The Stillness of the Wind, a farming sim meditation on life and loss, is now on Steam

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The Stillness of the Wind is a "minimalist, melancholy farming sim about a goat-herding grandma," as Austin put it last year, that follows on Where the Goats Are, also a minimalist, melancholy farming sim, but about a different goat-herding grandma. It tells the story of Talma, who in her final years tends her small homestead as she always has, living a simple, solitary way of life.

"Breed and look after your goats, make cheese from their milk, grow vegetables, water your plants, collect eggs, scare off the birds. It’s a hard but simple life of peaceful subsistence," the Steam listing says. "Trade cheese and other items in return for hay for your goats, seeds to plant, fables, exotic items and shotgun shells, whilst exchanging conversation with the travelling merchant, your only human interaction."

The farming sim elements are very similar to Where the Goats Are, but it's the underlying narrative that makes The Stillness of the Wind intriguing. Talma's village has slowly shrunk over the years, as the people left, one by one, for life in the city. Now only she remains, subsisting in a lonely life—but the "increasingly disturbing" letters she receives from her far-away family suggest that not all is well in their new lives.

Solo developer Coyan Cardenas, aka Memory of God, said last year that The Stillness of the Wind will expand on the concepts established in Where the Goats are, and there does seem to be a more overt narrative effort on display here. "Nostalgia, a sense of loss and home are the main themes running throughout the narrative of the game. It’s my hope that players develop a meta-nostalgia for how things were—a kind of literal manifestation of 'golden memories'," Cardenas said. "For me, The Stillness of the Wind is about developing a more connected sense of ourselves."

The Stillness of the Wind is available now on Steam for $11/£8.50/€9—15 percent off the regular price—until February 14.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.