All posts tagged in Life Simulation
May 13, 2026
Set in a pleasant little Mediterranean village, Velanit: The Forgotten Cottage brings to life the small, seaside town feel. In that little town sits a forgotten cottage. A man used to live there, but the locals don’t know much about him other than that he liked solitude and telling stories. You’re the lucky new owner of this once-lovely little cottage, and there’s so much more to it than just its crumbling walls. Spend your days gathering resources like clay, wood, and stone to use for repairs. Then, rebuild the walls, lay roof tiles, restore the floors, and more. You aren’t just rebuilding and restoring in Velanit, you’re decorating with furniture and accessories, too. Even solve puzzles as you renovate the cottage. Talk to the locals, too, as they not only have interesting stories, but will teach you useful Mediterranean building techniques to use!
Release Date
Velanit is listed on Steam, but has no release date other than a planned release sometime in 2027. The game is currently in active development. However, you can add it to your Wishlist to keep up with updates and be notified of the release! You can also check out the Kickstarter that is live until June 4th.
- May 4, 2026
Grandma Left Me A Building is a cozy apartment building management game featuring quirky neighbors and some mild chaos. As the game’s title suggests, you inherited a building from your grandma. The issue is, it’s seen better days and is in shambles. The pipes leak, walls are crumbling, and there are some odd noises coming from the upstairs. You’re determined to make the best of it, though. You’ll need to restore the building little by little, as well as shuffle through applicants to find the best tenants.
The tenants in Grandma Left Me A Building aren’t your run-of-the-mill tenants, of course. They’re quirky and strange, so you’ll need to choose wisely, or you’ll end up with an elf who likes to loudly play the guitar at midnight, disturbing the philosopher next door. Pair the correct neighbors together to create harmony, or face some unhappy characters. You’ll also handle tenant complaints, repair the building, hire staff to help you out, collect the rent, and pay the bills on time. Every day brings a new kind of fun and chaos!
Release Date
Grandma Left Me A Building releases on Steam in July of this year. Be sure to add it to your Wishlist to be notified on release!
- Jan 2, 2026
The title Gemporium: A Cute Mining Sim really tells you all you need to know about this game. You play as Moel, a small mole who has taken over his grandmother’s gemporium business. Spend your days mining for precious gems, refine them so they shine bright, then sell them in your shop. Sounds easy and relaxing, right? It is! Even if you have a million-dollar debt hanging over your head!
Mine, Refine, Sell, Rinse, and Repeat
Your days are time-limited and are specifically laid out so you can only do certain things at certain times. Despite that, Gemporium really is relaxing. The mornings are for mining and refining. The afternoons are spent selling your sparkly wares. The evenings are for talking to Grandma, who is such a character, and buying upgrades. Easy and structured, but you can turn on Cozy Mode if you don’t want timed days at all!
I enjoyed the repetition of Gemporium. Every day was structured, so I knew what to expect. This made for the perfect game to just turn my brain off and play. The mines are easy to navigate, and mining by hand is a relaxing chore. Upgrades helped make each process far more enjoyable, too, by increasing abilities. Even repaying the debt was hassle-free because there really was no pressure to meet deadlines. If you miss a payment day, interest is added, but earning money is not difficult. Soon enough, you’ll have more than enough.
Final Thoughts
Gemporium is on Steam now. There’s also a demo you can try out, and the game is Steam Deck verified! I think this game is perfect for gamers who love to lose themselves in the ease of a routine. It’s cute, it’s relaxing, and it’s a great gameplay experience. I give it
- Dec 18, 2025
Chef RPG is a beautiful pixel art game where you play as an aspiring chef. You inherit an old restaurant once run by a world-famous chef, but it’s seen better days. In fact, so has the whole town of White Ash Harbor. Your goal is to restore the restaurant, make a name for yourself in the cooking world, and to restore the town. Spend your days gathering and hunting for fresh ingredients. Get to know the quirky townspeople, and perhaps even fall in love. Set the menu daily and whip up some fantastic dishes to impress your customers with, and see what heights you can take the restaurant to!
Major New Update Brings Quality of Life Improvements
Just in time for the holidays, Chef RPG has released a brand new update full of quality of life goodness. That means there are no new quests to complete, NPCs to meet, areas to explore, or challenges for the restaurant. All of those things are coming in the next update after the new year, though! This update has overhauls, upgrades, improvements, and more.
The Chef RPG character menu had a complete UI overhaul. It’s easier to read, but it also has two new pages called the Pocket Menu and the Ingredients Page. Pocket Menu lets you set the restaurant’s menu from anywhere at any time. The Ingredients Page shows what ingredients you have stored away, and how many of the missing ingredients you need in order to complete the dishes on the menu.
Other UI improvements in Chef RPG include viewing unlocked Research Skills from the skills page. Inventory has sorting features. You can also view quests you’ve already finished and total unlocked recipes. Prestige has higher priority and its own page. Biggest yet, though, it’s the overhaul to the Skill Tree. The skill tree has separate branches for minigame cooking and autocook. There are 19 new skills, ability level caps are now 20 instead of 15, and max player level is now 70. Skill requirement costs have been adjusted accordingly. You also don’t need to be player level 30 to reset skills, and the cooldown for reset has been reduced from 5 days to 4.
As for the other lovely Chef RPG improvements, there’s a new bar that shows you how fast customers will arrive. Increasing your prestige will increase the number of customers. Fishing spots now have signs that show what fish are currently available to catch. Buffs have their own page now, too. Better yet are the improvements to cloud saves, resulting in fewer instances of saves being lost. The new gameplay settings also allow you to better control your gaming experience. Plus, there’s a whole ton of other improvements that you can find listed on Steam!
Release Date
This brand new update for Chef RPG is available now on Steam! So, go update your games and enjoy the long list of great improvements.
- Dec 15, 2025
If you’re ready to move beyond the classic cozy farming game formula, then check out Animal Rescue Network! You arrive in Water’s Edge, a small town that was damaged by a powerful storm. Homes have been damaged, shops closed, and the animal sanctuary is in shambles. That’s where you come in. You’re the new caretaker of the animal sanctuary and have come to rebuild it and the town.
Start your brand new journey in Animal Rescue Network by customizing your own character. Pick from a range of hairstyles, skin tones, facial features, clothing items, and accessories. Then, get to restoring the sanctuary so you can nurse ill animals back to full health. Some have been exhausted by the storm, while others are injured, sick, weak, or just need a new home. There are 14 adorable types of animals to help out. You’ll even have the help of Romy, the veterinarian, to figure out what’s wrong and how best to treat each critter.
Beyond the everyday care of the animals at the sanctuary, you’ll also receive visitors in Animal Rescue Network. These visitors are eager to see the sanctuary and how it functions. They’ll take a look around, react to your hard work, and even leave donations! You’ll also have creative freedom to design and build the barns, enclosures, and shelters for all of your animals so they suit everyone’s needs. Plus, your home is also yours to design!
Release Date
Animal Rescue Network is planned for release on Steam and Nintendo Switch. There’s a Kickstarter page with all of the details of the game. The campaign hasn’t launched yet, so keep an eye out!
- Nov 5, 2025
Grow your gem business in the cozy and adorable mining sim Gemporium: A Cute Mining Sim. You play as Moel, a little mole who is taking care of grandmole’s gemporium while she’s on vacation. Unfortunately, she didn’t tell you about her massive debt! So, not only will you need to grow the business, but you will also have a huge debt to pay off for her.
Gemporium has timed day cycles where you mine, refine, and sell your gems. That’s to say, part of the day you can only mine and refine, the shop is only open for a small portion of the afternoons, and the evenings are reserved for buying upgrades. There’s no rush, though. Play however you can, but you can also modify timing or have no timer if you prefer! Use your tools to dig up an array of different gems, then clean them up and polish them. Sell each customer their desired gem, or haggle with them to see if they’ll change their mind on which gem they want. Upgrade your tools, move speed, and much more to make your gemporium the best around! And of course, pay off your debt!
Release Date
You can find this adorable mining game on Steam now. There’s even a demo to try out before you buy. And, it’s Steam Deck verified!
- Aug 20, 2025
Welcome to your brand new cafe! Critter Cafe by developer Sumo Digital sets you on a fantastic journey after a mysterious portal opens up in your home. Inside, a Critter is stuck and you decide to begin the mission of rescuing all Critters! You also build a cafe that welcomes Critters and humans alike for the ultimate cozy adventure.
Explore the beautiful world around you to find other rifts and portals in order to rescue more Critters. Welcome them into your cafe and grow your bonds with each Critter. Growing that bond will unlock more rifts, which means more Critters to love! Just don’t neglect your cafe. As it grows, the island inhabitants will give you inspiration for new ways to decorate so you can make the cafe the coziest sanctuary possible. Of course, your wardrobe has options, too. Swap your character’s style and appearance at a whim throughout the day to display your mood and savvy!
Release Date
Critter Cafe is on Steam now. You can also try out the demo before buying!
- Aug 13, 2025
Coral Island is a vibrant farm sim where you’ve left behind the big city life you once enjoyed to live a new chapter. One where you can craft your own story and create the farmstead you’ve always dreamed of. Tend to a variety of tropical crops. Care for a host of adorable barnyard creatures. Even restore the beautiful island to what it once was as you form bonds with the natural world around you.
Experience the different seasons and what they bring as you get to know over 70 unique characters. You might even find your soulmate in one of the 25 dateables, too! Enjoy the magical underwater world where you can explore and restore the coral reef. Or go mining in the caves. Even fish all across the island or simply help improve the town. Decorate your home, deck yourself out in your favorite clothes, and live the relaxing island life!
1.2 Update
Coral Island released 2 years ago and has been receiving updates to flesh out and improve the game since them. And tomorrow comes one of the most anticipated additions! Releasing August 14th is the Multiplayer and Romance update. This means you can freely joins forces with friends to tackle fieldwork, farm, and build together. You can even marry each other!
Or if you prefer sticking with the dateable NPCs, you’ll get to experience new hangout events like picnics and beach bonfires. Each hangout has a unique cutscene that’s separate from Heart Events. As for the Heart Events post marriage, there will be new dialogue and special cutscenes . All of this aims to liven up and deepen your relationship with your spouse. However, there will still be no divorce option, so date everyone and pick your spouse wisely!
Release Date
As mentioned before, Coral Island released two years and you can grab it now on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation. The Multiplayer and Romance update releases August 14th. So, get ready for multiplayer fun and pick up a copy today!
