Spiritfarer
Spiritfarer is described as a “cozy management sim about dying.” Not sure about you guys but that doesn’t scream “fun” from the get-go. However, once I spent a good chunk of time with this relaxing indie title from Thunder Lotus Games at PAX East 2020, I walked out very excited to play it again.
You play as a girl named Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased, a Spiritfarer, as you explore a variety of locales to befriend spirits before releasing them into the afterlife –yeah, it’s heavy on metaphors and can be extremely emotional in all of the best ways.
One of the first “quests” sent me to a gorgeous island that was based on a mountain range in Japan and I encountered a spirit that told me that they wanted a particular house.
Stella then obtained a blueprint to build said house, and once I found all of the materials necessary, I built a home for the spirit on my ship, prompting it to come on board and reveal its true self.
Some of these quests will remain on the backburner as they can be pretty long, requiring multiple steps, but you can have more than one going on at the same time, which is where the management sim aspect comes into play.
You can fish, mine, harvest, and craft while you unwind on your ship and search the world for new spirits to join your escapade. Its themes can be heavy, but Spiritfarer totally gave me similar vibes to games like Animal Crossing.
Spiritfarer is due to launch this year on Switch, PC, Xbox One (day one on Game Pass), and PS4.
