Davey Wreden is best known as the creator of The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide, two of the most legendary indie games of the 2010s, with some of the best narratives. So needless to say, his return during Summer Game Fest feels like a pretty big deal. He returns with his new game development studio Ivy Road, alongside Gone Home’s Karla Zimonja and Minecraft’s Daniel “C418” Rosenfeld, with their debut game, Wanderstop, set to be published by Annapurna Interactive. Wanderstop is a narrative-focused cozy game about Alta, a former fighter who now runs a cozy tea shop in a magical tea shop, where she serves tea to all of the delightful folks who come across them in their bright, colorful location, complete with cozy and relaxing benches…
Nope, No Darkness Here
…Okay, so if you know anything about The Stanley Parable and/or The Beginner’s Guide, then you know this is a story that’s going to take some rather heavy twists and turns, well beyond its cozy appearance. And as seen inthe reveal trailer that you can view at this link,Ivy Road isn’t exactly hiding that fact with Wanderstop. Throughout the clip, Alta thinks about how she shouldn’t be here, saying she’s a fighter, and describing the tasks players will perform in tea shop in the process, from gathering ingredients for to blending them in a bizarre tea machine, to performing various errands for everyone else. And when they finally stop, relax, and try to accept that this life is what’s best for them, things go dark, as it’s revealed that Alta is clearly struggling with herself and dealing with some issues, punctuated by a mysterious sword and mentions of running away. And while Alta’s thoughts are voiced, the trailer ends with someone speaking to them in text, suggesting a possible meta twist.
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The game is described as being about patience, which is what the tea shop demands, and Alta almost seems to reject. It almost seems as though we might be in for a possible desconstruction of cozy games here, but that’s just speculation. For all we know, there could be sudden gameplay shifts beyond what we’ve been shown so far. But even as is, Wanderstop still looks impressive and stylish with relaxing tasks, be it a facade or not. And once again, the narrative here has us wanting more, eager to figure out the mysteries behind what’s going on here. Heck, maybe it really is just a regular cozy game. We’ll find out later this year, when Wanderstop comes out for the PC and PS5.
