Wholesome Direct 2023: Our 15 Favorite Games

ign.com:

Today, Wholesome Games held its 2023 Wholesome Direct, which featured a whopping 76 games all focused on delivering cozy atmospheres and compassionate messages. Plenty of new games were announced and even more received release dates, new trailers, or other updates throughout the fast-paced showcase. Here are 15 of our favorite games featured in the Wholesome Direct.

Frogsong, the adorable action RPG that takes place in a frog and bug-filled world, is officially out now. The game follows Chorus, a small tree frog who hopes to protect the world despite society’s expectations for other frogs of their size. In the words of Frogsong’s Steam page, it’s a “heartfelt adventure where it’s okay to be small.” During the Wholesome Direct preshow, Frogsong developers Frogteam Games revealed the game’s surprise release on Nintendo Switch, Steam and itch.io.

Venba, a narrative cooking game focused on South Indian cuisine, finally has a release date, and it’s headed to Steam and Nintendo Switch on July 31. Players assume the role of an Indian mom who immigrates to Canada in the 1980s and explores family, love, and loss through cooking and by restoring lost recipes. During the Wholesome Direct, developers Visai Games showed off more of Venba’s satisfying cooking and painted art style.

In the strategy puzzle game Bubblegum Galaxy, players are tasked with rebuilding the universe by designing colorful planets tile by tile. Playing as the adorably low poly intern Haco, players will also meet a variety of quirky-looking coworkers (and just might discover the reason for the universe’s deletion in the first place) in between designing planets. It doesn’t have a release window yet, but a demo was made available on Steam during today’s showcase.

U