Spirittea, a mix of Stardew Valley and Spirited Away, is out today on Steam and Game Pass

rockpapershotgun.com:

Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away is a film about a spoilt young girl who is obliged to work at a bathhouse for supernatural creatures, after her parents are turned into pigs by a wicked witch. Spirittea from Edmonton, Canada-based Cheesemaker Games is Spirited Away in the guise of a Stardew Valley-style management sim. Released today, it casts you as a wholesome young entrepreneur who has just arrived in a town full of rogue supernatural creatures. To free the town from its spectral infestation, you must renovate an old mountain bathhouse and treat each phantom to a jolly good scrub. You might also need to deal with some Unfinished Business, such as tracking down a lost possession. At least there's no witch to worry about. That I know of, anyway.

I have fond memories of Spirited Away - it was the film that re-introduced me to anime as an undergraduate, following the traditional early-career middlebrow otaku phase of obsessing over Akira, Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell while turning my nose up at stuff like Naruto, because it's "just for kids". I was on the brink of pitching a Spirittea review, but then our reviews editor Ed Thorn emerged howling and gibbering from the floorboards and asked me to review a 100-hour RPG instead (won't spoil), so I'll have to settle for trying the demo.

As with Stardew Valley, Spirittea is about managing a lot of different things at once. You've got to board, bathe and feed the spirits, who range in size from ecotoplasmic emoji to huge tiger gods. You've got to keep the bathhouse clean and stocked with towels and wood for the boilers, while gradually introducing new furnishings and decorations. You've got to visit the shops to buy said furnishings and decorations, which will probably