Whereas some games burn you out because they’re bulging with content, Haven Park takes the path less traveled by giving you a satisfying, succinct experience that doesn’t seem wasteful.Įven when I wrapped up every little thing I could possibly do in Haven Park, I still found myself ambling around, seeking to sate that wanderlust – much like in real life, as I love to hike around the Black Hills that I call home. While I would have been up for more adventures, more quests and a wider variety of things to build and expand on, I didn’t feel robbed of an experience when I wrapped it up over the couple of days it took me to take in all the sights. What’s truly nice is that Haven Park is very good at valuing your time. It makes you feel accomplished in ways that games rarely do these days. The system prompts the player to learn the lay of the land and, in a pinch, to find a signpost or marker that will help you to figure out where you are. You gain a map that you can eventually expand as you find new areas, but the game never explicitly lets you know where you exactly are, which is wonderful for those looking for a good exploratory wander. It’s not densely filled with details like an open world game, but it has enough to give it a feeling of being a real place, ripe for exploration. The sense of place this game has is phenomenal. But what truly drew me in was literally taking a, well, short hike. Haven Park has plenty of errands to run and experience points to accumulate, which fulfill those game-like requirements that keep people engaged. These help to break up the flow of the game and give you another fantastical yet thinly veiled excuse to journey out into the woods. Sometimes you’ll even run into some who will give you side quests, such as playing hide-and-seek or find a missing bauble.
Some of them ask you to add different accoutrements to make their stay a little nicer others just give you their opinion or advice. After decorating them to your liking, folk start to hike in and stake up at your waypoints. So, our intrepid ranger meanders around the park nabbing basic resources like wood and fabric, which he then uses to build up the various campsites littered about.
It’s a little run down, but with a little TLC it can return to its glory days. The conceit is this: you play as a little anthropomorphic chickadee named Flint who takes over maintaining a large, natural park from his grandma. I’m all for mastery over systems and interactive storytelling, but there needs to be more games that focus on a relaxing experience through ambiance, familiarity and warmth.įabien Weibel’s Haven Park is inspired by Adam Robinson-Yu’s A Short Hike, and has more than a passing similarity, at least visually, to Nintendo’s Animal Crossing – but it feels unique, distinct and unabashedly clever in its own right. These games veer in a different direction from what we’re familiar with, and are all the better for it. The raison d’etre of a certain gaming genre – often labeled as wholesome games – is to be exploratory, relaxing and often experiential. He started development when the world was sent into lockdown as a means to stay sane and it worked! Fabien kept his sanity and we all are getting Haven Park out of it.I really like the idea of video games as meditation. Haven Park was developed by solo dev Fabien Weibel as his very first game. Learn the camper’s wishes and build whatever their hearts desire to attract even more quirky characters and look forward to whimsical conversations and quests.
HAVEN PARK GAME FOR MAC
If you’re interested in reviewing Haven Park on PC or Nintendo Switch (please state your region for Switch), please reach out to Sinikka – Park is also available for Mac and Linux!īe Flint, who is doing his very best to keep his grandma’s park up and running and make it a place for the campers to enjoy. Haven Park is releasing on August 5th and review keys are now available for PC and Nintendo Switch!
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