle! You’ll have absolute freedom when it comes to making your sails. Control the height and width of the masts, as well as the sails, and rotate or expand them as needed. ALOFT allows you to create a host of sails suited for your gameplay, and even for decorative purposes.
Now, I know combat isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, or their idea of cozy, but I think ALOFT gets a pass. You will need to fight off corrupt fungi, but that leaves you in a place to revitalize the surrounding world. The fungi will grow on top of corrupted flora and affect the animals in the vicinity. As you fight back the corruption, you’ll unlock new animal companions, livestock, crops, and resources. There’s something wholesome and cozy about saving ecosystems, I think.Coming 2024
Unfortunately, there’s no specific date listed for the release of ALOFT, but it will be here next year! You can find it on Steam where you can add it to your Wishlist, as well as try out a demo!
Steam recommends this game for those who like Ark Survival Evolved and Terraria. It also reminds me of I Am Future.
- Jul 13, 2023
I wrote about Gourdlets back in November when I first discovered the game. It’s an absolutely adorable little city builder game with no challenges, no quests, no resource management. You just unleash your creativity and build little cityscapes!
Since November, developer AuntyGames has added some great new features to the game. You can now enter buildings and decorate them! Build cozy homes for your Gourdlets and sweet little cafes for them to frequent. This adds another level of customization for players to create the cityscapes of their dreams.
Fences are now more intuitive to build, too. It’s easier to form corners and make enclosures with them. So, if you had been wanting to create tiny zoos or farm pastures, now it’s much easier! What’s also easier is placing land tiles. Gourdlets has a paint bucket tool that lets you create islands without the hassle of all the individual clicking. And my favorite addition is farming! Place tilled dirt tiles, plant seeds, and the Gourdlets will water them and pull weeds. They’ll even pick the mature crops!
You can find Gourdlets on Itch.io, as well as Steam!
- Jul 12, 2023
I recently wrote about Go-Go Town here, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release since discovering it. It’s absolutely adorable with its sweet-looking character designs and delightful building designs. Couple that with the town revitalization and management, it looks to be the perfect cozy game.
And it is!
I’ve had a chance to playtest Go-Go Town, much to my delight. Not all features are available in this playtest. It’s more like a limited demo, but what is in the playtest has me hooked already. You’re dropped into this run-down town as the new mayor, and taught a few things on how to play, then it’s up to you to restore this beautiful little place.
You run around, or hop on a bike, or even drive a little pickup truck, collecting materials needed to build new buildings. Eventually you can unlock tools to make rebuilding in Go-Go Town even easier. Chainsaws for cutting wood, drills for collecting stones, and crab pots for passive fishing will help free up your time so you can build new homes, fun shops and restaurants, and attract even more residents faster. And as you get residents to move in, you can assign them to different jobs to make production even easier. Go-Go Town even has a farm plot where you’ll grow crops, care for animals, and use all the items you harvest there to stock your shops with fresh, homegrown ingredients.
I have loved the cuteness of the game, as well as the coziness of it. It’s been fun rebuilding a whole town how I want it. I can’t wait to see what more comes to this game, too!
You can find Go-Go Town on Steam, where you can Wishlist it to keep an eye out. Unfortunately, there is no release date at this time.
Want more building? Take a look at Tiny Glade!
- Jul 5, 2023
Horticular is a relaxing garden-builder with a little magical twist. You’ve been summoned by mysterious gnomes to restore an abandoned garden. Immerse yourself in a magical world with a day-night cycle, weather patterns, and adorable animals. Meanwhile, build your dream garden with hundreds of unlockable items. Create lush flower gardens and flourishing crop plots. Attract creatures by fulfilling their requirements and taking care of them. You’ll need to fight off decay and corruption by using the magic within your garden. You’ll also get to rename inhabitants to personalize your gardening experience. And if you want to prove your abilities, enter the in-world competition, plus much more!
Coming this year to Steam.
- Jun 7, 2023
Renovate, Decorate, Plan, and Manage the Town
Congratulations! You’re the new mayor of Go-Go Town, a declining, rundown tourist destination. One short phone call was all it took, and now it’s up to you to not only take care of this crumbling place, but return it to the vibrant tourist town it used to be. Can you make Go-Go Town prosperous again?
Luckily, you’re not alone in your endeavors. The aging population of Go-Go Town will help teach you the ins and outs of being the mayor, starting with construction. Part of your job will be to collect materials and repair current buildings across town, or build new structures and shops. You’ll also have a number of power tools at your disposal, from chainsaws and drills to leaf blowers and trimmers.
Once you’ve repaired the town, you’ll get to decorate it, as well as plan how you want the town laid out and what shops will populate the streets. It’s your job to decide which types of shops to build, who will run the shops, how those shops will bring in money for Go-Go Town, and how to manage the supply chain. Will a new arcade with neon lights do well? Or perhaps a burger joint for tourists to grab lunch at will be better? Oh, but what about a souvenir shop? Everyone loves taking home a memento of their vacation!
Running a whole town will keep you busy, but the residents will help you out. Expand the industries in Go-Go Town by hiring miners, fishermen, lumberjacks, shopkeepers, and more. With the right combination of tools and people, the town will run smoothly. When you run out of room in your now prosperous town, you can expand. Unlock useful new tools and skills in the tech tree so you can build bigger houses, terraform the land, and much more.
Make Go-Go Town an incredible place to visit, and some of the tourists may even decide to stay!
Coming Soon!
Unfortunately, Go-Go Town! doesn’t have a release date available. However, you can Wishlist it on Steam!
For more cute life sims, check out Dinkum, My Time at Sandrock, and Wylde Flowers!
- Mar 9, 2023
Survive a Harsh Post-Apocalyptic World
I’ve written about a couple of incredible little building simulations (Tiny Glade and Gourdlets) that don’t have combat or objectives, and instead are just perfect for relaxing and getting creative with your building skills. So, I thought I’d change it up a bit and present The Wandering Village!
The Wandering Village is the third simulation game from indie developers Stray Fawn Studio. The world has mysterious plants spreading across it that emit toxic spores, merciless weather patterns, bloodsucking parasites, and many more challenges to face. The game goes a step beyond being a simple base builder where you create a village. Instead, a small group of survivors have taken refuge on the back of Onbu, a giant wandering creature. Become the leader of the survivors, build up a flourishing settlement for your people, and will you live in symbiosis with Onbu, or will you make choices for the well-being of your people only? It’s up to you
It’s your job, along with the other survivors, to build a functioning village. Onbu is large, but there is still limited space. You’ll need to plan the village well to include homes, farmland, and much more. Be sure to plan your production chains and optimize them to make use of every little bit of space as efficiently as possible. The Wandering Village even features different biomes that you’ll have to adapt your village to, also. Don’t worry though, you’ll be able to pull out some old-world knowledge to conduct research. Unearth technologies that can help your village flourish, but be careful. Progress can be a double-edged sword, and potentially harm Onbu.
Available Now!
The Wandering Village is available now in Early Access on Steam. It is verified Steam Deck compatible, too. There are also plans to release the game for Xbox, though there is no specific date for that yet. The game should make its way to Xbox Game Preview sometime this year.
Looking for more base-building? Check out Before We Leave, Foundation, Dwarrows, or The Crown.
