Gaming is still firmly stuck in its live service, money-all-the-time era. I’ve seen some signs of it slowing recently, but we’re not out of the downloadable content woods yet. Publicly-traded companies and tech investors yearn for the impossible dream of infinite growth, and videogames try to deliver lines that always go up with “early access” premium editions, battle passes, and years of additional purchases rolled out after release. It’s the cynical capitalist way to build a gaming community; if your players have to keep buying stuff, they’ll be invested in the game for years to come, both in mind and wallet.
Wylde Flowers doesn’t have the time or the need for any of that ridiculous business. This award-winning cozy farming-sim-adjacent title first launched on Apple Arcade, before also shipping over on PC, Switch, and Mac for twenty five dollars. That’s its entire purchase price, full stop. There’s no season pass, or extra hats to buy, or DLC expansions to save up for. At launch, that price got you one of the most enjoyable farming-based games ever made — that’s also kind of a visual novel/interactive adventure game about building a community in a small fictional town…while maybe learning a magical spell or two. It’s a charming and perfect and delightful game with dozens of hours of content — and it also had one of the most aggressive…
