I have this loosely defined made-up genre I call "Summer Games".
It started a long time ago subconsciously. At some point I realized that during the hottest time of the year I gravitate to certain games that I mostly play on a small device (laptop/switch/steamdeck), laying in bed, late at night, when I have trouble sleeping because it's too hot. A friend of mine once said that the reason she loves super high temperatures so much, is that what you experience leaves more vivid, burned in, memories. I think she has a point.
The criteria aren't super rigid but I hope you get the "vibe" and might know some games that fit:
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Low-stakes/chill gameplay. I'm already sweating, I don't need sweaty gameplay right now
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a warm aesthetic/color palette and/or setting. My outside experience shouldn't feel too different to the games inside experience aesthetic-wise.
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It feels like a road trip, adventure or vacation. I want to get a summery memory out of this.
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the game leaves some kind of impact.
Games I played in the past that evoked that vibe perfectly:
- Kentucky road zero
- oxenfree
- road 96
- firewatch
- sable
- rime
- steins: gate
- life is strange
Games that have fit okay-ish
- tunic
- journey
- citizen sleeper
- nightcall
- no umbrellas allowed
- the talos principle
- the solus project
- the witness
- the vanishing of Ethan Carter
If anyone has a recommendation, I'd be thankful.
This year I have started to play chants of Sennaar and it seems to fit the criteria so far.
My opinion of life is strange is kinda complicated I liked it as a "Summer Game" because it had the right vibes while I played it but after I was done I was disappointed. The game hypes it's "your action have consequences" system up constantly but it's usually just a different dialogue or short scene which doesn't affect the story in a major way. Which is fine for a game in general but not when it pretends it's different.