E3 2021: Wholesome Direct - Rundown

Does your game feature murky grey skies? Does it feature guns and violence? Do you agree with Joanne Rowling, on anything? If you’ve answered yes to any of the above, please leave, as we’re about to talk about wholesome things. Until the last day with the very last worthwhile conference, the Wholesome Direct was by far beating every other showcase for simply being everything I’ve ever wanted from an E3 or E3 adjacent conference.

First up was Bird Problems, a sitcom for every twitcher you’ve never met. It does what it says on the tin really, colorful, wonderful, and quick, it set out the tone for what was an excellent showing all around. Though, and I know you aren’t meant to pick a favorite animal, but I do love Sunny Seeds the best. Currently, there is no release date given for Bird Problems, but I’m sure several of you will command one into existence.

Next up was Recolit, with another release date yet to be given. It looks to be a side-scrolling adventure where you play as a little astronaut helping people solve their problems with light. It is a little strange and a little, I guess, lacking in something to catch me. I think I’d need to see more from Recolit to say much more. Lovely and wholesome, that’s two for two so far, just another seventy-four to go.

The first release window of the showcase, 2022 is when you can expect Snacko on Steam and Nintendo Switch. A wonderfully colorful and slightly jarring clash of 2D pixel art and full 3D models, this farming adventure will have some purring with delight. Shut up, you don’t have all of these to write about do you! Nonetheless, I’m sure this will have some sitting on someone’s lap with bated breath. Ok, that’s the last one.

As the first thing that had several people diving for their wallet to wrestle it to the ground, Alekon was the answer to the question: What if there was Pokémon Snap, but open and better? Far more than just sitting in a little pod and being dragged around on rails, Alekon seems to let you roam around and just take pictures of weird and wonderful creatures. I want more games like this, I’d bite someone’s left arm off if they made a game like this to do with F1. You can pick up Alekon right now… or you already have and scrolled on to make your wallet cry some more.

Right, I like Anne and Lukas, but that was indie developer cringiness that is the reason we don’t have wonderfully wholesome things like this at Xbox, PC Gaming, or elsewhere. A Little To The Left is a game entirely about fixing this world from the hellspawn that thinks crooked pictures and messy pens are fine. No! This all needs to be fixed and done so now, or rather, on October 21st, 2021 on Steam.

Ooblets! The latest update to the loveliest game of them all is out now, as you can go to the seaside and play all the arcade machines. The only thing I find distressing about the whole showing of Ooblets is what is missing. You can’t have a fun seaside arcade adventure and not show me there is a penny falls machine, this is the only reason we have coins and I will not accept any other reason. I want a penny falls machine!

“Cast spells, be queer, & crash the biggest concert of the year,” well, you don’t have to tell me twice, I’m in for Spirit Swap. A color-matching puzzle game with a lo-fi soundtrack and visuals that I believe the kids call “gay AF.” Set to release sometime in 2021 on Steam, I know a few who are already looking to buy it from the first line from the trailer.

Behind The Frame is a game that distressed me highly. I’ll have none of this “it’s not America’s fault,” you are the only ones that do it. Cook both sides of the egg, or I will throw it at you! Otherwise, Behind The Frame is a lovely little narrative-driven puzzle game about not cooking eggs properly and drawing over works of art. It is a gorgeous-looking game with an anime woman, though sadly no date or window has been given for its release.

SkateBIRD! What would happen if we’d been starved of proper skating games for so long that not only our Lord and savior Tony Hawk came to us and gave us brilliance, but indies are doing it as well. SkateBIRD releases August 21st this year, and here they showed off that you can feature accessibility in just about anything if you put some effort into it. SkateBIRD is set to release this August on PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Next up was Here Comes Niko, one of the most beautiful hamsterific games of the whole showcase, but I know nothing about it. I know there are very beautiful animals, I know there is a Loud Stag, and I know Here Comes Niko is releasing on the Nintendo Switch and Steam, but nothing else. As one of the most colorful 3D platformers soon to be available, I’m sure several people here will be picking up this stylized adventure.

Pekoe is coming to Steam late this year/early next year in a casual tea-making game. In one of the coziest little games of the whole showcase, you are set to learn how to make tea for Taffy the cat. I don’t know what else would say wholesome other than that.

Do you like tea and cats? Do we have the game for you!

We’re Kitten Cup Studio and we’re hard at work on Pekoe! Blend tea and friendships in the flavorful world of Pekoe 💖 pic.twitter.com/Ur24NlCofq

— Kitten Cup 🍵 (@KittenCupStudio) June 12, 2021

Oh, I have loved Lake since I first saw it a few months back at the Xbox indie conference in March(?), and I just want to Postman Pat my way around the 80s. Set to release September 1st, at the time of writing you can play the demo on Steam and Xbox, playing as Meredith Weiss who worked in the big city and becomes a postman for two weeks. I think if there is a chance to cover it here at Phenixx Gaming, we’re going to see some very unwholesome things happen, as there are at least three of us who want to play it. September can’t come soon enough.

Yokai Inn is something I’m sure put one of our staff here in a bit of shock, as it is everything Lisa loves. A life-sim inspired by Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, you couldn’t get a more perfect game for Lisa if you tried. It is cute, maybe not as colorful as I’d hope, but is full of love and warmth. There is still no release date though, as the developer states it is “currently in the early stages of development.”

Ok, I’d be lying if I didn’t say Mythic Ocean was one of the few games that didn’t grab me. Looking to be very JRPG-esque with odd-looking fish people, it was never aimed at me in the first place. Releasing on PC last January, it is now set to release on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, on July the 2nd.

Kokopa’s Atlas is an open-world adventure and farming-sim that just didn’t sell itself too well to me. It is a gorgeous game with lots of colors, but we just didn’t see enough beyond some dialogue and wandering about the world a little bit. Currently, without a release date, you can follow Kokopa’s Atlas on Steam and Kickstarter.

Another fantastically colorful palette came flying at us with Button City, a narrative adventure set to release later this year. However, if you’re quick during this Steam Next Fest, you can play the demo for the foxy arcade adventure. Though we do know the game will be coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam, and Nintendo Switch.

Next up three Swiss women appeared to show off Letters, and I was very happy at what they showed. In Letters, you play as Sarah, who jumps about letters correcting what has been written to find her voice to be confident and defeat monsters. Letters is currently set to release late this year on Steam and on the Nintendo Switch.

I’ve seen several of these now, but I want them all. Hot Pot For One is a short little game about making food in a hot pot on Christmas. Available now on Steam for $2.99, I am ready to feel sad as I cook alone on Christmas in a foreign land.

Garden Story is an RPG and crafting adventure where you play as a grape trying to bring unity to the little grove you find yourself in. Set to release on Steam and the Nintendo Switch at some point this summer, I know several people who will be picking this one up when it eventually releases.

Tracks of Thought is an RPG using a card-style battling system to let you confront those around you on a train that the game is set on. You play as the world’s cutest ladybug, and will probably be accosted by everything else that’s just as cute. If you haven’t gotten the memo, this entire Wholesome Direct is about what is cute, colorful, and wonderful. At the moment, there is no release date set, though there is a demo available during the Steam Next Fest.

Beasts of Maravilla Island is another Pokémon Snap, and I for one am ok with that. Released on the day of the showcase, I might be sticking my hand in my pockets as they tried to escape from me. Short, beautiful, and I already love it, next I’ll do what I do to people I like and shout “love me!” in its face. Ok, to bring this back to wholesome things, you can get 10% off Beasts of Maravilla Island for the next two days on Steam. However, you can also pick it up on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.

Following that, Hoa was given a release date, but very little shown of the game other than the not very wholesome creepy spider-web. It will be releasing on the 21st of August on Xbox One and Series X/S, PS5 and PS4, Nintendo Switch, and apparently on the 24th on Steam. Everything else about it looks lovely and colorful, but that trailer with spider-webs made me worry about a Limbo situation coming up.

We Are OFK is what would happen if the record industry was far gayer and more wonderful than dusty old men in suits. I’m already in as one of the leads wears a “Black Trans Live Matter” T-shirt, I’m all for annoying the terfs with a character just wearing a T-shirt. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, as it is an episodic “interactive animated series,” but I love the visuals, I love the setting, and I love how out and happily gay it is. I want more games to look like this and be as wonderfully colorful.

Ok, Alexx, Lisa, and I are going to be fighting to the death over Paralives. What if The Sims was taken to the nth degree? I don’t care about the human life-sim bit, that can get in the bin alongside every Sims game. However, the amount of customization you can give to homes is everything I’ve ever wanted from any Sims game. Curved walls, little steps between the living room and open-plan kitchens, and every other little detail I’ve been waiting for EA to pull their finger out and do. I love it, I want it, give me a release date now!

KeyWe, is a New Zealand simulator where you and a friend play as two adorable little kiwis solving puzzles and getting up to mischief. It will release on August the 31st on the Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and PC.

So next up was the most wholesome thing I’ve seen at E3: A bloke named Trent showed up with his Gran to show off Trent’s new game. A Walk With Yiayia, is a game about a young man going for a walk with his gran who recently had a fall. You, playing as the young man, have to try and help her get her confidence back. Look, Trent, we get it, you are the loveliest human alive right now, we’re all horrible as we sit around doing nothing. I can’t wait for your game when it releases.

How do you say Pokémon Snap in French? Apparently, it is Dordogne, a gorgeous watercolored art style game where you play as Mimi visiting her recently deceased granny, taking pictures of the wildlife, and solving the puzzles her granny left behind. I could talk about the fact that the animation alone is one of the most beautiful things ever, but I don’t think I’d be doing it justice. Just look at the trailer and keep an eye on this one when it is set to release later this year on PC and Nintendo Switch.

The Gecko Gods is a puzzle game about a gecko… solving puzzles. Hold on while I go find that Fry gif of “shut up and take my money!” That is everything I want from a game: climbing, puzzles, and some colorful settings. Is this a better Tomb Raider than modern Tomb Raiders? Well, it has more puzzles, so yes! Set to release on PC in 2022, I will be waiting right here to wiggle my little gecko bum around those beautiful ruins.

Tasomachi: Behind the Twilight is a recently released game on Steam that is very Japanese but in all the good ways. It is just Beyond Good and Evil but with a slightly overly designed lead character and some cute animals instead of an angry pig, I’m sold, give it to me, please! Tasomachi is set to release on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One soon, though there was no concrete release date given, just later this year.

So far, this entire Wholesome Direct has been as gay as possible, then it pulled out Please be Happy. Do you want to be a lesbian fox in a visual novel (with voice acting)? Of course, you do, you are on the internet and enjoy video games. Please Be Happy is set to release later this year, though for now, you can play the demo over on the developer’s site.

Witchy Life Story was up next with more color than the entire PC Gaming Show had all this year. As a crafting, story-based, visual novel, dating-sim, it is everything that will make indie game fans as happy as possible. Set to release next year on PC, I know who I’ll be recommending this to.

BattleCakes is a turn-based RPG coming to PC and Xbox later this year. You play as some cakes, and you’ll be battling other colorful and wonderful creatures in this world of shade of pastel you could find. I guess they named it well then.

Bear and Breakfast, as you might have guessed, is a first-person mauler. No! You are a very cute little bear running a bed and breakfast, and you get to design it to look as amazing as possible. This is the type of thing that makes me say “to hell with it” when I moan about crafting and resource management and run my own little bed and breakfast. Currently, you can play the demo during the Steam Next Fest, and this is one I’ll be trying for sure. Though sadly, there is no release date beyond the general 2021 window.

Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist was next up. It is a sequel that you might believe is to Passpartout: The Starving Artist, and was quickly announced with a trailer. Nothing more, just that, sadly.

Sally came next to make me step back as the animation put me off, but the art style didn’t. Then they panned back and revealed the very nice looking nature vibe going on is on a flying frog airship and I was right back in. Currently, there is no word of a release date, and there is very little other than the announcement and the dev log on Youtube.

Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan is probably the only game where you’ll see the shade of grey through the whole of this Wholesome Direct. The world has been sapped of color and you have to solve puzzles and give the world back its color, stolen by the powerful leviathan. Rainbow Billy will be releasing on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox later this year.

Unpacking is a game, about unpacking. This is why I can’t trust triple-A games with anything, they’d have called this “Ultimate Unboxing: give us all the money you have for the next box!” or something. It would be free-to-play, and you’d be miserable. Unpacking is just a relaxing little game about doing just that throughout several years of someone’s life, and I’m into that. Yet to release, it is set to come later this year, but you can play the demo during the Steam Next Fest.

Soup Pot, I told you we’d already seen one of these types of games before, and I’m all into them. If you remember a few months back Soup Pot appeared during the Xbox Indie Showcase, and I was into it then and I’m still all in for it now. It was not a very good showing of it here, but I’m very excited for its Q3 2021 release on Steam and Xbox Series X/S.

I love the look of Cloud Jumper, I think it is very very pretty, but I don’t think that’s a game for me. It is quite open and about exploration, and is very nice. Yet there is just something about it that doesn’t click for me. Possible the clashing art styles of very nice portraits during dialogue, while in-game everything has a roughness to it, losing some definition that is given with the character design elsewhere. It is another one without much in terms of a release date but could be one to watch.

Teacup is another one that just isn’t grabbing me the way it does some others. Beautiful, like an old children’s book, I love the art style on its own, but I don’t know how that would play. Once again, a little vague on the release front with a 2021 release set, but no specific date to speak of.

Next up was what has easily become one of my favorites, Moonglow Bay, my heart be still. I love the use of the voxels in the game, I love when I see the devs show up, and I just want to go fishing in that beautiful world. What I don’t like is not knowing when it will release on the Epic Games Store, Steam, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One. That’s one of the games I just want now for simply how wonderfully wholesome it is.

What if all Pokémon were dogs? Pupperazzi is just a game about taking pictures of dogs and is another trailer without a word of a release date. I don’t care I just want it whenever they release it. I’m fine just taking pictures of dogs for the rest of my life, I’ll do that happily.

Right, this is a bit of a strange one, as Luna’s Fishing Garden was listed to release on “10/21/2021.” However, if you go on Steam, you can find this odd pixel-art-based fishing sim right now and play it, as it released yesterday. It is not really my thing, but I know it will be something for others for sure.

Are you sick of Joanne’s nonsense, astroturfing her own legacy on Twitter too? Witchery Academy will make a horrible person evanescet (or as she’d call it evanesco), and replace it with something so wonderful. There are even farming-sim segments and designing of your little apartment in not-Hogwarts. Coming to the Nintendo Switch and Steam, we don’t have a date at this time, but I’m sure I know Alexx will be all over that when it does.

Dinosaur Animal Crossing? I need that gif of “shut up and take my money” again, as Amber Isle is just so lovely and exactly what you’d expect from this showcase, wholesome. Still no date, but paleo folk in a shop-management and social-sim game sold me right away.

Woodo just looks like all those wooden toys you’d have as a kid, but it looks like no kid has ever touched any of this, so it is a million times better. Then as a bit of research, I looked up the dev, and found they do “crypto art” and offer “NFTs” which made me want to put it back in the box and never look at Woodo ever again. It is a lovely-looking game, a horrible backend business. You can play Woodo next year.

Wytchwood is another one of those adventure, crafting, farm-sim games that just don’t entice me at all. The trailer didn’t help, as it was just the lead character watching across the terrain, but the dark fantasy world was not selling itself well to me. Nonetheless, if its fantasy world has you ready for some crafting, it will be releasing on Steam (“and elsewhere!”) later this year.

Moonshell Island is another without a release date, sadly. A bit Zelda-like, you’ll be wandering the island, attacking tomatoes with a whisk, and solving puzzles when it releases on Steam at some point.

Frogsong, on the other hand, does have a release window of 2022. In Frogsong you’ll learn that it is fine to be small, as you adventure through the world of… frogs. What else was it going to be?

Into the quick-fire round, everything from here on out was given about three milliseconds to show off what they had. Such as LEGO Builder’s Journey, coming to PC and Nintendo Switch on the 22nd of June, it is just a game about building LEGO. I will have no of this “LEGOs” nonsense, there is no S, stop it!

Clawfish is what would happen if I was allowed to make a game about a seaside town: I’d just make it an arcade. Available now on Steam and Itch.io, I know what I’ll be buying alongside just about everything else I’ve spoken about.

PowerWash Simulator, right hear me out, I want to clean some things now. Available now in early access, and only published by Square Enix, it is just a game about power washing things. I’m into that!

Book of Travels was shown next without a release date, or much to tell you what it is. Turns out it is an MMO RPG that doesn’t look like a reskinned WoW. Billing itself as a TMORPG to replace the massive with tiny, it is strange, to say the least. The art style makes me want to play it, and I’ve never been a fan of MMOs, but you might be. Book of Travels releases on the 9th of August this year.

Toodee and Topdee is a strange little puzzle platformer that switches perspectives from 2D to a top-down view, hence Toodee and Topdeee. I’m only seeing listings for Steam at the moment, but no solid release date set. Though, if you are much like me and see the trailer makes your pants feel smaller, there is a demo available right now during the Steam Next Fest. I’m going to play so much of that, I’ll disappear for a week.

The Garden Path is a gorgeous isometric life-sim and exploration game. It is definitely not my thing, but I know far too many people who will pick this up right away. No release date, but there is a general 2021 release slated.

Vanba is another cooking game but with your southeast Asian immigrant family this time, and not in such a high definition style. It is far more stylized and I’m excited to see this one release. It is just such a shame there is no date set, nor is there a year narrowed down.

The Outbound Ghost will be coming to Kickstarter soon, don’t expect this ghosty adventure until 2022 on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

The Magnificent Trufflepigs, eyes front soldier! This is a game from the designer behind Everybody’s Gone To the Rapture, so we know they can make an offensively dull walking simulator, it is more or less a metal detecting take on Firewatch. However, unlike Firewatch, I at least know who Arthur Darvill is. You can pick up The Magnificent Trufflepigs now on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Next up is Fossil Corner, a game about putting fossils in order. Out now on Steam, for what we saw $8 might be a bit steep, but as a small little thing to relax, I could get into that.

Dreamland Confectionery was slightly overcut by what came next. It is a cutesy anime-styled crafting and baking game. I think you’ll wander around a forest of fantasy, talking to people and animals in a visual novel style of game. We didn’t get a release date in the trailer, yet Steam lists Summer of 2023 as its release. So don’t expect this one soon, I’m guessing.

Since Automachef, I’m a sucker for a conveyer belt game about food production, so Freshly Frosted can empty its piping bag anytime now and I’ll be around to eat all the donuts. A very simple little puzzle game about producing donuts in increasingly complex machines, you’ll be able to play this one later this year on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. However, if you want to try it right now, you can do so during the Steam Next Fest. Yes, I told you Dreamland Confectionery was overcut by one game.

Apico was up next, a beekeeping sim that just didn’t have enough time to properly show off what it was. Again, you can play the demo during the Steam Next Fest, but I think a lot of people are just going to look over it because there was no voice-over to explain what it is you’d be doing. Coming in 2022, Apico is a wonderful-looking game that is very busy for a laid-back management game. I want to see more and I want to see it explained well.

Cat Designer Mocha is a free-to-play mobile game that you’ll probably not be able to play and understand for a while. Entirely in Japanese, it is as cute as can be, but of course, difficult for some to fully understand.

If you want to join in with Jeremy Clarkson’s misery, you can with Lonefarm. A first-person farming sim that allows you to move furniture, plant things, and drink coffee? Ok, yes I am sold. I’ll have a lovely young man called Kaleb swear at me for doing things wrong, and I’ll love every second of it.

Another Pokémon Snap, Shashingo is just taking more pictures of things, and again I’m not against it. Set in Japan, I might end up getting my head kicked in for taking too many pictures of the Yakuza HQ or something. At the present, the release date for this one is “in the near future.” Well, that was worthwhile.

RoboCo, another game on Steam without a release set, you will be creating cute robots to serve coffee and maybe enslave mankind. That or you’ll just be doing the coffee thing.

Kotodama Diary is another free-to-play game with microtransactions, but you might be able to play this one! Think Happy Home Designer, but less so. I don’t think it excites me at all.

Co-open is a very strange-looking game focused on a kid buying the weekly shop for the first time. Remember that one scene from Home Alone? Yeah, if I did that I’d end up eating toothpaste for a week. I can’t be trusted to be an adult, but that’s why I’ve written all of this. You can go pick up Co-Open right now on itch.io if you like the strange look of it, which I do.

Cat Cafe Manager is for the people who don’t like bears but still want that Bear and Breakfast feeling. As you might guess, you will manage a cat cafe, handing out cups of coffee and spraying so much air freshener that your cafe might as well be brought up on charges of chemical warfare for trying to cover the smell of cat trays. I could see some enjoying this one. Sadly there was no release date given.

Either you are wholesome and unfaithful or you are faithful and unwholesome, there is no middle ground for Game Director Story. We’ve all heard of the horrible things that go on in triple-A studios, so I have a feeling either this one will be as dark as this show will go, or it is not going to be faithful. Either way, I’m looking forward to this one when it releases later this year. If you want to spoil yourself now, you can play the demo during the Steam Next Fest.

Princess Farmer, this is actually one I thought was already out. As a match-3 puzzler with pixel art and visual novel storytelling, I don’t know how to feel about it. It’s just not grabbing me and hasn’t every time I’ve seen it. It is set to release some time this year, though once again, we don’t know when.

Kreaturekind is another I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere before, but I’m just not sure where. Nonetheless, this deck-builder and card battling was announced last November and is still to announce a solid release date, which they hope (really hope) to release on Steam, Mobile, and Nintendo Switch in 2022. So something tells me this will be a while away yet.

Seasonspree is coming to the Nintendo Switch and PC in 2021, “hopefully.” In this time-traveling cute adventure about a tanuki called Sunny (Tom Nook’s cousin), you’ll probably be having a wonderful time later this summer.

Fire Tonight is a narrative-driven puzzle game set in a city on fire. You play as Maya and Devin, as you both try to meet up in the city as it is ablaze. Set to release on August the 12th on Steam and the Nintendo Switch.

Next up is Floppy Knights, which for the young among you, we used to have these things called floppy disks which held at most a whole 240MB. No, I’m not joking, before you moan about your PS4 only having 500GB, think about that for a minute. Nonetheless, floppy Knights is a bit like a turn-based card battler and tactical RPG. I think after 5,000 words it is a bit redundant to say something in the Wholesome Direct was pretty, but Floppy Knights is just that. Sadly no release date, again, but it is set to come sometime this year.

The final game, and thank Jésus for that, is Loddlenaut. Loddlenaut is a game about doing the most wholesome thing, clean up the oceans, and recycle. It is currently on Kickstarter, which tells you it is a while away. You can help fund this wonderful and magical show that is closer to what was easily the best show of E3 and all of its tendrils this year. Arguably, this shouldn’t have kicked off this year’s shows, as it was too good to be followed up with dreck after dreck. I’m glad once everything was done I could come back and enjoy such a wonderful show.