Renovate and manage an inn, meet cute and funny characters, unlock and explore the surroundings. Very nice sequel to The Lost Art of Innkeeping, but no previous knowledge required. ~löyly

Free & short, pretty good choices-matter VN on living with someone with an eating disorder. Not very nuanced, but realistic enough to be useful + engaging enough to feel like more than a lecture. ~löy

Lighthearted RPG with cute characters + funny stories, played in short rounds. Promotes kindness and silliness. Co-op for up to 4 technically optional, but helps a lot. Maybe wait for patches. ~löyly

Beautiful and wholesome adventure that lets you explore and restore a barren world for and with your community. Lacking in some aspects, but overall warmly recommended and a new personal fave. ~löyly

[pre-release] Impressively hand-drawn interactive story with kind and positive text bits, pleasant music and confusing puzzles. Mostly a nice experience until I got stuck and gave up. ~löyly

A badly managed mess of broken promises. You CAN'T "live off the land any way you like". Hardly an MMO. Has uncozy activities + NPCs. Lacks accessibility. Free except cosmetics + pets though. ~löyly

Restore, explore and catalogue an old mansion full of occult knowledge. Enigmatic and beautiful. Grindy for completionists. Lots of weird lore related to cosmic horrors, but chill gameplay. ~löyly

"Adventure" or "story" would be a stretch for this one, but it's peaceful and cute. Find lots of cats in a large wintery picture, unlock bonus winter scenes with more cats.

Epic adventure with stunning views, Scottish mythology, history and music. Some grim stories. Options to set platforming, survival and rhythm parts to near trivial. My exploration fave of 2023. ~löyly

Free snack-sized opposum shenanigans! A tiny VN, but so much fun, cuteness, wholesomeness and a bit of replay value. ~löyly