Outbound is a relaxing journey that will please anyone who wants to get away without going anywhere. Extensive exploration and a satisfying gameplay loop make for a joyful experience, and it's easy to lose hours to driving around in your camper, collecting logs and unlocking new biomes. A few visual and control gripes might form bumps in the road, but otherwise this is a fun ride.
In Strange Antiquities, Bad Viking expands the rich world of Strange Horticulture – this time in an antique shop specialising in the occult. The puzzles are cryptic but rarely skull-cracking, forming an addictive gameplay loop: who knew hunting down magic antiques to solve customers' conundrums could be so satisfying?The whole thing is cloaked in a gripping mystery narrative, which you can influence with the right (or wrong) occult oddity. And with the possibility of multiple endings, replay value is high – at least for those of you who want to see just how much strangeness is in store.
Afterlove EP definitely fits with the cosy set: slow tempo, heartwarming narrative, and sad story (yes). The themes of grief, mental health and their impacts on our lives are explored in a way that feels gentle, much like Fahmi's earlier releases. There were a few wrinkles as things unfolded, and the dating sim aspect was unexpected, but still there's easygoing fun to be had. If you're looking for a light touch on serious issues, this one could be worth a play, and a replay. If you want a heavy-hitting game to wreck you emotionally, you might want to hit 'skip'.
Nairi: Rising Tide is a solid, if slightly inferior, sequel that expands the world established in Tower Of Shirin. Some slow load screens and difficult-to-discernible items shouldn't hamper your overall enjoyment too much, especially if you loved the first entry. The tricksy puzzles are great, though you may need to shell out for hints. And while you might feel like you're wading through the story at times, there's enough narrative thread to pull you through to a tense ending. No spoilers but the final moments left us already keen to know what Nairi, Shiro, and their friends get up to next.
Like a photo, The Star Named EOS is a fleeting moment in time. In the all-too-short playthrough, it gave us so much to love: between the art, the story and the puzzles we can't choose just one highlight. And once the credits rolled we already wanted to take another turn. Puzzle games don't have the best replay value, but thanks to the tricksy teasers and compelling mother-son narrative, we would be delighted to return to this one. There's not much more for us to say here - a photo is worth a thousand words.
We really wanted to like Moonglow Bay. It has the bones of a great fun cosy game: collectibles, a heartwarming story, fishing! Unfortunately, between the bugs, bland characters, and unnecessarily frustrating boss battles, the meat is a little thin. We enjoyed collecting the fish and restoring the town for a spell, but even the fun quests didn't have the compelling pull of many other games. If you really love fishing in your cosy adventures, this could be worth dipping your toe in. But if you're just in the market for a cosy game, there are plenty of fish in the sea.
Like the Great Elevator which takes you from beach to garden to mountain, Promenade unites several game elements you know and love in a way that still feels fluid. All this opens up a world that we were itching to explore. The collectathon gameplay is addictive, and the routes and puzzles are rewarding to complete. It might not elevate the genre, and it's not without faults or difficulty spikes, but that's okay with us because most of what it does stacks up.
Spirittea serves up a creative and addictive (after)life-sim loop of attending to bathhouse spirits and helping townsfolk. The tools and menus don't offer the most fluid experience, and the minigames are often overwhelmingly complicated, but there's enough to do here that means you can dip in and out of things when you don't like them. Anything you do like, you can soak in for hours.
Garden Buddies does a sprinkling of things well, but it doesn’t excel at any one thing. At its root, the solid concept and intention is let down by its lack of depth and reward for achievements. It’s not terrible at all, but with so many other relaxing, cute games competing to calm you, we think it’s okay to give this one a miss.
Cocoon is a fun and addictive puzzler. Its unique mechanics and gameplay had us glued to our screens, and it’s gorgeous to boot. Its lack of story is a minor disappointment, but if you love puzzles and aren't bugged by fast-paced combat, this game will be an easy favourite — even if it flies by all too quickly.
For the most part, Mineko's Night Market will be enjoyed by people who like to curl up with a compelling narrative and relaxing tasks. It's fun gathering materials and discovering secrets. And did we mention you can PAT THE CATS?! Without sneezing! What a joyous, allergy-free delight. As for whether it was worth the long wait, well, we recommend holding off a little longer for another of its nine lives – one with some patchwork to address the snags on Switch.
In Venba's short play time, the narrative-led cooking game conveys so much of this family's experience. The stirring story is presented in snackable chapters, each with an emotional tale tied to a dish. The puzzles aren't too challenging, making for a comforting, cosy playthrough as you prepare each meal. Be warned though: this game will make you hungry. And it may also make you cry.
Your enjoyment of Everdream Valley will depend on how you like to play the farm sims already on your Switch. If your primary goal has been about raking in the gold, beautifying your farm, or finding The One, you might not dig it. If you’ve never played a farm sim before, and want to till your first tile, we don’t recommend starting here. However, if you love caring for your animals, and want to see life through their shiny eyes, Everdream Valley could be right in your paddock.
Fall of Porcupine has a lot of potential, but our diagnosis is that it's fallen short. The cute art style and evocative soundtrack are its main drawcards, and while the wide-eyed animals can mask the dark themes of an unhealthy system, they can't quite cover up the haphazard story or keep players engaged. We felt the game needed either a stronger narrative thread or more involved gameplay to improve its condition. Performance bugs can be treated with patches, but it'll take more than a band-aid solution to cure the ailments in Fall of Porcupine.
Maquette's strength mostly lies in its beautifully told narrative and wonderfully voice-acted characters, and if this were a review of the story alone, we might give it a higher rating. The gameplay is interesting, however, there's often only one right answer. Plus it's hard to ignore performance issues like stuttering and the dreaded restarts. For us, playing Maquette was a lot like Michael and Kenzie's relationship. It was sometimes wonderful, sometimes frustrating, and, though it's probably not something we'll return to, it was worth our time – even if it didn't last long.