I have this loosely defined made-up genre I call “Summer Games”.

It started a long time ago subconsciously. At some point I realized that during the hottest time of the year I gravitate to certain games that I mostly play on a small device (laptop/switch/steamdeck), laying in bed, late at night, when I have trouble sleeping because it’s too hot. A friend of mine once said that the reason she loves super high temperatures so much, is that what you experience leaves more vivid, burned in, memories. I think she has a point.

The criteria aren’t super rigid but I hope you get the “vibe” and might know some games that fit:

• Low-stakes/chill gameplay. I’m already sweating, I don’t need sweaty gameplay right now

• a warm aesthetic/color palette and/or setting. My outside experience shouldn’t feel too different to the games inside experience aesthetic-wise.

• It feels like a road trip, adventure or vacation. I want to get a summery memory out of this.

• the game leaves some kind of impact.

Games I played in the past that evoked that vibe perfectly:

• Kentucky road zero
• oxenfree
• road 96
• firewatch
• sable
• rime
• steins: gate
• life is strange

Games that have fit okay-ish

• tunic
• journey
• citizen sleeper
• nightcall
• no umbrellas allowed
• the talos principle
• the solus project
• the witness
• the vanishing of Ethan Carter

If anyone has a recommendation, I’d be thankful. This year I have started to play chants of Sennaar and it seems to fit the criteria so far.