Rest in Pixels: Cozy Games with a Deathly Charm

    It's October, and in the witchcraft sphere, that means working with ancestors and thinking about death in its many forms – passing of loved ones, death of greenery, spiritual changes. Well, as it stands, I also enjoy playing games about death, and that's not as morbid as it sounds, so I thought I'd highlight some cozy games on the subject. Now, I know most people don't think of “cozy” and “death” going together, but bear with me here. I've been surrounded by death from an early age, and while these games make me cry, they also bring comfort in a way only cozy games can. So let's explore my top 5, one to avoid, and a secret honorable mention at the end.

     Obviously, this post will touch on heavy subject matter and should be approached carefully. If you're feeling vulnerable about this topic, I recommend reading this later when you feel up to it, or watching the video if that's more digestible. Always take care of yourself first and foremost.

    First off, if we're talking cozy games, we have to mention one with that in the title. Cozy Grove is such a cute, wholesome, and comforting game about death. As a Spirit Scout, it is your task to learn about the spirits of the island. Help them with quests both big and small and, in doing so, learn their stories about their lives. Each has an interesting tale to discover, but they've forgotten most of their lives, and you have to help them remember. In your kindness, you help them come to terms with their actions and deaths, and they finally achieve peace. For those who may live with regrets regarding loved ones who passed, this game is a special comfort in finding happiness.

     Spiritfarer is, like Cozy Grove, a game about helping spirits find peace. However, it's different in the context and outcome: your character, Stella, knew all these spirits in life, and in helping them find peace and move on, you also find peace and comfort for yourself. I especially enjoy this game and how it handles the spirits' final journeys: you can take your time with each character and, once you've finished their stories, you can keep them around indefinitely until you're ready to say goodbye. As someone who's dealt with a lot of unexpected or untimely death in my life, it's important to me that this game gives me the choice of when to say goodbye.

      The First Tree is a story all about finding closure. As a mother fox, you face death in this simple walking sim as the narrator recounts his life and estrangement with his father. It's a fairly simple game, but the story hit close to home in a lot of ways. As someone who lost my father when I was just 15, I didn't have a lifetime of memories with him as the writer did with his, but the sentiments hit me in the feels all the same. The First Tree is a pretty short game, playtime-wise, but it took me a long time to complete it because it's not one you can just run through in one sitting. I took plenty of breaks when I needed them, and I'd recommend others to do the same.

        To the Moon is a different take on the theme of closure in death. As impartial scientists, you travel in the memories of an old, dying man to help him fulfill one wish – to go to the moon. What is normally an easy task for these scientists is hampered by one small detail – in trying to modify his memories, you discover that he never had any desire to go to the moon, despite his final wish. In helping this man, you discover long-forgotten memories and help him find closure on a life not-quite-fully lived. It's a beautiful story that reminds us that, even if someone appears to have had a perfectly happy life full of love, there are always things that we don't see. I dare you to play this whole game without crying. I knew it was sad going into it, but I still sobbed, and it was so good.

        In a completely different direction from the others, What Remains ofEdith Finch is an interesting take on the “cozy death” theme. As another walking sim, you – as the eponymous Edith Finch – explore the family home of the Finches, who historically have disappeared or died in mysterious ways. Learn the fates of Edith's ancestors and siblings through unique storytelling and visual styles as you come to terms with the family legacy. Haunting in the most beautiful way, I just had to include this in my list.

    Now, time for a disappointing review, but I want to be honest. In researching for this video, I came across a game titled Hello Goodboy. It sounded really cute and right up my alley – you're a little boy, accompanied by a dog, helping others out and doing good deeds in the afterlife. I was so excited to play this! But unfortunately, it fell really short of its promise; you're only given the smallest of hints that you're in the afterlife, and your actions, while simple enough, don't lend to any depth in the narrative or feelings about your own journey. You just do a couple good deeds – and I do mean a couple – and then you move on. That's it! So, unfortunately, if you're looking for more games of this niche, I'd skip this one. But if you have any others that you think I or others would enjoy, please let me know!

        Okay, I teased at the beginning that there would be an honorable mention on this list, so here it is: Animal Crossing. Now, this series isn't explicitly about death, hence only the honorable mention, but there has been, since its creation, a persistent fan theory about it. In this theory, your character is dead, which explains the childlike utopia of a town filled with animal friends, no disease, and virtually no aging – besides certain NPCs between games, but not in the games themselves. What's more, throughout your time, you get letters from your “mom”, one-way communication that suspiciously sounds like a mother talking to her dead child. These letters have brought a lot of comfort to people who have lost family – either by death or estrangement – and so, I wanted to include it here for that reason. While I don't necessarily subscribe to this theory myself, I did create my childhood friend Jenna in one of my towns upon her death, and the letters from Mom to her definitely have brought comfort.

    What do you think of this Animal Crossing theory? Are there any other games you'd recommend for this list? Let me know down below. Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful, magical day.

Becoming Baba Jaga's Apprentice: REKA Early Playtest Impressions

     Have you ever wanted to run away to the forest, pledging your service to a mysterious old woman while you learn the craft of potion making and spell casting, all the while traversing the countryside in a chicken-legged hut? I mean, rhetorical question obviously, because who hasn't wanted to do that? Well, soon you'll be able to in REKA, a game inspired by the Slavic legends of Baba Jaga. I recently got access to a very early playtest, and I'm so excited for this game, so let's take a look at what's in it even at this early stage! As a note, REKA is set to release in 2024, will be available on both PC and consoles, and is developed by Emberstorm Entertainment, an indie game studio from Germany.

    First off, the devs confirmed that there's no official pronunciation of the title, as it's taken from a variety of Slavic languages, so you'll probably hear me and other content creators pronounce it every which way – Reeka, Reyka, Wrecka. None are wrong! And since there was a big discussion about it in the game's discord server and I was wondering about it myself, I thought I'd clear that up first. Okay, now let's talk about the gameplay itself!

 

   This playtest is small, focusing on the very start of the game and making sure everything functions as intended. It all takes place in one area, although you'll have access to a lot more when the full game releases. You'll also have full character customization upon release, although right now that doesn't exist. Still, despite the limited scope of this playtest, there's surprisingly a lot to do already, and it kept me busy for about 3 hours on my first run alone – and I didn't even do everything in that single run. If this is just a very small sample of the game to come, this game is going to be huge, full of quests and exploration to keep you entertained for a long time.

 

    I was so happy to see that we had complete freedom from the very moment you load into the game – I guess you're supposed to follow the path into the village to be given your first tutorial quest, but I immediately stepped off the path to explore the river nearby and the forest it led to. I explored for a good half hour before finally accidentally triggering the quest from a completely different angle. I loved this! I'm all for a good tutorial, and the game does provide that, but I want to do it at my own pace, and my ADHD brain always wants me to explore first. So I appreciate when we're not forced into the tutorial first thing. That already speaks volumes about the freedom we'll be given in this game. Additionally, for those who do tend to wander to the point of getting lost, don't worry about losing the guy with the starter quest. Thankfully, he's in a prominent location and is automatically triggered when you get close enough, so you don't have to go hunting for him when you do want to start questing.

 

    The tutorial itself guides you through the quests that get you set up with Baba Jaga – finding a talisman, foraging supplies, getting a chicken. All this is fairly simple, but gives you an excellent excuse to explore the landscape even more. The forest is full of random treasures, so you are well rewarded for going off the beaten path! And once you've done all that Baba Jaga asks of you, you're given the ultimate reward – lifelong service to her! Oh, you thought I was going to say chicken-legged hut? Yeah, I guess you get that too.

 

    Building your house uses a modular mechanic that's popular in many current games. I was a bit apprehensive about it, because I have a ton of trouble with this style of building in No Man's Sky, but happily, the process was much smoother in REKA. Actually, the only problem I ran into was that my plans were grander than the initial amount of wood that the tutorial provided. Obviously, the full game will provide a lot more wood to build the chicken-legged hut of your dreams. But even with my grandiose vision being squashed, I was impressed with how simple and easy building is already. I can't wait to start really building my dream hut in the full game!

 

    In addition to Baba Jaga's forest, we're able to visit a small village in the playtest. Some of the villagers have quests to fulfill, giving us a taste of the tasks we'll be doing as the forest witch's apprentice. While none of them were very hard, I accidentally made one way more difficult than intended because, earlier, I had picked up the baby goat and carried it on my explorations, and then couldn't find where I'd left it. Oops!

 

    As one last note on this early glimpse of REKA, the music is amazing and fits the setting so well. It's eerie but not creepy, cozy but also atmospheric. I love it so much, and would keep the game open just to listen to it. I need a soundtrack ASAP, please!

 

    All in all, this early glimpse of REKA has been great and speaks of amazing things to come. What are you most excited for that we've seen so far? I can't wait to continue playing and covering this game as it develops! 

    And as one last thing, if you're interested in traditional Slavic witchcraft inspired by Baba Jaga, I highly recommend Baba Yaga's Book of Witchcraft by Madame Pamita.

What I Want in Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

    Fantasy Life is my favorite game of all time, and I've got high expectations for its announced sequel, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. I'm so excited for it, and obviously I've got a million ideas, big and little alike, of what I'd like to see. I started writing this list back in 2016 on my Fantasy Life tumblr – yes, I was that far in, I made its own tumblr – and it's only grown since then.

    While we have an idea of the basic premise of Fantasy Life i – we know the plot involves time travel of some sort, and we've seen many of the Lives that were in the previous game – there's still a lot that we don't know. The game was announced in February, it's currently September, and it's supposed to release before the end of the year... so let's get wishing and speculating! Let me know what's on your own list and if anything lines up with mine!

 

    (Psst, video more your style? Check it out here!)

Clothing and Furniture

    First on my list, back in 2016 and today, is no more gender locked clothing. In the original game, we had a limited but cute selection of clothing, but it was made even more limited by most pieces being specific to gender. This restriction was unnecessary and didn't even make sense in canon, as Olivia's entire plot revolves around defying gender expectations – and the game celebrates her for it. Additionally, Laura disguises herself as a boy, both as a plot point and later just because, and it just doesn't make sense that we as the player are restricted in ways that the characters are not. Now, in 2023, gender expression in games has become much more loose – although many games still could stand to improve this – and gender restricted clothing just won't go over well. Let guys wear flowers in their hair if they want to!

    On the note of clothing, I'd love to see more clothing options in general – and more furniture and other craftables to make our world ours. We saw a swing bench in the trailer, which is new from the first game, but still doesn't speak to how much new furniture we may be getting. Even better, in the trailer, we actually see the character sitting on the swing, confirming that we're getting usable furniture – one of my wishlist items from 2016! I remember a tumblr post that was like, “the 3ds era is finally giving us chairs we can sit on,” but Fantasy Life was an outlier in this. Finally, our time has come! I hope lots of the furniture is usable in cute ways.

Lives

    Another wishlist item that follows the trend in games but also fits in with the game's mechanic, I'm happy that we're getting a gardening Life! I thought this was a pretty good possibility – there's a mystery Life in the “gathering” category, and it would tie in perfectly with the cooking and alchemy Lives. So let's talk about this new reveal and what I want from it! I'm not asking for anything intense – in fact, quite the opposite, more Animal Crossing's “set it and forget it” style of gardening than daily care like Stardew Valley. But it'll be great to be able to grow exactly what we need for food and potion recipes, and having a little garden outside our house would be so cute!

    On that note, we know from the trailers that there are 14 Lives in this game, with all 12 Lives from the previous game returning and introducing 2 new Lives. I was hedging my bets on a gardening or farming Life, but have no idea what the other one would be. It's grouped in with the “creating” Lives, so presumably something of that nature. I think one of the scrapped Lives from the first game was a performer of some sort – I'm not sure how a dancer or singer might be useful in terms of combat, but it would be fun. Maybe they could make it function like a bard in D&D? I'd like to see that. Or the Life could possibly be robotics or mechanics? This would explain the terraforming robot we've seen in the trailers, although I wonder how that could expand to be an entire Life to encompass the whole game. But it would be great to have the ability to build all sorts of different robots to help with tasks, like farming and autocrafting down the line. Hmm, possibilities!

Worldbuilding

    Moving on, another thing I'd like to see – and others on tumblr agree with me – is a bigger, fuller world, but also a revisit to our favorite Reveria locations. We do know that the main story takes place on a new mysterious island, but I'd be sad if I didn't get to see Port Puerto in better graphics. Maybe as DLC? Starry-thread on tumblr said they'd also like to see the old towns have more life in them, and I agree. Castele was a great starter area, but the other locations got progressively emptier, presumably due to the hardware limitations of the 3ds. Now, we all know that the Switch isn't exactly a powerhouse, but it can at least handle a lot more than its handheld predecessor, so I'd love to see a fuller, more vibrant world that really feels lived in, with lots of fun NPCs to banter with.

Crafting

    Now, let's talk about crafting. I do think Fantasy Life got crafting half right, and it's one of the more enjoyable crafting mechanics I've encountered in a game. Unpopular opinion? Maybe, but since crafting is such a big part of the game – 5 Lives to date are crafter Lives, more than any other category – I appreciate that it's more than “just click a button” mechanics like in many other games. I mean, sure, that's easy... but boring! But Fantasy Life's crafting mechanics falter in one big way for me: they're random. If you make something twice, the sequence of events will be completely different the second time. I'd love for crafting to have set patterns, so I can feel like I'm really improving at making things instead of guessing, correctly or not,what the next step will be. In my opinion, cooking in Palia gets this right, with each recipe being specific about chopping, stirring, and more. As a bonus, friends can hop in to help out and get the final result as well! Including something like that would be a big boon to Fantasy Life's multiplayer system, but I'll also admit that among items on this list, that's one unlikely to happen. But it's a thought!

Multiplayer

    As far as multiplayer itself goes, I definitely want to see some additions – but I'll admit that I'm not sure what, because I only played with other people a couple times in the original! I guess just party bonuses in general, like extra EXP or sharing loot, forageables, etc. And if there ends up being DLC, please don't lock out those who don't have the DLC from playing with those who do! Okay, that's my big multiplayer wishlist item.

    I'd also like our friends to show up around the world like they did with Streetpassed players in the original. This was one of my favorite Streetpass incorporates in a game, and although the Switch sadly doesn't have Streetpass (a decision I'm still questioning six years later), I would love the new game to bring our friends to town in a similar way. I loved seeing them fill the streets of Castele and bring the town more to life, and chatting with them was a delight!

NPCs

    Okay, let's talk about NPCs. I loved all the characters in Fantasy Life, they had so much personality, but I was so disappointed when I could finally invite them to my party, and... they just became mindless killing machines. Let me talk to the NPCs when they're in my party! And please, for the love of Olivia, let them have more than two lines when you attempt to talk to them after their part in the story. Please.

    I would love to see a friendship system in Fantasy Life i. No need to figure out their loved and hated items, but just something simple like increased friendship every day you talk to them. This could be used to unlock adventuring with them in a party, and then taking them along could further boost your friendship with them.

    And while romance is popular in many life sims – and other genres – I'm not exactly clamoring for it to be included here. I think the game is great even without it! But if it is included, because it's trendy, I have two wishes for it. First, let it be superfluous to the gameplay, not anything that will require or pressure you to engage in romance, like an integral plot point or boon to your stats. Let's not alienate the aromantic players! And honestly, in a lot of games, I'm just not interested in the available NPCs... but I'd say otherwise to Olivia! And that's my other caveat to romance in Fantasy Life i: if there is romance, it needs to include the option for queer romance. Thankfully games have gotten a lot more on board with this since the original game's release in 2012, but since Fantasy Life also had gender-locked clothing... I thought I should be explicit.

    But, honestly, I'm more than fine with no romance in the game. I'm just saying, if it does exist, these two things need to be included.

Time

    Finally, my last wishlist item, at least for this post: I'd like to see significant improvements to the day and night cycle. In the first game, there was a cycle, but it had very little purpose other than a couple plot elements, like Laura's location, and the poor mailman. I want to see it have more purpose, like specific fish only caught at night and similar, common mechanics. But no bedtime! Let me roam all night with no penalty like in the first game, thanks.

    I'd also like weather, and potentially seasons, to be incorporated into Fantasy Life i. Despite having a day and night cycle in the first game, it feels like the same day over and over because the weather never changes. It's perpetually sunny, unless you're on the top of the one snowy mountain. Let's have variety! Besides, rainy days would undoubtedly help out with growing crops in the new farmer Life. It's a win-win in my opinion!

 

    Okay, that was the last wishlist item... for this blog post, at least. We'll see what else I come up with between now and release... Actually, I lied, I've got one more wish! Please give us a release date at the Tokyo Game Show! Your girl needs to plan out content, and budget so I'm sure that I can start playing on day one. Okay, that was the last thing on my wishlits! What's on yours? Hopefully we'll see some of this soon in teasers and the full game!

Sims 4 Legacy Challenge: Animal Crossing Style!

    I love Animal Crossing, and one of the things I always joke is that it's my goal in every game to play Animal Crossing. Whether that's decorating my dream house, befriending my neighbors, or trying to catch all the unique fish in a game, the ways I play my other favorite games all resemble Animal Crossing gameplay when it gets down to it. And, probably to nobody's surprise, the Sims is no exception. I've spent years making an Animal Crossing world in my Sims 4 game, and I'm finally ready to play it! So I made a legacy challenge to capture the heart of Animal Crossing, and thought I'd share it with others. Starting in September, I'll be uploading my own playthrough of this challenge on my YouTube channel, so check it out if you want to see it in action!

    As a note, I started this build in 2018 so it's based on New Leaf, and yes I will cry if you make me update all the buildings for New Horizons. I probably wouldn't finish until the next Animal Crossing game if I tried to do that. But if you'd like to use my buildings to fill out your world, they're all CC free and on the gallery under EA ID “fuchsiarascal”. I've also got some Animal Crossing NPCs up there, and will be making more as I play more.

Video more your style? Check out the challenge (and lots of shots of my Animal Crossing world!) here!

SETUP 

1. In Create a Sim, make your Sim for generation 1. Specific guidelines are down below, but you'll be starting with a "normal" personality, any gender.

2. Evict all townies, and refill homes with villagers and NPCs.

3. Turn auto-age and stories OFF for non-played household. This makes it easier to keep our iconic NPCs around and unchanging as shopkeepers and neighbors as our own story progresses.

4. Create a single room (plus bathroom) Animal Crossing-inspired house to start, and place it on a 20x30 lot. I have a starter house also uploaded to the gallery for this if you want.

5. Set lifespan to normal.

6. Make a museum to house collections. As a lot of the goals are collections oriented, this will be very important! At the moment, I'm still working on my functional museum so it's not on the gallery yet (just the New Leaf inspired one), but any place to put items that isn't your home lot will do!

    Optional setup includes filling worlds with Animal Crossing buildings, like the ones on my gallery. I love to use Newcrest as my “base world” for all these buildings and set it up to really look like a New Leaf town as much as possible! Then, if you want to use a mod, I set up NPCs with the Live-in-Business mod, which is helpful for businesses to work in a way that the Sims 4 doesn't really support, like Brewster owning and working at the Roost. And although my gallery builds don't have custom content in them, I have a ton that I'll be using in my house and throughout my gameplay. If you want to fill your world with Animal Crossing inspired custom content too, I use a lot from Talia's Witchy Sims CC.

RULES

Okay, with setup all done, let's go over the rules of the challenge!

1. Start with a single young adult sim with “normal” traits, move them into the Animal Crossing starter lot, and then zero out your money.

2. Each generation has a specific personality with their own aspirations and collections to focus on. Each personality has one defining trait that they must have; choose one other from the list, and the third trait can be your choice or randomized. Also, personalities do not have to be tied to gender!

3. A sim can have multiple children, but only one can be the heir. You can choose who this will be, as long as they have the defining traits for the next generation. The others must move out upon becoming young adults.

4. The current generation progresses when the heir becomes a young adult; parents can either stay and contribute to the household with collections, aspirations, etc. or move out – that's up to you! If they move out, they can no longer contribute to the collections, and they must be played occasionally to age up or die, or do this manually. Because of this, you may want to keep them in the household – so it's a good thing that you'll be able to expand your house!

5. Each personality and generation has a few careers to choose from. Some fit multiple personalities, so you can choose, but only one can have that career. So, for example, if your Normal sim in generation 1 is a gardener, your Uchi sim in generation 6 has to be something else.

6. You can marry placed villagers, and you can bring your spouse's funds into the family, with a maximum of 20,000 simoleons. Remember, we kicked all the rich townies out, so nobody should have more than that.

7. House expansions are based on money, not generations. This does not include the lot value, but rather how much money your sim has in spending cash.

8. You can move lots twice: at the 3^rd expansion to a 30x40 lot, and at the final expansion to a 60x60 lot.

COLLECTIONS RULES:

• Each generation has specific collections to complete; see details later in this video or in the blog post. Obviously, only count the collections for DLC that you own. I tried to split them up evenly but also fit with what each personality would be interested in.

• Items collected in previous generations count as inheritance, but that generation's collections must be completed before they move out or die.

• To “donate” something to the museum, edit the museum in build buy mode to place the item, and then delete, do not sell, that item from your sim's inventory. A bit clunky, but unless you want your sim to own the museum as a retail store and pay bills on it, this is the best way.

The goal of this challenge is to experience different personalities and ambitions in the lens of the sims while also completing the many collections the game has to offer. Enjoy!

 GENERATIONS

    Now, onto the generations, what personality accompanies which and what you'll be focusing on with each one! 

GENERATION 1: NORMAL

You are sweet and well-rounded, but mostly focused on establishing a solid foundation for your family – friends, career, education, bonding.

career options: gardening, writing, or culinary arts
goals: best friends with 8 villagers (excluding family); read 20 books
aspiration: family
collections: frogs, fossils, decorative eggs, village fair ribbons
required trait: cheerful
optional traits: creative, art lover, bookworm, foodie, animal enthusiast (or cat/dog lover), neat

 GENERATION 2: CRANKY

Your parent(s) instilled a strong sense of learning, but growing up with little made you want more. you value success over relationships.

career options: physician, business, scientist, politician
goals: no more than 2 best friends (excluding family); reach top of chosen career
aspiration: knowledge
collections: microscope prints, space prints, aliens, batuu records, moonwood relics
required trait: loner
optional traits: gloomy, unflirty, genius, socially awkward, paranoid

 GENERATION 3: SNOOTY

You learned from your parent(s) to be selective with relationships, but you are more social than them. you enjoy the finer things in life and society.

career options: home decorator, critic, style influencer
goals: join 3 clubs; travel on 5 luxury vacations
aspiration: fortune
collections: metals, crystals, elements, snow globes
required trait: snob
optional traits: high maintenance, romantic, art lover, ambitious, materialistic, proper, animal enthusiast (or cat/dog lover)

GENERATION 4: PEPPY

Growing up surrounded by your parent(s)’ club friends, you want to be popular! Your parents involved you in lots of activities– and you want to do it all!

career options: pop star, actor, child star, spell caster
goals: achieve “global superstar”; own a hot tub
aspiration: popularity
collections: postcards, feathers, seashells, magical artifacts
required trait: outgoing
optional traits: cheerful, romantic, music lover, dance machine, squeamish, insider

  

GENERATION 5: SMUG

Your famous parents leave you with a sense of superiority – it’s up to you whether you earn it, or just ride on your parents’ coattails. You like to flirt, but finding someone to settle down with will be a challenge.

career options: detective, secret agent
goals: 10 romantic relationships, no marriage (but can hire a nanny)
aspiration: love
collections: fish, sugar skulls, city posters, message in a bottle
required trait: self-absorbed
optional traits: romantic, self-assured, art lover, ambitious, eratic, snob, insider, jealous, non-committal

GENERATION 6: UCHI

After watching your parent play with hearts your whole life, you’re very protective and caring. You have close friends that you’d die for, but you keep your circle small. You tend towards physical activities to get your negativity out.

career options: gardening, crafter, astronaut
goals: start a “club” of close friends; make lot eco-friendly
aspiration: location
collections: gardening, space rocks, magic beans, geodes, village fair ribbons
required trait: loves outdoors
optional traits: neat, family oriented, creative, cheerful, active, maker, freegan, hot headed

GENERATION 7: JOCK

Your parent(s) showed you the mental importance of endorphins, and you took that and ran (literally). You work everything out through physical activity, and you love it!

career options: athletic career, lifeguard, adventurer
goals: 5 “adventure” trips (jungle, ski resort, etc.); university – party school!
aspiration: athletic
collections: holiday cracker plushies, artifacts, buried treasure, lightsaber parts
required trait: active
optional traits: adventurous, loves outdoors, bro, party animal

 

GENERATION 8: LAZY

Your parent(s) forced you to do sports as a kid, and you hated it. You’d rather sit around playing video games and reading comics! You’ve inherited a lot of wealth and a big house; why work hard when you could enjoy it?

career options: tech guru, barista, culinary arts
goals: have a butler/maid; taste all city/festival foods
aspiration: foodie
collections: mysims, insects, experimental food photos, voidcritters, simmies
required trait: lazy
optional traits: goofball, foodie, geek, animal enthusiast (or cat/dog lover), childish, clumsy, glutton, slob

 HOUSING UPGRADES:

    As the final part of the challenge, let's talk about house expansions. As I mentioned, these are monetarily based. These are also the numbers I'm not quite sure about, as I don't really know what's realistic in the Sims currency, so this may be heavily edited in the future. But for now, this is the rundown for expansions and moves. And remember, these are obtained when you have this amount in household funds, not counting lot value.

        50K – Add a separate bedroom

        100k – Add two additional rooms

        250k – Add a bathroom and one addition, such as a porch, greenhouse, shed, etc. At this expansion, you can move to the 30x40 lot.

        500k – Add an attic room.

        750k – Add two more rooms in the attic

        1 million – Add a basement and an additional bathroom

        1.2 million – Add two rooms in the basement

        1.5 million – One addition (porch, greenhouse, etc.) and you can move to the largest size lot in the game

From Cauldrons to Controllers: Exploring Witchcraft in Video Games

     I'm a gamer, and I'm a witch, so it's probably no surprise that I love when those two combine! I have a bunch of witchy games that I love to play, and even more on my list to check out. So, while I was stuck on the couch with a pain flare-up (I was working on my Wylde Flowers review, speaking of witchy games...), I thought I'd make a post about some of them!

    And to be clear, there are plenty of great games that are fantasy-based with extensive magic, and I love many of those, but this list is focused on games that bring the feeling of witchcraft to them -- herbology, potions, divination, etc. I will probably make another list of my favorite fantasy magical games -- I've got a lot of those, too! But for this, I wanted to keep the vibe on the "slightly more realistic" side of things.

    This post is divided up into 3 sections: games I've played or am currently playing, games I want to check out or are in my backlog, and upcoming releases that I've got my eye on. (A note on the last two: I am always interested in review keys from developers... but as a disclaimer, most of these, I've purchased with my own money.) Is there a game that belongs in this list but I've neglected to mention? I'd love to know about more, so feel free to leave a comment about any other witchy games you've played and enjoyed -- or want to play!

    Reading not your cup of tea? Check out the video instead!

 Games I've Played and Enjoyed

Little Witch in the Woods

    If you're yearning to escape society and go live your cottage core dreams in the forest, Little Witch in the Woods is the game for you! In this game, Ellie does exactly that, and fills her day with gathering herbs, making potions, and helping to rebuild a charming little village. It's a calm, combat-less game with endearing dialogue, simple puzzles, and lots to explore. Help your new neighbors, decorate your house, and learn all about being a witch in this charming game. Little Witch in the Woods is available on Steam and Xbox, and plays great on the Steam Deck. Check out my full review here! 

Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator

     If you're interested in herbology, look no further than Potion Craft! A very relaxing game with faux "old world" aesthetics, mix various ingredients together to discover potions and help the residents of your village. Unlike a lot of other games that have potion crafting as an element, this focuses on it. I love that you actually stir the ingredients yourself, and adjust how much heat you give any individual potion. There is so much experimenting to be had in this process, and in my opinion, it really feels like I'm making the potions -- or messing them up, as is often the case with my experiments. If you're interested in potions, definitely don't miss this game! It is currently available on Steam and will be available on all consoles. As a bonus, it plays great on the Steam Deck!

Wylde Flowers

    A game that I'm still exploring, Wylde Flowers merges together witchcraft and farming to create a cute hybrid game that caters specifically to me. Tend to your garden by day, learn magic by night -- and yes, use that magic to help your garden grow! The game is more story than sim, at least as far as I've gotten so far, but that's fine with me. I'm having fun learning secret magic as the town divides into pro-magic and anti-magic factions. (Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this game from the publisher, and a full review will be coming soon!) Wylde Flowers is available on Steam, iOS, and Nintendo Switch. I hear that it plays well on the Steam Deck, but I haven't had a chance to play it much there yet, so that will also be included in my full review.

Cartomancy Anthology

     Cartomancy Anthology is a collection of 22 short games that explore the major arcana of tarot. It doesn't get more real-life witchy than that! Each of these games provides soul-searching opportunities to bring clarity to your life, and can even be used as divination if you want to. I've done a full review of this game before, so head over there if you're interested in more! I definitely think that any witchy gamer should check it out.

Games on my Wishlist/Backlog

Strange Horticulture

    I picked up Strange Horticulture a while ago, but it's gotten stuck in my backlog. But the premise sold me instantly! You tend to and grow plants, and have a cat companion! Oh yeah, and there's a plot too, I guess, but you had me at plants and cats. Wander the woods nearby to discover new species, use your herbology skills to identify them and their uses, and try not to delve too deep into dangerous territories while gathering specimens. Doesn't it just sound great? This is definitely near the top of my list to get to! 

Witchy Life Story

    I just recently picked up Witchy Life Story in a Humble Bundle, but it had been on my list for a while before that. And, while I'll say that the title isn't exactly unique or creative, it does get its point across -- it's a life sim, where you play as a witch. Tend your garden, practice magic, befriend the townspeople. Simple, straight forward, and exactly what I want -- in a game and real life! Oh, wait, I already do the first two, does that mean I should actually talk to my neighbors? Eh, maybe I'll just start up this game and talk to those neighbors instead. 

Wytchwood

    Wytchwood takes its influence from the witches of fairy tales -- you play the morally dubious witch who crafts potions and meddles in people's affairs to "teach them a lesson". Yes, you can turn people into frogs and curse those you feel really deserve it. We don't always have to be the "good witch", and it sounds like Wytchwood is a delightful take on this. Personally, I'm a huge fan of fractured fairy tales, and this seems to be in line with that concept, so I'm really excited to check it out! I love unique takes on fairy tales, and the few movies that we've gotten from villains' points of view, like Maleficient, only fulfill the need a little. I think this game sounds great for that!

Teacup

     Teacup is an adorable game about planning a tea party. Okay, from that premise, it doesn't sound explicitly witchy, but bear with me here. First of all, you are the CUTEST frog, and we all know witches and frogs go together. I mean, I just talked about them in Wytchwood! Also, there's a whole questline about getting magical ingredients for your tea, from magicians of course! But really, I'm including this because... is there anything that is inherently more magical than tea? I mean, I did a whole episode about tasseomancy and the magic of tea for Celestial Cafe, the podcast I was on! Tea is good for the body, good for the soul. Combine different herbs to create different effects -- it's just alchemy! And this game is all about making the perfect teas for just what your friends need. The restorative power of tea is magic, and this game embraces that at its heart.

Upcoming Releases I Can't Wait For

REKA

     Now, it's time to talk about the games that haven't released yet but I'm excited for. That backlog isn't going to grow itself! Well, okay, sometimes I think it does, but still. REKA tops this list of anticipated games. I can't stop talking about it -- I work at a witchcraft book publishing company, and I've gotten literally everyone interested in playing it... when it releases next year. In this game, you play as Baba Yaga's apprentice, learning magic as you help people with herbology in the 19th century. You live - and travel - in a chicken-legged hut that you design and decorate yourself. It's truly a witch's dream, especially a witch obsessed with decorating in games like me, and I can't wait for its release -- but I have to. But rest assured that I'll definitely be reviewing it when it releases!

Grimoire Groves

    Grimoire Groves is a delightful (and colorful!) magical take on farming sims. In fact, it's technically not a farming sim at all -- its official genre is "rogue-lite dungeon crawler", but farming is a part of it regardless! Use the power of magic and the different elements to make your garden grow, in addition to exploring secret, magical forests with unique spirits. Help and befriend a siren, dryad, basilisk, and other magical creatures as you explore the procedurally generated forest and strengthen your powers. There's a demo available on Steam, and I've had so much fun playing it already!

Witchbrook

     Who hasn't dreamed of going off to a witchcraft school? You can finally live that life with Witchbrook, a cute life sim that's all about learning magic, making friends, and discovering mysteries. Enjoy all the staples of sim games like gardening, fishing, and romance, and work hard on your assignments to graduate at the top of your class -- and maybe have a cute date to the prom! All this sounds pretty great, right? I've been keeping an eye on this game for years, and although it's been a while, it's developed by indie team Chucklefish so I'm sure it's going to be worth the wait. (Side note: if you're itching for magic school life in the meantime, check out Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times! It's an interesting take on "Animal Crossing goes to magic school" and I love it!)

Magical Delicacy 

     I learned about Magical Delicacy through the Wholesome Direct, and was instantly sold on it. Kitchen witches, this one's for you! And for those of us who fantasize about being kitchen witches, it's for us too. I hate cooking but I love the idea of kitchen witchery. If you understand that sentiment, check out this game where you use the power of different ingredients to fulfill townsfolk's needs. The game promises a robust cooking system, with plenty of room to experiment and make your own creations to satisfy customers, so the creatively minded kitchen witch will love getting their digital hands dirty coming up with all sorts of new recipes. It will also feature platforming to explore areas for ingredients, a shop (and home?) to decorate, and lots of characters with their own stories to learn about. Additionally, the developer, skaule, is working hard to bring a variety of accessibility features to the game so players can play in ways that work for them, including high contrast platforming and adjustable UI scaling. Seeing developers address accessibility in a proactive manner like this, instead of waiting for players to raise concerns, is such a great thing to see, and makes me very optimistic about this game. I'm very excited to keep an eye on this one as development continues!