News
Aug 16, 2023
Just under a month ago, the Neopets Team announced the nostalgic pet sim game was undergoing a lot of changes. This includes new management. You can see the full announcement and information here. There were also promises to overhaul the website and bring it back to life. And they’ve already made good on one of those promises.
Games! We can play the full library of games again! The Neopets Team have announced that Ruffle, a Flash Player emulator, is now being used on the website. This emulator allows you to get back to playing all of your favorite Neopets games to earn those sweet, sweet Neopoints. Here’s the official statement about it:
I’m personally most excited about getting back to playing Meerca Chase!
- Aug 9, 2023
Trade Tales opens with you winning a small farm lot in a brand new town through a lottery. You’re eager for a fresh start and decide to take this opportunity to prove yourself and build a new life. You’ll embark on an exciting journey in a brand new town rich with culture. Forge new friendships, assist the locals, and even discover your unique talents. Then, take time to explore different skill sets that can earn you money like fishing, farming, foraging, and mining.
But Trade Tales seeks to set itself apart from all the other life sims out there by allowing you to craft your own experience, and it just might achieve that. Along with the usual farming and fishing, you’ll be able to engage in trading, offering services, applying for jobs, or even start your very own business! You can then use your money to upgrade your home or invest in other businesses. Here’s the list of business opportunities you’ll find in the game:
The unique features don’t stop there, though. Trade Tales has set an ambitious goal of setting themselves apart, and they haven’t skimped on the features to do it.
You’ll even have access to modern tools like smartphones and computers, cameras, and drones. All of which will aid you in your Trade Tales journey. The smartphone comes with useful apps that allow you to communicate, research, shop, navigate, and more. Plus, the mines offer a challenging puzzle experience instead of the mind-numbing repetition of breaking rocks.
Trade Tales will have unpredictable outcomes that add a bit of realism to the game. Business endeavors may not always yield profit, and mismanagement can lead to the closure of your business. You might even lose your entire field of crops to a super typhoon. Fall in love and even have romantic rivals, adopt pets, or even win the lottery. There’s so much to do!
Whatever you choose to do, and however you end up playing, Trade Tales promises a unique gameplay with the ability to lead your own life. Even when you finish the main story, there’s more for you to do and experience!
Coming to PC and Switch
Unfortunately there’s not release date information for this great game. However, it is supposed to come to PC and the Nintendo Switch. Hopefully we’ll see it soon! You can find Trade Tales on Facebook to follow along with their development.
Want more life sims? Check out my review for Pretty Princess Magical Garden Island!
- Jul 26, 2023
In Millennials, you’ll create your very own college freshman. Experience the prime of your youth while also experiencing the ups and downs of college life. Attend classes, work, make enemies, and forge friendships. Even chill out and decorate your dorm room!
When you create your college freshman in Millennials, you have control over what type of person you make. Choose qualities and skills to create a hard-working bookworm or an extroverted party animal. Make time to network with those around you, as it can make college life more fun. Or go the lone wolf route and avoid making friends at all. Join a sorority or fraternity and take part in mysterious initiations. Even throw parties or arrange annual events. If that doesn’t appeal to you, though, you can join a club or just forge friendships and maybe even find love.
You’ll even have to find the perfect work-life balance while you’re at it! Partying is fun, but you’ll need to attend classes and study in order to pass exams. Mix in working part time to pay for tuition, and you’ll have to manage your time in Millennials really well! Just don’t forget to have fun, because all work and no play is dull. Oh, and don’t forget about your reputation on campus. Network with influential students, complete goals, and accumulate good grades to become a campus celebrity.
Coming Soon
You can Wislist Millennials on Steam now! There is no current release date listed.
Looking for more life sims? Check out Palia, an upcoming cozy MMO. There’s also the adorable Japanese Rural Life.
- Jul 20, 2023
Remember Neopets?
This beloved browser-based pet game was established in 1999. You cared for a creature, played mini-games, completed quests, plus other fun things. It played a huge part in my childhood, and that of many others’ childhoods. It was the best free game I had access to, and I’d spend hours a day playing it. Meerca Chase was my jam.
Unfortunately, the game didn’t quite age well. It didn’t receive the updates it deserved. Looking at it now, there is one new type of Neopet since I played over a decade ago. Plus, with the death of Flash, most of the games we knew and loved are gone. I mean, there were tons of games, but now there’s 14 games to play because they’re the only ones that got converted.
There have been some updates to the website, of course, and they did publish Neopets: Island Builder and Neopets Faerie’s Hope on mobile. They’re lackluster, to say the least. And remember when there were rumors about Neopets coming to the Switch? That seems to have fallen apart, too.
Neopets’ New Era
There were clearly attempts over the years to make Neopets fresh and revive it, but it all seemed to fall flat. Earlier this week, though, The Neopets Team made a huge announcement that promises the resurrection of this beloved game. Neopets now has a brand new leadership team who are eager to make the game what it deserves to be.
There will be a relaunch of Island Builders, as well as a new World of Neopets life sim game where you live as a Neopet. The Neopets Team promises even more to come, too. I hope to see the return of all of the mini-games as they’re changed over from Flash games. And I’m super excited to see what else the team adds to the game. They’re clearly passionate about the game, which offers hope to us players!
If you’d like to see Neopets succeed, the team requests everyone to come back and play. Take a look around the new website. Even enter the giveaway that’s going on now. And don’t forget to share with your friends!
If you’d like to read the full statement from the team, you can check it out on their website here. - Jul 20, 2023
Humble Bundle is a great resource for the thrifty gamer with their bundle offers. Pick a bundle, then choose what you wish to pay. It’s a great way to grab a bunch of games for cheap. Right now, Humble Bundle has a Cozy Games bundle perfect for trying out a bunch of games you may have had your eye on! And these are all worthy of playing. They’re cute, cozy, and wholesome. Some feature powerful stories, while some are just perfect for kicking back and relaxing with.
This offer ends in 20 days, so take your time to decide, but don’t let it pass by!
Cat Cafe Manager
Cat Cafe Manager has you taking over your grandmother’s derelict cafe in the sleepy town of Caterwaul Way. Restore the cafe, renovate it, and decorate it as you wish, turning it into an inviting home for the plethora of cats that call Caterwaul Way home. Hire employees to help manage the cafe, and explore the village to befriend the inhabitants and learn new recipes.
Witchy Life Story
In Witchy Life Story you’re the youngest member of the magical von Teasel family, but you’re not exactly their pride and joy. In fact, you have one more chance to prove yourself or your witch training is over. So, you arrive in the village of Flora to try and save their harvest festival. You have two weeks to make it a success. So, gather herbs, brew potions, get to know the townspeople, and even cast some spells. Maybe cause a little chaos, even.
Here Comes Niko
Play as the adorable Niko, who’s just become a professional friend for Tadpole Inc. in Here Comes Niko! You’ll explore different scenic islands while making friends with people you come across. Complete requests for them by catching fish and bugs, solving puzzles, and even just listening to them. If you’re lucky, they’ll pay you and you can then invest in a train system to get to new islands!
Garden Story
Welcome to the Grove! You’re its new guardian, and it’s your duty to rebuild the village and uncover the story of its past. Garden Story is a chill wholesome game where you’ll complete quests to defend against encroaching Rot, gather resources, restore, and improve the town. There’s even a way to turn off combat to make it even cozier to play!
Lemon Cake
Lemon Cake is an adorable little game about restoring a run-down, haunted bakery. Grow fruit and care for animals, who provide ingredients for your bakery. Repair, furnish, and decorate every room to create an inviting little business. Mix and bake up some fantastic recipes, and maybe even convince the ghost to help you out!
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
Join Alba as she visits her grandparents on a once-beautiful Mediterranean island in Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. She’s ready to explore the island with her friend Ines, but when she sees an animal in trouble, she realizes she needs to help it. As Alba, you’ll start a whole campaign to clean up the island! Convince the townspeople to help out and gather volunteers to restore the island and help the wildlife.
A Short Hike
A Short Hike is about exactly that, hiking! Spend time in the peaceful mountainside of Hawk Peak Park simply exploring. Hike the marked trails or explore the wild back country. Climb some rocky cliffs. Glide over lush landscapes. Take your time to absorb the beautiful surroundings and meet other hikers. Perhaps you can help each other out. Even discover some treasures!
Assemble With Care
Assemble with Care features a meaningful, evocative story line about Maria, a globe-trotting antique restorer as she arrives in Bellariva. She wants to help the inhabitants fix their personal items, but discovers it’s their personal lives that are starting to fracture. It’s harder to fix those, but she’s determined to help. You’ll solve puzzles by fixing items brought to her, meet the townsfolk, and tune into a lovely soundtrack inspired by the 80s.
65% off Coupon for Haven Park
Unfortunately, Haven Park isn’t included in this bundle, just a lovely 65% off coupon! It’s a great discount for such a cute game where you play as Flint, who has just taken over his grandmother’s beloved park. He wants to make it a park campers will love, so it’s up to you to help him out. Fulfill each camper’s wishes and build whatever their hearts desire. Happy campers will attract more business, which means more quirky characters for you to talk to and enjoy!
Like lists? Want more game recommendations? Check out 5 of My Favorite Cozy Steam Next Fest Demos!
- 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
A Cute Colony Sim That Takes Place Over the Ocean
Havendock is a resource management and colony sim where you find yourself on a single square of a pier. You need to gather resources as they float by in the ocean’s current in order to expand your living space. You’ll also build new facilities to help make your life on this pier more comfortable. Arrange your facilities where you wish, catch fish and grow crops for food, and even manage new settlers as they arrive. You can assign them to specific jobs to make operations much easier, but make sure you have enough food, water, and shelter for them!
And it’s recently received a great new update!
Cows, Birds, and More!
You can now visit Cow Island and speak to Josh to add the adorable cow to your list of animals. Feed them to receive milk, which can be turned into cheeses and desserts for your settlement to enjoy. You can also visit Bird Island where you’ll find Mother Kewi, a large bird who will help repopulate Bird Island. Once you rebuild her nest she’ll appear, and you can customize her colors, complete quests for her, and feed her. She’ll repopulate the island with tiny Kewi, who will carry resources back to your island. You can even take a ride on Mother Kewi!
There’s even more to enjoy, too. You can now access an abandoned fishing village. It was once a village full of life, but now it’s up to you to revitalize it. Rebuild necessary buildings and recruit new fishermen. You’ll need their services to create a sustainable way to feed fish to the birds, after all. When you’ve done that, hop into the water to discover the mysteries of the crash. Use your bots to clean the area, drill for minerals, and investigate the wreckage. Even attract a new doctor NPC by shooting off a flare.
Havendock now has The Cave, where you can explore and fight slimes. To access The Cave, visit Bird Island and find the door. Fighting slimes will reward you with slime bubbles, which can be used to make desserts or combat gear. This portion of the update is bare bones at the moment, and the developers are looking for suggestions on equipment, upgrades, etc to improve the area.
Find Havendock on Steam now! It is in Early Access, but receives great updates regularly. For another colony sim, check out my review of One Lonely Outpost.
- Jul 5, 2023
About Coral Island
If you haven’t heard of Coral Island, it’s a beautiful farming sim that I think everyone should give a play. You leave behind the hustling city of Pokyo to start your new life on the laid-back island. Be who you want to be with character customization, farm a variety of crops, tend to farm animals, create the perfect homestead, and help revitalize the town and its coral reefs. Also, you can fish, mine, dive, and get to know over 70 different villagers, 28 of whom are dateable!
New Character, Festival, And More
Stairway Games will release an update for Coral Island that introduces some great new content. At last, we’ll get to meet a brand new Merfolk villager, Semeru, the Merfolk Kingdom’s Guard Leader. He’ll be joining Denali the gatekeeper and Princess Miranjani as the dateable Merfolk, rounding out the total list of dateables to 28.
You’ll be able to own llamas and collect llama wool from them. Plus, you won’t have to run around all day to pet, feed, and collect products from your animals anymore. The update will introduce auto petters, auto feeders, auto collectors, and temperature machines will be available to make caring for your animals even easier.
Perhaps the most useful part of the Coral Island update will be the addition of the Architect’s Desk. This handy tool will give you a helpful bird’s eye view of your entire farm. Build your perfect homestead even easier with the desk by rearranging crops, fences, decorative items, and even the logs and rocks that are scattered across the farm. Just be aware it will cost money to move each item!
Last but not least, and perhaps what I’m most excited for, is the addition of a new festival! Taking place on Fall 28, you’ll get to experience the Spooky Festival! Explore the wonderfully decorated festival grounds, and participate in some fabulous activities. Run around and play Bonk the Skeleton, take part in the Ring Toss event, and enjoy watching the vibrant Ogoh-ogoh Parade, a traditional Balinese procession meant to ward off evil spirits.
Coral Island is Available Now
While this lovely update isn’t available until August, you can pick up Coral Island now on Steam! It’s also currently on sale until July 13th.
If you’re looking for even more farming fun, checkout Litchi Town, Big Farm Story, or Kitaria Fables.
