Wholesome Gaming Round-Up May 31st, 2024

Welcome to our Wholesome gaming news!

This week, we have news about the new DLC for Meow Moments: Olympicats, an event for The Thousand-Year Door in Super Mario Run and Stars in the Trash nearing completion. Ylands: exploration combined with light survival, Arsène Lupin announced for Switch and Farm Folks at Open World Survival Crafting Fest. A release date for Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge, a new update for Omega Crafter and a demo for a rogue-lite strategic monster collecting Soulkin. Caravan SandWitch narrative-driven adventure is coming, Tavern Talk has a release date, Potion Permit has a physical edition and new content for the demo for Preserve.

New DLC for Meow Moments: Olympicats

As you might know, we are big fans of Hidden Animals games. And one of them, the free to download base game Meow Moments: Celebrating Together! is getting a new paid DLC package. Olympicats will be published in June.

In this DLC, you can enjoy a global sports event where cats and characters from around the world join in friendly competitions. Celebrate fair play, peace, and unity through sports with beautiful illustrations by artist Katia Numakura.

By purchasing this DLC, you can:

Play a brand-new scene in the main game.
Add the Olympicats content to your creations in the Community and Creative Maker. You can mix items from all the scenes you own in the same scene!
Play the scenes created by other players in the community, including Olympicats items.

And to get ready for that, some quality-of-life have been made to the game series too:

A new option for Dark Mode
A New option for Screen Brightness
Reduced the delay when the player clicks and drags the scene
The Zoom Invert option is fixed and should be working properly at the first attempt

Event for The Thousand-Year Door in Super Mario Run

Do you remember, and perhaps still have, the iOS and Android game Super Mario Run? If you do, you’ll be interested to know that the mobile game is now getting a special event to tie in with the launch of the remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on the Nintendo Switch.

The event adds Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door-themed missions to Super Mario Run in which you can earn Paper Mario, Goombella, and Koops statues.

Stars in the Trash Nearing Completion

After almost eight years of development, Valhalla Cats’ game Stars in the Trash is in the last months of development. The hand-animated cat adventure has just released a demo for the Steam’s Next Fest.

This is what this lovely-looking game with Disney vibes is about:

Tired of feeling trapped at home, Moka, a spoiled cat, decides to run away and seek adventure. His journey takes an unexpected turn when the kennel-man threatens the streets. Moka needs to learn how to survive and appreciate what he left behind before he’s going to lose his best friend and everything he had.

Mina checked a first short demo out almost two years ago and was super impressed, even then, by what she saw:

What an adorable game! You can tell a lot of love went into every aspect of this game’s visuals; everything looks hand-drawn and gorgeous. The movements of the animals are lovingly rendered and realistic. The cat’s sad meowing was so real in fact that I had a very visceral reaction to it, and I felt the need to go and hug my cat.

Check out the demo if you want to get a feel for the game yourself!

Ylands: Exploration Combined with Light Survival

Bohemia Interactive has announced the upcoming release of Ylands: Nintendo Switch™ Edition, which you can download exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on June 20th. Priced at $24.99 USD/€24.99 EUR, this will be Bohemia Interactive’s second game on the platform, following the success of Vigor. In the low-poly universe of Ylands you will explore, sail, craft, build, and enjoy the light survival elements.

On your own fully customizable ship, you will traverse six distinct regions, each filled with unique fauna, flora, and random encounters that keep the adventure fresh and exciting. Ylands empowers players to make use of thousands of items to craft and build with, progressing through a comprehensive tech tree that adds depth and variety to the gameplay. To make it less overwhelming, Ylands gently onboards players by recruiting them to the Classy Adventurers Guild, where they embark on an incredible journey, armed with their trusty handbook, and sail towards endless adventures.

Ylands has been available on Steam for some years as a free to download game multiplayer game with packs you can buy. What makes the Ylands: Nintendo Switch™ Edition version of the game unique is that it will be available as a single-player offline game, which offers popular Adventure and Creative game modes to cater to different play styles.

Arsène Lupin Announced for Switch

Microids, in collaboration with Blazing Griffin Studio, has announced Arsène Lupin – Once A Thief, a new adventure game set for release on the Nintendo Switch in late 2024. You might know Blazing Griffin Studio from the earlier two games based on the Hercule Poirot stories, Hercule Poirot: The First Cases and Hercule Poirot: The London Case.

Arsène Lupin – Once A Thief offers an immersive journey into the world of the iconic gentleman-burglar, based on the works of Maurice Leblanc. Players will experience Arsene Lupin’s transformation from a whimsical burglar to a legendary hero through captivating fireside conversations between Lupin and Leblanc. The game features adventure-puzzle elements, allowing players to delve into Lupin’s early life, loves, and crimes.

Key features include mastering the art of thievery by exploring various environments, solving puzzles, and taking on disguises. The game also boasts vibrant artistry reminiscent of an illustrated storybook and offers unique perspectives by letting players experience the tales as both Lupin and his antagonist, Detective Ganimard.

Get ready to immerse yourself in an adventure based on legendary stories like “The Arrest of Arsène Lupin” and “Herlock Sholmes Arrives Too Late”.

Farm Folks at Open World Survival Crafting Fest

Farm Folks has a long history already, even before its release. It’s one of the first games I supported on Kickstarter in July 2018. Eventually, the project was taken over by Crytivo eventually, and they have been working steadily on the game ever since.

A new Kickstarter is coming for the game, and as I read on Crytivo’s Discord group:
” We will offer tier matching for the legacy Farm Folks backers, meaning that we will either match or increase the value of the new tiers that we will offer with our upcoming Kickstarter. It’s highly likely that the value will be increased with the new tiers. You won’t have to back Farm Folks again if you did that in the past.”

Things are changing from the original farming gameplay by including PvP (person versus person) and PvE (person versus environment) elements. But you should still be able to play the game in solo mode, as PvP will be an isolated mode.

Farm Folks is featured in Steam’s Open World Survival Crafting Fest that is going on now. To celebrate that they have revamped their Steam page with brand new key art. Be sure to check it out.

Release Date for Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge has a release date! It’s coming simultaneously to Steam and Switch on June 8th. In the game, which looks great with its calming watercolour art, you step into the shoes of Cleo, who finds herself in need of a much-deserved break. Reconnecting with her childhood friend Axel, Cleo makes her way back home to help him on a restoration project, where together, they will rebuild their local wetlands and foster a home for Axel’s favourited critters – frogs!

Transform the wetlands from a withered wasteland into a soothing sanctuary. Collect resources and craft them into goods to sell for additional funds to improve the retreat. Dig ponds, practice paludiculture – that’s a fancy word for wetland crops! – and welcome friendly visitors to attract as many colourful croakers as possible. The more frogs that enter the sanctuary, the more variations Cleo and Axel will discover. Fill out the Frogedex by photographing and documenting new breeds, each with their own patterns and preferences in food. Meet a dozen different characters ready to help restore the wetlands in 3 distinct biomes.

New Update Omega Crafter, the Survival-Meets-Automation Adventure

Omega Crafter, the open-world survival crafting adventure from Preferred Networks (PFN), has just rolled out its latest update, version 0.6.0, revealed during the INDIE Live Expo. This update introduces a host of new programming and building features, along with the start of the Perfect House Building Challenge.

The update enhances the programming capabilities for your sidekick, Grammi, allowing for new coding options. Schedule a flock of Grammi for day and night shifts with time-based behaviours and program them to automatically switch equipment for different tasks. Additionally, over 30 new building elements have been added, including a toy cannon for launching objects and curtains for windows to create a cosy atmosphere. Quality-of-life improvements, such as new crafting sub-categories and better column-snapping for smoother construction, are also included.

Embark on your Omega Crafter journey with these exciting new features and participate in the Construction Contest to showcase your creativity! Players can now purchase the game at a 10% discount until June 6th.

Demo for Rogue-Lite Strategic Monster Collecting Soulkin

Tambu Games has announced the release of the Soulkin demo. Soulkin is a tactical rogue-lite that combines monster-collecting with strategic turn-based combat. You will step into the shoes of Nadia, a heroine with the power to bond with magical creatures, as she battles the corruption spreading through Ankiril.

The game promises a gameplay-centric experience with strategic depth and endless replayability. Each session features dynamically generated battles and events, encouraging players to refine their tactics. While the demo focuses on core gameplay, Tambu Games is actively developing the game’s rich lore to enhance the narrative for the full version.

If you can’t wait to check it out, the demo Soulkin is here.

Caravan SandWitch Narrative-Driven Adventure

Indie developer Plane Toast, in collaboration with indie publisher Dear Villagers, has announced the upcoming release of Caravan SandWitch. This narrative-driven exploration adventure is set in a beautifully crafted Sci-Fi world called Cigalo, reminiscent of the French Provence. Caravan SandWitch launches in 2024 on Steam, Epic, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.

In this hopeful post-apocalyptic setting, you will go on a heartfelt journey to uncover the mysteries of Cigalo and find your missing sister. Interact with the various communities on Cigalo, helping them with their tasks and meeting new people along the way. Explore this captivating world at your own pace, whether in your van or on foot, without the pressures of combat, death, or timers—just you, your van, and the vast world around you.

As you progress, upgrade your van to open up new passages and ruins, navigating treacherous terrain and uncovering ancient secrets. From a once green planet that has now turned desertic due to human over-exploitation, Cigalo reveals the impact of human activities on its environment.

You will meet the Reinetos, an ancient aboriginal species, the Robots left behind after the planet’s exploitation, the remaining humans who chose to stay, and the enigmatic SandWitch. These diverse inhabitants live peacefully together, helping each other survive in an otherwise inhospitable environment.

Caravan SandWitch invites you to explore, connect, and discover the profound stories within Cigalo when it launches in 2024.

Tavern Talk Has a Release Date

An elf, a dwarf, and a vampire walk into a bar—and you get to work! Get ready to brew up magical drinks and befriend a colourful cast of adventurers in Tavern Talk, a cosy D&D-inspired visual novel where you run a tavern in a fantasy world. Developer Gentle Troll has announced that Tavern Talk will arrive on PC and Mac via Steam on June 20th, with a Nintendo Switch release to be confirmed!

Ahead of the game’s release and Steam Next Fest, Tavern Talk has an all-new demo available. The updated demo features new language translations, additional story content, and the highly requested feature of petting Andu, your dragon familiar! Which should add even more to the already excellent demo Mina looked at in October 2023.

As the owner of the Wayfarer’s Inn, you’ll brew magical drinks for your patrons—from potions of seething fury to prancing swords that can alter their fates. Gather rumours from the tavern-goers and turn them into heroic quests for your patrons. In your downtime, piece together fragments to uncover the secrets of an ancient evil threatening the land.

You can find the demo for Tavern Talk here on Steam.

Potion Permit Physical Edition

Sim RPG Potion Permit, which has been out in digital form since 2022 and has a physical edition now on Switch and PS5! In the game, you find yourself in the town of Moonbury: when the mayor’s daughter falls ill and traditional methods of healing don’t help, they send for the most accomplished chemist the Medical Association has to offer. You! You have to help cure the mayor’s daughter and convince the residents of Moonbury of the wonders of modern alchemy.

When Kristin reviewed the game for us, she liked it a lot, saying in conclusion:

While the final game sometimes lacks depth in its numerous systems, it compensates with breadth and charm. It manages to be meditative without feeling melancholic. The days flutter away, but there are no seasonal changes. Suspicious townsfolk will gradually warm to your presence as you repair your clinic and heal various ailments. It’s more a game about revitalization than it is about the passage of time, yet I could spend many more hours in Moonbury completing quests and concocting potions.

Potion Permit has had several updates since its 2022 launch, thanks to the enthusiastic community support. The latest updates introduce new mini-games, romanceable characters, the Grow Box, additional languages, and several quality-of-life improvements.

The Grow Box is a game-changer, letting you plant and grow materials instead of foraging. This feature is especially useful when you need to quickly create remedies for patients.

Victor and Helene are the newest romanceable characters, each bringing unique stories and personalities to Moonbury. These additions enrich your journey, adding more depth to the game’s alchemy, relationships, and adventures.

Among the new mini-games, one standout is the mushroom munching competition. Here, you guide your loyal canine companion to eat mushrooms while avoiding rocks, offering both fun and a chance to bond with your pet.

New Content for Demo Preserve

A few months ago I had the pleasure of writing up my impressions on the demo for Preserve. In honour of the upcoming Steam Fest from June 10-17, the demo for Preserve has been spruced up with even more content!

The original Preserve demo introduced the Continental biome. We had access to the Harmony (high score) mode, with short and medium maps. The demo also included the first five puzzles in Puzzle Mode and a limited Creative Mode, which allowed us to freely build our own landscapes.

The update now adds the following new content and features: