Teeth-grindingly cute games

[Kikki]

I do this once in a while, I know. Make a thread to talk about 'types' of games. Games to play when you don't feel well. Games that help with stress. Games that tune your brain up. Etc. Well, this time, it's CUTE games.

Got any games whose primary draw is that they're unapologetically adorable? Any type of cute, whether that is based on the looks, or the crazy-cute sound effects, like characters squealing "Ooh!" or "Wee!" every time you make them jump, or...whatever fills you with those squishy 'this is too cute!' kind of feelings.

I nominate Ever Oasis for this category. I can't link it, because it's a 3DS game, and the 3DS eshop no longer exists. All I can do is show the cover art image:



This does accurately show the art style, without at all showing off how cute the game is in motion. I don't even know what makes it so cute. The rich bright colours, yes...the chibi character style, yes...but even the animation is adorable. I remember the opening scenes being so, SO cute that my jaw clenched, lol. The sound effects are also quite perky.

Not that I loved everything about the game. It had three very repetitive arcs, and that frustrated me. A LOT. But even so, it was terribly cute, even when it was aggravating me. I was mostly into it for the town-building, more than for the story or active gameplay. But this isn't about 'best overall game ever'. If your primary concern is cuteness, Ever Oasis shouldn't be overlooked. If they ever come up with an Ever Oasis 2, I'd nab it. (Kind of doubt that's in the works, though.)

Okay, now...hopefully you all know of some excrutiatingly adorable games that I've not encountered, yet. Or perhaps your taste in cuteness is really unusual and you can shed some light on why a game that no one else things is cute, really IS.

[Bluie]

I have two and they're both also defunct, unfortunately. You can technically still play them, but you'll have to jump though hoops to do so.

Firstly is a little puzzle game known as 'Piyotama'. It's a PS3/PSP game where you line up eggs to get combos and hatch little chicks. It's... adorable, especially with all the little birds making cute noises and flying across your screen. The fact that the game's name is literally 'Chirping Marbles/eggs' just makes me want to go "awwwwww....!'. You'll either have to have a working origin system to play them or cough up the dough (and stable internet connection) for PS Now. Regardless, I believe it fits.



The second is now a dead MMO that has also had several side games called PangYa. It's a fantasy golfing game, yep, and it's cute as heck. To the candy coated fields to the adorable characters, to the weirdly sentient paper bag caddies that follow your ball through the air - it's tooth rottingly adorable. The PSP rendition is the one I played and I was obsessed and gushing over it the entire time I played it. Said version is hardcopy only and the MMO went offline years ago. The good news is they're making a new one, the bad news is the last footage was from 2020 and the development has been halted. Bummer. Here's the trailer anyways:

[Kikki]

Thanks Bluie I knew you'd come up with something. I wondered if you'd come up with some obscure ones. (Well, obscure to ME, but I wasn't even a console gamer at all, pre-DS. I was PC only as a child and teen.) Piyotama immediately reminded me of a game I used to play years ago called Dynomite. Though I looked up a video, and they're not quite the same after all. Still, Dynomite isn't quite as cute as Piyotama, but it's still available to play and it is cute in a idfferent way, and has...similarish gameplay, I guess? So I might as well throw the name out there, should anyone become interested in Piyotama but find themselves unable to play it. Dynomite might be a viable substitute.

(I can't believe similarish is a real word, btw.)

[Code_Name_Geek]

The first game that came to my mind was Slime Rancher, which most people have probably heard about. Those slimes are just so cute, and the noises they make are adorable as well (especially the singing!). They always look so happy, even when you're vacuuming them up, and it's fun seeing all the different hybrid slimes.

Next is The Last Campfire, which is less well-known. The protagonist, Ember, is tiny and their animations are extremely cute, particularly their climbing animation and the way they reach out to help others. Right from the opening cutscene Ember immediately reminded me of a baby animal or small child trying to do tasks that are bigger than they are. The narration and the way the dialogue is written also gives the whole game a storybook vibe.

As for older games, this might be my bias for pet rodents speaking but I have to mention the Hamtaro games for GBC and GBA. The whole Hamtaro franchise basically exists to have cute hamster characters and the games are no different. The first two games involve learning new "words" to solve puzzles in the overworld and each word has an accompanying animation that Hamtaro does, many of which are extremely cute. There are also random interactions you can discover in the overworld, like climbing all the way up to the top of a big slide and sliding down. I even took a bunch of videos of cute moments from the game to send my friend while I was playing.

I do have a few honourable mentions of older smartphone games, namely Sneezies and the Happy Fall/Jump/etc series. The gameplay for all of those was fairly simple but the graphics and sound effects were still extremely cute.

[Harvest Moon kawaii]

Geek, you took my idea for telling everyone about the Hamtaro Games. This is the second game in the series (at least the series that released in the West) It's Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak for the Game Boy Advance. I played this one over and over as a kid.



(American/European title screen for Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heart Break/Hamtaro OST)

[Sivs]

I think that the 3DS game Fantasy Life has an adorable art style! My character is so cute, but I don't have any pictures of her at the moment. However, the main art for the game is cute too:

[GavinsMustache]

Magical Melody of course

Puyo POP Fever is one that comes to mind. The characters are soooooooo cute and everything is so lively and vibrant.

[Terranigma Freak]

Just one word: Kirby