Wholesome Snack 2023 Roundup

Oh, I do love it when Jenny comes around with games, a friend to show us some lovely wholesome games, and some less-than-exciting games. It is that time of year once again that we’re covering a Wholesome Snack and it was a meal of a snack this time around. Not the 60~ games from earlier this year during faux3 as I called it, but my notes are still quite long even if they are only a sentence or two per game. Let’s jump right in:

We’re starting with a game that I have no idea what it is and quite frankly, I don’t think anyone does. An old anime cel-shaded style is the big thing for Vivarium, which doesn’t even have a Steam page, even if it has been in development since 2021 at least. You can follow its development over on Twitter @Vivarium_Game and gawk at the unbelievable art style in the trailer below for now.

With a name that might put some people off, and make some very aggressive people on the internet tell you their opinions, Communite is a multiplayer city builder with the simplest of art styles. It is cute, and in early beta, but I don’t actually get the point. Despite EA’s attempts, I’ve never thought I want to play a city builder in multiplayer.

Up next is something I got a press release about the other day, and I instantly fell in love. Pine Hearts is a cute little adventure game set in a caravan park. Developed by the people at Hyper Luminal Games in Dundee, you’ll make friends, solve puzzles, and generally do all the things you expect from a wholesome game at a Wholesome Snack. I’ve been excited about this one for three days now, and I can’t wait for its Q1 release next year.

We’ve seen Lightyear Frontier before, I can’t remember if it was part of a Wholesome Showcase or not. Finally releasing into Early Access sometime in March of 2024, you can climb in a mech and harvest crops or you can get hands-on as you farm on a far-off planet. A hint of Satisfactory is what I’m getting, but with a lot more farming and survival focus from this one. I’m into it, even if I don’t have others to play this farming sim with.

Up next was a showcase of the Wholesome Humble Bundle, which includes some you may remember from past showcases. It includes Bear & Breakfast, Wylde Flower, Tinykin, Passpartout 2, Venba, Smushi: Come Home, and of course, Mail Time. Some of those we’ve covered here on the site, others are still highly enjoyed nonetheless.

Following that was a showcase of Go-Go Town, finally showing off a bit of gameplay among the animated sections. I’ll return to my point about Communite and why I don’t care so much about that. There, I have nothing to connect to, but here, I have something more to get involved with. Prideful Sloth’s colorful city builder seems to exude personality, and I’m drawn to that.

Snacko! We’ve seen this one a number of times at the Wholesome Directs and finally, this cat-based farming sim has been released into Early Access. It seems lovely, but I can’t help but point out we’ve seen a lot of it already. I’m not drawn to it as much as I think I would have been if I hadn’t seen it for a while.

My notes on this one are sarcastic, and I can’t be bothered with it in the first place. A new update has come to the mobile title Usagi Shima, bringing the rabbit-based Tamagotchi ‘em up to the beach.

Another one I don’t think I’m too excited for simply because of the way it is shown off, is Baladins. A co-op-focused (though can be played single-player) adventure title that has an interesting art style, but just isn’t grabbing me ahead of its release in early 2024 on Switch, PS4, and PS5, and on Steam too, though the latter wasn’t featured in the trailer. I’ll be keeping an eye on Baladins, but I don’t know how much I’ll personally be interested.

DLC time, as Eastward – Octopia got its release date. This DLC to the interesting RPG title Eastward turns the action-based RPG into a… farming simulator? Ok, I’m in! Releasing January 31st, you’ll be able to play “Octopia” on Steam and probably everywhere else Eastward is already.

I’m going to bundle the two showcases of Simpler Times into one, mostly because otherwise I’d make this the least Wholesome of articles. Something about “Experiential interactive meditation” made me dislike Simpler Times for a moment. I’ve been excited about it since it was shown off earlier this year. It seems to have only been shown off as much because iam8bit sponsored the show. It is still a lovely game, but seems a bit pretentious about what it is.

Summer House isn’t pretentious about what it is though: A casual sandbox about making lovely little city/townscapes. It looks colorful, with those crunchy pixels everyone seems to enjoy now. However, there are lovely reflections in the water of your creations. I am in love with this lovely little builder we’ll get to see more of in 2024.

I honestly didn’t know what Sky: Children of the Light was until I had to do research, as the trailer similarly left me in the dark. The trailer itself was to highlight a festive event going on right now in thegamecompany’s MMO (apparently) with more than 10 million downloads on Android. There are probably a significant number of downloads on Apple products too, as well as the Switch and PS4. Is it on Steam? No. You can play a demo though.

Another Tamagotchi sim, but this time it makes sense because it is on the Switch too. Coming to the Switch and Steam at some point in 2024, those who liked bugs as a kid might want to play Bugaboo Pocket. I’m interested, but I also wonder why you play in a small 4:3 window with a bug-based background for the rest of the screen.

Europa has interested me for a while, but so has the game of the same name. It seems to be inspired by newer Zelda games but also seems quite interesting. Releasing April 16th, Europa is set to bring the story of an android called Zee being ridiculed by people in black turtle necks. Sorry, no, I’ve no idea what the little fella’s mystery is all about, but I know I am interested in playing Helder Pinto’s game this coming April.

I can’t quote my notes for Duck Detective: The Secret Salami or the messages I sent when it came up. What I will say is that I was very excited and then I heard, “Return of the Obra Dinn-like gameplay,” then I had an accident and had to go change. Yes, I know Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is releasing in 2024, but I want it now. I don’t care how, I want it now! Get me that goose, I mean duck!

I didn’t know we’d be seeing Alexx next but, I guess now is as good a time as any. Trash Goblin currently has a Kickstarter, and if you’re still unsure about Trash Goblin from the trailer, you can check out Spilt Mile Studio’s latest title on Steam right now with a demo. Just a wholesome and cozy little shopkeeper ‘em up about cleaning and tinkering with stuff. What isn’t to love?

For some reason, I can’t get into Momento. It seems A Little To The Left and Unpacking-inspired, but something isn’t entirely grabbing me about this cozy casual decoration/tidy-up simulator. The one part with the bunk bed is the only part of the trailer that brought back that Unpacking vibe. Otherwise, something about Momento isn’t lighting that same spark, and I do love Unpacking.

Next up is another DLC, but you don’t have to wait around for this one. Sticky Business is one of those simple games that stood out this year, and the “Plan With Me” DLC lets you make planners in this lovely little world. Releasing December 18th, you don’t have to wait too long.

An odd one to close out the showcase of wholesomeness, we end off with a survival-crafting 3rd-person action title that aims to be more generic than some triple-A attempts. Voyagers of Nera is a co-op-focused title set on an archipelago with magic and vibrant colors, but no muscular man who is so self-centered as he sings about how great he is. Coming in 2024, I’d be more excited if there was actually something to get, well, excited about.

It was a great Wholesome Snack overall, but if we ended with Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, I’d have said it was the best showcase hands down. You can’t top a detective duck in a trench coat, so don’t try! Anyway, those who want to have a look at the whole show as it was broadcast live can take a look below for that.