Now that the summer gaming event has splintered and is no longer just E3, some familiar patterns have emerged with the new slate of shows. The Summer Game Fest Showcase has more or less taken over as the “main event” to see new game reveals or new trailers. Usually we can expect to see a Direct from one or more publishers (Xbox and Ubisoft this year, for example). And then there’s “the rest,” a collection of gaming shows usually focused on a single objective, be it indie games, accessible games or something else.
In my opinion, the Wholesome Games Direct has swiftly emerged as consistently the “best of the rest.” 2024 was no different, as the Direct featured a number of beautiful games by small developers of the sort you don’t see in the other showcases. There’s also a greater variety of games on offer, as we saw the likes of restaurant management sims (Magical Bakery; Traveler’s Rest; Fruitbus), puzzle games (Dungeons Of Hinterberg; Mythmatch; Tiny Lands 2); and a surprisingly large number of creature-based games (Critter Cafe; Moonstone Island; Fantastic Haven).
The wholesome games in the Direct often, but not always, fall into the “cozy” supergenre of games, which means that they often feel more approachable than some of the bigger triple-A releases. They certainly are more likely to be accessible to younger or more casual players. This makes the Wholesome Direct one of the more family-friendly shows at the Summer Game Fest, another point in its favor.
But cozy or not, the Wholesome show is great for finding good old-fashioned weirdness. Here are some of the more unusual games we saw at this year’s Wholesome Game Direct:
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- Spilled, a working sim in which you live on a boat and clean up oil spills and waste
- Squeakross: Home Squeak Home, a cozy game in which you decorate your house by solving cheese picross puzzles
- Ila: A Frosty Glide, a platformer starring a witch who’s customized her broom with a skateboard
- Rooster, a minigame collection based on animals in the Chinese zodiac
- Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge, a farming sim about rescuing and raising frogs while restoring the wetlands
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