I have this loosely defined made-up genre I call “Summer Games”.

It started a long time ago subconsciously. At some point I realized that during the hottest time of the year I gravitate to certain games that I mostly play on a small device (laptop/switch/steamdeck), laying in bed, late at night, when I have trouble sleeping because it’s too hot. A friend of mine once said that the reason she loves super high temperatures so much, is that what you experience leaves more vivid, burned in, memories. I think she has a point.

The criteria aren’t super rigid but I hope you get the “vibe” and might know some games that fit:

  • Low-stakes/chill gameplay. I’m already sweating, I don’t need sweaty gameplay right now

  • a warm aesthetic/color palette and/or setting. My outside experience shouldn’t feel too different to the games inside experience aesthetic-wise.

  • It feels like a road trip, adventure or vacation. I want to get a summery memory out of this.

  • the game leaves some kind of impact.

Games I played in the past that evoked that vibe perfectly:

  • Kentucky road zero
  • oxenfree
  • road 96
  • firewatch
  • sable
  • rime
  • steins: gate
  • life is strange

Games that have fit okay-ish

  • tunic
  • journey
  • citizen sleeper
  • nightcall
  • no umbrellas allowed
  • the talos principle
  • the solus project
  • the witness
  • the vanishing of Ethan Carter

If anyone has a recommendation, I’d be thankful. This year I have started to play chants of Sennaar and it seems to fit the criteria so far.

  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    4 months ago

    The first thing that comes to my mind is Summer in Mara. It’s a chill, relatively shallow farming sim with fetch quests and exploration.

    Some more based on other games you liked:

    • Arida - short-ish adventure game with a bigger emotional impact
    • Nuts - probably most similar to Firewatch; core gameplay loop is taking pictures of squirrels, but there’s some plot development
    • A Juggler’s Tale - side scroller adventure with some feels
    • Deponia - funny point and click adventure series; if you like the genre, try The Darkside Detective (less “summer adventure” more “weird mysteries”)
    • Manifold Garden - more chill than The Talos Principle or The Witness, with less feels than the first; decent, trippy puzzle game
    • Paradigm_shift@sh.itjust.worksOP
      0·
      4 months ago

      I’ll check them out, thanks. I’ve heard positive things about manifold garden already. Mystery stuff might be perfect for fall