What an amazing time to be a casual handheld gamer!
Lots of good games to play right now, and many more in the near future. But you know what’s funny? When you check the upcoming game releases on the big gaming sites, I seem to miss a lot of games.
Sure, the more well known games are mentioned, but I have games on my wish list, that are not on there.
So I felt it was time to make my own list here, of games that I think will be good ones for us, casual gamers! These are the 7 games that are relatively close to release, I’ll list them according to release date.
1. Detective Pikachu: Birth of a new team (3DS)
March 23 2018 America and Europe
The game follows a peculiar talking Pikachu who, despite not being as powerful and nimble as other Pikachu of his kind, is rather intelligent and claims to be a great detective. Together with a boy named Tim Goodman he solves various mysteries revolving around Pokémon in the city. A totally different game then a regular Pokémon game. The description reminds me more of Professor Layton, as you walk around scenes, find potential clues, and speak with people and Pokémon to uncover new information in the case you are handling. Here’s more info on the game.
2. Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists of the Mysterious Paintings (Switch, Vita)
March 27 2018 America and March 30 2018 in Europe
I’m so looking forward to finally having one of my favourite series on the Switch! This third game in the Mysterious trilogy revolves around twin sisters in of a small atelier in Adarett Kingdom’s capital city Merveille. Not only will this adventure will take place inside paintings, it seems we’ll also be seeing a dramatic change in the synthesis system: you can now synthesise during battle too!
No doubt another fine combination of crafting, a good storyline and nice battles. By the way, this time there’s won’t be English voice-overs, but just sub titles. And besides these handheld versions, the game is also being released on PS4.
3. Yonder: the Cloud Catcher Chronicles (Switch)
May 29 in America and May 31 2018 Europe
In the style of Breath of the Wild, it’s an open world adventure game with a variety of locations to explore. The ultimate goal is to become the champion of Gemea and save it from an evil murk, which can be done by contributing to the island and taking on tasks such as farming, crafting, cooking, fishing and brewing, and forming relationships with townspeople.
That last part I find very interesting, the simulation part. The PS4 version is already available, by the way, both in Europe and in America. Some more info on the game here.
4. Happy Birthdays (Switch)
June 5 2018 in America and June 8 2018 in Europe and
A garden game in which players create cube-shaped worlds that give rise to diverse and unique lifeforms sounds good. You can shape the geography and alter the temperature of each world to create the conditions for life and witness the birth of an entire ecosystem. I’m not sure how hands on this title is, or if it’s a matter of waiting, like looking at a petrie dish.
I’m very curious, especially since they seem to have improved upon the PS4 title that is already available under the name ” Birthdays the Beginnings”. Read a bit more about the game here.
5. Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery (mobile, Android and iOS)
Spring 2018
In this game you don’t play as Harry himself. Instead, the game is set prior to the arrival of Harry himself at the school, somewhere during between Harry’s birth and Hogwarts first year.
That means you’ll be attending school alongside Nymphadora Tonks and Bill Weasley, and get to meet professors such as Snape, McGonagall and groundskeeper Hagrid. You can create your character, you will be sorted in one of the four houses, and you can even choose a pet! There’s no set date yet, just Spring 2018. Here is some more info.
6. My Time at Portia (Switch)
Fall 2018
My Time at Portia that started life as a Kickstarter, is doing well. It’s already available on Steam as an early access game with very positive reviews. The game is a combination of farming, socialising, crafting and fighting, so perfect as far as I’m concerned.
In Portia you can start a new life restoring your Pa’s neglected workshop to its former glory, grow crops, raise animals, befriend the towns quirky inhabitants and uncover the mysteries this charming post-apocalyptic land has forgotten! You can read more about the game here.
A new trailer has been released for the Switch version, so check it out!
What do you think? Great list huh? All of them have a release date, or at least a season. There are more interesting games on the horizon, like Wizards Unite (also called Harry Potter Go), Re:Legend and Spellbound, but they don’t give any indication of release.
Good times to enjoy casual games! Which ones have your interest? Or have I missed an ace game that really should be on the list?
I am looking forward to the new Atelier, although I will probably purchase the Sony version. Not sure if I would describe it as a casual game though. It’s less violent than other RPGs, but the alchemy mechanics are pretty deep.
Well, I’m currently trying my hand at Skyrim and let me tell you: for me Atelier games are very casual, haha!
Thank you so much for your info! I have found out about so many games from you that I have not found on other sites. I’m an older lady gamer too and tend to like a lot of the same games. Keep up the good investigative work!
Thanks Purple! I’m glad we like the same kind of games, us older gaming ladies gotta stick together!