Rest and Relaxation
Coming at the end of this year for Nintendo Switch and PC, animator Cosmic Gatto presents Aka, a small open-world game about just being peaceful. In the wake of a war which we don’t see, an old friend invites you back to his island to bring back flora and fauna, heal the scars of the past and transform a variety of different islands into slices of paradise.
Inspired Islands
Aka’s map includes 4 different islands each with their own unique aesthetic inspired by a different part of the natural world. Pine Tree Island is inspired by continental Europe in general and South West France in particular, Maple Island by the Canadian wilderness, Bamboo Island by East Asia sporting everything from snowy volcanos to hot springs and cherry trees, and finally Palm Tree Island with cloudy forests, turquoise beaches and giant rodents inspired by South Asia and South America.
La Dolce Vita
In Aka you will garden; creating a lush farm to live off using a farming system inspired by permaculture, a holistic approach to sustainable farming and community organisation that takes inspiration from natural ecosystems and was created in opposition to industrialized methods of managing land and organising communities. You’ll be constructing shelters, as well as crafting tools and clothes to help solve quests you can pick up from NPCs scattered through the game world or maybe just for decorative purposes – the choice is yours. Don’t feel like doing anything? You can do that too; relax in some hot springs with some monkey pals, listen to the waves, watch the clouds go by or take a nap on top of a giant capybara, the chunky rodents famous across the internet for chilling extremely hard at all times. Remember, engaging in relaxing activities is described as ‘fun but not useless’ as they increases your character’s happiness. Now go to the nearest mirror and tell yourself ‘you deserve this’.
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At Your Own Pace
Aka isn’t linear, you can go where you want and do what you please but in order to explore every nook and cranny it has to offer, you’ll have to engage with a few NPCs and help you fellow characters in order to uncover everything Aka’s relaxing paradise has to offer.
Coming in Q4 of this year, you can wishlist Aka now on Steam, follow the development on Twitter and see the trailer for the game embedded above.
A fan of relaxing games that let you take things as quickly or as slowly as your like? Want to mix a little space engineering in there as well. Check out our reviews of beautiful space station builder orbit.industries on Switch and PC.
