Til Nord
Nominated as Game of the Year!
Til Nord is fabulously beautiful and a lot of fun.
The feel of the ride is quite good, though it seems more of my wipe-outs should be killing me when they’re not. When a wipe-out is as funny as it is in this game, I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more of them.
The ‘missions’ you are tasked with are fun, if few. The races are all quite fun and a bit challenging, but not overly so.
The scenery is incredible; just don’t give it close-up scrutiny in most places. Take in the full view, which is jaw-droppingly amazing.
– Real player with 48.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Exploration Driving Games.
Driving a snowmobile through snowy Norway. An enjoyable experience for free!
Explore!
In Til Nord you are free to explore the snowy Norwegian mountains. There is a mission-chain which can be spotted easily by the huge vertical waypoints, that the game uses to guide the way. The missions explore most of the area.
There are also races, that unlock other races when you finish with any time. All races also have an achievement for beating a certain time. This time is pretty sharp, and gives a true challenge to beat! The only time we couldn’t beat was the ‘junkyard race’, while some took many attempts.
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
Winter Survival Simulator
What was supposed to be a nice winter hike in the Mount Washington State Park with friends, turned into a dire situation. You are left alone to fight for your survival. With only marginal supplies you have to fight off of the cold, the wildlife and find your way to an abandoned ranger station in hope to be able to call for help.
While you haven’t suffered any injuries during the fall, you lost your backpack and hence most of your gear and supplies. You will need to find shelter, find some food and rest. Then it’s about making your way to an old ranger station to call for rescue.
Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? It is, except for the supplies you are going to need for the trip, the weather, the freezing cold, not to mention the wildlife. The goal of the game is to survive. To prepare enough to make the trip to the ranger station and to deal with all the surprises along the journey.
Hunt or be hunted. You have no rifle and there is no combat. If you encounter wolfs or even a bear, stay away and run. You won’t be able to kill a bear with a knife, it’s not the movies.
What you can do is be clever about the wildlife and set traps. You might even be able to find some traps hunters left behind and use them to maintain a safe perimeter or to hunt smaller animals for food. Tracking, establishing the best spot and being patient is what the hunt will be about.
Cold, thirst, hunger and exhaustion are the four major factors you have to worry about. It doesn’t however end there. Injuries are another one and there is the weather. Spending the night in the freezing cold without any shelter is akin to a death sentence and trying to go out in a snow storm isn’t any better either. Don’t forget, weather in the mountains changes quickly and is unpredictable. You have to be prepared at all times.
You are not the first one person in this area. There have been many before you. More than a century ago some even lived here. If you explore your surroundings there is a good chance they may have left something behind that will still be useful to you. And while building a shelter on your own is certainly an option, it is a lot better and safer to adapt something that already exists.
You could find an old hunter lodge and fix it up to offer decent shelter and a base of operations for you to prepare, gather supplies and food and even hunt. You are going to have a long trip ahead of you. The better you prepare, the less risky it will be.
The rescue isn’t going to be instant. Despite modern equipment and well trained mountain rescue personnel, you are far away and their helicopter can’t take off in any weather. Between you calling for help and help actually arriving might take even a couple of days. Additional time you have to survive in the bitter cold at Mount Washington.
Read More: Best Exploration Survival Games.
Once in Flowerlake
Take a Moment.
…
Take a moment and try to conceive yourself beeing an old man, sitting in a small cottage and all around the deepest winter you can imagine.
You have a bed, a stove and a Computer.
And you have a little Job.
Taking care of 4 Machines out there in the Snow.
Day after Day.
Eating, working sleeping, repeat.
But one day something is happening, that belongs not to your daily Routine.
Welcome to ONCE IN FLOWERLAKE!
Let me set one thing clear at the Beginning.
This Game may be short, but took me by surprise.
– Real player with 2.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Exploration Walking Simulator Games.
The game plunges us into a world of hopelessness, it would seem that there is no way out, the routine has swallowed us up and will continue this way until the end of our days. But by chance, everything changes dramatically and we have a chance to break out of the vicious circle and be saved.
– Real player with 2.4 hrs in game
Path of Kami: Prologue
Path of Kami is a relaxing puzzle exploration game following the spirit of recently-deceased Japanese wolf Kazeyo as he navigates the trials of the Mortal and Spirit World through puzzles. He is accompanied by Wisp companion who is there to guide him on his journey. Path of Kami contains elements of both traditional Japanese folktales (Momotaro, Issun-Boushi), as well as a more personal journey for the main character.
The prologue features a portion of Kazeyo’s journey through the Mortal realm and an introduction to the Path of Kami world!
Features
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Explore beautiful landscapes set in ancient Japan
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Find and collect a variety of collectibles
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Solve puzzles by lighting lanterns
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Enjoy a heartwarming story about a wolf and his Wisp companion
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A handcrafted 3D painterly world
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A beautiful relaxing soundtrack
Hiking Simulator 2018
Kind of pretty in spaces. You can play either seeing your character or with a first person view. At it’s dark heart this is a hiking sim filled with mountains to climb, trees to see, and cute little bunnies. Aw. Too bad the bears hate you. So do the wolves and boars. Most of the animals are dangerous, but it’s more that type of game.
I didn’t like that at first, but amazingly you can outrun charging bears and wolves. Ditto the boars, though those suckers will chase you. I hit the statue that shall hereafter be called Freyr’s temple and got chased.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
AMAZING GAME……. 10/10 would buy. The wildlife blew my mind, the attention to detail is remarkable. the birds are kind of dicks tho, no need to ever go outside again this game has it all from giant brids to demonic burnt bacon like creatures. WISH I COULD HAVE PAID FULL PRICE! im buying it for my aunt as her dying wish…. its that good (sound track is top notch) the Aurora Borealis is worth the search it only took me 81 minutes. my girlfriend said she was going to leave me if i dont stop playing this game….. I CANT STOP SEND HELP… the snow crunch is supper realistic. overall a great time.
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
Silent Night - A Christmas Delivery
Absolutely love this game, Perfect time of year to get your mince pies out with this beauty, Lots of challenges and lovely fluid animations, Challenge a friend to try and beat your score, It’s a bargain game and you won’t be able to put it down. Perfect for any age.
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
Lushfoil Photography Sim
Experience detailed, true-to-life recreations of various landmarks around the world. Each environment is authentically recreated using reference photos taken on location, and includes detail at both a small and large scale.
- Capture Every Detail
Use a realistically inspired DSLR to observe and capture the world around you. Includes an abunance of settings that you’d expect from a real-world professional camera, including Auto/Manual Focus, Exposure, Contrast, White Balance, Aperture and a selection of filters, for full creative control over your shooting. All photos are saved to your hard drive, like a collection of real photos.
- Leave no Stone Unturned
Objectives are not the first priority in the game, but it will reward the types of players who are patient, observant, and like to venture off the beaten path. Each environment is filled with Unlockables, Secret Objectives, Collectibles, and Easter eggs that not everyone will find.
- Smooth as Butter
Each environment is very efficiently optimised and doesn’t need the latest hardware to run. There are extensive custom settings that will help the game run on a wide range of systems, and will still take full advantage of high-end cards.
- VR Support
A Virtual Reality DLC will be released in Early Access shortly after the game comes out. I’m a huge advocate for VR and I would love to give everyone the opportunity to experience the level of immersion that VR offers.
Where the Snow Settles
Absolutely loved Where the Snow Settles! It’s a beautifully put together game with a wonderful narrative and art style. I additionally loved the soundtrack and would often have the game playing in the background whilst I would work from home because I loved it that much. Great to see an Australia team do such terrific work!
– Real player with 6.0 hrs in game
Where the Snow Settles is a gorgeous cinematic experience that’s almost perfectly sized, easily playable over a single long session or two smaller ones.
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
Chionophile
While this game is tiny (the trailer honestly shows you most of the game) it’s stunningly pretty in a way you can’t quite define. Like other walking sims from the dev we are outside, this time in winter. Kind of like Bottle, but with a more upbeat tone and fresher graphics. It is short, especially if you use your right mouse button to act as a sort of heads up display and track down flowers and platforms quickly.
But there’s also a lot more to explore once you’ve checked all the achievements off your list. Honestly, yes, it’s short. I clocked in at 45 minutes, and I got terribly lost too. But it is also like Bottle in that you can make your own fun. Go back in and take a lovely walk in the gorgeous landscape. Let your worries go and just be.
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
In a similar vein to “Pluviophile”, it’s a nice looking environment, but with a number of strange design choices that mar its potential to be a nice peaceful walk.
To start, there are still, for some reason, flowers that you need to pick up and take to stone circles to open the path forward. There isn’t anything inherently interesting about the mechanic, so it just detracts from the experience by arbitrating certain places where you must go, making you less inclined to explore elsewhere on your own.
– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game
Everybody Wham Wham
A very cute and relaxing experience (with some very funny moments). The visual art is PRIMABELLA and the soundtrack is PERFECT-EL RINO and gets stuck in your head even when you’re not playing the game.
There are some things that I’d like to see more in the game though, for example, I’d like to be able to interact more with the characters (I don’t mean talking to them, I like the way that the main character communicates with the others, but I’d like to have more of those moments when you get to know them and they tell you about their lives), also, I’d like to be able to interact more with the scenario, aaaaaand (even more important than the others) I’d like to see multiple endings, I wish we could be able to convince the characters to change their minds about some things (which could impact the ending).
– Real player with 8.9 hrs in game
This game is brilliant, and deserves so much more attention than it’s getting right now. Here are a couple of reasons why:
#1 - The story elements and the vibes of this game feel so complete and so beautiful. It’s relaxing, fun, and there are always little surprises popping up that I didn’t notice the first or second time I play through it.
#2 - The soundtrack is beautiful and filled with catchy tunes.
#3 - I get so invested in the snowman building competition, I surprise myself. This his, hands down, the best snowman building game ever made.
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game