Seasonspree Review

Game: Seasonspree
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
System: Nintendo Switch (Also available on Steam (Windows, Linux & macOS))
Developer | Publisher: Kitewing Studio
Age Rating: US Everyone | EU 3+
Price: US $11.99 | UK £9.89 | EU € 10,99
Release Date: September 20th, 2024

Review code used, with many thanks to Kitewing Studio.

Seasonspree is the first game for developers of Kitewing Studio. You play as Sunny, a little tanuki, who travels around her tiny planet helping her friends. Tanuki is a symbol of good fortune, so you can understand why games like Seasonspree or Minami Lane use them for their main characters.

Will I be jumping for joy in Spring or falling down in Autumn?

At the Start of Seasonspree

A little tanuki sitting by a campfire, in an autumnal landscape. Published on: LadiesGamers — How all good adventures start.

Seasonspree launches straight into the game; there is no tutorial or explanation. Just a little Tanuki, called Sunny, sitting by a campfire. You can only move right, so off you go.

Sunny reading the notice board. Two post-it notes appear above the board. One says, "14 days to Autumnspree". The other says, “I hope you're all getting excited! – Niccolo”. Published on: LadiesGamers — What’s it say on the notice board?

Although there is a jump button, you don’t need to control your little tanuki; she will automatically run, jump and swim as she moves. The first friend you meet is Niccolo, a flying squirrel, who explains that there are 2 weeks to Autumnspree. Next, you meet Siena, Jasper and Martine, who explain how the sun follows Sunny as she moves (although Martine thinks she would prefer to be followed by a bucket of candy).

Sunny holding a strawberry soda can, standing next to Madeleine. Madeleine says, “Hello Sunny! Beautiful day! Oh! I see you have strawberry soda!” The control to 'Give' appears on screen. Published on: LadiesGamers — Special delivery!

Niccolo appears again and asks Sunny to deliver some strawberry soda to Madeleine. You get Sunny to take the soda and move on. Luckily, Madeleine is the next friend on your journey, and you duly give her the soda. And by the time you’ve done that, you’ve reached the notice board again, and a day has passed.

And so the adventure begins.

The Seasonspree World

The house and notice board island. A hammock is tied between two of the trees. There is also a well. Published on: LadiesGamers — That hammock looking inviting!

The Seasonspree world is split into four areas: a wood, a house with trees and the notice board, a sakura tree, and a windmill with fields. A river splits each area. At the beginning of your adventure, Sunny will have to swim across the rivers, but as you progress and help Sunny’s friends, you will discover other (and faster) ways of crossing the water.

Sunny listening to Siena, who is saying, “Would you like an autograph? It'll be worth so much in the future.” Published on: LadiesGamers — Fame!

In Seasonspree, Sunny has the ability to control time, and this is key to being successful in giving quests. Early on, Sunny meets Siena, who needs a pencil to be able to sign autographs. Martine, on the next island, has a pencil to give. Now, you could continue moving around the planet clockwise, but that will move time forward, so by the time you meet with Siena again, she no longer needs the pencil. So, instead, you need to go counter-clockwise from Martine and return to Siena, who gratefully accepts the pencil.

It might seem obvious to go back, as it’s a much shorter distance. However, in the future, you will meet someone else who needs a pencil, and this time, you will have to return all the way back (travelling counter-clockwise) to the time when you gave Siena the pencil in order to retrieve it and then hand it to the next friend.

If you want to change something that happens in the future, you can go back in time and make a different decision.

Sunny and her 8 friends celebrating Springspree. There are flower garlands in the trees and a picnic bench full of cakes, berries and crockery. Published on: LadiesGamers — Happy Springspree!

At the end of each season, all the friends gather to celebrate. It’s not necessary to complete all the quests to finish the season, but at various points, you will not be able to progress until a certain task has been done.

Gameplay

Seasonspree works really well in both docked and handheld mode. The text size is large enough to read comfortably on the small screen, and I didn’t encounter any juddering or crashes.

Apart from using the left stick to move, the other controls appear on-screen when needed. The items needed to gift will automatically appear at the appropriate time – no need to wonder if you’re doing the right thing. This could be seen as making the game too easy, but Seasonspree has been designed as a stress-free, wholesome experience for all.

There are limited options, including a couple related to volume and an option to autorun (pre-ticked and definitely recommended). You can play in English or Japanese, with an additional Simple English option that gives all text in simpler sentences.

Seasonspree autosaves but doesn’t give any on-screen notification. When I was testing the autosave, I lost a little bit of time, i.e. I’d moved from autumn to winter, but the game restarted at the end of autumn. However, I hadn’t actually done any giving or puzzle-solving in winter, so nothing was truly lost. All other times, the autosave worked to the exact spot I’d quit at.

There is no clock in Seasonspree; time passes as you travel around the tiny planet. Completing the four seasons takes about 2-3 hours.

Conclusion

Seasonspree is an adorable, short adventure. The graphics are cheerful with vibrant colours that lift your mood. The changing seasons and the satisfaction gained from helping Sunny’s friends make it a joy to play.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot