Spiritfarer is a relaxing management game. As Stella, the new spiritfarer, players need to build their boats, explore the world, and take care of the spirit friends aboard. The game caught my eyes with its clean artstyle. I was then captivated by the demo released earlier this year. The concept of hugging everyone to comfort or make them joyful really steals my heart, especially hugging humanoid animals. I am a hopeless furry. The charm does not end there. The vivid characters, the various mini games, and the exploration elevates the experience to be fruitful. I strongly recommend this game, especially to those who want to take a break from games of different genres.


1. Clean Artstyle
The first time I knew Thunder Lotus was through Sundered. The eldritch action roguelite game had a unique touch in terms of artstyle. Something in their background, character portrait, and enemy design stirs my sense. Smooth and surreal. Twisted, yet somehow ethereal. And now I see the same thing in Spiritfarer. Less twisted, smoother and more ethereal. The game itself, in comparison to the previous title, is quite peaceful. The developer uses simple lines and plain colors to enlighten the idea, presenting a cheerful journey in this vast, clean afterworld.

2. Lovely Characters
Probably the most important element in this game. The developer did a really good job polishing every character to be unique and lovable individual. It makes me feel like everyone aboard belong to my big family. A blasé yet caring deer big sister, a cheerful and resourceful toad uncle, and a knowledgeable, vegan snake grandma; an amiable yet forgetful hedgehog grandma who enjoys gardening, an innocent and wonderful mushroom little brother with a cute and straightforward mindset, and a little snooty yet charming falcon uncle with a keen artistic sense. Even the bully in the game is likeable. It`s easy to grow attach to these characters. Their intersesting dialogues and quests truly showcases their personality, not to mention their specialties which can aid the player for necessary materials for upgrades. I really wish I could see Gwen, Atul, Summer and Alice again. They are my favorite members during this wonderful trip. I miss them a lot.

3. All-In-One Features
The gameplay of Spiritfarer can be summed up as a series of mini games. Building management: as more passengers aboard, the player needs to maximize the vessel capacity and channel inner artistic integrity to form the wonderful combination comfortable for both function-wise and aesthetic-wise. Gardenig experience: there are three types of plantation that need you to water, with each soil suitable for certain kinds of seeds. Materials gathering: every resource has its own mechanic for the player to master, while most of them require precision and agility, some require a certain passenger on board to access. Cooking: with a magical oven, Stella can cook up a lot of delicious and exotic delicacy to satisfy everyone. The possible recipe is only limited by the player imagination. Finally, after a long day, why not sit back and simply fish? You never know what kind of thing can be pulled out from the vast, azure ocean.

4. You Can Hug Everyone Aboard, Even Your Lovely Cat.

5. The Ending Song Hits Hard.


1. Workshop Material Caps
I don`t know why the amount of materials you can put into the corresponding workshop differs. You can put as many silks as you want in the loom and weave as many as you want, but you can only put five ores in the foundry and produce five ingots at a time; you can put as many moods as you want in the sawmill and saw as many as your heart desire, but you can only smith one piece of metal sheet at a time in the smithy. For both situations, the latters probably make sense in real life, except this is a video game. I see no harm to remove the cap for those workshop item limits. Not only does it remove the tediousness of repeating the same process, but it also saves time for other more interesting and engaging activities.

2. A Little Change To Spice Up Small Islands
Most of the lesser islands only serve as materials-gathering location, mainly early game resources. Once you progress through mid-game, there is no reason to revisit these places due to player has already owned so much of those resources and the fact that they have no use for late game content. I suggest giving these islands some mini events once a while, giving the player some motivation to stop by. The rewards can be a little late-game material or a piece of information about the world around. I like revisiting big city for character development or some specific quests. It makes the experience fresh and interesting. I wish the smaller islands receive some love too.

[h1]Somtimes, All You Need Is A Simple Hug.[/h1] Spiritfarer is a relaxing management game. As Stella, the new spiritfarer, players need to build their boats, explore the world, and take care of the spirit friends aboard. The game caught my eyes with its clean artstyle. I was then captivated by the demo released earlier this year. The concept of hugging everyone to comfort or make them joyful really steals my heart[strike], especially hugging humanoid animals. I am a hopeless furry.[/strike] The charm does not end there. The vivid characters, the various mini games, and the exploration elevates the experience to be fruitful. I strongly recommend this game, especially to those who want to take a break from games of different genres. [h1] Things I Like About Spiritfarer:[/h1] [b]1. Clean Artstyle[/b] The first time I knew Thunder Lotus was through Sundered. The eldritch action roguelite game had a unique touch in terms of artstyle. Something in their background, character portrait, and enemy design stirs my sense. Smooth and surreal. Twisted, yet somehow ethereal. And now I see the same thing in Spiritfarer. Less twisted, smoother and more ethereal. The game itself, in comparison to the previous title, is quite peaceful. The developer uses simple lines and plain colors to enlighten the idea, presenting a cheerful journey in this vast, clean afterworld. [b]2. Lovely Characters[/b] Probably the most important element in this game. The developer did a really good job polishing every character to be unique and lovable individual. It makes me feel like everyone aboard belong to my big family. A blasé yet caring deer big sister, a cheerful and resourceful toad uncle, and a knowledgeable, vegan snake grandma; an amiable yet forgetful hedgehog grandma who enjoys gardening, an innocent and wonderful mushroom little brother with a cute and straightforward mindset, and a little snooty yet charming falcon uncle with a keen artistic sense. Even the bully in the game is likeable. It`s easy to grow attach to these characters. Their intersesting dialogues and quests truly showcases their personality, not to mention their specialties which can aid the player for necessary materials for upgrades. I really wish I could see Gwen, Atul, Summer and Alice again. They are my favorite members during this wonderful trip. I miss them a lot. [b]3. All-In-One Features[/b] The gameplay of Spiritfarer can be summed up as a series of mini games. Building management: as more passengers aboard, the player needs to maximize the vessel capacity and channel inner artistic integrity to form the wonderful combination comfortable for both function-wise and aesthetic-wise. Gardenig experience: there are three types of plantation that need you to water, with each soil suitable for certain kinds of seeds. Materials gathering: every resource has its own mechanic for the player to master, while most of them require precision and agility, some require a certain passenger on board to access. Cooking: with a magical oven, Stella can cook up a lot of delicious and exotic delicacy to satisfy everyone. The possible recipe is only limited by the player imagination. Finally, after a long day, why not sit back and simply fish? You never know what kind of thing can be pulled out from the vast, azure ocean. [b]4. You Can Hug Everyone Aboard, Even Your Lovely Cat.[/b] [spoiler]5. The Ending Song Hits Hard.[/spoiler] [h1] Things I Dislike About Spiritfarer[/h1] [b]1. Workshop Material Caps[/b] I don`t know why the amount of materials you can put into the corresponding workshop differs. You can put as many silks as you want in the loom and weave as many as you want, but you can only put five ores in the foundry and produce five ingots at a time; you can put as many moods as you want in the sawmill and saw as many as your heart desire, but you can only smith one piece of metal sheet at a time in the smithy. For both situations, the latters probably make sense in real life, except this is a video game. I see no harm to remove the cap for those workshop item limits. Not only does it remove the tediousness of repeating the same process, but it also saves time for other more interesting and engaging activities. [b]2. A Little Change To Spice Up Small Islands[/b] Most of the lesser islands only serve as materials-gathering location, mainly early game resources. Once you progress through mid-game, there is no reason to revisit these places due to player has already owned so much of those resources and the fact that they have no use for late game content. I suggest giving these islands some mini events once a while, giving the player some motivation to stop by. The rewards can be a little late-game material or a piece of information about the world around. I like revisiting big city for character development or some specific quests. It makes the experience fresh and interesting. I wish the smaller islands receive some love too.