It can be fun when two things that have virtually no overlap in target audience become jokey allies by sharing a release date. Like when Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal launched on the same day. Or Barbenheimer. The inverse is trickier: When two things launch simultaneously whose venn diagram of fans is a circle. Cruel fate, I am the circle! This week two new life sims have launched and I desperately want to be playing both.
Everyone's been waiting years for this cyberpunk "slice of life" and shop sim and I'm logging my nightly progress as my noodle bar empire begins. I enjoy a good shop sim, especially when there's decorating to do too. Nivalis Nights is moody and neon-drenched and has a deeper shop finances simulation than I was expecting. I may be sinking a lot of hours into this!
This is the wizard school game made specifically for me. It's sort of in the Stardew vein of life sim with gardening and a seasonal schedule. I liked the Songs of Glimmerwick demo I played this year quite a lot. I really enjoy all the voice acting and its musical take on magic but I especially like its hopeful message about a world emerging from a generation of regressive politics.
