The Wholesome Direct has now wrapped for 2024 and we've put together another round up here on Nintendo Life showcasing every Switch-related announcement.
The games featured include announcements, release dates as well as demos for certain titles. Enjoy!
Kamaeru, a frog refuge - Now Available
"Kamaeru, a frog refuge by Humble Reeds - Foster a sanctuary for frogs and restore the biodiversity of the wetlands in Kamaeru, a cozy farming sim where you raise frogs by playing mini-games and decorating your habitat. Hop right to it!"
Critter Cafe - TBA
"Seek out fantastical critters in need of your help and build a new home together. Renovate your cafe, bond with your critters, and uncover the secrets of mysterious portals to give every critter a cosy home."
Discounty - 2025
"Manage your own supermarket, explore the tight-knit community of Blomkest, build friendships or make enemies as you uncover the town's secrets in this cozy management sim RPG!"
Moonstone Island - 19th June 2024
Garden of the Sea - later this year 2024
"Play and explore at your own pace in Garden of the Sea! Befriend the local creatures, craft decor for your garden, upgrade your home, cook new dishes, and complete quests to unlock new adventures"
Minami Lane - 2024
"Welcome to Minami Lane! Build your own street in this tiny cozy, casual management sim! Unlock and customize buildings, manage your shops, and maximize the happiness of your villagers to complete quests and fill your street with love!"
Caravan SandWitch - New Demo
"Caravan Sandwitch is a heartwarming adventure about communities helping one another. "You play as Halice who’s crash-landed on a desert planet. You need to call Mom so she can come pick you up, but the radio tower is so far away… Luckily, the locals are happy to help..."
Freeride - New Switch Demo
"Freeride is a game about YOU. Board a train to the Spirit World in our oddball RPG where you make friends, use telekinesis, find secrets, consume ice cream and chart your own path. Each character is uniquely troubled, and in helping them find their way, you might just find yourself, too." via Steam
On Your Tail - New Demo
"Embark on an intriguing seaside getaway you’ll never forget in On Your Tail™, a sleuthy story-driven 3D life sim of relaxation, investigation, and knowing how to play your cards right." via Steam
Sally - New Demo
"Sally is a life-sim game about community and belonging. Embark on a grand journey aboard a magic flying ship. Navigate daily life as a kid with a diverse crew unique to every game. Craft, cook, farm, build and explore the skies as you become who you want to be amongst your found family." via Steam
Afterlove EP - Coming Soon
"From the creator of Coffee Talk and What Comes After, comes a slice-of-life adventure set in modern Jakarta about love, loss and finding your own way forward. Step into the shoes of Rama, a young musician struggling to move on with life after the death of his girlfriend, Cinta." via Steam
Dawnfolk - TBD
"Dawnfolk is a charmingly dark minimalist survival city-builder. Collect resources and rebuild your realm one tile at a time as you protect your settlers from oppressive shadows. Can you unveil the secrets of the monoliths to bring light back to the world?" via Steam
Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo - Coming Soon
"Use your wits, kindness, and maybe a good whack to gather clues, items, and evidence that will help the residents of Limbo move on. Untangling an afterlife is no easy feat, especially when you don’t have feet!" via Steam
Magical Bakery - TBD
"Experience a life full of magic, challenges, and the joy of creating sweets that will leave a spellbinding impression on your customers. Become the ultimate magical baker and prove yourself worthy to inherit the Magical Bakery!" via Steam
Omochapon - TBD
Petit Island - TBD
"Welcome to Petit Island! "Relive your grandpaw's youthful adventures by exploring the island and capturing beautiful photos in this open-world photo exploration game. Can you help grandpaw remember his past, and discover the newfound adventuring spirit in yourself?"
Pine: A Story of Loss - TBD
"Alone in the forest glade he shared with his wife, a woodworker struggles to accept her passing. Help him hold on to cherished memories of their life together as he struggles to care for himself and his now empty home. Pine is a single-serving game focused on telling a beautiful, emotional tale."
Ringo's Roundup - TBD
"Collect and deliver mail in this cute pathfinding puzzle game featuring Postbunny Ringo"
The Star Named EOS - TBD
From the creators of Behind the Frame, capture photos and step back in time to experience the moments held within them in The Star Named EOS. "Help a young photographer uncover the truth about his mother’s disappearance and rediscover the beauty that is to be found in the world."
Times & Galaxy - TBD
See anything you like? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 24
Removed - unconstructive
@X68000
I disagree.
I saw a lot of good indie games from Wholesome Direct yesterday.
Anyway...
I have watched Wholesome Direct 2024 and it was way.... Much Better to watch than Summer Games Fest that gave me nothing.
I have written more than 10 games announced that I might consider.
Here is the games that I have interest about / have curiosity.
Caravan Sand Witch
Discounty
Squeakross
Critter Cafe 😃
Littlelands
Minami Lane
Rolling Hills 😃
On Your Tail
Petit Island 😃
Albatros
Magical Bakery
Letter Bunny
Dragon Shelter
Map Map
Gatto Post Office
The games that I put 😃 emoji are the games that I like the most.
The Wholesome Direct 2024 was good despite there were also some games were not really interesting for me from the graphic aspect and the gameplay aspect.
Overall, I gave the score for Wholesome Direct 2024 = 7 from 10.
Btw, I know a lot of indie games announced from Wholesome Direct are mostly on Steam, but later those games will have console version (not every games).
Not a bad showcase it all! I am most interested in Minami Lane and Discounty. Hope they launch sooner rather than later.
I will need reviews. Certainly interesting stuff here.
Is it just me or all those images look like they are from one game
Everything looks the same.
Times & Galaxy is out in the 21st actually, so not "TBD".
Moonstone Island is a must for me, and a game I'll buy digitally right at launch!
Freeride and Ringos Roundup have my attention too, for doing something different.
Quite a lot of games I could be interested in eventually playing throughout this presentation that are luckily coming also to Switch, thanks for making this article and so letting me know!
Very interested in Caravan Sand Witch but I've got little confidence it will actually run well on Switch. I really hope I'm wrong.
The cynical part of me hates games that are actively trying to be “cozy.” How many more UwU soft pastel indie farming management slice of life RPG self-reflective mental health [insert more buzzwords here] games do we need the market flooded with?
I’m sure these games will be fine and that the developers are not maliciously chasing this trend, but it’s such an annoying trend to me. I miss when a game being “wholesome” wasn’t a marketing angle, but was just the natural byproduct of a developer’s vision.
lot of life/management sims... Discounty looks cool tho
Moonstone Island is as good as bought. Critter Cafe, Petit Island and Dawnfolk all pique my interest.
I’ll try Ringo’s Roundup’s demo cuz bunny, but i doubt it’s for me.
Thanks for the Round Up!
Add: i want omochapon too
@MH4 I kind of see where you're coming from in terms of chasing buzz words, that bothers me too. I just hate that lately every time anything farming/life sim is mentioned it gets labeled as chasing the trend Stardew supposedly started or something.
I love the genre for itself, and it has its roots in the dawn of gaming just like other genres. But it seems to get a constant stream of complaints against it by a lot of gamers in spite of starting way back on the SNES.
@Wordbonder That’s a good point! I think Stardew in particular set a new benchmark for it because a lot of games seem to be (or explicitly state to be) inspired by it specifically.
I don’t think the genre is bad (not my cup of tea but there seems to be a lot of great games there), but it’s becoming oversaturated IMO with Stardew imitators. The genre has always been around as you say, but I’d argue Stardew DID make it “trendy” to the point of becoming stereotype.
Still don't think the people running this have any idea what wholesome means. Why don't they go with cozy or quirky instead? They always seem to love those words.
@MH4
Cute farming life sim games like Harvest Moon / Fantasy Life / ACNH are my forte, the genre I like the most.
I want a lot of similar games like that.
I already got games like Paleo Pines, Kitaria Fables, Story of Seasons games, Harvest Moon games.
Waaaait, I've just played Ringo Roundup in Layton and Unwound Future!
A nice big handful of interesting looking titles here! :v
Wholesome direct indirect indeed. They've prejudiced themselves into the Shovelware Solar System.
Some of you need to play some wholesome games.
WTH was that Omochapon trailer?
"You guys, the cut-off for the cosy indie direct submissions is today!"
"But we only started development last week. We've got virtually nothing beyond this bouncy rabbit thing! Couldn't even stretch it to 20 seconds if we tried!"
"That'll have to do. Send it!"
Petit Island has me interested, I love photo games
@MH4 I mostly agree but think the issue is broader.
I think the issue is just that there are soooo many more games than there are ways to describe games, and anything we hear enough times will sound buzzwordy. Ironically, words like Metroidvania are intended to spare us from overusing broader terms like "action adventure." We're in the indiepocalypse blizzard, and I think it will just get worse with more and more schools adding game design curricula.
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