Wholesome Gaming Round-Up June 21st, 2024

Welcome to our Wholesome gaming news!

This week, we have news about Everafter Falls, Shovel Knight, a free content update for Wildfrost and adventure sim Farmwand. Roots of Pacha has an update and is coming to Xbox, Inkle launches a boarding school and Mulan and Mushu join Disney Dreamlight Valley. A big update for Cities: Skylines 2, Spirit of the Island is coming to Mobile and about monster-farming action in Farmagia. Harvest Days is leaving Early Access and getting console versions, Cat Rescue Story for Animal Lovers and an expansion for Fae Farm called Skies of Azoria. A new Nancy Drew game called Mystery of the Seven Keys and, finally, a major update to Cozy Caravan.

And don’t forget: Can’t wait for the news? Do you want to be the first to read it? Join our subreddit called r/LadiesGamersNews and read the news even before it’s rounded up in these Wholesome Gaming News articles.

Everafter Falls is Here!

Developer SquareHusky and publisher Akupara Games officially celebrate the launch of Everafter Falls on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox. Are you ready to make a refreshing escape from the real world?

Everafter Falls offers a heartwarming adventure into a world where simplicity and friendship reign supreme. The blend of farming, fishing, and fighting, coupled with innovative mechanics like card-eating to upgrade your skills, supportive drones and your handy pet, creates a refreshing and engaging gameplay experience.

Everafter Falls is available now for $19.99 with a limited 10% discount across all storefronts. Be sure to check out our review for the game, and if you’ve already bought it: our guide for it is here.

Shovel Knight News

Yacht Club Games has presented new updates about Shovel Knight games. They also introduced their new game, Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope DX, a brand new enhanced edition of the adventure that started it all, and hinted at a new Shovel Knight title in development. This is what the fans can expect:

Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope DX – Coming Soon: This brand-new title is an enhanced edition of the original adventure with an array of exciting new features such as 20 new playable characters, online multiplayer, rewind/save states, cheats, and more.

Shovel Knight Dig Wicked Wishes Free DLC – Summer 2024: The final free DLC pack for Shovel Knight Dig. It is chock-full of adventure, quests, new bosses & more! Shovel Knight Dig will also be coming to Xbox & PlayStation platforms. The game is 50% off on all participating platforms.

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon Paradox Pack Free DLC – Summer 2024: This free DLC pack features Mod Support (PC only), new playable characters, new stages, secrets, challenges, and more! The game is also 50% off on all participating platforms.

Free Content Update Wildfrost

Chucklefish, along with developers Gaziter and Deadpan Games, have announced the release of the biggest and final free content update for Wildfrost, now available on PC and Nintendo Switch, with a mobile release coming soon. Want to check out our review for Wildfrost? Check it out here!

The update includes an array of exciting new features and changes:

13 New Enemies across 4 new battles
20 New Player Cards
13 New Companions and 1 new pet
12 New Charms, including Balatro’s Jimbo
12 New Challenges
4 New Sun Bells
Zoomlins!
Card balance updates and bug fixes

To celebrate this update, Chucklefish has partnered with Playstack and developer LocalThunk for a special Steam Bundle. The ‘Kind of a Big Deal Bundle’ offers deck-builder fans a 10% discount when purchasing both Balatro and Wildfrost together.

Adventure Sim Farmwand

We can’t complain these days of the riches of farming simulation games on offer these days! Another one is coming that looks very promising. In Farmwand you are fresh out of the Wizarding Academy. And when you arrive at your destination, you can start a new life by building your own wand and use it to cast spells. Grow potatoes, gather mushrooms, raise chickens, and don’t forget to adopt a cat! You’ll craft potions, and fly on your broomstick, making this new land your home.

Inspired by classical fairy tales, Farmwand features enchanted forests, moonlit potion brewing, bustling towns, and a variety of magical creatures. Each character you meet has their own story, and your actions will shape the way they interact with you. Mysteries and adventures await around every corner in this vibrant world.

The demo that was up for Steam Next Fest was short, in fact only showing the character customization, but it looked good. We will keep you posted once Farmwand makes it to Early Access.

Roots of Pacha Update and Coming to Xbox

Roots of Pacha, the co-op farming and life simulation game set in the Stone Age, is coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles on Wednesday, July 31. Developed by Soda Den, this release coincides with the substantial 1.2 version update for PC via Steam, PlayStation 4 & 5, and Nintendo Switch. We loved Roots of Pacha, as you can see in Paula’s review.

The game now supports Korean and Traditional Chinese languages, inviting you to experience the next evolution of palaeolithic peace. The update includes advanced schooling to guide Pachan children through adolescence, helping them develop unique personalities and pairing each child with a profession. You can also customize characters with new skin tones and hair options and tame and mount new animals like mammoths and cave lions.

Gardening is also made easier with new researchable tools like the olla watering pot, and you can explore new romance options alongside various quality-of-life improvements to the UI and gameplay. Plus, enjoy online co-op with crossplay for up to four Pachans.

Inkle Launches a Boarding School

I have no idea yet whether this game is a sim, a detective game or something horror-like, but this news snippet I got from Inkle sounded intriguing:

Miss Mulligatawney’s School for Promising Girls is an English boarding school offering the best tuition in Latin and Field Sports that the 1920s have to offer. There is one scholarship place available, and you can apply for it – and read the full prospectus.

The game will come to Steam, and later on to Switch and iOS, and you can read more about it on the Steam page here.

Mulan and Mushu Join Disney Dreamlight Valley

News for Disney Dreamlight Valley fans! Mulan and Mushu are joining the game in the next free content update, “The Lucky Dragon,” which releases on June 26 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Mac, and Apple Arcade.

You can befriend Mulan and engage in quests that showcase her spirit and determination, while Mushu adds a fiery touch to your adventures.

Additionally, summer sales are here! The base game and the Gold Edition are on sale on the Nintendo eShop and the Epic Games Store at 25% and 35% off, respectively. More platform sales, including discounts for PlayStation, Steam, and the Mac App Store, will continue throughout June and July.

Big Update Cities 2

Next week (on Monday), a brand-new economy patch for Cities: Skylines 2 will be released by Colossal Order and Paradox Interactive. They are updating the game with a new economy system, and old save files might take a while to adapt to the changes. You can find more information about the update here on the Paradox forum.

For any new Cities players, the patch won’t cause any issues. However, for existing players, the patch is likely to have some side effects on their saved games. In advance of this, Paradox have released a “SAVE GAME CHECKLIST” which details what to expect and what players should do to prepare, whether they are starting a new city or not. This can be found here: https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/cities-skylines-ii/news/save-game-checklist

For anyone that reports on the Economy patch when it drops, if you could also include a reference and/or link to the “SAVE GAME CHECKLIST” to ensure that your readers are aware that the Cities team have provided helpful solutions for any issues that the patch may cause.

Spirit of the Island Coming to Mobile

A while ago, I reviewed Spirit of the Island and enjoyed it. A good game that at the time needed some spit and polish. Since then, the developers have worked hard at tweaking the game, and now it’s coming iOS and Android too on July 16th!

In Spirit of the Island, to become an adult and complete the coming-of-age ritual (as is the tradition in your homeland), you must go on a journey of discovery. Your adventure begins on a distant island, deep in a tropical Archipelago.

What was once a prosperous tourist destination is now a shade of its former glory, and it’s your job to bring it back to life! Explore the Archipelago, meet the locals, and lend them a hand to restore the tourist paradise… while you try to uncover the mysteries of your past!

Monster-Farming Action Farmagia

Marvelous have officially announced Farmagia following its reveal at this week’s Nintendo Direct. This brand-new monster-farming and action game features character and monster designs from Hiro Mashima, the renowned creator of Fairy Tail and Edens Zero. Farmagia is set to launch on November 1, 2024, for Switch, PlayStation5, and Windows PC via Steam. So what can you expect in Farmagia? There will be monster-farming and action battles with this storyline:

In the world of Felicidad, farmers known as Farmagia raise and command monsters, living in harmony under the guidance of the Magus Diluculum. However, the Magus’s death has plunged the land into chaos, with power-hungry opportunists exploiting monsters for their own gain. The conflict reaches the town of Centvelt, where resident Farmagia Ten and his friends must battle the tyrannical new ruler, Glaza. As Ten, you’ll cultivate and command an army of monsters, exploring Felicidad’s treacherous landscapes and gathering resources to enhance your farm. As your farm and skills grow, you’ll unlock new monsters and traits to aid in your quest for freedom.

Harvest Days Leaving Early Access and Console Versions

Spanish indie developer Family Devs, along with publisher Toplitz Productions, has announced the full release of Harvest Days. When we previewed the early access build two years ago, our advice was to wait a while for the bugs to clear out. The developers have rolled out numerous updates and incorporated community feedback, so now it is time for the next step.

Harvest Days is set to launch officially on July 25, 2024. This 1.0 version will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Harvest Days invites you to leave behind the hustle and bustle of city life and immerse yourself in the tranquil world of Duda’s Village. As the new owner of an abandoned farm, you can develop your property at your own pace, befriend neighbours, adopt pets, and explore the open world. The game features a lo-fi art style, a relaxing atmosphere, and intuitive controls, making it accessible and enjoyable for aspiring farmers of all ages.

For Animal Lovers: Cat Rescue Story

Cat Rescue Story is a family-friendly game that is perfect for animal lovers and allows you to create your own rescue centre to care for stray cats. Cat Rescue Story is set to release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One on September 26, 2024.

As manager of the rescue centre, you have to make sure the cats are well-fed and entertained until you can find them their perfect adoptive families. The game features a heartwarming, child-friendly story where you can take in over 50 breeds of cats, each with unique needs and personalities. As you progress and complete themed mini-games, you’ll unlock new rooms and customization options for your rescue centre, allowing you to care for even more adorable cats.

Expansion for Fae Farm: Skies of Azoria

Phoenix Labs has released Fae Farm: Skies of Azoria, the second expansion for the cosy farm sim. This major content update adds the three mystical regions of Skyvale, an all-new realm in the clouds.

Skyvale is a mysterious celestial realm situated above the lands you previously discovered in Fae Farm. The winged denizens invite you to visit them as the patron Sprite, Gusto, has turned unusually moody. New dungeons with puzzles to solve and rewards to collect are part of the adventure. You’ll meet a host of new characters and build relationships with them, both platonically and romantically. Plus, you can master new skills, recipes, and potions, and bring home exciting new crops and resources, as well as new cosmetics and decorations.

Fae Farm: Skies of Azoria is neatly intertwined with the main storyline, so you can start a new adventure and discover how this content and its new gameplay features weave into the main narrative. Alternatively, if you’ve completed the main story, you can easily jump right into the Skies of Azoria content update and experience it as a standalone adventure.

Fae Farm: Skies of Azoria is now available as a free content update for Nintendo Switch players and is included in the Deluxe Edition on PC. If you own the Standard Edition on PC, you can access this new content by purchasing the additional DLC for $14.99/€14.99/£12.79 on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Want to know more about Fae Farm? Our review for the game is here, and the beginners guide for the base game is here.

A New Nancy Drew Game: Mystery of the Seven Keys

Are you in the mood for a thrilling blend of adventure, mystery, and history? You will find it in the latest instalment of the Nancy Drew game series, Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys, on Steam.

This all-new 3D point-and-click game transports you to the heart of the historic city of Prague. As the famous detective Nancy Drew, you’ll uncover the truth behind the theft of a client’s heirloom necklace. Navigate and sleuth through the beautiful city’s mysterious old-world environments, encountering challenging puzzles, decoding riddles, and discovering clues entwined with medieval legends, alchemy, and lore.

As the investigation deepens, Nancy uncovers a sinister web of cybercrime. You must outwit devious suspects and use your detective skills to unravel a mystery threatening the city’s Bohemian heritage. Danger and intrigue at every turn add to the suspense, with criminals stopping at nothing to prevent you from bringing the truth to light. Your investigative and critical thinking skills are crucial to solving the case and discovering the real mystery behind the legend of the seven keys!

Update 0.2.0 for Cozy Caravan

It’s finally here, the big update to make Cozy Caravan an even more enjoyable experience, while I already loved it at release. The update is packed with new features and improvements to enhance your gameplay experience.

Firstly, the citizens of Harvestvale South are also eager to welcome you and Bubba. But before spreading happiness, you’ll need to help Bob and his crew finish their roadwork. Head over and see who needs the assistance of our favourite Guild Rookies!

A major addition to this update is the introduction of the ‘quest tracker’ functionality. This feature is entirely in style with Cozy Caravan’s gameplay. It’s spearheaded by Aunty Mads, who designates Bubba as the “Chief Scribbler”. Bubba will jot down notes on the backs of postcards as you help out around the world. This feature aims to provide an immersive alternative to traditional checklists based on the feedback after the initial release of the game.

Additionally, the game pacing has been adjusted with new prerequisites for certain quests to ensure a more controlled quest flow. New players will experience these changes directly, while existing players might see previously completed quests reappear. But your accumulated items, recipes, and happiness will remain intact.

Finally, Steam Deck users will be pleased to know that the keyboard now automatically pops up during character name entry, streamlining the setup process.