All articles tagged with #life sim
XCOM designer Jake Solomon announced that Midsummer Studios is shutting down and canceling the unreleased life-sim Burbank, sharing pre-alpha footage of an AI-driven storytelling system. The small studio (reported to be about 11 employees) expressed pride in what it built, even as industry closures continue to affect the games sector.
Veteran designer Jake Solomon shared early footage of Burbank, his AI-driven life-sim project, while revealing that his studio Midsummer Studios is closing and may never release the game. Described as a blend of Life Sim and The Truman Show, Burbank would let players craft their own TV show within the game, with AI handling memory, reasoning, and speech for characters—though Solomon stressed AI would not replace developers. Midsummer had raised over $6 million, but the studio is shutting down without releasing a title.
Emberville is a pixel-art life-sim RPG that blends Diablo-style dungeon crawling with Stardew Valley-style farming and town-building. Set in the foggy Vitromotus, it features challenging bosses, a dynamic HUD, and a class-based skill tree with perks that carry over between classes, plus an all-star voice cast including Doug Cockle and Alex Jordan. The game is headed to PC in early access in summer 2026.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced that Pokémon Pokopia, a life simulation game similar to Animal Crossing, will be released on Nintendo Switch 2 on March 5, 2026. Developed by Omega Force, the game features a Ditto character and involves building a Pokémon paradise. A trailer will be released on November 13, and an expansion is reportedly in development. Meanwhile, Animal Crossing New Horizons is receiving a major update for Switch 2 in January.
Pokémon Pokopia, a life-sim game for the Switch 2, is set to release on March 5, 2026, with a trailer premiering on November 13, 2025. The game introduces new life-sim elements to the franchise, blending cozy game styles like Animal Crossing and Minecraft, and may be released as a Game Key-Card.
Pokemon Pokopia is an upcoming life simulation game for Nintendo Switch 2, set to launch in 2026, where players can build a cozy community for Pokemon, with gameplay reminiscent of Animal Crossing, though details about its story remain unclear.
Tales of the Shire, a life simulation game set in the Lord of the Rings universe, falls short of expectations due to poor graphics, shallow gameplay, unmemorable characters, and lack of depth, failing to capture the charm of the Shire or satisfy fans of the genre.
A new open-world RPG called Nivalis, set in a neon-drenched cyberpunk city, is set to launch in 2024 and offers players a unique blend of cyberpunk elements with a life-sim experience. Players can manage restaurants, go fishing, and explore the city, eventually becoming a business magnate. The game challenges the gritty and violent stereotype of cyberpunk, featuring gorgeous voxel graphics and a more wholesome atmosphere. Nivalis will be available exclusively on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.
Fanatical is offering the PC game Alchemy Garden for free. To get the game, sign up for Fanatical, subscribe to the newsletter, add the game to your cart, and check out. Alchemy Garden is a life-sim game where players tend to gardens, nurture plants, and create potions to sell to villagers. Other deals include GOG offering Crusader Kings II for free, Fanatical's bundle deal on action games, and Amazon's buy two, get one free sale.
IGN recommends 7 cozy video games with queer representation to play during Pride month, including Spiritfarer, Wylde Flowers, The Archipelago, Coffee Talk, Stardew Valley, Night in the Woods, and I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. These games range from a melancholy journey through the beyond to a witchy life-sim with monsters to romance, and from a slow-paced tea steeping game to a futuristic coffee shop simulator. Night in the Woods is an unabashedly queer game with complex representation, while I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is an immersive narrative deckbuilding RPG set on an alien planet.
Developer Marvelous announced during the Marvelous Game Showcase 2023 that the next mainline entry of the Rune Factory series, Rune Factory 6, is currently in development and will take place on the western continent of Adonea. Not much else was announced regarding platforms or the game itself.
Perfect Garbage, the developers of Grave Seasons, a narrative-driven farming sim/life sim with a murder mystery element, tease that there are still supernatural secrets to be revealed. The game follows an outsider who moves to a small village and discovers that there is a serial killer on the loose. The team estimates that the game will have a 50:50 ratio of life sim tasks to "spooky town mystery". Funky secret mechanics combined with the murders being supernatural has got fans excited.
My Time at Sandrock, the life sim sequel to My Time at Portia, is now set to release in summer 2023 on PS5 and PS4, after previously aiming for a 2022 launch. Players will gather resources, build structures, fight wildlife, and form relationships with fellow settlers in their efforts to revitalize the town of Sandrock.