Wholesome Games: Wholesome Snack News Roundup

It was never going to be easy doing an E3 in the middle of a pandemic that put the kibosh on the last one, and it wasn’t easy doing it for a pair of systems that had barely been released several months prior. So while this year’s E3 was crap, I’m willing to forgive it a little for the circumstances. Maybe I’ve gone soft or something since enjoying so many wholesome games during the Wholesome Direct this year. It was my show of the year by far and made all of E3 worthwhile again this year. So getting another one in a bite-size snack format made me quote a wholesome character in a less-wholesome book I’ve been reading: “Fax yes!”

First up was A Garden Witch’s Life, a garden/farming sim with a kind of building/crafting system of laying out your objects, with cooking and an art style that gives everything dead wide eyes. Coming from FreetimeStudio, it was wholesome with every second of its short trailer, including Tin the devil-person with the ax that could at least knock someone out. There is no date as of yet for A Garden Witch’s Life, but you can wishlist it on Steam and follow it across social media channels.

Next up was AKA, and I didn’t know I wanted to hug a chubby fox/red panda friend so much. It is another one of your typical farming, crafting, building, adventure type of games, and I am here for all of this. Despite my predilection against crafting games, I am interested. Namra Games has crafted a world that might be recovering from horrible wars and unwholesome things, but it is a world filled with color, comfort, and wholesome capybara napping times. No specific date is given, though Steam denotes that you’ll be able to see the adventures of AKA in 2022.

One of the best indie games of all time? A Short Hike might have been a game I only came into contact with first when it was free on the Epic Games Store, but I will be singing its praises until I’m no longer able to. As the title would suggest, you go on a short hike and encounter some wonderfully realized game mechanics based on the simple yet effective story. No, I am not doing a review right now, but A Short Hike is finally coming to Xbox and PlayStation consoles tomorrow with the ability to play the game in 4K on your couch. If it wasn’t apparent, I highly recommend picking this one up.

I thought Half Past Yellow’s Trading Time: A Croak Tale had already been released, though it seems I was wrong. However, there is now a prologue available over on Steam, allowing you to play a little bit of this froggy tale adventuring around the small sandbox island solving some puzzles.

Ok, this one wasn’t all that wholesome from the trailer. I honestly thought I watched a dead body swim about rivers, lakes, and ponds until the gay dragon came along. No, I did not take a bunch of drugs, NAIAD is a strange game where you seem to play as a humanoid-figure floating around in some water and a colorful dragon came along. I don’t know what else to tell you about HiWarp’s minimalist adventure game other than it was strange and intriguing and is set to release in Q2 2022.

Mail Time we’ve seen before. It is that very monotonal game delivery game about a mushroom person trying to deliver the post. Previously what we saw didn’t give too much in terms of reasons to get intrigued, if I am honest. However, this time out I was turned over to the side of joining the mushroom postal service. While we’ve seen Kele van der Deijl’s upcoming title for a while now, there is still no release set but you can still wishlist it over on Steam.

An odd game came next called The Spirit & The Mouse, a strange puzzle platformer with a mouse that could have replaced Ratatouille if it wasn’t for the lack of cooking ability. You’ll be adventuring in a beautiful French-inspired village solving puzzles. Once again, Alblune’s title may be on Steam but there is no release date given, however as always, you can wishlist it.

Next up is another that is a bit farming/life sim-based but along the lines of Barbie Horse Adventure. The Ranch of Rivershine seems to be everything those mid-00s games could hope to be. Colorful, full of pretty ponies, show jumping, and management-style mini-games, I have a peculiar desire to play this one. No, this isn’t a joke. Éloïse Laroche’s upcoming horse-based game that would typically be aimed at very young women has a grown man wanting to know when this one is releasing. The trouble is, even I don’t know when that will be, so that’s another to be wishlist-ed for me.

Do you like the art style of A Short Hike but want a more conventional story-driven game out of it at the same time? Mushi Come Home is one that I couldn’t quite pin down a thought on. The trailer was attempting to push a slightly dark theme but immediately show a cute mushroom attempt to get home on a bed of colorful backgrounds. Again there is no date and you can wishlist it, but I honestly want to see more before I do that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hhhhyhpJNM

In a co-op adventure about an unlikely coupling, the Cheshire kitty before it was bothering to offer drugs to Alice and a goldfish you thought dead, you’ll solve puzzles and probably swear when the platforming goes wrong. This one doesn’t even have a Steam page yet, but you’ll be able to check out River Tails: Stronger Together on Kickstarter tomorrow (the 16th). Checking out the Kickstarter page, you can find out more and possibly support Kid Onion Studio’s upcoming puzzle adventure game.

The only one with an actual release date, and I know nothing whatsoever about LazyEti’s Paradise Marsh. It is a mystery set up on a bed of flat notes in a minor scale with a twinge of very-lite sci-fi to it in a walking sim adventure. I’m confused about where I was supposed to run to Steam to wishlist it. Was it meant to be between the name I had to look up because Fez and Hyper Light Drifter‘s soundtracks are little more than background noise, or was it meant to be when I was told that it would release on February the 3rd, 2022? It seems nice, but I don’t know what was meant to sell it to me.

Finally, I can stop paying hundreds in catnip to that cat psychologist to understand why my cats stand on my genitals all the time. Little Kitty: Big City is about a cat being a cat. Just like Pupperazzi from the Wholesome Direct at E3, I am sold at the release date, “Cats don’t have deadlines.” Ok, I was sold on Double Dagger Studio’s game when I saw that cat suddenly start chasing its tail, I want to play this adventure game right now and I want to stand on someone’s laptop writing “alkjbeho[evkjper” for once. Give it to me now, cowards!

If a collection of beautiful, magical, wonderful, weird, and downright wholesome games wasn’t enough to shake all the money out of your bank account, the last segment was possibly the most wholesome thing. The Galaxy Fund last year teamed up with developers and Wholesome Games to promote the Slice of Life album with the idea to help fund some small projects. Last year’s funding drive led to over $10K being raised and five small projects getting a little boost from concept to prototype. I didn’t think you could get more wholesome than a cat typing random nonsense on a keyboard, but here we are.

That was it, 20-minutes and 12-games were shown with trailers at a reasonable length. I think beyond the lovely, colorful cast of games on offer with every Wholesome Direct from Wholesome Games, the pitch-perfect pacing is what has quickly made their showcases worth every second. Don’t like something? Ok, here is another for you to enjoy, and before long it will be done. I love it. Below is the full show for those looking to see everything all together.