#cosy gaming community

[elitheaceofalltrades]

Botany Manor Demo Review

Continuing with reviewing games I played from Nextfest, we have Botany Manor!

Planned Release Date: 9th April, 2024

Botany manor first got on my radar after watching Kennedy play a demo of it on Youtube last year. I immediately wanted it and I grabbed the demo myself the first chance I got😂😂

Botany manor is a first person exploration-puzzle game where you play as a retired botanist. The demo is the first two puzzles and a small area of the map but even just that gave you a lot to explore. I was originally interested in this game because I like puzzles, I like flowers and I like good artstyles. Botany manor delivered on all of that and more and I'm really glad I played it and super excited for it to come out in just under 2 months!! Now to my thoughts.

Pros

The puzzles were interesting. I like that they're in the form of how to grow the particular plant and that you get a coloured drawing of the plant once you complete the puzzle.

I like that as you find clues you can log them in your journal and that it tells you how many clues each puzzle has. Sometimes in games, you forget what a particular clue said or you're not sure if you found all or not and this gives you a more organised method without making the game feel too easy

I liked that all the rooms were labelled because I am a person that gets turned around and lost quite easy in video games😆😆

I think the story is going to be amazing. Obviously in the demo, we didn't really get to see much of the storyline but there were a lot of background clues that flesh out the plot and makes Botany Manor feel like it was a real place and Arabella feel like a real person. I only saw small stuff like the letter from her sister and the family tree but even from those, I learnt a lot about Arabella already!

These next two don't pertain as much to me but...

If 1st person games make you motion sick, they have options in the settings to help with that. This isn't something I've ever experienced but I know a lot of people do

following on from the above, i found there were a lot of accessiblity options which I thought was nice. I used them to make the crosshair a bit bigger but I know they can be useful for a lot of people.

Cons

Not much if I'm being honest. I really liked the game. My only complaint, and this is me nitpicking, is that I felt like my controller was a bit janky, as in movement wasn't as smooth as I would like. However, I do want to note that I did not mess with the settings at all, so that could have 100% been a me problem.

Overall, it was a fun game and I'm excited for the full release. I'm not sure how much this game will cost or exactly how many puzzles this game will have, though from the demo I think the map will be quite large. From what I think it will have I think that with enough puzzles this game could easily be worth US$20/GBP£15. If it's released higher than that, I would honestly say to still wishlist it and wait for a sale cause I think it's a worthwhile game to have!

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

~Eli

Ace of All Trades, Pro at None😆

[dom-daily]

I am about 20 days behind on my daily Doms and I figured the best way to catch up is to draw a bunch at once. Here’s days 70 to 80! It’s getting colder here in the Southern hemisphere, so I got inspired to draw this autumnal spread – let me know which is your favourite! For my friends in the Northern hemisphere, I hope this sparks some autumnal joy, maybe I’ll do a spring one next 🧡

[taylorannnx]

Chefs de Partie

It's here! It's here! It's finally here!

Chefs de Partie is such a personal project for me and a career milestone. As someone who loves cooking with others, I wanted to make a minigame for RPG campaigns that's quick and fun.

This is the first project I've been the creative lead on with more than 1 other person on the team and I was very brave asking friends and individuals whose work I admire to work with me on this. We have layout by Nala J. Wu, editing by Marielle Ko, and recipes from Austin Taylor, Basil Wright, Danny Quach, DT 'Honey' Saint, Erin Roberts, and Poorna M. (aka my Dream Team!)

This one page game is 10% legalese & credits, 30% rules, and 60% examples of how you can integrate it into D&D 5e, Blades in the Dark, Lasers & Feelings, and Fate Core. Zero prep is required, just 15-30 minutes of game time.

Please consider grabbing a copy for $4.95 today (with options for 50% and 100% off in the product description) here.

[weirdmallow]

From the 'Lofi Bards (To Study and Relax To)' Tabletop RPG

[cosykiara]

Elmer just texted me to meet up with him and Cranston — gotta jet! 💨

[lettersfromavalon]

👉👈 not me playing hours (125 so far) of DDV 🤭

[theviridianbunny]

🦇🧚‍♀️🦊

As the autumn sinks it's teeth in - I'm trying to get cozy... So- Que a desk tidy, hanging up strings of fairy lights and setting up my new fox lamp (that I found in a charity shop a few days ago) -to finnish off- i've chosen a new wallpaper selection on my monitors (which I may show off properly soon ~!)

[viahiptop]

hi ddlv folks plz help me choose which shot is best for this weeks dreamsnaps? struggling over here 🥲

[coffeestarsbooks]

Maple just enjoying some reading time by the stream :)

[ruereviews]

Would anyone be interested in a discord server to talk about films games anime and all sorts of fandom stuff?

[cozywithmicki]

[elitheaceofalltrades]

Minami Lane Demo Review

So Last week I finally tried rebalancing my life and made times for hobbies! Not sure how long it will last cause Feb & Mar are always terrible for my S.A.D but we move.

So I got this demo from steam nextfest last week. It was recommended to me by steam and then after I had already downloaded it, it also got recommended by both Payton and Kennedy on youtube. I thought the art was super cute and that was what originally drew me in. The premise also seemed nice to me and at first I wasn't sure if it was a game I'd buy but I knew I at least wanted to demo it. I'm so glad I did!!

The game was totally adorable and I had a lot of fun! The demo was only 2 mission while I believe the full game will be at least 5 missions and a sandbox mode.

So what's it about? Minami Lane is this absolutely adorable cosy game where you build and manage a street. You customise buildings, manage shops and try to maximise your villagers happiness. Normally I'm a bit avoidant of management games recently because I feel like a lot of them are too much. There is so much to manage, they move quickly and normally they also have a pretty large scale. Bascially, modern management games tend to make me overwhelmed. However, this reminded me of some of the like early 2010s management games that were way more chilled and laid back.

Pros

The game mechanics were easy to understand

It was fun!

The challenges were difficult enough that you had to work for them but not so difficult that you got fustrated

You can pause or speed up time

There's a clear daily review at the end of the day that summarises what you accomplished and your villagers overall thoughts and ratings which was layed out nice and easy to understand

After Mission 1, you can save the reviews your villagers have of your shops which is great at helping you keep track of what you need to change

CATS

TANUKI

The customisation options for buildings were nice

Actually the building options on a whole were cool, there was a boba shop, a bookstore and a ramen shop to name a few.

It autosaves

The art style was adorable (wow I've used that word a lot)

The music was nice

Cons

I found that sometimes the trash you had to pick up was really hard to spot. My villagers would say something was there and I'd have to pause time and zoom in to try to find it.

You can't rewind time or restart a day and a couple times I accidentally started my day before adding a building.

You can't change where a building is located and you can only add 1 space to the left at a time.

Overall I really enjoyed this game and I added it to my wishlist. I hope you give this game a try if you like cosy relaxing games. It releases this month on 28th February and it's estimated to be about 2-4 hours playtime. I don't currently know what the price will be but at that play time I can't imagine it being over US$10. The creators have also stated on the steam page that there won't be any new levels added after release which furthers my belief that this will be a cheap game.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

~Eli

Ace of All Trades, Pro at None😆

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

[dom-daily]

Day 13. You check your security cameras and see this… what do you do?

[taylorannnx]

Oh Gosh I've Released A Lot Of Games This Year & Other Thoughts by Taylor Navarro

We're just over half way through February and I've released two new games, "re-released" a game, and I've been actively promoting my Kickstarter for about a week now. That's a lot of work! So let's elevator pitch my TTRPGs because I'm very proud of them all :D

Chefs de Partie

Need a breather from your RPG campaign? Make your characters cook together using this cosy one page minigame! (Examples of how to integrate with other TTRPGs included). Grab it on DriveThruRPG for $4.95 (options for 50% and 100% off available).

Constellation Crafting: Chaos Mode

Someone can't make it to session? Doing some worldbuilding? Want an RP warm up? Make your own zodiac in less than 15 minutes in this chaotic one-page dice-rolling game for 1-9 players! Grab it on itch.io here for $2 (free community copies available).

Dice of Life

This one-page TTRPG is an emotionally heavy exploration of parenthood, isolation, and the crushing, repetitive nature of too many pulls on your attention. Get it for Pay What You Want on itch.io.

Not Yet

Not Yet is a romantic duet TTRPG based on the "just missed them" and "right person, wrong time" tropes where you and your partner attempt to defy the odds to meet one another. This will be my first ever Kickstarter (and game with physical copies!) so if you liked the yellow umbrella saga of How I Met Your Mother, please sign up to the pre-launch page so you're notified when crowdfunding goes live!

[nysno-rose]

Rainbow heart dangle earrings

[cosykiara]

a rainy, overcast afternoon on pinkuberry 🌷🌧️

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!