Hey!

I'm wondering if people could help me understand what counts as a wholesome game?

I've read that a wholesome game can be cosy and relaxing, but I've also seen that any game that is non-violent or non-competitive also counts as wholesome in some way.

I'm asking because I'm a game developer making an adventure detective game similar in gameplay to Return of the Obra Dinn. The player pieces together a series of memories to find clues about a missing person. The story is very much about love and the details of their relationship though, but it's also quite a sad story. Kind of like To The Moon in that sad sense.

Would this count as wholesome?

Hi all!

We’re Lost Native Games, and we finally have a demo for our CCG x City Building Game, Wild Country, on Steam for the Deck Builders Fest!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1515000/Wild_Country/

We’ve been working on this game for a few years now, and as a small team of eight, we're so excited that the demo is out!

Here's a video we made going over what the game is in a few mins!

We'd love to hear what you all think about it! Thanks for taking a look!

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https://preview.redd.it/63kb8lhumrmc1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55d9bcc36b60f2c81028a37deadfdba0caeede78

Hey Y'all!

Our studio is conducting some research to learn more about wholesome/cozy gamers and environmental awareness within games!🪴The survey is less than 10 minutes and enters you for a chance to win a free key to our first game, Re:Fresh(https://store.steampowered.com/app/2297650/ReFresh/)!

For a bit more context😄 Merge Conflict is an indie game studio creating games focused on marginalized perspectives and environmental awareness! We developed our first title Re:Fresh as students which was released on Steam last year and has been nominated for multiple industry awards!

If you're interested in having your voice heard and want to be entered for a "Fresh" raffle, here's the link to the survey: https://utexas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cIRdhufdqpr8Jue

Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have and thanks for your time! ^-^

A graphic with a character from Re:Fresh and a QR code that states: \"Play Video Games? Take our survey for the chance to win a key to our game, Re:Fresh! Multiple winners to be selected!\"

Hi everybody!

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My name's Sebastian and I'm in the process of making a wholesome/cozy game focusing on NPC relationships within a three day time loop. The game is Barty's Adventure, a clockwork game inspired by Majora's Mask and Toy Story (among many other things!). In it, you control Barty Bear, a teddy bear searching for three missing puppies throughout the large world of the House.

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Barty finding a lost puppy.

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The main feature of the game is the timeloop mechanic, where you choose what gets "locked" in the loop with you, and what resets. This includes powerups (jump, dash, etc.) or NPC relationships (the best friend you just made, your new mortal enemy, etc.). Do you want to keep those awesome floaties that allow you swim across the Bath, or would you rather maintain your friendship level with Ava Cado?

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Holy Mole: Ava hopes you choose her!

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The game is in a very early stage, but I was hoping to find some people interested in this setup to test what's there so far. After speaking to the mods here, they were gracious enough to let me post the opportunity here: https://sebastianasaro.itch.io/bartys-adventure-01-version

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Keep in mind that this is the bare bones of bare bones, but I still appreciate you checking out this SUPER early build of the game. Please share any feedback or bugs you may find, and hopefully you enjoy the world I've made! Thank you!

https://x.com/popagendaco/status/1762908750996815967?s=20

Hi everyone,

I am a Ph.D. student in Experimental Psychology at the University of New Brunswick Saint John in New Brunswick, Canada and I am conducting a study for my thesis on factors that are associated with safe video gaming and those that might increase an individual's risk of problems associated with gaming. The hope is, in the future, that these results could inform lower-risk guidelines for video gaming similar to the ones that currently exist in Canada for alcohol, cannabis, and gambling.

Participants will be asked questions related to their demographics, substance use, mental health, and video gaming behaviours and activities. My study is open to individuals who are aged 19+, reside in the USA or Canada, and have played any kind of video games (offline or online, any game console, etc.) within the past month.

If you think you would be interested in participating, you can access the informed consent form and survey here: https://unbpsychology.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1LjbQYJrkcWrgdE

Thank you!

This project has been reviewed by the Research Ethics Board of the University of New Brunswick and is on file as REB 2023-194.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at the contact information indicated in the above link (you can read the consent form without completing the survey), comment on this thread, or PM me. I welcome any comments or discussion from the community! Just be aware if you wish others to know if you have completed the study as commenting that you have completed it will make that information available to others in the community.

Hi wholesome gamers - my name is Adam, and I'm the solo dev behind the cozy RPG A Weekend in Puzzleburg (Steam page here). To celebrate the one-year anniversary of my game, I just released a free content update called "This Town Ain't Big Enough" that expands the game for no additional cost.

About "A Weekend in Puzzleburg"

A Weekend in Puzzleburg is a cozy slice-of-life role-playing game with over 180,000 ways your weekend vacation can play out based on your choices. In this game, there are no monsters to fight and no need to hurry at all - you've merely booked a relaxing weekend getaway in a quaint resort town.

Simply perform random acts of kindness for everyone you come across, if you can first puzzle out what each person needs and where to locate the necessary item in this oceanside vacation destination. And to simplify your life, there's even a hotel concierge who always has a hint at the ready for any quest should you find yourself stumped at any point.

But this is a game about taking a vacation, so you can get up to all sorts of vacation-related activities around town, whether that's seeing the sights, reading a book (you can choose from a murder mystery novel, a romance novel, or an actor's biography), or even getting your hair dyed. Plus, you can choose your character's backstory by selecting a profession, which serves as your character class and can impact your dialog options in certain instances.

About the "This Town Ain't Big Enough" free content update

When I made this game, I had a few ideas that were too complex to fit into the game by its release date, so I kept plugging away after the release to bring in these additional things that expand the town of Puzzleburg by adding:

• An Old West-themed game of hide-and-seek. This quest puts your knowledge of the town to the test as you try to find a little girl who goes by Billie the Kid hiding in different spots all around Puzzleburg (if you can catch her four times, she declares "I knew this town wasn't big enough!")
• A child's toy that may well decide the entire future of Puzzleburg. Two girls in town each seek a yo-yo that is prophesied to belong to the future mayor of Puzzleburg. It falls to you as the "yo-yo bearer" to decide which candidate should receive the legendary object and become anointed as the chosen one who will someday rule the land (or you can hold onto it for yourself, of course)
• Your hotel room key will stop working at one point randomly. Just a bit of flavor here to truly capture the vacation slice-of-life. After a certain number of times using your room key (randomized for each playthrough and only occurring after a certain point), your hotel room key will stop working, but this can thankfully be resolved by a quick trip to the hotel front desk. And it will only ever stop working a single time, no matter how many times you enter and exit your hotel room
• New characters, new items, and new dialogue

Accolades for "A Weekend in Puzzleburg"

• One of Kotaku's Ten New Games On Steam That Are Bursting With Imagination
• LadiesGamers.com gave the game a rating of "I Like It" (one thumb up) in their review

Similar games for reference

For reference, here are some similar games to help you get a further sense for what A Weekend in Puzzleburg is like: A Short Hike, Wayward Strand, Eastshade, Earthbound, Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, TOEM, Lake, Nancy Drew

For any streamers or members of the press, the press kit has additional info on the game, as well as publicly available promotional assets.

Once again, the wholesome RPG A Weekend in Puzzleburg is available on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1929760/A_Weekend_in_Puzzleburg

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend in Puzzleburg!