#videogames #xbox #gamepass #xboxgamepass #walkingsimulators #cozygames

Playing Little Kitty, Big City at my niece's birthday party a month or two ago sort of set me off on a path of playing a bunch of short and cozy games, walking simulators, light puzzle games, things of that nature. I've played quite a few of them in relatively quick succession recently. I had known about Little Kitty from IGN's Justin Davis, who mentioned the game on their podcast “Game Scoop.” But I didn't really have any intention of playing it. Meanwhile my wife found out about the game from her TikTok feed and encouraged us to check it out.

When I was done with Little Kitty, I moved on and played Return to Grace, and I thoroughly enjoyed pretty much everything about that title. Sort of like Firewatch, except it's set in an alternate future where atomic age sci-fi aesthetics have dominated interior design, but then I finished that game. And then I moved on to and finished Botany Manor. And then I played and finished A Short Hike. Now I'm playing an indie game that is sort of a Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes inspired game called Merge & Blade. All of these games are relatively short, most of them don't take more than about four hours to play, so you can get through them in a single evening.

I won't be talking about A Short Hike because that's a relatively old game at this point, but I figured I might write about the others because they're much newer, and might not have as much hype surrounding them. Not only were they concise, but they were well thought out, and have a lot to offer even though they're packed into such small and short presentations.