With the Indie Round Up taking a backseat after a while off for health reasons, I’ve decided to start a new series. Indie Time, which does the same thing essentially, but not committed to every week, whilst I continue rehabilitation. So let’s talk about a couple of serene games that might help you relax.
Tranquil Isle
From developer Tom Daly (not that one) is a wonderful city builder that removes all the stress and just lets you have a great time popping things down to make little islands to your heart’s content.
You’re presented with a procedurally generated layout of islands, where you are then given items to place down, such as houses, fishing huts, farms, markets and much much more. Place these however you wish to create some lovely looking townships, increase your score and get more items and spread to other islands.
You can mix and match, theme each island, do whatever you want really. You get points based on what you put down and when you earn enough of them, you’ll get the ability to add something new to the mix. Positioning is important, such as putting a market within range of a fishing hut, to net bonuses.
However, nothing is vital and you’ll never ‘lose’, instead you just relax and build amazing looking towns until you feerl good and ready to move on.
There are two modes, the classic mode is closer to an actual game, such as Dorfromantik, where you employ some strategy to your play. But it is the sandbox mode where Tranquil Isle really shines. Just kick back with some relaxing tunes and just vibe out whatever you want.
A great way to waste a Sunday afternoon and forgot about all your cares and worries.
Urban Jungle
If the question was… What if Unpacking, but plants? Then the answer would be Urban Jungle. A cosy puzzle game where the goal is to turn an ordinary home into a botanical dream.
You are given a diorama type room with plenty of placing to furnish with plants. You get a limited amount to use to start with and ideally place them in their ideal conditions based on the descriptions each has,. Such as needing sunlight, or a dry cool place, that sort of thing.
Like the above Tranquil Isle, you’ll get bonuses based on synergies and having some plants near others, or even kept away from certain types. As you earn points you level up and get access to more plants, a loo[p which you rinse and repeat.
There is a light narrative within the game, which is woven into the levels, but can be ignored if you want tp purely focus on the puzzle side of things. But I found the dtory being told rather intriguing and worth keeping an eye on.
The overall vibe of the game is just about relaxing, as again there is no real fail state and you can experiment as much as you wish. Put down a plant, add another, then some more, move them around, max out those point and try again.
My only real complaint here is that on the Steam Deck I found it a bit fiddly to navigate around but after getting used to the controls I felt a lot more comfortable and hopefully by the time you get round to playing this, there will be a community profile or two.
A lovely little game that is worth having in your library for when you want to destress and relax for an hour before getting on with life.
