All posts tagged in strategy
Sep 5, 2024
Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure, developed by Massive Miniteam, blends automation with real-time strategy aspects for a unique adventure set in a beautiful fantasy world. In fact, this game is perfect for players who want to dive into automation games, but also great for automation veterans looking for something fresh. Explore a gorgeous procedurally generated world. Build massive automation networks to enhance productivity. And also get to know your townspeople and helpful little Sparks.
Sparks are the little creatures who follow you and help you out in your adventures. Take them across the unique biomes of Oddsparks to encounter some unusual enemies. Or stay at home and optimize your designs by giving your Sparks logistical instructions. Eventually build a thriving village for yourself and your townspeople to live in. Complete quests from your villagers to unlock new buildings. Also, unlock new customizations for your character to make them unique, too!
Release Date
You can find Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure on Steam now. It’s also coming to Xbox and PlayStation soon! So, get ready for an exciting adventure full of automation and fun!
Autonauts is another cute game that uses automation!
- Aug 28, 2024
Horticular is a relaxing gardening game with a magical twist. Developed by inDirection Games, this beautifully vibrant game begins with you being magically summoned by garden gnomes. They want you to restore a garden that was abandoned by its previous caretaker. So, take on this huge task, but at your own pace, and build a lush garden to be proud of!
You have total creative freedom to turn this garden into whatever you want. Use hundreds of unlockable surface types to create biomes with different terrain. Plant tons of different kinds of flowers and plants. Even place fun decorative items like pillars, planter boxes, and more to create your dream garden. Of course, you want to build the garden in a way that it’ll attract creatures! Each critter has requirements before it will move in, though. So, plan accordingly and soon your garden will overflow with plants and animals!
You also need to maintain the magic of the garden in Horticular. Animals will become unhappy, the garden will decay, and you’ll see corrupted agents sent by your nemesis show up. With the help of the garden gnomes and your abilities, though, you’ll be able to prevent all of that. There are also garden upgrades you can purchase. These upgrades will increase your skills and unlock new items. And while each playthrough will be different, no choice locks you out of upgrades. You’ll be able to unlock everything every time!
Release Date
You can find Horticular now on Steam!
Like gardening? Try Botany Manor!
- Aug 28, 2024
Into the Emberlands is a quirky storybook-like adventure game where you uncover an ever-changing world. Your job is to rebuild your decimated village and save the villagers who’ve been lost to the Miasma. You’re the chosen Lightbearer, and you’re the only one capable of navigating the Miasma. Equipped with a lantern fueled by a light-bringing ember, you can venture forth to find the villagers. Just be sure your light doesn’t fade while you’re in the Miasma or you’ll be lost too, and need to wait on the next Lightbearer to find you!
Explore different biomes in a procedurally generated world as you discover scenery hidden behind the Miasma. There’s tons of life and secrets to find during your journey. Encounter small adventures and big surprises, too. Like quirky and mystical creatures that come in all shapes, sizes, and fantastic colors! Help out the creatures of Into the Emberlands and they’ll aid you in your journey to restore the village by providing you with necessary resources and helpful equipment upgrades. Use the resources you gather to rebuild the village, taking it from nothing to the thriving safe haven your people deserve. Different buildings and vendors within your town can help kickstart your next adventure, too. So, rebuild and find those villagers!
Release Date
You can pick up Into the Emberlands on Steam now!
Want some more exploration games, but perhaps something a little less world saving? Try Endless Ocean Luminous, Seasons of Rocco, or Alba: A Wildlife Adventure!
- Aug 1, 2024
Step into the gorgeous world of Flotsam, developed by Pajama Llama Games, and experience life on a floating garbage town! Much like Raft and Havendock, this game depends on you catching trash as it floats by. Then, you can use this trash to grow your city. Of course, you need to gather fresh water and search for food in order to survive. If you manage your resources well, though, you and your growing town will thrive!
You aren’t alone on your floating island of garbage. Join forces with your crew as you sail across the world. As you float around Flotsam gathering resources, you’ll come across remnants of the old world. From those remnants you’ll re-discover long lost technology that will serve your town well. Just be careful. The old world is polluted and can make your crew sick. While this game is a post-apocalyptic survival, it’s a cheerful one full of bright colors, beautiful sunshine, and quirky characters!
Release Date
You can find Flotsam on Steam now!
- Aug 1, 2024
For those who enjoy games like Overcooked and PlateUp!, Hellspresso should be next on your radar! Developed by Eliary Games, this fast-paced cooking game will have you managing your restaurant while also planning and developing it. You play as a ghost chef who’s just trying to make a living in the afterlife. Each day you’ll craft your own menu and race against the clock to serve an ever growing customer base full of hungry guests. Start with a small, cozy restaurant and build it into something great as you increase your reputation to become the best chef in hell!
Run around taking orders, chopping up ingredients, cooking tasty meals, and serving dishes to customers before their patience runs out. There’s a lot to do to make sure things go smoothly, but you’ll have to balance duties with the personalities of your customers. Some are super impatient and unwilling to tip, while others will be the opposite. Serving them quickly is key to succeeding. Sometimes you even need to switch to your secret kitchen in Hellspresso to fulfill orders containing venomous mushrooms and magic plants. Or transform steak into rotten meat, sprinkle glowing eyes on donuts, or brew magic potions. And when you’re ready to make some upgrades, steal the souls of unsuspecting customers as they nap. Then, improve your skills and your restaurant!
Release Date
Hellspresso is set to release on Steam in November of this year. Add it to your Wishlist to be notified of its release, and check out the demo in the meantime!
I’d also suggest Bone’s Cafe if you enjoy a darker, but still cozy game.
- Jul 31, 2024
Thank you to Broccoli Games for a copy of this lovely game!
Coffee Caravan by developer Broccoli Games is a wholesome and cozy cafe management game. Think PlateUp!, but with a pastel color palette, you only serve variations of coffee, and there are difficulty levels that affect the whole game. Start your coffee-making adventure with the smallest trailer and basic equipment. Serve a variety of different customers in order to earn money. And experience an enjoyable, but sometimes challenging cozy game with a roguelite element!
This charming game puts you in charge of running your very own, albeit tiny, coffee shop. You start your journey with the smallest trailer possible and with the basic necessities like coffee beans, a grinder, coffee pot, sink, and cups. As you complete levels in Coffee Caravan and earn money, you’ll be able to access the shop to buy upgrades to your equipment, new equipment and helpful items like counters, and add more coffee recipes to your list. If you successfully complete a whole run from start to end, you’ll receive a larger trailer, too! Plus, there are decorations you can buy that offer useful buffs and you have control over how your kitchen, seating area, and decor is set up. So, organize the kitchen to best suit you, and serve some coffee!
The Coziest of Coffee Management Games
I love everything about Coffee Caravan. No, seriously. The start menu is relaxing and easy to navigate. The background music is chill, but upbeat. I enjoy the pastel aesthetic and the faceless character design adds a charm to the game. Being able to select recipes, organize my space, and decorate is a lot of fun too. The choice of easy, normal, and hard difficulties is perfect for different days. Some days I want the easy game, some days I prefer the challenge of hard difficulty. So, I have a save slot for each one!
What I’d never thought I needed was a roguelite element to my cozy games, but I love how it plays out in this one. No game will play the same as your roadmap will be different each time. And how you choose to play one map may differ from how you play others. The unique way Coffee Caravan lays out level choices adds freshness, too. You can choose from a laid-back level, or maybe visit the shop. Unless you prefer the challenge of a more hectic day, then choose that one and then hop on over to a bonus stage that might reward you with a new item, extra money, or even be a chance at another shopping spree at the shop. Or you’ll earn new customers or conditions to play through.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it’s a great little single player game. Play on whichever setting you prefer, and experience an ever-changing game with fascinating roguelite features. There’s also tea service you can unlock, and coming with the free summer update is ice cream! It’s a perfectly cozy game, or make it as challenging as you want, if you prefer that. Coffee Caravan really aims to provide a varied gameplay experience and they achieve that! I can’t recommend this game enough to the casual gamers out there.
I give it:
You can find Coffee Caravan on Steam now!
If you’re looking for more reviews, check out the one on Rusty’s Retirement, Minami Lane, and Times & Galaxy for a few different game ideas!
- Jul 4, 2024
Happy Sheepies by developer Berker Games is an adorable and cozy sheep farming sim. Kick back and relax with its simple drag and drop gameplay as you take care of your herd of sheepies. They’re your most valuable asset, so caring for them and keeping them happy is important! Feed them crops you’ve harvested, offer them water to keep them hydrated, and they’ll reward you with wool and milk.
Use what your sheepies produce to craft different items at worktables. Make things like cheeseburgers and leather jackets, or one of the other 150+ items to make from recipes. Use the different workbenches and some fun automation tools in Happy Sheepies to increase production, which will increase profits. And every 3 days, sheepies will want to breed. More sheepies means more profit, too! Plus, there’s no enemies to fight off, so you can simply take care of sheepies and make money in a relaxing environment!
Release Date
Happy Sheepies is releasing on Steam July 8th. That’s just four days away! Add it to your Wishlist now to get notified of its release.
Prefer llamas? Check out Wish Upon a Llama!
- Jul 3, 2024
If your favorite part of life sim games is filling in the different collections for places in town like the library, aquarium, or museum, then Museum Keeper by developer Red Thorn Interactive might be perfect for you! In this cozy exploration game, you get to build your dream museum from almost the ground up. Located in a small town, the museum is the town’s shining hope for an economic revival. So your job is to get that museum up and running to attract tourists and revive the town!
You have total control of how the museum turns out as you get to decorate the place to your heart’s content. You also get to staff it, choose the exhibits, and go hunting for the artifacts you’ll display! Go exploring the underground where you’ll find artifacts based on real life historic artifacts found around the world. Engage in battles against monsters who want to stop you from your research. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for museum thieves, too! You’ll encounter them in Museum Keeper and they’re determined to make money off the valuable artifacts you display. And get to know the quirky cast of townspeople as they come visit you or you visit them. Each one has their own unique interests that draw them to the museum.
Release Date
Museum Keeper is currently listed on Steam where you can add it to your Wishlist. There is no release date available, however.
