#carto

[myguiltyartpleasure]

Cozy games recommendations! part 2

As I promised here is another one bunch of cozy games. This time it's not stardew-like only.

Carto

PC, PS, iOS, Xbox, Nintendo switch (I've completed it for 8.5 hours without any rush)

I don't really see this game in lists of recommended cozy games, but it really deserves to be mentioned! It has interesting concept and beautiful art style. You're playing as a kid, who can change landscape by making changes in their map. You've lost from you grandma, you're trying to find her and all map pieces that were lost. It's a bit of a puzzle, you're travelling through different areas and see different people. It's quite short, but I loved it a lot.

Potion Craft

PC, PS, iOS, Xbox, Nintendo switch (I've played for 32 hours. There are still things to do and developers still release new content)

You're and alchemist in medieval kind of town. You need to create potions according to customer's request (there is no time limit, so don't worry about it). Brewing potions has it's own mechanics, which is easy to get used to. There is no plot, just some optional goals. The final one appears to be creating philosopher's stone. This is a kind of a repetitive game kill some time.

Unpacking

PC, PS, iOS, Xbox, Nintendo switch (I've played for 8 hours)

You're a person going through different stages of life. There are boxes with personal stuff to unpack and to put in places the way you want to. And I've just realized that "Unpacking" isn't just about things, but also about person's own life and problems, which is shown quite subtle. It's very relaxing and cozy

Cloud Gardens

PC, PS, iOS, Xbox, Nintendo switch (I have about 8 hours, but there are still things to do)

The world seems to be post-apocalyptical and you're helping the life to thrive again. Place plants to overgrown ruins and trash to create better scenery. If you love this kind of post-apocalyptical view, you'll like it. Just relax and pick places for plants to grow

Dorfromantik

PC, Nintendo switch (I have about 16 hours)

Place tiles with few rules to create as big area as possible. No plot or quests, just beautiful landscape to create. Apparently there is also a board Dorfromantik game, but I haven't tried it

PowerWash Simulator

PC, PS, iOS, Xbox, Nintendo switch (I have about 120 hours)

You basically just washing different surfaces with pressure washer, but it's really satisfying. There are stories from customers and missing cat, but I usually got too involved in washing process to track them. There is coop mode and paid additional content, but there is enough locations if you don't want to pay extra

Storyteller

PC, iOS, Android, Nintendo switch (I have about 4 hours)

You have a book to fill with stories. You can create ones that asked to be completed or create some weird stories. All you have is a page, characters, scenes and actions to create your fable. I've created number of gay marriages and game allowed me to 😄

What's your definition of cozy game? I have some more to share, but they don't always match the "cozy" term, so I'd love to hear your opinion

[jacobharvestart]

Finally finished the colour wheel trend with characters from steam games ive finished playing

[sweetcandyholic]

played carto the other day and fell in love with it

[videogames-i-wish-were-real]

Videogames I wish were real #77

An open-world roguelike game about mapmaking. You play as a cartographer that wants to create a map of the world, but every time you die and are reborn, the world is also reborn, rendering your previous maps useless. While exploring the wilderness you will have to battle all kinds of creatures, but also to survive climbing tall mountains, crossing rivers, and dealing with perilous weather.

Occasionally, you might encounter a teleportation circle, a rare and mysterious magical circle that will allow you to return swiftly to your home base with your precious maps intact. The other inhabitants in your base will then copy these maps and use them to safely travel around the mapped areas to gather resources or trade with nearby settlements.

If you make it safely back to your base, the next time you venture back to the world, it will remain unchanged, and you will have to trek again through mapped (but still dangerous) areas to arrive to the edge of your map, and from then on, keep exploring and setting the wondrous new sights to ink.

Similar games that actually exist: Carto (suggested by @hazelence)

[maxxmaxxing]

oough i love carrots i want to wwa want to nwant want to eat a ccraart

[zettaflake]

Sometimes I imagine how Carto feels as she flies on the piece of earth she's remapping, and how that map would move our own earth IRL.

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[Inktober: Under the Indie Radar]

Prompt | Day 5: Map Game(s) | Carto by Sunhead Games

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(Next two drawings will likely come out today. I'm going on a drawing frenzy >:) )

[satyricorner]

We're live and trying to work out the existential questions raised by the adorable tile-laying game.

Join me for more Carto!

[wally-b-feed]

Anthony Fineran (B 1981), Carto Allad, 2023

[hansgaypon]

guys pls i know i have 0 fans but if for some reason anyone sees this post pls check out carto its 70% off rn its one of my favorite games of all time its such a wonderful experience

[theindiegamesautistic]

Carto

once again, I hope this is spoiler free (I did my best)

I got this in the new year and it was a lovely way to decompress post exam.

You play as a young girl (called carto) who is trying to find her grandmother's airship after falling out during a storm. During this, you explore multiple biomes with their own colour schemes and sets of characters.

As well as interacting with characters and objects, you can open up the map tab and move around pieces of the map, which causes the world to move to match.

It is worth noting that this game is story based and not open world, so you may not be able to interact with objects until the appropriate time in the story.

It took me about 7.5hrs to finish the narrative, and I did not complete all side quests. I found the puzzles slowly increase in difficulty, so that I was eased in and then they slowly became challenging.

Also, i can't explain it, but the character of carto (as well as quite a few of the other characters) gives me big Autism Vibes™.

sensory experience:

The game has music, which changes as the story progresses. it is usually light and bouncy in style. There are also ambient sounds, such as the wind, depending on the environment/biome you are in. It makes a sound when characters speak (not a voice, more like the odd video game talking), when you move prices of the map around and there's footstep noises when you walk.

The ambient, music and SFX volume are all controllable separately in the settings menu, as well as the brightness and the master volume.

The overall colours change depending on the biome, but they are mostly muted colours (I didn't find any of them too bright)

As you walk around on a map piece, if the edges are visible, they move around to keep you in the middle of the screen. I find this can make me a little nauseous in some chapters where it's more noticeable.

In chapter 7, there are a few moments when the whole field of view shakes and there is rumbling heard.

emotional experience:

Overall, the game is fairly relaxed. There is not a time limit and you can't die.

It is slightly emotional, as your character is looking for their lost grandma. There are also other characters who are separated from their family members and one character mentions how it's just him and his dad since he "lost" his mum. This is a short conversation and the topic doesn't come up again.

During chapter 7, there is a scene that created mild stress for me, as the speech from the other characters and the visuals make it feel like you must act quickly.

Did I find it accessible?

easy of learning controls ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I found the controls simple to learn. On the map tab, which controls to use are displayed as there are a few to remember, and I found this incredibly helpful.

processing speed/reaction time requirements: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

None of the game requires a fast processing speed or reaction time

focus requirement: ⭐⭐⭐

I found it needed a moderate level of focus, as solving the puzzles often requires remembering things that have been said to you previously. The focus doesn't need to be maintained (no elements of the game punish the player for losing focus momentarily) however, many clues to solve the puzzles are given by characters earlier in the game, so it can be a little slower if you miss these clues (however, for some, more tricky, puzzles, there is prompting)

Also, multiple of the puzzles required visualisation.

Overall, I found carto accessible, if a little hard on days that I was tired/struggling to focus. I was able to access all parts of the game.

overall ratings

sweet scenes:🤗🤗🤗🤗quite a few

happy stims while playing: ✨✨✨✨lots

time lost that i didn't notice: ⌚⌚⌚quite a bit

bear hugs:🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻 unlimited (but only if you want them)

Amount I related to the main character: ♾️♾️♾️ not neurotypical

[lyeekha]

Carto is an adorable little fun puzzle game - occasionally very heartwarming and interesting imagery but mostly 'just' very engaging relaxing puzzle... ...but I've just now reached a reveal of The Reason behind the Island Tribe's traditions and it actually made me sit thinking 'Oh. Oh of course' and feel nicely abstract for a bit. that was an actual punch. which i didnt expect. had to tell someone as tho i reached a plot twist

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Very briefly: Carto seems cute and fun, but I'm pretty sure I managed to glitch it into an unwinnable state after like 20 minutes, and after spending another ten minutes trying everything I could possibly think of to fix it or convince it to progress or reset the thing I did I lost interest in starting over and redoing all that. I did genuinely like that first little bit though, and it's probably a good game if you don't immediately break it.

[tingvall]

Been playing Carto on my Steam Deck lately.

Absolutely amazing work Sunhead Games!

I love the puzzle mechanic with shuffling the map around!

[magnusnoos]

Fã Tradução PT-BR (Português Brasileiro) de Carto

[shadowthehedgehog]

this is gonna live rent free in my head forever

[zettaflake]

Announcing Inktober 2023: Under the Indie Radar!

It's time to explore the world of indie games, whose colorful identities far too often go under the radar. Led by small teams whose scope were only limited their creativity and daring will to think different, their strides in the gaming world, big or small, brought stories, ingenuity, adrenaline, and community together.

One prompt, one drawing, every day. All of my drawings will feature one or more characters or scenes from indie games. Expect crossovers. You're on my art page after all :)

I started following Inktober in 2019, where I celebrated my love for indie games by drawing whatever characters, items, environments, and interactions first came to my head. I even celebrated by assembling all 65 characters into a large pile, which is one of my proudest fan arts to date. I have participated for the past three years as well, although I didn't fully follow through with all 31 prompts those years. As for the characters featured those years, they'll get their own pile later!

My previous Inktober drawings: @1_monsoon_5 on Instagram

I'm looking forward to reviving my yearly tradition in full force this time! Having made this graphic, I can already feel the commitment spirit!

Stay tuned for Day 1: Dream!