All posts tagged in Life Simulation
Jun 29, 2024
Sunrise’s Order by Misstic Studio is a super cozy and adorable farming sim that pulls inspiration from great games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley. You landed yourself in some hot water with your job after losing track of time and binging a brand new farming sim game. The game was just way too fun and you lost track of time! You decide in the moment you’re ready for a change of pace, anyway, and would love to live out the farming life in real life. So, you sell your things and buy an island to start your new dream!
While an exciting new adventure to face, buying an uninhabited island and taking up farming doesn’t come without its challenges. With some cheeky humor and hard work, you can turn your island into a paradise, though. You’ll have to rely on a delivery service to get your seeds and tools! In Sunrise’s Order, you’ll utilize the extremely useful Animazon for all your needs.
Buy starter tools, start farming with seeds you order, and unlock more items for farming, decor, and crafting as you progress through the game. Animazon will be an unimaginable help for turning your simple home into a flourishing farmstead! The builder app on your computer will let you expand your farm, too, but clearing out and claiming new parcels of land across the cozy, quiet island.
Income
Your main source of income will be from fulfilling customer orders. Of course, you can sell the items you gather or the fish up, but you’ll make more of a profit completing orders. Use the wood, stone, ore, crops, and whatever else you can grow or find to craft items that customers need. Set up different workstations to craft items a variety of things. Catch fish and grill them up.
Grow food crops and flowers. Or even craft decorative items to beautify your home with or to sell. Fulfilling customer orders will help you unlock even more workstations to upgrade your crafting skills and abilities, too. So, the more orders you fulfill, the more money you make, and the more you progress!
Skill Progression
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Sunrise’s Order is that there’s a dedicated skill tree and development progression. As you complete chores around the island, you’ll earn experience points that level up individual things (ex: each crop has levels; foraging, fishing, and wood cutting do too). Leveling up these things levels up your farm.
You earn a skill point each time the farm gains a level, and you can spend that skill point on useful things like more stamina, receiving more wood when you chop trees, and lowering the amount of stamina used during an activity. The development progression lets you unlock a bigger house, animals, and much more. It all gives the game a great sense of direction without strong-arming you into specific cutscenes or storylines.
Where to Find It
You can find Sunrise’s Order on Steam now! There’s even a demo to try out first, but if you really like farming without the pressure of being social, this game is perfect for you!
- Jun 12, 2024
Thank you to Pixeduo Studios and Crytivo for the copy!
The solo developer at Pixeduo Studios describe To Pixelia as the “ultimate” life sim. It is an extremely robust entry into the life sim genre, too. The game starts as you arrive in the city of Pixelia. You’ve traded your life in some unknown town for the hustle and bustle of the city. Create your story on your own terms through carefully crafting your character. Choose hairstyle and color, clothing to wear, and even personality traits that will play a role in the game.
You need to care for your character’s needs through food and drinks, using the toilet, bathing regularly, sleeping, and even entertaining them through different activities. Buy or rent property and decorate it how you like. Start your To Pixelia life with a basic job and work your way up the ladder towards your dream career. Engage in different hobbies for fun, and drive around on a fun motorcycle or in a cool car. Cook meals, fight your rivals, and so much more!
The Ultimate Life Sim
The open-world nature of the game makes for a fun time exploring. You aren’t limited to just a few areas, but instead have a wide, open city. Fill in your map by visiting each of the available shops and businesses and see what all there is to do. Grab wallpaper and floor tiles to redecorate with, buy groceries from the market, cheese store, and butcher, and even buy a motorcycle or car to make getting around easier. There’s a gym, music store, recording studio, florist, basketball courts, library, academy, internet cafe, casino, and SO many more places. It’s easy to get lost without using the map, but it’s so hard to get bored in a place like Pixelia.
And like many life sims, you do need to care for your character’s needs, or they’ll refuse to accomplish anything. Grab slices of pizza from the pizza cart, or perhaps a steak dinner from the restaurant would satisfy you more. Of course, To Pixelia gives you the option to buy ingredients and make different recipes too. Not only do you get a satisfying homemade meal, but you get to increase your cooking skills too! Make sure you bathe regularly, too, and entertain your character with dancing or other leisure activities. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, right?
What to Do For Fun
As for the fun stuff, you can visit the casino to play some games. Perhaps you’ll win some money, or perhaps you’ll run into a streak of bad luck and lose some money. Visit the nightclub in the unsavory portion of town to engage in some dancing fun. Maybe even head over to the shops and pick up some stuff to grow your own plants in your apartment. Walk around the city talking to everyone you meet to build friendships and even get close to someone in preparation for when marriage is added to the game. There’s even pets you can get so you have that fluffy companion to come home to every day. Or take a reckless drive around town on your hot new motorcycle, unless you prefer a sleek car instead. Both are available for purchase.
Careers
Not only are there a great many different features in To Pixelia, each of those features is incredibly in-depth. The jobs and careers portion is probably my favorite of any game. Start by visiting the Job Office to apply for a starter job. There is only one to begin with, waiting tables, but there are a couple more options later on. Starter jobs don’t require any specific skills, so are perfect for just earning income to pay bills. The best part is the jobs don’t take place off-screen or in a cutscene. You actually do them! To wait tables, you wait for orders, relay them to the chef, then deliver the orders to each person. The cleaning job at the hotel entails walking up to each dirty spot and sweeping or wiping it up. The experience is far more engaging and rewarding than having it happen off screen!
However, you won’t be stuck waiting tables or cleaning the hotel forever. You also get to choose a dream career to work towards. Choose to become a business guru, renowned artist, rockstar, elite fighter, basketball star, bestselling author, supermodel, family person, the president, or even a criminal mastermind. As you live your life balancing work and leisure, you can also take time to fulfill tasks that level up your dream career path. For example, I chose the bestselling author path, and I can spend time reading books on writing and practicing writing in order to hone my craft. Practice makes perfect after all!
Home Design
You start out with a super dingy, fairly small apartment, but it’s not your forever home. In fact, To Pixelia has several different apartment options for you to rent or buy. And you can decorate each one! Grab some fun wallpaper and floor tiles to match to give the place a makeover. Add some necessary furniture to meet your character’s needs. Then, throw in some accessories to make the place feel more like home. Rugs will brighten up a room or help give it some depth. Outfit the kitchen with an oven and fridge so you can get down to business cooking, but don’t forget the microwave for easy reheating! Even make room for a computer and hobby items like a guitar or keyboard. Get creative with your decorating to turn your apartment from a place to simply live into a place to enjoy.
You can find To Pixelia listed on Steam now! Go ahead and Wishlist the game so you get notified when it releases. Which, it’s set to release later this year!
- Jun 7, 2024
Little Sim World is an adorable upcoming cozy sim that has been in development for several years now. Taking place in the center of London, this little life sim is more than just a game where you care for a person, but it’s an opportunity to shape that person and influence their story! Move into your rustic little home in the heart of London and take time to explore, work, collect items, decorate, and so much more. This game is packed full of all the sim features you could possibly want to create an exciting and engaging experience.
Kickstarter Now Live
Now you have a chance to help Little Sim World by supporting their Kickstarter, which just launched today June 7th! There are an immeasurable number of games out there, but this one deserves the support from interested gamers so it can deliver all of the content that’s been promised. And the developer Blue Gravity Studios has already done some incredible work delivering on promised content so far!
Start your new sim life by fully customizing your character with hair types, hair colors, clothing, and personality traits. Start your new life by moving into a rustic, cozy home, but visit the local DIY shop to buy stuff for house upgrades. Also explore a bustling piece of the city where you’ll find shops, NPCs, and even vehicle traffic. Stop in the gym to get your sweat on, or run around collecting coins to donate to the museum. There’s even fishing to be done in Little Sim World. Visit the quaint Grosvenor Canal to catch all kinds of fish. Or go chill at the library to read and learn something new. Perhaps even fall in love? The opportunities are nearly endless.
Every day isn’t all fun and games, though! You must manage your character’s needs for food, water, hygiene, even entertainment and comfort. Plus, a job is necessary to obtain funds for your decorating endeavors and expenses. So you must learn to balance everything well in order to achieve success, but this offers a truly excellent life sim experience. Never mind that the game’s visuals are absolutely charming and adorable. Throw in the dynamic weather and different seasonal changes, Little Sim World has a lot to offer and is well-worth backing on Kickstarter!
Release Date
Again, the Kickstarter for this great sim game launches June 5th. There’s also a Steam page that lists the release date for the game later this year!
Kickstarter is Now Live!
You can help developers unlock even more features by supporting their Kickstarter right here.
- Jun 3, 2024
Spirit City: Lofi Sessions is perhaps the pinnacle of cozy productivity programs. Not only can you create to-do lists to keep track of your busy schedule, but you can use the journal option to just let things off your chest. There’s even a Pomodoro timer built into the game. If you’re unfamiliar with the Pomodoro timer, it’s a technique that breaks your work down into manageable intervals that are separated by breaks. This allows you to be productive while also ensuring you take appropriate breaks for stretching, food, and water!
What makes Spirit City: Lofi Sessions so much more than just a simple productivity tool are all the added extras. You get to customize your own character using a variety of hairstyles and colors, clothing options, and even accessories. Plus, you get to decorate your room! Choose from fun paint colors or wallpapers, flooring options, and fun furniture options to create the perfect cozy room.
Hop between activities, change the time of day, and pick one of several background noise options like chirping birds of gentle rain. You’re not alone in your comfy room, though. You’re accompanied by an adorable spirit companion named Lenny, and as you earn experience points to level up, you’ll unlock new companions who each come with a number of different colorways to unlock. You just have to follow the hints to find them!
The Update
The developers at Monocube Games recently released an excellent update to Spirit city: Lofi Sessions, too. They have added three new spirit companions for you to discover, bringing the total up to 18! And of course they each come with different color options. Plus, you can now customize your character with bunny ears and a variety of adorable tank tops to reflect those summer vibes.
There are now 7 different bubble tea drinks you can decorate your desk with, too. Half walls can have a different paint color or wallpaper than the rest of the walls now, so you can further customize your room. Perhaps the most exciting part is the addition of rotational playlists, though! These playlists will change periodically. Currently, there is a limited-time playlist perfect for Spring, which is great if you need some background music to get that spring-cleaning done.
Where You Can Find It + Giveaway
Spirit City: Lofi Sessions is listed on Steam, and is actually on sale until June 6th! Of course, you can add it to your Steam Wishlist to save it for later, but now is a great time to grab it. You can also try your hand at grabbing a copy for free by going over to my Twitter page and entering the giveaway!
- May 30, 2024
Embark on an exciting journey in Our Life On Water, a gorgeous life sim RPG set in a fictional country. Developed by Different Tales, the same studio that published Havendock, you arrive in the village of Sahakom, a place inspired by the real-life floating villages of the Mekong River region. Your role is to become the Rivertalker, which is the link between the living and the spirit world. But you’ll also get to just enjoy the slow, laid-back life of living on the river, too.
Spend your days exploring your new river home. Gather bamboo and trash, recycle, craft items, and build river houses. Even go fishing, tend to crops in your container farm, and raise some animals! Our Life On Water includes a lovely social scene, too. You can engage in village life by attending council meetings and social events. Bring people closer together within the community, make friends, and even fall in love. The village is in danger, though, and your choices will impact how it evolves. Part of caring for the village involves exploring the river by boat, swimming, and diving in order to find mystical artifacts that will help you gain the favor of the river spirits. Those spirits will help you rebuild the village into a prospering, beautiful home!
Release Date
Our Life on Water is set to release on Steam sometime. You can add it to your Wishlist now while you wait for the release date!
- May 15, 2024
Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Teatopia by developer Yixin Games, where you run your own farm in an environment full of Chinese culture and beautiful designs. Turn your overgrown farm into a haven for crops. Care for a variety of animals, from livestock to pets. Cook some exquisite meals and teas. Plus, immerse yourself in a vibrant community while discovering the secrets to the underworld’s Ghost Market.
Teatopia follows the classic farming sim formula, where you start out on a farm that’s overgrown with wild weeds and tremendous trees. Of course, you’ll work hard to clear these obstacles in order to free up space for your crops. Build sheds to care for livestock and even breed them. They’ll produce products like eggs and milk for you. But you can also have an animal companion, like a cat or dog. The pets find treasures for you if you develop a deep bond!
Explore the secrets of traditional Chinese cooking that Teatopia has to offer by whipping up delicious recipes you acquire from all over. You even manage your own tea plantation and create exquisite teas. And of course, you get to explore the East and West urban areas, where you’ll find different attractions and vibrant characters. Plus, the Ghost Market is an intriguing place to wander! This enchanting underworld is where fairies and humans converge, but it also has some unique products for sale.
Release Date
Teatopia has no set release date yet. You can find it on Steam, though, where you can add it to your Wishlist!
Tales of Seikyu is another fantastic looking farm sim with fantasy elements.
- May 9, 2024
Whisker Waters is a cute fishing-focused RPG where you play as a cat in a world of other cats, bears, and birds. Explore a lovely world full of beautiful vistas as you take on some serious fishing expeditions. Learn how to master the art of fishing through a variety of mini games and tool upgrades. Gather quests from the folks who inhabit the towns, and build relationships with them. Even learn the distinct narratives each area you visit possesses!
Finally, a Fishing Focused Cozy Game
I know there are tons of different fishing games out there, but none ever seemed to quite scratch that cozy, casual gaming experience itch. Many focus on just fishing, or the RPG games only use it as a side activity instead of the main activity. Whisker Waters ticks all of those boxes, though. Fishing is the name of the game, though you’re also exploring the world, getting to know other people (or animals, really), finishing quests, and solving mysteries. It’s the fully-involved type of game I’ve wanted.
I find the fishing aspect of this game quite interesting, too. As the Steam page says, fishing is easy to learn, but difficult to master. And that holds true. Casting your line into the water is as simple as a few clicks. You can aim where in the water you want the bobber to land, and how far away from the shore it lands. Then, when a fish is hooked on your line, simply line up the pointer with the green bar and keep it in the green bar to reel in your catch. Easy! It’s when the mini games start showing up where things get a little more complicated. There’s a whole host of different mini games you might encounter while fishing in order to get the fish. Untangle from the reeds, pull the fish out from the rocks, sudden whirlpools, and more. It’s a pretty engaging experience that can change depending on the fish you’re catching, which kept me on my toes.
There’s More to Love
Start your adventure with a very lovely intro story scene that really sets the stage for this adventure. You also get to customize your very own cat character. In Whisker Waters, You can choose from several different fur colors and patterns, ear and eye shapes, and even the size of the fluff on your face. It’s possibly the cutest character creator I’ve come across. Plus, as you play the game you do come across accessories you can equip to your character to make it even more unique.
The environments are gorgeous, too. From the lush grass and greenery to the beautifully clear ponds, lakes, and rivers, it’s easy to get absorbed in your surroundings. Plus, there are some unusual creatures wandering around. And the fish are also well done. There’s a variety of them to be found across the different fishing spots in each area. They’re all unique looking from the surface, which helps with quick identification when trying to fish for specific types.
What I Had Problems With
This truly is a lovely game that could benefit from some optimization efforts. I initially struggled playing because the camera moved so wildly and it triggered my motion sickness. I finally figured out it was because you can control the camera with the mouse, but the camera also moves on its own as you move your character. It really needs to be one or the other, and preferably mouse-controlled over movement-based. The camera also gets stuck on objects, or zooms into your back so close because of objects behind you that you can’t see what’s going on. Better camera operation would greatly improve the gaming experience.
I would like to see the quest system of Whisker Waters receive some reworking, too. They’re fine and interesting on their own, but once you’ve accepted them, good luck. You better have read and memorized exactly what to do and where to go, because the quest log does not give you hints on how to complete nor are there map markers for fetch quests. For the fishing quests where you have to catch certain fish, it’s fine, as your fishing log records what areas, types of water, and time of day the fish can be found. Otherwise, you just have to run around and hope for the best.
Final Thoughts
I enjoy this game, truly. It’s adorable, playing as a cat is great, and the focus on fishing is refreshing. It does have some issues, but I’m confident the developers will remedy many of the problems players have brought up. In fact, they’ve already released a hotfix patch to address some of the easier issues. I look forward to what other fixes they have in store for Whisker Waters!
I give it:
You can find Whisker Waters on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation now!
- May 8, 2024
Simpler Times is an interactive meditation experience by developer stoneskip. that promises beautifully poignant moments. You play as Taina, who is getting ready to move out of her childhood home to begin the next exciting chapter of her life. The game takes place in your childhood bedroom as you relive memories and learn how Taina became the creative and expressive person she is today!
This is another game perfect for the super casual gamer as there are no timers, no scores, no combat, and no anxiety-inducing scenarios. Simpler Times offers a reflective, contemplative story experience instead. Listen to music, paint, watch the world outside your window, read, and solve notes at your own pace. Each object in the room has a story to tell about the past, a story that takes place over 10 years and in four different months and seasons. There’s even a lovely lo-fi soundtrack to accompany you through your observations and puzzles.
Release Date
Simpler Times is set to release on Steam, though there is no release date available. There is a demo to try out, though!
The atmosphere of this game reminds me of Behind The Frame!
