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While the Wholesome Direct was predominantly focused on announcements, trailers, and demos, four games used the cozy showcase to announce their launch and you can play them now!
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge
As it says in the title, in Kamaeru, you build a refuge for frogs. Raise your frogs by playing mini-games, decorate your farm, and collect them all. You play as a kindly soul who wants to help an old friend restore the wetlands where you spent your childhood by encouraging biodiversity and creating a safe place for the frogs to thrive.
Set up different areas of the wetland with different pools, plants, and decorations to attract over 500 different kinds of frogs. Plant native species and harvest crops to earn money to buy decorations and enhancements for your frog refuge. Breed rare frogs to see them in all their colorful glory.
- Developer: Humble Reeds
- Publisher: Armor Games Studios
- Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, itch.io
POOOOL
POOOOL is a game inspired by the bar game, pool, but it’s extremely not that. Knock the balls into each other using the game’s physics puzzles to combine similarly-sized balls into larger balls. Earn a high score but don’t let the table get too full or else it’s game over.
Truly a game built for silly fun, POOOOL can be played entirely with just the mouse and has a personal high score tracker so you can compete aginst yourself. You can also customize the backgrounds and the faces on the balls.
- Developer: Noah King
- Publisher: digimoss
- Platforms: Steam
The Palace on the Hill
A heartfelt story set in a fictionalized 90’s rural India with glorious hand-painted watercolor graphics. You play as a young boy with ambitions to go to art school but must grapple with the struggle of debt and hardship, helping to manage a small cafe to make ends meet.
There are open-world exploration elements where you experience some architecture inspired by 15th-century Indian architecture and tons of characters to meet. If that doesn’t sell you on it, the Steam ‘Mature content’ warning states that there is some “mild teenage flirtation” to look forward to.
- Developer: Niku Games
- Publisher: Niku Games
- Platforms: Steam, Xbox, Apple, Android
Tracks of Thought
Unravel the mystery of what has happened to your nice, normal commuter train after it went through an unusual tunnel and made everyone forget something important. You are a lost ladybug who must engage in a card-based battle of wits system to resolve conflicts and find common ground with your fellow passengers.
Your personality is determined by the choices you make, and you are joined by a companion along the way – very different from you but just as determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. Find out more about the other bugs on the train and make your way to the control car to ask the conductor where exactly you’re all headed.
- Developer: Tidbits Play
- Publisher: indie.io
- Platforms: Steam, Epic Games Store
When you’re finished with these four adorable games, make sure you check out more wholesome games that were announced at the Wholesome Direct and keep your eyes open for more cozy fun.
Featured image credit: Wholesome Games
