Cutie Season Game Recommendations
Requirements: It's time for joy and irreverence. Let's have some fun and smile. The characters are cute, the world is bright and colorful. There's something to feel hopeful about: people have created lovely games for us to enjoy. Faith in humanity restored.
Creative Design games:
Flowers and Favours Fulfill your dreams of running the cutest flower shop in existence. This game allows you to create beautiful flower arrangements for adorable customers. I love the dev's art style and her artistic vision.
Garden Galaxy This game was originally titled "Gatcha Garden" which is probably the best way to describe it. Start off with a little plot of land, and slowly build up your garden with randomly acquired items. It's sort of like a gambling game, but there are many ways for you to control the random drops (so no actual gambling). I LOVE the gameplay loop, I LOVE the art, and I LOVE spending hours designing little scenes in this game.
Horticular This is a fascinating puzzle game where you design a garden to attract a whole bunch of cute animals. You'll build complex ecosystems for little critters, and use all the cute assets to design those spaces. There's also some pretty neat Twitch integration features, so it would be a fun game to stream with an audience.
Sticky Business A super cute game where you run a sticker shop! There are many cool in game assets available for you to create your own stickers. Everything about this game makes me smile.
Puzzle / Simulation games
Dicey Dungeons A rouguelike style game where you battle your way through the cutest dungeon. There is a surprising amount of complexity to the gameplay and the character lore. As you progress you will unlock different characters to play as, and they all have wildly different play styles. This is a great game for achievement hunting.
Dream Daddy This is such a lovely narrative/dating sim game where you play as a dad looking to date other dads. The dialogue is heartfelt and silly, the character design is beautiful, and there are a few mini games sprinkled in. I love the relationships between the dads and their kids; I think it really adds a layer of sweetness to classic dating sims. I hope you are ready for a lot of dad jokes!
Minami Lane A super cute sim game where you design and manage a street! Expand the street to make it a lovely place for your residents to live. The game is divided into missions, where you try to complete certain objectives. The only negative part of this game is that it's short!
Unpacking I need like, 100 more Unpackings. This gameplay really scratches my brain just perfectly: unpack boxes and place the items in the room. Such a simple concept, but the devs did a great job with storytelling, and the art style is complete perfection.
Dexterity Games
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure This game is part creature collector and part exploration game, with a beautiful narrative. You will explore a Mediterranean island, meet the residents, and document the local wildlife. This game is so lovely; I wish they would make sequels set in different geographic biomes. I would play every single one.
Katamari Damacy Katamari Damacy is a game where you roll up every item on earth? The music is so catchy and fun, the visuals are vibrant and exciting. This is kind of a puzzle game as well, there are some levels that feel more puzzley than others. It did take me a while to get good at rolling my katamari. There are many versions available (I originally played the PS2 versions).
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime A bullet hell, couch co-op game for up to 4 players! The way the co-op play is handled is pretty neat: you are all flying in a spaceship together with specific battle stations. I love the art style and vibes. Great game!
Slime Rancher A creature collector game where you farm slimes! Round them up in pens, and find some snacks for them to eat. The slimes are so cute I can barely stand it! There is a lot of exploration in this game, and a lot of platforming.
Big Juicy Farm Sim Games (not just farming)
Echoes of the Plum Grove This is part farm sim, part family sim, part survival sim. It's a vaguely historic game where you expand your farm and home, knowing that one day you will die and leave everything to your children (who you then play as). There is a lot to do in this game: cooking, foraging, fishing, trading, exploring, and planning your legacy. I love the art style so much, and there are excellent accessibility settings!
Ooblets Part creature collector, part deck builder, part farm sim, and all cute! Catch and raise little critters and then send them into dance competitions! Some parts felt a little too grindy for me, but maybe that was because I wanted to catch all the 'gleamy' ooblets. :)
Stardew Valley Um, is there anyone who doesn't know this game? It's Stardew Valley. No game will ever compare? Lovable characters and perfected gameplay loop? Endless modding opportunities?
Tales of the Shire A farm sim game with some pretty neat new mechanics. The classic farming, foraging, and fishing are all here, but you will also find a complex cooking system! The cooking ends up being a bit of a puzzle, and I really enjoyed figuring it out. The interface for decorating your home and garden is really well done, but it is A GRIND to get certain items that you might really want.
