I have this loosely defined made-up genre I call “Summer Games”.
It started a long time ago subconsciously. At some point I realized that during the hottest time of the year I gravitate to certain games that I mostly play on a small device (laptop/switch/steamdeck), laying in bed, late at night, when I have trouble sleeping because it’s too hot. A friend of mine once said that the reason she loves super high temperatures so much, is that what you experience leaves more vivid, burned in, memories. I think she has a point.
The criteria aren’t super rigid but I hope you get the “vibe” and might know some games that fit:
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Low-stakes/chill gameplay. I’m already sweating, I don’t need sweaty gameplay right now
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a warm aesthetic/color palette and/or setting. My outside experience shouldn’t feel too different to the games inside experience aesthetic-wise.
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It feels like a road trip, adventure or vacation. I want to get a summery memory out of this.
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the game leaves some kind of impact.
Games I played in the past that evoked that vibe perfectly:
- Kentucky road zero
- oxenfree
- road 96
- firewatch
- sable
- rime
- steins: gate
- life is strange
Games that have fit okay-ish
- tunic
- journey
- citizen sleeper
- nightcall
- no umbrellas allowed
- the talos principle
- the solus project
- the witness
- the vanishing of Ethan Carter
If anyone has a recommendation, I’d be thankful. This year I have started to play chants of Sennaar and it seems to fit the criteria so far.
“What Remains of Edith Finch” could work. And “Man eater.” What’s more summer than a a shark?
Brothers a Tale of Two Sons
Seasons After Fall
A Story About my Uncle
Subnautica
Raft
Ori 1 and 2 maybe
The Long Drive and My Summer Car are literally everything you describe wanting in two distinct flavors.
I also was immediately thinking “The Quarry,” which is essentially a playable horror movie set at a summer camp. I don’t usually like these types of games, but this one is extremely good if you like horror movies.
Even if you don’t like horror movies, imo The Quarry is worth a try.
I don’t like horror movies, personally, and I really enjoyed The Quarry quite a lot. I like most of Supermassive’s games, but The Quarry is probably the best one, barring the newest Dark Pictures and Until Dawn as I’ve played neither.
My summer car is hilarious. Its basically a finnish mechanic with alcoholism simulator for me
The game you are looking for is called Everyone’s Gone to The Rapture.
Perfect, thanks!
Based on the games you’ve mentioned, you’ll love it .
A slow walking sim in an English village. Super atmosphere, interesting story, good voice acting. An authentic stroll around an English village. I know the area where it’s set, and the vibe is spot on.
I’d recommend:
- The Outer Wilds
- Graveyard Keeper
- Subnautica
A Short Hike. Essentially a short, cute animal-characters “collectathon” walking-sim/3d-platformer with some low-stakes “arcade” bits here and there. The low-res pixel-effect can be turned off.
AER: Memories of old. Quite a bit in same vein as Rime/Sable, travel between floating islands and participate in low-stakes puzzles/platforming. Pretty charming, imo… and short. Can be finished under 2 hours.
Lil Gator Game sounds right up your alley.
It’s a great game and fun to 100%.
My Summer Car is pretty cool. I’ve been playing Dredge this summer and it’s been pretty chill and low-stakes.
Dredge is definitely not a chill game
Chill as in chills your bones.
I’m super afraid of the ocean dredge looks like a horror game to me
Dang, sorry to hear that. It relaxes me when I play it
The Wreck
I think you might like Superliminal or Hardspace Shipbreaker.
I’m less sure about the following but still wanted to suggest them:
- Dinkum (it’s like Animal Crossing but in Australia)
- Astroneer (pretty chill exploration and mining game)
- Roots of Pacha (a more story-focused Harvest Moon like game)
What an incredible description of Dinkum
The vombats even poop cubes man.
Likely in the ok-ish section but Celeste has that vibe going for it
Amazing game, but I’m not sure I’d describe the gameplay as chill!
The Uncharted series? It’s okay to play on an easy difficulty level, and they’re not too hard anyway.
Oh I didn’t realize it got released on PC!
Bulwark, The Falconeer Chronicles. You can’t get much more chill and low stakes than this steampunk airship city building game.
Psychonauts (the original, not the sequel, though the sequel is also good) is a Summer Camp themed 3D platformer. It doesn’t quite meet your “low stakes/chill gameplay” criteria as it does have combat and mildly challenging boss fights and platforming, but it nails the rest. It’s easier than Tunic. Maybe worth checking out.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons strictly meets all the criteria listed, but it’s ultimately a tragic story. If “some kind of impact” includes leaving you in tears, check it out.
Okami is a Zelda style adventure set in feudal Japan with immaculate vibes. You play as the sun goddess Amaterasu in the form of a wolf bringing light and life to a land ravaged by demons. The world is cold and dark at first, but you bring spring and summer on your heels.
Finally, two favorites from my childhood are the Spyro series and the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series. These are 3D Platformer collectathons and neither of these series are even close to any of the examples you provided, but they are bright and colorful and in my heart they have feelings of Summer Vacation and staying home all day to play video games.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is peak summer game. It’s basically set in a setting inspired by the Australian outback.
Oh spyro brings back very distant memories of my childhood. I think I played all the Playstation and Gameboy games. I will always remember the sound of collecting gems.
I’ll check out the other games you mentioned, thanks a lot. The sad one will probably go on my list for depression season haha
I specifically mentioned both Spyro and Ty because both series have remasters available on Steam. The Spyro: Reignited Trilogy in particular is phenomenal. They did a really good job making the updated graphics look just like my nostalgic memories of the game.
This post is months old now, but I fucking love Psychonauts. It shaped me into the person I am today. I’ve replayed it so many times I’ve lost count, and I can tell you at what point in the game each song of the soundtrack plays. Also the sequel takes place only days after the first, so it could still technically be called a summer game. Also the sequel is honestly a damn masterpiece imo.
Also, Ty is absolutely fantastic. Any of the water levels are absolute summer vibes imo. And the soundtrack is fantastic as well. I 100% the first three on steam.
Dungeons of Hinterburg might fit the bill. Just released. Looks and plays well. It is an action rpg with social sim elements set in the Alps.
Looks great! The Alps is where I spend a lot of my vacation days, why not add some nights as well haha
Thanks, this looks great!
