The last few years have brought more than their fair share of chaos, upheaval, and disasters, but one good thing that has emerged is a growing interest in, and recognition of, the idea of ‘wholesome’ games. In the past, the term “wholesome games” might have brought certain ideas to mind — bright colours or uplifting themes — but wholesome games have continued to change and adapt, and they bring a vitality, a breath of fresh air, to the gaming world. Wholesome games are just as capable of broaching complex ideas or mature themes, and the idea that ‘wholesome’ merely equates to something ‘trite’ or ‘twee’ is constantly being challenged as more wholesome games continue to emerge. While the idea of what constitutes a ‘wholesome’ game seems to be constantly changing and adapting, it’s clear that the interest surrounding wholesome games only continues to grow.So, what are ‘wholesome’ games? One answer seems to be that it is an ambiguous term; a shifting definition that evolves as it grows. “I think wholesome games, like most game genres, is an amorphous label that is more about associative feel than any strict definition,” suggests Ooblets developer Ben Wasser. “Existing genres like ‘RPG’ and ‘simulation’ could arguably describe any game so it’s probably okay if the wholesome label is a bit ambiguous too.” Thomas van den Berg, the developer behind Cloud Gardens, adds that “‘relaxing’ could be another ingredient of wholesomeness,” saying, “For me personally, it revolves around non-violence. I’m not opposed to shooting stuff in games, but sometimes I wonder why killing people is such a dominant theme. Wholesome games are looking for other mechanics that are fun.” APICO co-creator Ell, too, seems to agree with the idea of wholesome games as relaxing, saying, “I think for me a wholesome game is something that classically would be described as a ‘casual’ game — maybe it’s cute wholesome or emotionally wholesome but I think overall it’s something that you can play and enjoy with no real stress or frustration or urgency.” Kirsty Keatch, the programmer and original concept creator behind Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, posits that wholesome games are “attentive, considerate and empathetic to their themes and types of interaction, [and] they also tend to value their players’ time. The games have a depth of thought and understanding that afford a sense of discovery and connection to new points of views through playful interactions.” Matthew Taylor, the developer behind the Wholesome Games community, adds, “In my Twitter bio, I say they’re ‘uplifting, thoughtful, compassionate, and cosy… some folks use ‘wholesome’ and ‘cosy’ interchangeably, but I’ve always thought wholesome allows for a little more variety. There was definitely a time when a firm definition mattered more to me — especially to let people know that it’s more than just Animal Crossing or farming sims — but now that we’ve released a couple of Wholesome Directs, most people probably get the vibe just from watching those, and I’m thankful for that.”One issue that has cropped up as the idea of wholesome games grows more popular is a misunderstanding of what that ambiguous term can refer to — an idea that wholesome games are solely twee and trite, and that they are incapable of tackling more serious themes. The FAQ on the Wholesome Games site explains that wholesome games can mean hopeful games, saying, “One of the goals of Wholesome Games is to change how we think about which games are taken seriously. For many years, the most critically acclaimed titles have been the ones with the darkest themes and grimmest depictions of life, but there’s also a whole world of hopeful video games with rich storytelling, innovative gameplay, and beautiful art and sound.” Yet the site’s description also raises that idea of wholesome games as tackling more serious subject matter, adding, “If a game is cute and cosy but contains harmful stereotypes, is it wholesome? We say no! If a game is violent, but that violence is about overthrowing an oppressor, is it unwholesome? We say no!” In giving their idea of what the term “wholesome games” means, Ell also touches upon this notion, adding, “I don’t think that means it has to be something just kids would enjoy either, you can still broach serious emotional topics while still overall being a ‘wholesome’ game. I also think it’s somehow been managed to be twisted a little bit and people are just complaining that it’s become a buzzword with no real meaning, but I think that’s more just Twitter never allowing people to have nice things,” Ell jokes.Traditionally, wholesome games have been viewed with a slightly patronising air; with the idea that a game couldn’t be both “cute and cosy” and engage with serious themes, or else have an impactful real-world message. “I’m sure smarter people than me can offer more detailed answers, but I think it has a lot to do with white men (the primary audience that games have been designed and marketed to for nearly their entire existence) gatekeeping what is and isn’t a ‘real’ game,” says Taylor. “For a long time, anything that didn’t appeal to those folks was considered a kid’s game.” This perception of wholesome games seems to have changed in recent years, allowing for a general understanding that wholesome games can be just as complex and vital as games of any other genre. “I think wholesome games have continued to grow, evolving beyond the notion of simply being non-violent or cute; they’ve acquired a more confident voice,” Keatch says, and reinforces the idea that wholesome games highlight the positive capabilities video games have when dealing with complex issues, adding, “wholesome games have helped raise the awareness of the positive impact that games can make when tackling urgent topics such as inequalities, mental health, displacement, and climate change.” Taylor continues, adding, “I think there’s less of a stigma around them, and I think the definition is getting broader in healthy ways. It would be a shame if it all got reduced down to ‘colourful games with fishing mechanics’ or something like that, but I think events like Wholesome Direct have helped show that there’s immense variety and artistry here.” Ell, too, notes the importance of events like Wholesome Direct, saying the perception of wholesome games “definitely seems to have grown a lot more in the past few years… I think with a lot more indie games coming into that space, and events like Wholesome Direct, have really helped expand the public awareness of these sorts of games.”Nevertheless, the compassionate and cosy side of wholesome games are in large part what attracts more and more players — especially in recent years, when it seems the real world has little to offer besides bad news. We live in an age when news is instantaneous, plastering phone and TV screens with terrible things happening across the world. No wonder, then, that games which offer a relaxing, cosy experience are as welcoming as they are, offering a much-needed escape into a familiar world which can be understood and interacted with safely; where you can give your mind a brief break. “I do think that, and not to be a downer but, in the last few years I think things in general have increasingly been more sh*t, especially with COVID,” says Ell. “More and more people [are] trapped at home with nothing but bad news on, reaching for a cosy game to escape into, you know? I’d be interested to know if APICO would have gotten as much of a positive response if we had made it before the lockdown started!” In van den Berg’s opinion, there is “something meditative about the combination of sights and sounds and interactivity in a game. You’re playing something that just feels good but you’re not sure why. I think that has always been the case, but maybe now it’s within reach for small teams to create experiences that rely only on that aspect.” Keatch suggests that people “are drawn to wholesome games because of their honesty,” adding, “Alba’s character grew from the heart and minds of the creators. Through photography and helping nature, players build a relationship with the game’s environment and to an extent each run of the game becomes a work of self expression.” Taylor, meanwhile, notes the importance of pivotal games to the wholesome genre, saying, “Every now and then, a game grows the industry and brings in tons of new players: The Sims, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, etc. After a while, those players may feel that the game they enjoyed is a rarity in an industry that otherwise doesn’t appeal to them. I hope platforms like Wholesome Games can show those players that yes, there are more games like the ones they enjoyed, and create a smooth transition into playing games more regularly and making that jump from saying ‘I like Animal Crossing’ (or any particular game) to saying ‘I like video games” in general. If we do a good job of welcoming all kinds of players,” Taylor continues, “I think wholesome games will keep growing.”Another interesting development in the world of wholesome games is what seems to be an increasing concern with non-combative, eco-conscious themes. Wholesome games like Stardew Valley have in the past revolved around the idea of returning to nature — usually, we’re leaving a busy life in the city after an old relative happens to leave us a plot of land in a country town. But recent games appear to be taking this one step further, removing the idea of combat or farming creatures at all. Take Ooblets, for instance; one of the game’s core mechanics revolves around collecting creatures and having them participate in dance battles with other ooblets teams, and yet the game takes pains to point out that this is good for the ooblets — in short, Ooblets eschews any hint of violence or harmful ideas. Other creature-collecting games might, for instance, have you beat the target into submission before being able to “collect” it: in Ooblets, we’re told that dance battles exist as a way to help the ooblets work out disagreements. If you win a battle, you might be rewarded with a seed which you can plant to grow a new ooblet friend. You’ll find no mention of violence or harm; even the game’s fishing mechanic revolves around collecting items, not living creatures. “We originally had standard creature combat and realised after a while that dancing would suit our tone and theme a lot better,” Wasser explains. “Once we started imagining ooblets as (albeit weird) analogues to real animals, we didn’t want associations with exploitative practices like circus animals and stuff like that.” Wasser adds, “By the time we were ready to add in fishing, we had solidified an animal-friendly ideology to our game design and didn’t want to include the concepts of death, fish hooks, or capturing unwilling creatures. It tied our hands a bit,” Wasser admits, “but it turned out alright.”Eco-conscious themes are also cropping up more regularly in wholesome games — take a game like Terra Nil, for instance; a reverse city builder which revolves around “ecosystem reconstruction.” Some games, like Cloud Gardens, seem to touch upon these themes even if they weren’t created specifically as an eco-conscious game. “Knowledge of the fact that we have to take better care of our planet is seeping into game design as well, but honestly ‘eco-consciousness’ was not much of a consideration for Cloud Gardens,” van den Berg says. “It’s based mostly on the aesthetic of urban exploration and plant growth. If we mess up and wipe out humanity right now, I have no doubt the planet will look beautifully overgrown in 20 years.” To Wasser, the growing number of game developers is one reason for the growing focus on eco-conscious themes. “There are probably just more folks making games who are eco-conscious and sensitive to animal cruelty issues,” Wasser says. “There’s definitely a wider range of people who are game developers now, so that helps. Anytime you create something, you’re reflecting your ideologies, opinions, and personality in one way or another.” Taylor echoes this, saying, “I imagine it’s a representation of what those developers are passionate about, and at a time when the effects of climate change are already being felt worldwide, putting nature, conservation, and environmentalism at the forefront of your project seems like a valiant idea.”APICO is one such game — in APICO, you’re learning about and caring for bees in your grandparent’s home of Port Apico. You breed, collect, and conserve bees, rehabilitating species and caring for them — and this will be reflected in the real world, too, with a portion of all sales being donated to various bee charities. “I do wonder if it’s game developers partly just trying to rebel against what feels like an endless conveyor belt of super generic and boring FPS games that are always in some vague semi sci-fi miserable dystopian world,” Ell muses. “For the most part I’d say it just ties into the casual aspect of these sorts of games, if you’re making a game about being a little frog boy that farms mushrooms, chances are you’re probably going to have some semi-environmentally friendly aspect and not have the ability to let the frog burn down their farm. I also think if you have that sort of platform with your game, like say us and APICO, for us to not use that as a chance to try and do some real-life good is a waste!”Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is another such game. The inspiration for the game “came from fond memories of childhood summers and a shared love of nature,” Keatch says. This inspiration is clear throughout the game, which is so packed with atmosphere that you can practically feel the sun beating down on you on the Mediterranean island of Pinar del Mar. It starts out as a visit to your grandparents, with a heavy dose of childhood adventure as you explore the island, but it soon focuses its attention onto eco-conscious themes, as Alba and her friend Ines band together to clean up the island and document its wildlife. What starts out as small acts of conservation snowballs into an effort to save the local nature reserve and to preserve it as a sanctuary for the island’s creatures. In this way, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure shows you how small acts can have a big impact. “The perception of the relevancy of wholesome games is evolving. If wholesome games are inclined to lean towards the eco-conscious it has to be because there is a relevant story to explore. With eco-conscious games I am wary and keep an eye out for tokenism and greenwashing — there has to be a genuine and honest approach if it’s going to be called wholesome,” Keatch says. “Alba is an honest story about a love of nature played out through observation, problem solving and interaction with the game environment.” Keatch explains how the team partnered with groups like the Natural History Museum to “ensure we were going about things in the right way and teaching the right messages. The takeaway is that players might feel a sense, a connection with the ecosystem, that they might carry over into real life.” For Keatch, legacy plays into conservation in a big way. “When creating a game based on nature it’s inevitable that conservation would become a large part of the storyline. At one point we mentioned making a game about legacy and I still think the theme of legacy is in the DNA of Alba and also a root of conservation,” Keatch continues. “Not all legacies are equal or positive, there are things we leave behind that we might be proud of but also things we should be ashamed of.” What might Alba’s legacy be, then? “We were excited by how photography within an open world inspired by real places might encourage players to engage with their own environments a little differently after playing the game,” Keatch says. “Players might pick up the idea that small acts can effect bigger changes through the way Alba learns by doing and her influence on the wider community — she leads by example and through hope.”The idea of the gaming world as full of combat, action, and violence has been touched upon a few times. For van den Berg, Cloud Gardens even started life as an “effort to make something non-violent. The term ‘wholesome’ wasn’t really around for games back then. I was curious if relying on violence made building fun games easier, and why,” van den Berg continues. “There were many points in the development process where I thought that adding some enemies and a gun here would make things fun immediately, but I stuck with the premise.” Action and combat games seem locked in a race towards photorealistic violence, with each new instalment attempting to render violence on screen as graphically as possible. To Taylor, however, “any creative limitations are probably the result of publishers fearing risk and alienating their existing fans more so than the pursuit of better graphics, but,” Taylor continues, “there are definitely moments when I feel like we’re in an arms race for the most detailed cars and guns, which I’m guessing is a relic of the target demographic (white men) that I mentioned earlier.” But this doesn’t mean wholesome games are “going up against” violent or action-orientated games — rather, as Wasser suggests, it could be that these types of games have actually always existed alongside each other. “I don’t think Ooblets or wholesome games really stand out as an opposition movement to the status quo. I grew up playing non-combat-oriented games like Rollercoaster Tycoon, The Sims, and SimCity, and I think they’ve coexisted with combat games throughout gaming history.”If the idea of ‘wholesome’ games has already mutated so much, how might we see wholesome gaming grow and evolve in the future? To van den Berg, the future of wholesome gaming isn’t a definite thing by any means. “I’m not 100% sure that it as a genre has enough magnetism to grow,” van den Berg says. “It might just be that a bunch of different studios were influenced by the same experiences, and made a slew of games that we now describe as ‘wholesome.’ There will be new factors in the real world influencing the next batch of themes, and maybe we’ll still consider those ‘wholesome’ too.” Taylor suggests that the future of wholesome gaming depends on the indie developers themselves. “If bigger publishers take an interest in wholesome games, they may start funding projects that are more geared toward positive actions and emotions, but I doubt they’d care much about the underlying political nature of wholesome games,” Taylor says. “With that in mind, the genre will continue to succeed or fail based on the hard work of indie developers who are determined to use their platform for good. With that said, I hope developers continue to push the envelope, and we’ll do our best to support them along the way!” Ell, too, suggests that there might be a wider appeal for wholesome games in the future. “I think as someone who for the most part just likes to play games I can chill and switch off with… I just hope this trend continues to the point where it’s just normal to have these sorts of wholesome games that are not just targeted at children, and maybe we can hope more AAA games pick up on the trend — and not just because they want to make a few quid off it,” Ell says. To Wasser, the horizon appears full of possibility for a new type of wholesome game. “What I’d like to see from the popularity of wholesome games is more exploration into unique gameplay mechanics, especially those with prosocial underpinnings,” says Wasser. “For example, Pokémon GO was a fresh take on gaming that had a major impact on bringing folks together in positive ways. People were outside meeting and talking to each other who otherwise wouldn’t be. It’s really hard to come up with new and compelling mechanics, so when folks feel free to explore a wider range of approaches to game design, I’m hoping more positive things like that will emerge.” The words “bright and colourful” might apply to a number of wholesome games, but it doesn’t mean that those bright and colourful games aren’t also capable of dealing with complex or troubling themes. Wholesome games can offer an escape into a world that’s often easier to understand and more appealing, while also giving players a new way of understanding and dealing with their own world and certain real-world issues, like we see in Alba. “Wholesome games present opportunities for players to connect and interpret issues and themes around them; through interactions and narratives players are afforded a sense of agency which may inspire positive action in the real world,” Keatch says. “The barriers that once limited access to game development are slowly melting away, with that I hope to hear new voices, see new perspectives, and experience stories that are yet to be told.” The horizon for wholesome games seems full of possibility. Wholesome games are often open to everyone, but don’t shy away from unpleasant or difficult topics. In fact, they often leave you feeling either more hopeful about those topics and more mindful of how you as an individual can have an impact on them, or else more at ease with real-world issues in general. They provide both a safe space for mental relaxation, while also subtly suggesting new ways to think about the world. Whether it’s promoting eco-conscious themes, for instance, or providing a much-needed mental sanctuary, the genre continues to grow — and continues to prove how necessary and vital wholesome games are to the gaming landscape.We discussed a few games in this article — Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, APICO, Cloud Gardens, and Ooblets — as well as discussing the Wholesome Games community, and we’d definitely recommend them all to anyone looking for their next great wholesome game! Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is already out for Xbox players, and comes packed with charm. APICO isn’t out yet, but you can find out more about it in our Xbox Indie Spotlight on APICO, and it’d be a great one to keep on your “must-play” list! Cloud Gardens, meanwhile, is also already available, and you can find out more about the relaxing sandbox game in our Xbox Indie Spotlight on Cloud Gardens! Ooblets is already out in Early Access, and is preparing for its full launch later this year — as the long-suffering members of the news team will attest, I can happily whitter on about Ooblets all day; like the other games on this list, we’d definitely recommend it. As for the Wholesome Games community, it’s gearing up for another Wholesome Direct event this June. Huge thanks to everyone who spoke with us to help create this article!
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