Our favourite non-violent games of E3 Week 2021
Back in 2019, we ran a post listing every non-violent game shown during E3. Given this year’s array of E3 and E3-adjacent events produced 115 upcoming non-violent games (as you may have read somewhere), that just wasn’t practical. Instead, Rebekah and I have each picked out five our our faves. Enjoy!
There is perhaps nothing cozier than tea and cats. Pekoe puts the player in the shoes of the newest resident and teahouse owner in a town of sentient cats. The cats want your tea, and you can learn to make it for them, learning about different tea varieties and tea making styles as you go while building relationships with the town’s inhabitants. You can upgrade and customize your teahouse, visit other teahouses for inspiration, and learn about different rituals, customs, and preparation styles for tea. Pekoe is developed by (appropriately) Kitten Cup Studio, and is planned for release in 2022.
Build and run a bed and breakfast in a tranquil wood...but also, you’re a bear! Startout with a rundown old inn, and build it up into splendor again while attracting and awing tourists who come to stay. Bear and Breakfast is a laidback management sim about growing a cozy woodland business, but with the added bonus of a forest mystery that unravels as your bustling breakfast nook grows. Developed by Gummy Cat, and planned for release later this year.
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery
Behind the Frame follows an artist living alone, preparing a masterpiece for a gallery submission. It’s a puzzle game focused on both her day to day activities, her interactions with a fellow painter and neighbor (and his cat!), and painting itself. You’ll use a painting and sketch mechanic to solve puzzles that explore memory and emotion, all of which takes place in a hand-animated world that looks like it was pulled straight out of a Ghibli movie. Developed by Akupara Games.
There are a lot of unique ideas for non-violent games and mechanics out there, but one I had personally never seen before was modeling a game after a sitcom. Bird Problems follows a young bird named Tweeter Gregory who’s clumsy and awkward, but just wants to make friends and enjoy a nice boba tea. We haven’t seen much of this game from Lithic Entertainment just yet, but its trailer at the Wholesome Direct stood out due to its resemblance to the goofy sitcoms of the 90s. But with birds!
Many of the non-violent games shown over the recent E3 weeks were narrative-focused, but sometimes all you want is a pleasant little puzzle game. A Little to the Left is less complicated, and in that way seems straightforward and soothing: it’s about reorganizing, tidying up, and setting things right. You’ll spend it arranging objects into patterns that look pleasant, with occasional “help” from a mischievous interrupting cat. Developed by Max Inferno, it’s planned for launch this October.
If you know what Forza Horizon is, you’re likely already looking forward to this one and/or have pre-ordered it/subscribed to Xbox Game Pass. For those who don’t, here’s a quick crash course (pun absolutely not intended): Developed by UK studio Playground Games, Horizon is the open-world spin-off series from Microsoft’s acclaimed Forza Motorsport franchise. While Motorsport focuses on simulation racing, Horizon offers a slightly more arcade-like experience, letting players loose behind the wheels of some of the world’s most powerful cars. You explore the landscape (Mexico, this time) to find more race locations or other ways to raise your Influence. Doing so unlocks the Top Gear-esque showstopper challenge. New to the mix are Expeditions, which take you on guided tours of the most beautiful places of the map, and Horizon Arcade, which lets you create your own tracks, stunts and races. Forza Horizon 5 is due for release on November 9th.
This indie sci-fi exploration game has been in the works for several years, but it’s finally approaching release. Set on a desert planet, you play a young woman from a nomadic tribe sent on a ritualistic quest to explore the world - on a hoverbike. Akin to Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder, or more accurately the giant USB dongle Rey drove in The Force Awakens, your task is to discover more about the world as you learn more about yourself. Investigating the wreckage of old ships will help you find the components you need to upgrade your bike, and as you meet other tribes, you can complete side quests to help them and forge new friendships. Developed by Shedworks, Sable will be available from September 23rd.
This game has a bit of an Indiana Jones meets Mirror's Edge kind of vibe. Players race through ancient temples, leaping chasms and dodging booby traps, in the hopes of being the first to reach the relic at the centre. You don't technically compete with other players in real time; instead, you race their ghosts, following their leads and learning from their mistakes. Each temple is randomly generated, but as soon as someone claims the relic, they are declared champion of that particular temple and the course is removed forever, cementing their victory. And yes, you have an Indy-style whip to swing across gaps. It’s developed by Team WIBY and launched in Early Access last week.
Most video game stories present the player with world-ending stakes, sending them on an urgent quest where the clock is always ticking. Lake is a much more personal and relaxed affair. Set in 1986, you take on the role of Meredith Weiss, a forty-something career woman taking a break ahead of her software company’s big launch. She heads back to the fictional lakeside town of Providence Oaks, Oregon, her childhood home, to rediscover old friends and see what (if anything) has changed. She also takes on her father’s role as a mail carrier, delivering letters and parcels each day while he is on holiday. During the two weeks, she can forge friendships, find love, or even choose to give up her career and make a new home for herself - the choice is up to you. Lake is developed by Gamious and is due for release by the end of the year.
This 3D puzzle platformer has a simple but wonderfully creative premise: jumping between shadows. You control a schim: the soul of a living creature or object. This particular schim has become separated from the human being it was attached to, and it’s up to you to reunite them. You can hop between shadows as if they were pools of water, and if a shadow is moving (for example, the shadow of someone walking about or a bird flying) that pool will move and take you with it. Working out the best route between shadows is the only way to navigate each level, set across various urban and rural spaces. Timing is the key, because as soon as you leap out of a shadow and land in the light, it’s game over. As you can see, all of this is presented in a beautifully distinct style. Schim is being developed by Ewould van der Werf, although a release window has yet to be decided.
