Settlemoon

If this winds up being the only idle game I ever get into, I think that would be fine by me. I think that games that try to advertise themselves as being "cozy" don't really appeal to me because they don't actually feel cozy to me. But this? This one feels truly cozy. A unique kind of cozy. The cozy that makes me feel like a stranger welcomed into a town I don't speak the language of, but that will very gladly make me feel at home anyways. The cozy that makes me feel like I can listen to the little instruments and the crickets forever without ever getting tired of it. The game is cute and charming, but beyond that it seems to evoke an emotion I have no name for. A connection with something so alien that I wonder if I'll ever understand it, yet the emotions come through crystal clear. A strange mix of curiosity and empathy. The otherworldly glyphs, lack of handholding, and chunky low res art style leave so much to the imagination, in a very good way. 10/10, beautiful game in so many ways.

The fact that there is no tutorial text, and general story text along the way ended up being a huge deal breaker for me. It seemed liked a quirky detail for the game but it seems to have ended up causing a lot of frustration for a number of players. I have no idea what I'm doing in the game and, while I'm often an achievement completionist, I won't be getting all of the achievements for this game since I'm totally lost which upsets me.

[spoiler]At this time I have just started NG+[/spoiler] An incredibly darling idle game. the art by Giik is very evocative and inviting, really contributes to the texture of the world. Checking in a few times a day and being able to log off was really great for my current energy levels for a new game. Each unearthed bit of story, and adancement in mechanics felt great to discover and partake in. Gonna be churning the story and ending in my head for a minute; really liked how it all wrapped up. The diagetic music is really sweet and just about my only criticism was there was only 1 song in the game, which was quicky resolved as I kept playing. Its also really nice to play an idle game where the point isnt really 'number go big' or to really minmax the hell out of it, a really breezy but enriching experience.

Beautiful style but confusing UI, no clear story or tutorial, making gameplay frustrating despite fun mechanics.

Looked interesting, but then I tried to play it. Absolutely not new player friendly. And it's not EA. I think it had a tutorial somewhere. No mouse over info. You're just supposed to know what everything is and what to do. Had a hell of a time getting into the settings that stretched off my screen to the right. Had to resize initial window so I could set it to full screen. Couldn't even chose a name for myself, had to take what weird one they gave me in whatever language that was that I kept running into in the game. Extremely frustrating game. Just click everywhere until something happens if anything does. All my play time is trying to figure out how to actually build my first building. And then what? I simply don't understand what I need to do next. Some character with a letter symbol above their head. Too bad, no new player assist. Click on them as much as you want, but nothing happens. Gave up. Still no clue what to do. More random clicking, then some window opened up, can't read it, it's not in my language. Was already annoyed, rage quit out of sheer frustration. Refunded!

very nice little game to open every once in a while. really enjoy the slow progression and feeling of progress. the character designs are incredible

Lovely game, lovely plot, lovely art, very cozy wether your looking at it everyso often or having it run in the background