There's been a lot of discourse about the emerging cozy/wholesome game in recent years. Most of it's silly, but it circulates around the idea that cozy games ignore genuine conflict — that they showcase a reality that doesn't challenge you and can tend to promote toxic positivity. As someone who has no shame in gravitating toward games in the genre, I take umbrage with those ideas.
But we're not here to relitigate those conversations. No, we're here to showcase a game that uses a cozy environment and mellow aesthetic to try to address and heal some genuinely painful self-image issues: a cozy game that embraces conflict, and constantly bumps up against it, while exploring the ideas of zen and relaxation.
Here's why Wanderstop, a narrative tea shop sim, feels like it could be one of my favorite cozy games ever.
Just the Facts |
Developer: Ivy Road |
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive |
Platform(s): PC, PS5 |
Price: TBA |
Release Date: March 11, 2025 |
Wanderstop is the debut project from Ivy Road, a studio founded by Davey Wreden of Stanley Parable fame, Karla Zimonja of Gone Home and Tacoma fame, and composer extraordinaire C418, most known for his work on Minecraft's soundtrack. Around them, they've built an incredibly talented team to make this game a reality, including publishing support from Annapurna Interactive.
With this who's who of indie development legends, there's certainly a lot of hype building around this project. Expectations are high — and the anxiety of holding oneself to those elevated demands and finding failure instead is a big piece of what Wanderstop is actually about.
This tea shop managing game starts in an unexpected place. Its unlikely hero, Alta, is a fighter — one in the middle of a crisis. Alta was once a legend, an unbeatable fighter who'd taken down all foes and stood at the peak of her field. (Sound familiar?) She'd never lost. Until suddenly she did. And before she could shake that off, she did again. And again. And again. Everything shatters as she wonders how it could happen, how all her efforts could ever let her fail.
Clearly, the only answer is to work even harder.
Alta retreats into the forest to find an old mentor to help her become unbeatable again, but when exhaustion settles in, she collapses. When she wakes, she's in a serene and beautiful clearing where a jolly round bald man waits to tell her about the wonderful tea shop she's stumbled upon. Alta hates being stopped in her tracks. But her exhaustion stops her from making any sudden movements, and before she knows it, she's helping the man with his day-to-day.
From what we can glean from the demo, Wanderstop seems to be a game about knowing your limits, about allowing yourself to fail, and about relearning what self-worth means when it isn't directly attached to your accomplishments. And you might be surprised to hear, but that struck a chord with this sleep-deprived editor-in-chief who banks a lot of his self-worth on the success of his writing and will push himself to the limit to ensure his site is successful.
Oh. This game's gonna cook us all, isn't it?
From my 40 minutes with Wanderstop's Steam Next Fest demo, I was struck by how different a cozy game feels when its protagonist clearly doesn't want to be there.
In the demo, you watch as the gritty, motivated, and altogether frustrated warrior that is Alta almost literally trips into a cozy game she has no time for. You watch as she huffs and puffs her way through picking tea leaves and as her practiced motions of aggression and combat have to be adapted for these gentler tasks. She bats and kicks and swings with the pugnacity of bloodthirsty battle when she's simply planting, brewing, and cultivating. She snaps at Boro, the aforementioned jolly man, simply for implying she take a break.
It colors gameplay that feels pretty familiar — planting seeds, watering plants, gathering up resources — and makes it all feel fresh. When you've got a routine-based cozy game whose protagonist wants nothing to do with the whole procedure, it's a lot more interesting than being a nameless newcomer to town who suddenly decides to become the world's best rancher.
My favorite part of the demo came in actually brewing tea, as you have to maneuver around this large bespoke brewing machine in the center of the shop to brew even the smallest cup of tea. Swivel a large ladder around the machine, pull on a lever here to pour out some water, heat it all up with a small contextual minigame at the bellows, and toss your ingredients into the infuser to make a specifically flavored cup.
Tactile brewing action is my thing. And by making the process that hands-on, it makes the brewing experience feel that much more personal and each cup more special. I can see the activity being so emotionally charged by the end, and I'm just not ready for it.
Outside of that, the demo also features an interesting planting and hybridizing mechanic where you create new plants out of different seed types planted in unique arrangements. I'll be curious to see how far the variety of plants goes in the full game, but the Animal Crossing flower cultivators will have their work cut out for them figuring out these hybrids.
The demo doesn't show off too much more, as you never actually serve a customer a cup of tea or see anyone other than Boro. Though Wanderstop's adorable penguin-like pluffins can be seen wandering the clearing and delivering random seeds to the shop from time to time. But it introduces its world and concept beautifully and sets up a journey of healing that I want to see through to the end.
Not at all because I kinda need it myself. Nope. Just wanna see how Alta deals with it all. That's all.
Wanderstop releases March 11 and has a demo available during February's Steam Next Fest. It will be launching on PC and PS5. Go give it a wishlist on Steam, or else all your hard work to be the best gamer might just be lost. Don't want that, now, do ya? BE LIKE ALTA. WORK YOURSELF TO THE BONE! WISHLIST WANDERSTOP!
Want more on upcoming games? Check out our Steam Next Fest coverage and mini-previews.
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