You play as a sorcerer from a forbidden line of horticultural mages, returning to your family’s abandoned castle in Chandley village. Here, gardening isn’t ordinary: you’ll grow everyday plants like runner beans and turnips alongside mystical ones like thunder-calling taran. Your goal is to restore the castle’s tangled grounds by placing garden beds, decorations, and cozy spots, nurturing both mundane and magical plants from seed to harvest.

The game’s open world is alive with uncanny spirits and old powers in which you’ll also meet a cast of various villagers, each with their own stories. Evening activities include reading ancient books by candlelight, cooking new recipes, or drinking tea with the god in your chimney. However, the world follows the Covenant of the Hearth: lights go out at night, and the Mara, otherworldly beings, rule the darkness.

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Pixelshire developer KappaBits wrote on X that they were suddenly removed from the Steam backend, losing control of their own game. They’re now taking firm action to end the partnership and reclaim 100% ownership, promising that both the game and its players deserve better.

“I can’t say more at the moment, but when the time is right, I’ll speak openly about how we ended up in this situation — and about the state of the game at launch,” the developer said in the comments. This hint at deeper issues has sparked speculation about the publisher’s role, and we might soon learn more about what’s happening.

Pixelshire is a cozy farming simulator with a pixel art style, launched earlier this year to negative reviews due to bugs, ignored demo feedback, and some players calling out KappaBits for taunting responses to criticism. A planned Switch physical release was also postponed indefinitely, reportedly beyond the developer’s control.

The developer’s determination is clear, but the road ahead is tough with legal and logistical challenges. Regaining Steam backend access, renegotiating rights, and rebuilding player trust will need openness and strength. KappaBits’ promise to eventually share the full story shows a commitment to accountability, which might either restore the game’s reputation or fuel more controversy.

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Hanako’s Flower Shop is a cozy visual novel with resource management elements, centered on Hanako, a young woman taking over her grandfather’s beloved flower shop. Set in a cute, anime-inspired village, the game blends heartfelt storytelling, bouquet-crafting puzzles, and light farming mechanics, focusing on themes of growth, grief, and connection through the language of flowers.

The main feature of the game is its bouquet-building system, a puzzle-like task where you create arrangements based on the symbolic meanings of flowers, like red roses for love, white lilies for modesty, or amaryllis for regret. Customers share their personal stories, and key phrases in their dialogue, which are highlighted via a transcript system reveal emotions like joy, grief, or kinship, guiding your flower choices.

Blending multiple genres while staying cozy and forgiving

There are no strict timers or penalties for wrong bouquets; instead, customers gently suggest alternatives if your arrangement misses the mark, keeping the game cozy. The June 2025 update introduced a “Flower Codex”, a journal tracking flower meanings and customer preferences, which helps new players by cutting down on guesswork.

On the other side, resource management in the game involves gathering flowers in three ways: planting them in your garden, foraging in the forest (limited to seven flowers per trip), or buying seeds and flowers for next-day delivery. Gardening is straightforward, you plant seeds, water them, and harvest once they grow, though some flowers take longer to grow than others.

Hanako’s Flower Shop also features a “Neighbor Assistance” option, where characters like the twins Aya and Sayuri can collect flowers for a small fee, meaning this feature really is simplifying resource gathering in a good way. Not everything here is about gameplay though, you can take breaks to listen to the radio or enjoy snacks, which boosts Hanako’s happiness, a small stat that influences your dialogue choices and improves your shop’s performance.

“Resource management in the game involves gathering flowers in three ways.”

Your choices slightly shape the story outcome

The story isn’t truly linear; your choices shape Hanako’s journey and the outcomes for customers. What you say during customer conversations or nightly chats with Grandpa (through flashbacks) impacts relationships and story paths, although major plot points remain consistent. For example, giving a “good” bouquet that matches a customer’s feelings can lead to positive follow-up letters or happy endings, while “non-fitting” bouquets might result in neutral or bittersweet outcomes. The launch version featured multiple endings based on Hanako’s growth and relationships, and the June 2025 update added two new endings.

Cute animations, like sheep jumping over Hanako’s bed at night, add a charming touch while community festivals, such as the Flower Festival, let you sell bouquets, play mini-games like flower-matching puzzles, and unlock unique decor items. The bouquet-building puzzles are forgiving, letting you retry without penalty as long as you listen carefully to customer stories. Also, the resource system is well-balanced, offering plenty of flowers.

A Hint System for these puzzles provides subtle clues if you struggle with flower meanings, while the game’s emotional depth explores themes of grief and self-discovery. For example, helping a customer process loss with a thoughtful bouquet feels truly meaningful. The absence of “wrong” choices reinforces the game’s message that growth comes from good intentions, not perfection.

“Your choices shape Hanako’s journey and the outcomes for customers.”

Best enjoyed in several sessions

Hanako’s Flower Shop features lush, hand-drawn 2D anime-style art, showcasing flower designs and cozy environments like the shop, forest, and village. Characters have distinct designs, and charming animations, though they lack variety. While the art shines, the UI’s text-heavy design feels dated compared to modern visual novels, and some animations, like customer movements, can seem stiff. Still, performance remains solid with no major graphical glitches.

In the end, Hanako’s Flower Shop is a heartwarming visual novel with no major issues, though it’s not for everyone. I believe visual novels need something truly special to draw you in and keep you playing, and while this game suits fans of Coffee Talk or Strange Horticulture, its overly forgiving gameplay might feel too easy. It’s best enjoyed in several sessions rather than one long sitting and perfect for fans of Visual Novels.

Review copy provided by the publisher

4

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Developed in Unreal Engine 5, Fractured Blooms features stunning visuals crafted by artist Satchel, known for Doki Doki Literature Club. The voice acting cast is led by Nichole Goodnight, recognized from Slay the Princess. Set in an seemingly cozy rural home, the game follows Angie, a young girl trapped in a time loop of gardening, cooking, and cleaning. Beneath this calm surface lies a dark tale of trauma and abuse.

The gameplay blends a “cozy” farming simulation with psychological tension, where you manage stamina to care for crops used to cook meals. These meals unlock new recipes and boost energy for nighttime tasks, while the loop deepens, the atmosphere grows increasingly oppressive, memories resurface, and the house becomes more terrifying. Managing resources and careful planning are key to uncovering the truth behind Angie’s plight.

Fractured Blooms will be available for PC via Steam and Xbox Series X/S.

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At its heart, Starsand Island is all about finding joy in the simple, everyday moments. Unlike many farming simulators that get obsessed with efficiency and numbers, this game puts emotional connections far above stats. As lead designer Golton Gao puts it: “Life has no inherent meaning, so you decide how to live it.” There are mini-events tucked into every corner, whether you’re fishing up bottle caps that might unlock secret lore or just having a laugh at a legendary “golden poop” left by one of your animal pals.

Starsand Island experience truly lies with its NPCs, who are inspired by real-life personalities, from shy dreamers to bubbly optimists. You’ll build meaningful bonds with characters like Solara, who might share midnight fireworks with you, or Serena, who might drag you on shopping trips that turn simple errands into lasting memories. “We want players to feel warmth, like they belong”, says narrative designer Richardo Wang. These subtle, heartfelt interactions, like waking up to Pastelle’s breakfast as sunlight streams into your home, truly make the world feel alive, not just like lines of code.

The team actually built a custom engine from scratch, which lets you reshape almost anything, from winding paths to entire villages. Want a Japanese alley or a Nordic hamlet? Go for it. One tester even created a maze garden so tricky that the developers themselves got lost and had to teleport out. With endless customization options, the island truly is your canvas. “It’s a nightmare for coders, but we’re crazy enough to make it work”, Gao laughs.

The multiplayer features are set to grow even further, with plans for things like photo contests and player-created Easter eggs down the line. “We want Starsand Island to feel like home”, Gao says, and the team is really committed to evolving the game based on community input, adding new events and stories after launch.

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In Gaucho and the Grassland, you step into the boots of a gaucho or gaucha, tasked with bringing balance back to a huge region as its brand new guardian. Forget the usual “you inherited a farm” setup; here, you’re actually rebuilding your family’s ranch while tackling quests that truly celebrate rural life. Imagine lassoing cows, shearing sheep, or milking livestock as part of your everyday progress.

What really makes this game special is its deep connection to South American culture, especially the traditions from Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul region. You’ll get to experience things like sipping chimarrão, a traditional drink that even reveals secrets, playing the harmonica by a campfire, or firing up a delicious churrasco barbecue.

In this game you can really focus on classic farm tasks like fishing, collecting eggs, or even building cozy homes for other characters, customizing every little detail to match your style. But if you’re more into adventure, you can roam around the diverse landscapes solving puzzles and helping out the locals. Doing so boosts your charisma and unlocks new paths to explore. There’s also a crafting system that lets you turn raw materials into useful tools or unique decorations.

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In Pixelshire, you land in the charming pixel-art Kingdom of Arcadia, where you farm, fish, and bonde with townsfolk, much like Stardew Valley. But unlike Stardew’s farm-focused life, Pixelshire lets you shape the entire town with its standout terraforming system. You are able to carve rivers, sculpt hills, or craft winding paths to make the world your own, blending Animal Crossing’s creative freedom with Stardew’s cozy charm.

Unfortunately, Pixelshire’s charm ends here. Why did Merge Games release a half-finished game? It was supposed to release in Early Access, but it didn’t. Steam “Mostly Negative” reviews tell the story: “Bugs in this game will make people run,” one user wrote, while another said, “You can’t refill your watering can at any water source, only at the farmer’s river.” Others slammed the “really bad” control scheme and UI, with one reviewer calling it “an extremely rough first impression,” vowing never to return, even if Kappa Bits makes big fixes.

The developers swiftly responded on Steam, addressing concerns:

Some Stardew Valley fans have called Pixelshire a ripoff, citing its pixel-art style and farming roots, and I get the skepticism. Stardew itself leaned on Harvest Moon. But Pixelshire isn’t trying to be a copy; it carves its own path in the life sim genre. Its terraforming, town-building, and adventure elements, make it distinct. Playing it feels less like a Stardew clone and more like a love letter to life sims, with a splash of Animal Crossing’s customization.

At least, that’s what it was supposed to be, but Steam players agree the first 50 minutes of gameplay feel clunky and underwhelming. Despite high hopes for a fun sim, and after multiple delays and canceled physical orders, it’s hard to tell if Merge Games is supporting the developers or if the blame falls on them. Only time will show what’s really going on.

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Sofia dreamed of a home brimming with plum jam pancakes, pickled cucumbers, and homemade moonshine, and as Rusty, you’ll bring her vision to life on Mars. Using advanced robots, you’ll grow tomatoes and potatoes in high-tech greenhouses, automate production, and craft Martian delicacies. Explore an open world to gather resources, blueprints, and secret recipes, while unraveling a mystery linked to the shady AgroNova corporation.

AGRONOM blends cozy farming with clever automation as you manage quirky robots to plant, harvest, and build. From your Household Utility Base, you’ll craft tools and plan your Martian homestead’s growth. Quests from neighbors bring a warm village feel, offering rare seeds as rewards, but also uncover tensions, as some allies may align with AgroNova’s profit-hungry agenda.

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The Early Access release includes the opening story quests, three unique yokai transformations: Wild Boar, Dryad, and Slime each granting abilities like smashing obstacles, climbing cliffs, or diving underwater to solve puzzles and explore temples. Additionally, you can engage in farming, fishing, cooking, and crafting, customize furniture and clothing, participate in festivals like the Carp Festival, and build relationships with six romanceable characters.

The game also features boss battles and multiplayer co-op, allowing up to four players to explore, farm, or relax together. The full release will expand the story with additional chapters, new areas, NPCs, heart events, and gameplay features. Early Access updates will including new story quests, romance options, yokai transformations, and gameplay mechanics.

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Cattle Country blends wholesome slice-of-life gameplay with action-adventure elements, offering a vibrant take on the Wild West. You step into the boots of a pioneer building a new life in the fictional Hill Valley, where daily tasks include farming, mining, fishing, and crafting. From tending cattle to constructing a homestead, the game captures the hard work and rewards of frontier living under the vast blue skies.

Beyond ranching, you will engage with a lively community of townsfolk, swapping stories and lending a hand to build strong bonds. The game’s 18 romanceable characters add a heartfelt layer, letting you pursue love with charming locals, from rugged ranchers to spirited settlers. However, not everyone in Cattle Country is friendly, bandits and shady characters lurk, requiring you to protect your homestead and uncover dastardly plots to keep the community safe.

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