Game awards season always means a side serving of gaming showcases and announcements. In the case of The Game Awards-affiliated Wholesome Games, that means their annual December Wholesome Snack, a 30-minute spotlight on upcoming cozy and casual titles from indie developers around the world – and sister show to the midyear Wholesome Direct.

This year’s Wholesome Snack, which streamed on 10 December, managed to cram in over 20 feel-good games, almost half of which were world premiere announcements. You can watch the entire show below, or you can scroll down for our standout games to wishlist, or even play right now in some cases.

Before that, though, honorable mention must go to these announcements:

Tales of Seikyu

So, sooo many life sims, but PC game Tales of Seikyu, from developer ACE Entertainment and Fireshine Games, comes with a delightful traditional Japanese aesthetic and folklore setting.

The official premise: You and your sister, Kon, arrive in Seikyu, a magical island haven for yokai spirits, and move into a once-thriving farmhouse passed down through your Fox Clan ancestors. Using your shapeshifting abilities, you can cultivate your farmstead, interact with the locals, take part in festivals, delve into the mysteries of the island, and potentially find love.

Tales of Seikyu comes to Early Access in the Northern Hemisphere spring of 2025.

P.S. As for other striking-looking life sims that popped up during Wholesome Snack, check out Archipelago-set Lou’s Lagoon, which you explore with your sea plane; and Wylde Society, an Edwardian period fantasy where you play as a socialite witch and boarding house manager.

The release date of both these games is TBC.

Pine: A Story of Loss

The holidays are a poignant time for a lot of people, which makes it an ideal release period for emotion-centric Pine: A Story of Loss, from Made Up Games and Fellow Traveller. In this short interactive tale, designed to be experienced in a single sitting, you play as a woodworker dealing with the loss of his wife.

Featuring a hand-drawn art style, the wordless Pine: A Story of Loss combines puzzles and mini-games as the woodworker settles into his new routine, reminisces about his beloved, and struggles with moving on.

Pine: A Story of Loss comes to PC, Nintendo Switch, plus iOS and Android mobile devices on Friday, 13 December.

Winter Burrow

A cute and cosy survival game that you can play at your own pace? Sign us up. In Winter Burrow, from Pine Creek Games and Noodlecake, you play a mouse who returns from the city to find their woodland home in ruin and their aunt missing.

To restore your burrow, you have to head out into the frozen wilderness to look for resources, as well as allies. That means equipping yourself for adventure and exploration, expanding your survival handbook, and making sure your home is a cosy haven where you can knit winter wear and bake hearty pies.

Winter Burrow is set for release on PC and Xbox (including Xbox Game Pass) in 2025. As a side note, you can play the demo on PC now.

NAIAD

It wouldn’t be a gaming showcase if there wasn’t at least one surprise “Out now!” reveal. In terms of Wholesome Snack, that honour went to dreamy puzzle adventure NAIAD from HiWarp, which has been on our radar for the past two years.

In NAIAD, you assume the role of a water nymph going with the flow, literally. Floating along a river on the way to the sea, you encounter and guide various creatures around obstacles, acting as a nature guardian in the face of callous human actions. Your explorations will take you to places as diverse as a spring, cave, orchard and coastal town.

You can play NAIAD now on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch, with the EU Switch release coming 23 December.