Shinehill is a farming/village life simulation game with a twist. You play as an alien who has landed on Earth and is impersonating a human! Neat huh?
The Backstory of Shinehill
I began life as an alien, living on another planet and working a dead-end job. I was a jaded soul. I was sent to explore Earth, disguised as a human. My task was to collect data and to see if the creatures from my planet could settle there. Unfortunately, I was injured when I landed in the village of Shinehill. The kindly villagers rescued me and nursed me back to health. They were expecting a new villager, named Roo, to move into an abandoned property, and assumed I was that person. I did not dissuade them, because their error would make it easier for me to live among them and collect data. So I went about my days looking like a human and interacting with my new neighbors.
The Look and Feel of Shinehill
Shinehill is a 3d pixel game with a soundtrack that is sometimes calm and soothing, and other times peppy and upbeat. The demo had many regions to explore, including a forest, town, farm, beach, meadow and mountain. I could see additional areas that were inaccessible to me, so I know there will be more regions in the full game. I also saw at least 7 cute buildings in the town that I could not access until the full game, so I know there will be more to explore. But the demo has plenty of space to roam around, and lots to do. There’s enough content to give you a real feel for the full game. Shinehill is a colorful and very interesting place to look at. There’s even the familiar town bulletin board, which will be accessible in the full game.
Here’s an extra bit of fun! I also entered an area in the forest inhabited by walking mushrooms; they walk around on stubby little legs! I’m not quite sure what part they will play in the full game; they don’t seem to do much in the demo, but I’m definitely intrigued.
The Gameplay of Shinehill
I need a lot of handholding when I begin a game. That’s a ME problem. I found some of the instructions in Shinehill to be a bit vague, but I liked the game so much that I reached out to get some help from the game discord server. I received replies pretty quickly, some from other players and some from the devs. I’m always impressed with game devs who are responsive to players. To me, it indicates that they are committed to developing an excellent game and want to make sure the players have the best possible experience with it. So Bravo to Peach Bite, the game devs for Shinehill. Turns out the mechanics are pretty simple; they just weren’t intuitive to me. Again, that’s a ME issue!
Shinehill has the usual fishing, farming, foraging and quests often found in sims of this genre. There is a day/night cycle and energy requirements, as in other games. But there were definite differences. The fishing game, for example, includes a mini-game that you play on your D pad if you are using a controller. And in order to catch crabs on the beach, I played a mini game like tic tac toe on steroids. Last, there’s a different mini game to help a villager with his bee hives. I liked some of the mini games, but in all honesty, some of them were just too hard for me. (Again – ME, not you!). The devs have improved the full game by making the mini games optional. That’s great!! In the future, I can play the ones I want and skip the ones I don’t want. Because it’s all about having a good time, right?
At one point, I had to meet up with a villager so I could take some sort of test to get a sword. That concerned me a bit because I don’t like combat in the games I play. I expected the test to be some action that I was not going to be good at. Turns out it was a series of questions! And the devs have also announced that in the final game, combat will have a “no damage” mode. Yay!! That choice means players like me (who don’t like combat) and players (like you?) who love combat can all enjoy this game.
Final Thoughts
My character in Shinehill was always trying to maintain his human identity because he did not want the humans to find out he’s an alien. He earned “disguise points” by talking with the humans and doing quests. If he stopped doing that, his points would drop, and they may be able to see that he’s an alien. That’s cool with me – talking with NPCs and doing quests are exactly the type of things I like to do in a game like this! He does have his moments though, where he is frustrated with the humans. When that happens, his thoughts appear in a black box at the bottom of the screen.
The demo of Shinehill lasts as long as it takes to complete all the quests. I highly recommend you complete Galina’s quest last, since it triggers a cut scene which ends the demo. Because it took me a little while to get up to speed on my first playthrough, I immediately played the demo again! I was surprised to find a lot of activities which I didn’t even notice the first time I played, such as cooking and repairing my house. And I need to tell you, the ending of the demo was quite stunning. I won’t say anything else about it, but I’ll bet you will be super surprised too!
Shinehill was developed by a husband and wife team, and it’s their first game. They want the experience to be cozy and relaxing, so they made sure not to make it too hard. For example, our alien will never be unmasked as long as we do basic things like talk to the NPCs and do quests. However, in the unlikely event the alien is unmasked, the only consequence is that the game ends, and you restart the day you were on. Nothing huge!! But the devs are pretty sure that will be a super rare occurrence.
The game is currently available in Early Access and should be released soon. I encourage you to give the demo a try. It’s a lot of fun!
Do you like our content?
Support LadiesGamers as a member on Patreon!
Or buy us a cup of coffee or tea on Ko-Fi!
