Come on in, get yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and pull up a chair.
The gaming year is slow in starting, I guess we are still recovering from the festivities in December! So far, there isn’t much activity in new game releases or news, but I’m pretty sure that is about to change.
We did manage to gather some news for you; here it is!
Free to Play Meow Moments Celebrating Together
Meow Moments: Celebrating Together launches on Steam this January 22nd. Developed by Mens Sana Interactive, this family-friendly game transports players to Rio’s Copacabana beach during the lively Réveillon for an unforgettable celebration.
Dive into this free-to-play experience and immerse yourself in a vibrant New Year celebration at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Hunt for 101 cats, 101 balloons, and 101 diverse characters in this lively beachscape.
You can also enjoy the Creative Maker to create your own personalized scenes and share them with the Community. Also, play a variety of player-created scenes!
From the first day of release, the New Year Activity Book DLC will be available for purchase. And with your support, more DLC celebration scenes will be available, like for Valentine’s Day.
Whitethorn Winter Showcase 2024
On February 8th (1 pm EST/ 10 am PST) publisher Winterthorn presents a showcase about their upcoming titles, including Botany Manor, Magical Delicacy and Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island. You will find the showcase here when the time is right.
Garden Life Pre-Orders Open
Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator, the relaxing gardening game, is open for digital pre-order on PlayStation5, PlayStation4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. It will be available from 22nd February 2024 on these platforms, while the Nintendo Switch version will be released on 14th March 2024.
With its colourful, soothing world, Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator offers players a relaxing gardening experience where the only limit will be their own creativity! Your challenge is to transform an abandoned plot into a flourishing community garden while interacting with the game’s quirky characters, your fellow villagers.
In preparation for decorating their garden, players can now preorder the digital version of the game and get the Eco-friendly Ornament Set additional content free of charge. This comprises eco-friendly ornaments, including chairs and tables made from recycled wood, as well as rattan lanterns. This pack contains everything they will need to make their garden even greener!
There are now two editions available to pre-order on consoles:
• Standard Edition: includes the basic game, available for €39.99 | $39.99 | £39.99 on consoles, and €24.99 | $24.99 | £24.99 on PC (Steam).
• Deluxe Edition: includes the basic game and the Garden Party Pack additional content, including two exclusive plants and a wide selection of elegant ornaments to transform the garden into a welcoming and festive place. Available for €44.99 | $44.99 | £44.99 on consoles, and €29.99 | $29.99 | £29.99 on PC (Steam).
Nintendo Theme Park in Universal Orlando
We already know about the Nintendo-based land in Universal Orlando that will open at Epic Universe next year. But it seems we can expect even more gaming goodness in Universal. More themed Nintendo franchises are expected in Universal Studios and the Islands of Adventure theme park. Apparently, a new Pokemon park will replace The Simpsons in Universal Studios. Expectations are that the Lost Continent in Islands of Adventure will be replaced by an attraction based on The Legend of Zelda. We may even see Luigi’s Mansion added to Epic Universe! Still, we will have to wait for definite confirmation!
Solve the Mysteries of Boxes: Lost Fragments
On the 1st of February 2024, Big Loop Studios, in collaboration with publisher Snapbreak Games, will release Boxes: Lost Fragments, a puzzle adventure game. Fans of the genre will be thrilled to unravel the mysteries hidden within a grand and lavish mansion and its set of puzzle boxes.
Boxes: Lost Fragments is designed to immerse players in a cryptic atmosphere, intricate machinery, beautiful 3D graphics, and seamless controls, rivalling the finest escape room games. The game unfolds across five chapters, each tied to distinct sections of the mansion. The player steps into the shoes of a legendary thief, who must solve a series of unique puzzle boxes to escape.
Flotsam – Floating Garbage
Stray Fawn, the developers behind The Wandering Village, not only develops games but publishes them too for other developers. In the Summer of 2024, we can expect Flotsam, developed by Belgian studio Pajama Llama. The game has been in Early Access since 2019 and has been constantly improving and expanding. Time for a 1.0 release version.
Flotsam is a fun and relaxing game where you build a town in a world that’s mostly underwater. You oversee a group of drifters floating on a mobile town made from recycled garbage. Your job is to find more garbage, turn it into useful things like workshops and water purifiers, and make sure your people are happy and healthy.
In the game, you explore different areas with unique landscapes and landmarks. You have to manage your town’s resources, like power from generators, and make choices about whether to use sustainable or fossil fuels. To get around obstacles like sunken bridges and old cities, you need to balance the weight and size of your town.
Throughout the game, you can get help from seagulls, refugees, and special characters to make your town thrive in this post-apocalyptic world. The goal is to create a constantly changing and interesting environment for players.
First Update in 2024 for Fashion Dreamer
The first update of 2024 for Fashion Dreamer is live, adding a new Limited Time Fair and more style options and quality of life improvements.
The Limited Time Fair, featuring a “Dramatic” theme, will be active from Jan. 17th to Feb. 7th. This month’s Fair adds 20 sparkling limited-time items to the game to help players shine like a pearl alongside ever-useful creative keys to unlock existing fashions and styles.
In addition to the items in the Limited-Time Fair, ten permanent new patterns are included in update 1.3.1. To handle this expanded wardrobe, the latest Fashion Dreamer update has increased the maximum number of items a player can have from 5,000 to 6,000, ensuring ample space as new styles arrive throughout the year.
Additional updates allow for easier customization, including the new ‘colour’ search filter that sorts items by each of the 10 different colour tints for faster searches and the ability to remove all items at once. There are many more exciting additions in update 1.3.1, including improvements to the online world of Eve so players encounter a wider variety of Muses, adjusted Lookit requests from Muses, visual improvements to the Drone Camera mode, and more updates to improve the play experience of fashion and style influencers everywhere.
Atelier Resleriana on Mobile is Close
The newest Atelier game isn’t coming to Switch or Steam, but in the AppStore and on Android, expected on January 31st. The free-to-download game with in-app purchases is described as a Cinematic Alchemy RPG so that we can expect some awesome visuals. This time, we don’t follow Ryza but a new protagonist. There will be a tactical, timeline-based battle system and an easy-to-use but still profound synthesis system. Here’s more info and the story of Atelier Resleriana:
“Long ago, the kingdom of Lantana prospered from the blessings of a white comet that passed overhead. The art of harnessing the comet’s blessings was called alchemy, and the practitioners of this art were known as alchemists.
However, when the comet disappeared, and its blessings were no longer available, the use of alchemy gradually declined and was eventually forgotten. Many years have passed, and in a corner of Lantarna, two girls have a fateful meeting. One is Resna, who has found hope in alchemy and is on her way to the Capital, aiming to travel to the World’s End, where the source of the miracle is said to lie. The other is Valeria, a girl who has lost her memories and now lives in the city while doing rough work as an adventurer for the Moonlight Society.
Behind them looms the shadow of the group known as the Polar Night Alchemists, a dark organization shrouded in mystery. With different motives and ambitions intertwined, the two eventually come closer to the truth that lies dormant on the continent.”
It’s interesting to see that there is already a page on Steam for Atelier Resleriana, with a coming soon tag. Hopefully, we will also see the game appear on Switch and the other consoles!
GAME Stops Trade-Ins
UK game store chain GAME stops allowing customers to trade in games, consoles and gaming accessories from February 16th 2024. Such a pity for a store that was so well known for its trade-in program! In their email to loyal customers, they state:
We haven’t taken this decision lightly and we are extremely grateful for your loyal custom throughout the years and remain committed to continue to give our passionate gaming fans the best customer experience.
That’s it for this week. Have fun gaming!