No More Robots and developer Cheesemaster Games have announced Spirittea, a brand new life sim that's essentially Stardew Valley crossed with Spirited Away. You'll be able to manage your very own ghostly bathhouse on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and possibly PlayStation this summer.
What do we know about Spirittea?
According to No More Robots' Mike Rose, Spirittea was inspired by solo developer Dan Beckerton's travels throughout Asia. Beckerton met his wife during his travels, and "it's through their relationship, and all of the places he lived" that Spirittea has come about, according to Rose. Like the recently-announced SunnySide, Spirittea is a cozy life sim set in a rural village, but there's a twist: the village is inhabited by spirits that you can see because you drank some magic tea. We've all been there, right? Now, you'll need to run a bathhouse where the spirits relax after a hard day, as well as meet townsfolk and find time for hobbies. You can check out the launch trailer for Spirittea right here.
Gameplay-wise, Spirittea will focus largely on Stardew-style life sim elements. You'll need to run your bathhouse and accommodate the many spirits who go there to relax after what No More Robots calls "a hard day of spooking". Spirits will be assigned to different rooms, and you'll have to make sure their needs are catered for; don't put them with spirits they don't like, give them fresh towels, et cetera. As you play, you'll meet Lord Spirits, unique and exciting personalities who will require bathhouse rooms to themselves. You'll also be aided in your quest by Wonyan, a cheeky cat spirit who will help you understand how to cater to your spirits. Naturally, you'll also be able to upgrade your bathhouse with new furniture, new baths, and new rooms, too.
When is the Spirittea release date?
Right now, we don't have a concrete release date for Spirittea. The game is currently due to launch for PC and consoles this summer, and you can wishlist it right now on Steam if you want to follow its progress. You can also sign up for the closed beta that's due to land "soon"; all you need to do is enter your email address and your name, as well as wishlisting Spirittea on Steam, and you'll be sent a beta code if you manage to get onto the program. The devs have also set up an official Spirittea Discord channel, which you can join if you want to learn more about this charming little game.
Spirittea is part of a burgeoning cozy life sim revolution. It shares some similarities with the upcoming Daomei Village, which is another Asian-inspired farming sim inspired by folklore. There's also Spirit of the Island, which got its first major update last month, as well as up-and-coming projects like Humble Games' Coral Island. Despite stiff competition, Spirittea does look pretty special; the ability to manage our very own Spirited Away bathhouse has us very excited indeed. We'll bring you more on this one as soon as we get it.
