Areia: Pathway to Dawn
This is a beautiful light platformer with a touch of a walking simulator. A relaxing and immersive game with a heavy spiritual overtone to it with Hinduistic and Buddhist influences. It reminded me of Ancient Knowledge and other reviewers have mentioned Journey which is on my wishlist.
This is not a walk in the park as you have to work your way through different environments and challenges on your way to enlightenment. That sounds really heavy, but the game is quite light and enjoyable.
Music is lovely with Indian overtones to it, but it did wear thin after a while. I only got half of the achievements despite going back in to hunt for them. Dunno where they were?!
– Real player with 9.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Emotional Indie Games.
So this is a tough one, while technically I give the game a thumbs up - you might find it not worth your time.
Quick score: music 9/10, graphics 8/10, atmosphere 9/10, gameplay 5/10, story n/a
This is supposed to be a “deep” game to make you think, reflect etc. in this for me it failed - it offers a few “contemplation points” where you sit and get 2 lines of text, this text while apparently supposed to be philosophical is rather non-sensical and does not make me find any deeper meaning in it - despite me being rather open to such ideas. What make this even worse is a rather unsatisfying ending(I am not even sure what its supposed to mean if anything).. it does have a “to be continued” so maybe in an expansion or update we will get more.
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
Dear Mom: My Letter to You
_Dear Mom: My Letter to You_ is a slice-of-life/dating sim visual novel that combines an emotional story with a calendar system in which players can gain stats to initiate and develop relationships with other characters. Your choices and stats heavily influence the outcome of the game. The story emphasizes the impact of family grief, building meaningful friendships, growing as a person, and reflecting on past mistakes.
Genre: Slice-Of-Life / Dating Sim / Romance (Yuri/GxG) / Visual Novel
Rating: 16+
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: Windows / Mac / Linux (Steam & Itch.io)
Content Warning: Dear Mom: My Letter to You may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be safe to view at work. This game is intended for a more mature audience (16+), as it contains sensitive topics like bullying, suicide, and blackmail.
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Female Protagonist & 4+ romanceable characters, each with their own unique personalities and side chapters
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Story-rich narrative that explores the meaning of friendship, family loss, and self-reflection
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Point-and-Click adventure where you can explore various areas of interest, each with day/night variations
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Partial Voice Acting
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Stat system that heavily influences the story’s outcome and form bonds with other characters
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Diary-style Interface to capture the feeling of recording your life’s stories
This is an emotional journey of loss, acceptance, and the bonds made along the way. The story stars high school student Ayame Kawasaki who blames herself for her mother’s suicide. Having closed off her connections with her friends for a whole year, Ayame is finally restarting her life, repeating her second year at Yamada Hoshi High School. Since her absence, students have been spreading rumors about her, claiming that she’s a selfish person hungry for attention. Ayame struggles to fit in as they start shunning her and calling her out when she does something wrong. When she thought there was no chance of making friends, a kind classmate steps in to turn her life around–
It’s up to Ayame to build and maintain her relationships, new and old, while coming to terms with the reality of her mother’s death.
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Developer/Character Artist/UI Artist: Mangoku418
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Lead Writer: Renkka
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CG Artist: RyThae
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BG Artists: kjkjmulo, KeiraWorks, Ari Angga
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Isometric Map Designer: Arctic Fox
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Smartphone Template: ds-sans
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Music Composer: Red Robotix, Ankit22
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Sounds from Zapsplat
Read More: Best Emotional Anime Games.
Leaf on Wind
A relaxing game though not without its challenges. The scenery helps create a cathartic atmosphere while you breeze about piecing together some pretty poetry. Good for a casual gamer to chill out to.
Looking for a game to de-stress with after work or between more intense games? Check out Rouem’s Leaf on Wind.
For more niche curation, follow me at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27440015-CSH-Picone/
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Emotional Faith Games.
It’s a Flower clone of sorts. Expected it to be before I bought it though. Except this time instead of flower petals, it’s a single leaf.
Your aim in this game is to go around collecting glowing square thingies in order to make up a poem in each level. Kinda expected something MORE akin to Flower, but I’ll take it. Still a decently chill game to play. The OST is also nice.
That SAID however, after you finish the first 6 levels, to play more of the game, you need do those 6 levels AGAIN but without touching anything. Just feels more like a chore than anything. I gave up at the “repeated” third level, because the wind is just ridiculous and works against you and it’s annoying (and the controls don’t help either, since they aren’t the most fluid thing ever (though not “bad” either)). No offense, but it just takes away from the “relaxing” factor and feels like forced replayability. I’m not a fan of that. Will either push myself to see the rest of the game at some point soon or refund the game, haven’t really decided yet. But yeah, I’m very in the middle with this one tbh.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
Seed of Life
Seed of Life
A disappointing adventure game that has a forgettable story, tedious gameplay and frustrating platform elements.
Seed of Life is third person adventure game with platforming elements.
Aliens have raped the planet Lumia of resources and left with all the vital life source, Lumium.
Lumium maintains the balance and holds the universe together; Without it life ceases to exist
– Real player with 13.4 hrs in game
After completing the game 100%, I’d like to give a review that will hopefully be beneficial to both the game devs and the potential buyers. First and foremost, I give the game a 6/10 and here’s why.
1. The game is lacking. While some of the later sections of some decent puzzle mechanics, most of the game doesn’t have much in the way of puzzles. The platforming has some potential, but lacks the polish to make it a notable indie game. As of now, I barely see a reason as to why it is considered action.
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
Nebula Within
A life philosophy ruminating, fast-paced, geometric twin stick shooter made by the human, Nick Oueijan. Allow me to maybe put it a bit differently, one man’s escape from the black hole life tends to create for a lot of us at some point and a vessel that helped him break free from his own personal one.
Despite only using geometry shapes, the game’s visuals are very well done. Sharp, colourful geometry on a black background with tiny white, swirling stars makes for some good contrast and individual shapes stand out nicely. Game menus and selection are awesomely done, allowing you to pilot your ship and shoot to select individual options which are represented by different drawings. Even looking through your collected mantras is done by turning the pages with your ship.
– Real player with 15.0 hrs in game
Introduction
Fair warning at the start, the developer has been very kind to reach out to me as a Curator to leave a review for this game and despite me being extremely thankful that they did, this review is and will stay my personal honest opinion of the game. P.S. Considering the game this review might be a bit more of a ‘deepdive’ than normal.
Nebula Within is an Asteroids style game with a focus on zenning out and just enjoying the game and yourself with an overarching theme of motivation and relaxation.
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
Wild Honesty: A party game for deeper conversations
Do you want to connect better with your friends, family, partners? This is the game for you. It opens the floor for conversation and getting to know one another. Having played this with some intimate friends, it left us spending hours discussing our lives, our pasts, and a lot of other things we never likely would have broached. Come to the metaphorical table with a mindset of vulnerability, and you’ll come out learning a lot about the people you’ve played with.
Could use some more questions, but I figure the developers will update over time and add more as time goes on. I don’t know if the questions repeat, but it’d be good to be able to mark questions as answered. Maybe have a mode where it’s a ‘saved game’, so it remembers what you’ve already answered and what you haven’t. Multiple save game slots would be good, to play it with different people/groups.
– Real player with 40.5 hrs in game
Really enjoyed it, actually and looking forward to seeing where this goes and if there’s any additional questions as time goes on with a patch or some sort. The guessing questions are good for losen up the mood if anyone doesnt feel like talking, etc. But the questions are really good prompts to reflect and chat with others. You might not play this game with strangers but its great to play with people you know and its good to sit and discuss these questions.
I Really love the concept actually.
– Real player with 5.6 hrs in game
Aery - A Journey Beyond Time
I personally liked main the main character of this game - flying-bird-eagle. It is a really good idea to choose this being like a personage.
Different interesting and sometimes exciting locations.
I get enjoy and pleasant relax playing this game. It’s so calm and pretty.
The controls are quite simple, I learned right away and graphic is pretty good - there is nothing that catches the eye sharply.
Travelling in time, being a flying animal - nice choice. My respect, developers
– Real player with 92.4 hrs in game
If you wanted to get a lot of emotions from the gameplay, then this game is for you!
Fantastic gameplay will not let you get bored.
I played for about 3 hours, but I want more and more!
I did not find any bugs in the game, a nice and understandable menu.
I advised the game to a friend, my friend also liked it)
If you have any doubts whether to buy the game or not? Buy it !! You won’t regret it !!
5/5
– Real player with 3.4 hrs in game
Curving Over It with Evgeny Podoynikov
Very impressive for a first product!
KEEP GOING!!
– Real player with 0.4 hrs in game
What We Pretend To Be
Cheap, relaxing and really nice soundtrack.
This is the kind of game you buy if you have some money to spare, and you’re in need of a casual relaxation game. There is no point to the game, and it’s really really short, but honestly, I think it was worth the small fee. I love the graphic style, and the lighting is god-tier, but the texturing is kinda off-putting in some areas, with glitching clouds and the ground clipping with the grass. There’s not much to the story, but that’s not really the appeal of the game, so I wouldn’t leave much criticism there.
– Real player with 3.3 hrs in game
Very short game play, not much story. Mindless wheat farming, once the builder dies you can’t make any more improvements to your town.
– Real player with 1.8 hrs in game
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Chicory is a masterclass work of art, and an absolute must-play for any creative type: experienced or not!
I adore this sweet little bundle of love! It has had me hooked on its enriching story, stunned by its simple yet captivating visuals, and mesmerized by Lena Raine’s soft and moody melodies. The boss battles are difficult by unconventional means (
! emotionally ), the sounds of Picnic Providence are as fun as they are wet, and the painting mechanic feels so… so unbelievably smooth! The dialogue is all shades of cute and gut wrenching, and it has had me in tears more times than I am willing to admit.
– Real player with 43.5 hrs in game
I ABSOLUTELY recommend this game! It’s such a lovely experience, through both story and gameplay, and even months after finishing it I still think back to it often. You can tell right off the bat that a lot of love went into making this game, and it is definitely worth a playthrough.
– Real player with 31.2 hrs in game