Spiritfarer has you assume the role of a shipmaster that transports fallen souls into the afterlife. This job comes with many responsibilities to ensure that the spirits are comfortable, including crafting, fishing, cooking, and making continuous upgrades to the boat.

Spiritfarer defines itself as a "cozy management game about dying," but there'south much more refinement to it than that. It's a game that tugs on your emotions, wrestling with topics such as death, disease, grief, friendship, and bidding farewell to the departed. The portrayal of such ideas through the art direction and music is and then soothing and breathtakingly cute that it poetically breathes life into itself.

10/10 Hades

Zagreus petting Cerberus in Hades's lair.

Elements of Greek mythology percolate into Spiritfarer's story. During the opening cutscene, Stella and her cat encounter Charon, the Greek ferryman of the expressionless, who names you his successor. And after on, you even meet Hades, who takes the form of a giant white owl. This Hades, however, showcases a spirit world of a much dissimilar mood.

Hither you play as Zagreus, son of the Greek God of the Underworld, making his escape into the mortal realm and battling waves of displaced spirits, setting them free in a more trigger-happy hack and slash method. This immensely popular roguelike uses a branching narrative structure where you tin collaborate with the entire pantheon of Gods, each playthrough always offering something new. If yous're fascinated by Greek mythology and prepare for a challenge, this is a good choice.

nine/10 Passage

Player and companion aging through the maze in Passage.

A recurring idea communicated in Spiritfarer is the passage of fourth dimension and bidding farewell to the passengers destined for death. Simply as Stella sends the souls over through the Everdoor, the protagonist in Passage also meets the same fate afterwards a certain menstruation has elapsed. However, the two games couldn't be more unique in their blueprint.

Passage is a pixel art side-scrolling game created in 2007 by Jason Rohrer equally his artistic expression of the inescapable trajectory of life. It's about a 5-minute experience where you lot navigate through a narrow, mazelike environment every bit y'all age by the seconds, explore areas for treasures, and eventually run into a significant other to accompany your life's brief journey.

eight/10 Bear And Breakfast

Hank crafting a bedroom for a bed and breakfast project.

Bear and Breakfast contains the lighthearted fun of exploration, cozy resources management mechanics, and nurturing bonds with others without the dreadful undertones of coping with loss. You play as Hank, a carry with an ultra cute strut that restores buildings and turns them into successful bed and breakfasts.

You assemble raw materials around your environment to craft into items your guests would need and complete side quests to unlock story conversations and become closer to those y'all meet. Equally the spirit animals must ever feel content, the guests resting at your bed and breakfast also have a similar system where their requests demand addressing.

7/10 A Brusk Hike

Claire flying around some rock formation in Hawk Peak.

Welcome to Hawk Superlative National Park, a gorgeous giant 3D pixelated island with plenty of trails and friendly hikers. Y'all play as Claire, a bird who anxiously sets out to trek the highest pinnacle to receive jail cell reception for an urgent phone phone call. And along the way, as yous effortlessly glide beside the air current to ascend each new area, you can bail and interact with boyfriend travelers.

It's a short just sugariness and relaxing game carrying the same lesson conveyed in Spiritfarer- the meaning lies in the journey, not the destination. If you lot are delighted by the tranquil tones and ambiance of Spiritfarer, then A Short Hike would exist equally as enjoyable to play.

6/x Wandersong

Bard battling a spooky ghost in Wandersong.

Music plays a pregnant role in capturing the zen feeling of Spiritfarer and is likewise incorporated into the gameplay. In one of the missions where Stella must abound a garden for a spirit animate being, you play a mini-game requiring you to press the push button to the corresponding guitar notation so that the plants flourish with each correct tune.

Wandersong follows in the footsteps of Spiritfarer by taking a bleaker narrative (facing the end of the world) and transforming it into a whimsical adventure set inside a vividly colored world. Its main mechanic gravitates around melody and audio, where you lot use a vocal bicycle to hitting the right musical notes to solve puzzles, platform terrain, and defeat enemies.

v/x Oxenfree

Alex trying out her radio in the Oxenfree cave.

A core value established through the narrative of Spiritfarer is the importance of friendship. Each time you complete a task for a spirit animal aboard the send, you go more engagement with their backstory and begin to befriend them. The themes of friendship and the meaningfulness of spending your time with others are ever present in Oxenfree.

Oxenfree takes you to the enigmatic Edwards Island, where you play Alex as she and her friends gather for a beach party. The gameplay follows a branching narrative structure where each dialogue choice you make can influence your relationships. The story is besides centered on dealing with loss but features a supernatural science fiction twist - Alex has a radio that tin can open interdimensional rifts home to spirits that lurk about the isle. It's eerier, being visually and narratively darker than Spiritfarer, but a compelling mystery game with a ton of nuance.

four/ten Afterparty

Milo and Lola's first taxi ride in hell in Afterparty.

From Nightschool Studio, the talent behind Oxenfree, also comes Afterparty, a game bearing an even stronger resemblance since the principal characters here find themselves stuck in the spirit world of Hell. Milo and Lola are all-time friends who are supposed to exist having the time of their lives at a college graduation party, but their excitement is short-lived when revealed that they've both died and gone to Hell.

Its tone is very light and comedic for a tale prepare in such a grim location merely for a more mature audience as information technology has a lot of dark developed humor, language, and booze galore. There's lots of fun dialogue, a fantastic cast of demons beautifully voiced, and an original story that hones in many of the motifs that made Spiritfarer so revered.

3/10 Cozy Grove

Character in Cozy Grove standing idle by an apple tree.

In Cozy Grove, yous hold the title of Spirit Lookout, a caretaker for all the needs of the numerous charming ghosts that haunt the isle you're on. Many are lost and have no recollection of who they are, just completing quests and bringing them certain items will reveal bits of their by and earn them your warm affection.

And the more ghosts you lot aid, the more than the color spreads around patches of the island. This life simulator game is also synced to existent-world time and boasts over 40 hours of quests and activities to keep players occupied.

two/10 Before Your Eyes

Being prompted to blink in the boat in Before Your Eyes.

At the outset of this game, you lot may get striking with a burst of deja vu. You're riding forth a body of water on a boat driven by a ferryman who informs you that yous're a lost soul called for judgment on whether you may enter the Gatekeeper'southward paradise. The hitch? You must retell your life'south story through a serial of capacity, and information technology must be compelling enough, or you'll miss your chance.

Before Your Eyes grapples with the familiar topics of sickness and passing on from life, still handles them with the aforementioned ease and mellow passiveness of Spiritfarer. What truly sets this game apart is that it utilizes eye tracking applied science for its master mechanic, prompting players to either blink or click an eye icon to interact.

1/ten Mutazione

Conversation by a garden with a character in Mutazione.

Mutazione is as close equally it gets to a game similar in message and gameplay to Spiritfarer. It's a point-and-click risk where y'all play as Kai, granddaughter of the ailing scientist who is a longtime caretaker of this magical island. The game has a unique manus-drawn art style with vibrant landscapes and plays on themes of the harmony of life and nature.

The core loop is exploring the lush island landscape, interacting with its inhabitants, and managing various gardens planted from seeds you can collect throughout the environment, progressing with the fourth dimension you have spent. All the mutant islanders here are joyfully living, simply like Spiritfarer, accomplishing each designated task opens up new dialogue opportunities that reveal more information about their past and allows you to build a stronger connexion with them.

NEXT: The Best Games To Play If You Like Inside