If the last few months have proved anything, it’s that there’s pleasure to be
taken from the ordinary. Focusing on even the most mundane tasks has
proved strangely calming, and Edge’s gardens have never looked so tidy
as a result. This month’s Hype features a number of games that celebrate
the satisfaction of a job well done, the pleasing grind of everyday chores.
Ooblets (p38) is part farming sim, part creature-collecting RPG, and
soothes with simple pleasures. Planting and growing critters and watching
your farm thrive promises to be the most meditative way possible to pass
the hours – all the while surrounded by some oddly sarcastic and
disaffected neighbours. A bit too close to home, perhaps; we’d up sticks
and move, but the process is way too stressful.
At least it usually is. Unpacking (p44) turns out to be an unexpectedly
relaxing house-moving sim, with a narrative that follows a single character’s
life through all the significant moves they have made. Consequently, the
careful unboxing and placing of items in each new home proves both zen-
inducing and illuminating, as we learn more about our absent hero.
Taking pride in our jobs has also been something that’s
helping us through. It’s a sentiment that’s echoed in
Hardspace: Shipbreaker (p42), where it’s your vocation
to carefully dismantle spaceships. It’s an occasionally
dangerous salvage job that nevertheless requires
fastidious care. Still out in space, although there’s nothing
quite so ordinary here, our lead Hype puts you in one of
eight cockpits of spacecraft from George Lucas’ sci-fi
universe. Despite the obvious dogfighting thrills it offers,
however, there are strategic elements to Star Wars:
Squadrons (p30) that require teamwork and following
orders. So perhaps it is like having a job after all – albeit
one that may well ask you to log on a spreadsheet just
how many TIE fighters you destroyed before lunch.
New Pokémon Snap Switch
Given the ubiquity of photo modes, this
follow-up to Pokémon’s best spin-off – 21
short years after the N64 original – feels
even longer overdue. We’ve grown used
to lining up the perfect shot, so we relish
the prospect of snapping moving targets,
particularly ones as adorable as these.
Avowed PC, Xbox Series X
The reveal for this Skyrim-alike was more
than a little po-faced, but we still have
high hopes that Obsidian’s fantasy RPG
will display the originality and lightness
of touch it brought to Pillars Of Eternity
and Fallout: New Vegas. If not, we’ll want
our gold pieces back. With interest.
I Am Dead PC, Switch
From the people who gave us Hohokum
and Wilmot’s Warehouse comes this
afterlife-themed puzzle adventure. A new
trailer reveals we’ll be using our ghost
powers to peer inside beloved objects
and characters’ heads. Incredible Cross-
Sections by way of Gnog? Yes please.MOST
WANTED
Job satisfaction