Signs of the Sojourner
A turn-based card game about communication.
You play as the newest member of a caravan. Together you travel to find goods to keep your store running (and your hometown on the map).
SOTS has themes of growing up, living with natural disasters and a changing climate, and finding your own way in the world. There's a wide range of paths you can take. The characters and places all feel very distinct and memorable.
I really loved the core mechanic of the conversations and card symbols! I still listen to the soundtrack regularly. And the art is beautiful!!
Shelter 2
You play as a mother lynx raising a litter of cubs. It’s kind of like Wolfquest if Wolfquest was a quilt.
As the cubs grow up, you have to hunt for food and defend them from predators. When I played Wolfquest Classic a lot, keeping the pack’s whole litter alive was difficult to the point I didn't often try. Which could have been partly cause I was 8. But Shelter 2 feels more forgiving. It really felt worth it to try harder even when things were going wrong! The hunting mechanic is fun. And there’s more places to explore than I expected.
Once you complete the game, you can start again, playing as one of your previous cubs raising their own litter. It’s a very replayable game for me and a nice way to spend a couple hours!
Paws
A Shelter 2 story where you play as a lynx cub. You get separated from your family and have to try to find your way back home with a companion you meet on the way. Basically ‘what if there were baby animals and they were friends’.
Unlike Shelter 2 there’s a much more linear story and set of maps, and two possible endings. As usual there’s a lot of optional collectables. It’s a beautiful bittersweet game with beautiful music! You can take your time exploring the world. If you don’t, it’s a pretty short experience.
It’s a very nice game. I don’t think stories should be made longer just for the sake of ‘more content’. But I don’t know if I would have bought Paws if the Shelter Generations bundle hadn’t been on sale. Under those circumstances though I absolutely recommend itt!!!
Hades
A roguelite by Supergiant Games (they did Pyre in which you play as Zagreus, son of Hades. Break out of the underworld to go hang out with your mum. It’s fun!
The music, art direction and character design is very good. Every character feels very distinct. It’s a very well made game. There’s a lot of options to make it much easier or more difficult depending on your preferences/if you’re just playing for the story.
And there’s a lot of story! There’s so many possible interactions in this game. The character quests feel really rewarding and kept me going even if I was making slow progress on the main one.
It’s very clear how much work and passion was put into this game!
Meadow
An online multiplayer game by Might and Delight. It's got the same cosy, quilt-y style. But now with much lower stakes than the shelter series. And you can hang out with your friends on line.
You travel around the map and find collectables like crystals that unlock new skins, emotes, and playable animals. The world feels very intricate! There's a lot of places to see.
No chat function. You can communicate using emotes. There's a real sense of community when playing with others. Even if you can't "talk"! (and considering online multiplayers it probably does help keep people friendly.)
My favourite memory in Meadow is staying up late to get the "Talked to a star" achievement. I met a group of strangers doing the same. We played ghost football together. I didn't see them again after, but it stuck with me.
Night in the Woods
A very story-driven 2d platformer. You play as the recent college dropout Mae. She wants to return to the old life and old friends in her hometown. But everything seems to be changing, leaving her behind.
It’s a game about survival, the rust belt, loss, mental health, and growing up. There’s a lot of life in all the characters. There’s a few different endings depending on the characters you spend time with. The character quests and secrets that mean i’ve replayed this game a lot.
Gnome Games Winter Edition
My brother and I got this beast for 25p in a charity shop because the box art was awful.
The minigames include launching fish at seals with a slingshot, a sliding race down a narrow track over a pit that only my dad could beat (once. Very slowly), and a skiing race that crashed the game when my cousin crashed into the wall too much.
I once tried to run it on a school computer and the computer immediately crashed. Last time i saw it, it was living inside a Half Life 2 box. Highly recommend.