Meow Moments: Celebrating Renewal & Romance is delightful to play. The gradual colouring of the scene as items are found makes it more interesting and less stressful as you progress. If finding objects is your happy place, then Meow Moments: Celebrating Renewal & Romance will definitely make you happy!
Heian City Story lives up to its ‘peaceful’ name. It has a slower pace than other Kairosoft games, possibly due to the more muted colours and meditative music. The tournament mini-games and guardian spirit battles break the hypnotic rhythm and allow for more interaction. Overall, it’s a pleasant experience.
Those acquainted with the books will enjoy the familiar characters and references in Dog Man: Mission Impawsible. However, you don’t need any prior knowledge of the Supa Buddies to enjoy this bright, humorous and colourful platformer.
Critter Café is a heartwarming, wholesome game. Its straightforward approach to café management and puzzling makes neither activity overly complicated. The artwork is beautiful, and with no time pressures or penalties for missing service, it’s a delightful game to play.
Stardew Valley has it all: farming, crafting, cooking, mining, combat, exploration, quest fulfilment, collecting, friendship, mysteries, and so much more. It’s a game that keeps on giving, and with concerts, a board game, and a cookbook, it offers an all-encompassing experience. The different farm layouts and the ability to have different community centre bundles mean there is a lot of re-playability. Yes, you still have to grow crops and raise animals, but where to locate the fields and buildings? Which order do you complete quests in? There are so many variables. Although Stardew Valley v1.6 has a few frame rate issues, the extra content is a delight to find and I have truly been inspired with revisiting the valley.
Magical Bakery is a cooking-themed, time-management simulation with more than a spoonful of magic sprinkled about. It has some different elements from other games in the same genre and an intriguing background story that makes you want to cook more just to find out what it’s all about. There is a good balance between buying, selling, and upgrading in Magical Bakery, which means progressing doesn’t feel like a grind. Various options allow for a stress-free experience if necessary.
Petit Island is a charming story of friendship and hope. There are moments of sadness and joy as Lily ventures around the picturesque islands, with the music balancing the gameplay beautifully. I would have liked Petit Island a lot if not for the software crashes during the final chapter, which spoilt my overall enjoyment. Hopefully, the developers will be able to rectify this quickly.
With the reassuring familiarity of bright colours and pixelated characters, Legends of Heropolis DX is fun to play. Like so many of the Kairosoft games, you need to find the gameplay loop of developing the city, levelling up your superheroes and battling in order to achieve victory. I thoroughly enjoyed fighting alongside the other heroes in Legends of Heropolis DX and finding my inner superhero.
Playing Garden of the Sea makes me happy. The combination of crafting, exploring, cultivating and puzzle-solving strikes the perfect balance and encourages the next step. Completing the main story is just the start, as you can then trade and decorate, design and create the perfect environment to chill out and relax in, with all the adorable creatures. There are just a few too many glitches to give Garden of the Sea our highest rating, but if you can cope with a first-person view, I would definitely recommend this cosy and wholesome game.
Orange Season has a wide range of produce, some interesting livestock options, and different types of festivals to similar games in the genre. However, I was disappointed in the overall balance, with no long term plan to keep me playing. I really wanted to like the game and find out what was going on in Orange Town. However, once the coop is out of order, it is impossible to complete some of the tasks, and for that reason, I can’t recommend it.
Initially, I really enjoyed playing Tiny Little Farm. The music was relaxing, and although the quests were challenging, they were achievable with perseverance. Unfortunately, though, I can’t recommend it at this point. The unpredictable vanishing trees, compounded by the fact that you can’t replant them, means that playthroughs could be impossible to complete. I hope the developers can correct the issue, as there is a great little game hiding in the undergrowth of the Tiny Little Farm.
The Seed: Unit 7 didn’t grow on me the same as other mini-farming games. Although there is diversity in activity, with livestock farming, fishing and exploration, the cost of these made it uneconomical to help reach the end goal quickly. However, I enjoyed the challenge of finding a way to escape The Seed: Unit 7.
There is a lot of breadth to Mars Base, from crafting to fighting, fishing to farming, and with it, some fantastic mini-games. Unfortunately, there isn’t the same amount of depth to the game – conversations soon get repetitive, and there are limited quests. That said, I had a really enjoyable time building my Mars Base.
Hidden in My Paradise adds something extra to the hidden object genre. Being able to move the objects around the scene to help find the items, re-creating snapshots and the ability to create your own levels makes for extended play.
Dreamland Farm is a basic but pleasant farming simulation. At times, it can be a bit too slow, waiting for rocks or trees to appear, but overall it’s an enjoyable game to while away a few hours.
Seasonspree is an adorable, short adventure. The graphics are cheerful with vibrant colours that lift your mood. The changing seasons and the satisfaction gained from helping Sunny’s friends make it a joy to play.
I like so much about Garden Witch Life . The bees buzzing round the hives, the roses growing up the trellis fences, the exciting and different areas through the magical portal, the cooking mini-games and no dangerous mine monsters to battle with. However at present it feels more like an early access version, and whilst updates are welcome to resolve issues, I shouldn’t have to restart in order to benefit. It is for the numerous issues I encountered that I can’t recommend Garden Witch Life at this moment. I sincerely hope that the developers weed out the problems, as there is a great farming/life sim game waiting to be unearthed.
Mika and the Witch’s Mountain is a short adventure, about flying around on a broomstick, delivering parcels. At times, I found controlling the broomstick a bit frustrating, and this did impact on my overall enjoyment. However, the scenery is great, with bright colours and a diverse landscape, and the ability to see all of this from the air enhances the experience.
Sokomage is a short, but pleasantly challenging sokoban-style puzzle game, especially when navigating the multiple screen per level. Frustrating at times, but overall satisfying.
The depth and breadth of The Garden Path are so extensive and coupled with real-time interaction that it’s hard to review after only a few days of play. My initial thoughts on this exquisite, hand-crafted game were positive. The artwork is stunning, the dialogue witty, and the mystery intriguing. But as time progressed, and I was slowed down by my excessive collecting, coupled with the lack of direction, my enthusiasm plummeted. However, I pushed through the barriers of frustration, had the Eureka moment, and started to understand where The Garden Path was going. This is not a game for the faint-hearted. If you like bright colours and clear guidance, look for a different game. But, just like in real life, the more time and effort you invest, the more reward you get, especially when it comes to gardening. The Garden Path is truly a remarkable game. Unlike anything I’ve encountered before, I’m left wanting to know more and play more. It was close to getting our highest rating, but the lack of clarity on some of the mechanics and the snail’s pace penalty for hoarding means: