Best of 2022: Serena’s Choice

The year is quickly coming to a close, and there were many great releases in 2022, especially for indie games. While there were quite a few AAA releases such as Pokémon Scarlet/Violet and Splatoon 3, indie games definitely took the spotlight.

I hope that 2023 will continue to be another amazing year for gaming. As a new writer for the LadiesGamers team, I am excited to share my passion for gaming with you fellow readers. I hope you enjoy reading about my top games of 2022 and let me know what you played this year!

Cat Café Manager

Without a doubt, Cat Café Manager is my top indie game of 2022. In this game, you have moved from the big city to a small town called Caterwaul, and you are in charge of rebuilding the cat café your grandmother once ran. I especially enjoyed discovering all the stray cats you can adopt for the café and chatting with the locals. There is also an underlying story about the town and the cats that you need to piece together with the help of the locals that you befriend.

As a cat lover, I really enjoyed this game. I love how diverse the characters are and how easy it is to pick up this game whenever I needed a boost of serotonin. You can find the review for this game here.

Cult of the Lamb

This cute, yet dark, game about a sacrificial lamb who is saved by the One Who Waits will appeal to anyone looking for a game with creepy cute elements and enjoys dungeon crawling. The lamb starts a cult for the One Who Waits and amasses followers that does the lamb’s every bidding. You must destroy the Heretics who enslaved you, all while raising the faith and devotion of your followers.

While the idea of sacrificing your followers every now and then may not sound appealing, it is part of the charm of the game. I also liked how I can customize my base camp and the graphics are just too cute. I have never been a fan of dungeon crawlers, but it is very satisfying to annihilate the non-believers and beat the bosses at each stage.

Beacon Pines

In Beacon Pines, you play as Luka, a twelve-year-old who sets off on a journey to solve the town’s mysteries and find out what happened to your missing mother. This visual novel is a gem of a game; there are multiple bad endings that you have to get through in order to reach the true good ending of the game. I was able to finish the game in one sitting since I was so eager to solve the mysteries of Beacon Pines and find out what happened to Luka and his friends.

The game has a creepy atmosphere, but it isn’t scary at all, so I recommend this game to anyone looking for a heartwarming visual novel. This game was reviewed here.

Lemon Cake

Lemon Cake is a cozy bakery management simulation game reminiscent of Diner Dash, but with a modern twist. Not only can you bake pastries and serve them to customers, you can also display pastries for sale, put cats up for adoption, and grow your own ingredients in your greenhouse. It is a fun game with a simple gameplay.

However, it is not a relaxing game as you have to complete multiple tasks at once while cramming as much as you can do within the fast-moving day. Even though I didn’t find the game relaxing, it is an enjoyable experience nonetheless and will appeal to any cozy gamer. Here’s a review for this game.