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:
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Low-stakes/chill gameplay. I’m already sweating, I don’t need sweaty gameplay right now
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a warm aesthetic/color palette and/or setting. My outside experience shouldn’t feel too different to the games inside experience aesthetic-wise.
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It feels like a road trip, adventure or vacation. I want to get a summery memory out of this.
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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.
A Short Hike. Essentially a short, cute animal-characters “collectathon” walking-sim/3d-platformer with some low-stakes “arcade” bits here and there. The low-res pixel-effect can be turned off.
AER: Memories of old. Quite a bit in same vein as Rime/Sable, travel between floating islands and participate in low-stakes puzzles/platforming. Pretty charming, imo… and short. Can be finished under 2 hours.
Stardew Valley but you have to keep your inner micro-manager under check
“A Short Hike” for sure, “What Remains of Edith Finch” could fit and nobody mentioned it.
Superflight is great and quite different from most of the suggestions you are getting.
(The Stanley Parable I don’t think fits but if you want to try it out I suggest you do not take the “Deluxe” version and sitck to the original one)
Came to say A Short Hike. First thing that springs to mind when I think summer adventure.
I suggest you do not take the “Deluxe” version and sitck to the original one
Why?
What’s a downside I. The Stanley parable deluxe edition? Isn’t it just the original game but with additional content?
I don’t want to spoil anything but I feel like it makes the experience less dense and focused. I loved the original one, read great things about the expansion and found it leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
But in a way I guess you can’t get the cat back in the box or something… Still a great game overall, I feel it just goes from a 10 to an 8.5.
I’d recommend:
- The Outer Wilds
- Graveyard Keeper
- Subnautica
