Spiritfarer, for those who have not heard of it yet, is a wonderful indie game that is unique, enjoyable, and beautiful. You play as Stella, and all throughout your journey, you will encounter spirits that you will need to help and each of them has a story to tell. It is also a management game where you, the ferry master to the deceased, will farm, mine, harvest, and craft multiple items to cater to the spirits’ needs until they are ready to go.
We highly suggest you get this game, play it, and complete the journey. It is a game for everyone of any age.
If you had played the game, you might be thinking, what other games are like Spiritfarer? Well, we have a list for that actually. But let me tell you that there is nothing like Spiritfarer, so the games that we will be suggesting may differ heavily from each other, but they will have the same relaxing and unique vibe that you will get when you play Spiritfarer. So that’s what we are going to focus on in this article.
1. To The Moon
Get ready for tears with this one, just like in Spiritfarer we learn that life sometimes ends before we’ve done everything we want to. To The Moon tells the story of Johnny Wyles, an old man on his deathbed whose dying wish is to go to the moon. He can’t remember why he desires to travel there, he’s not sure why he’s drawn to it, but he knows he must.
You play as two doctors who specialise in wish fulfilment for the dying. Enter Johnny’s memories – traverse his innermost thoughts and his most personal moments – in order to plant a memory that will lead him to experience having been to the moon. You get to relive his life story while slowly unravelling the reason why he wants to travel to the moon before he dies. To The Moon is an extremely touching story that tastes a little bittersweet.
2. Gris
Gris is a beautiful puzzle-adventure game about a girl (named Gris) who dealt with a painful experience in her life. As you play and go through her journey, she will see the world differently and grows emotionally. She will be exposed to new perspectives on the world, thus revealing new paths with her abilities.
It is a relaxing puzzle game that is worth the try, and it has a great soundtrack that complements its visuals so well. As Spiritfarer deals with letting go and grief, Gris is just another take on the subject matter told through the same abstract but dissimilar way.
3. Cozy Grove
Cozy Grove is a very relaxing simulation game where you focus on finding secrets and interacting with local ghosts. You can interact with them, befriend them and learn more about their stories. You can even craft decorations, fish, and more. The time is synced to real-world time, and it provides you with quests to complete every day. Akin to Animal Crossing for some of you OG fans.
This comes very close to being like Spiritfarer because you deal with spirits, and the gameplay mechanic is somewhat similar as well. The visuals are also beautifully hand-drawn which is always a plus point in my book.
If you do check out Cozy Grove you can get started with our beginner’s guide to the game here!
4. Eternal Hope
Eternal Hope deals with one of the themes that Spiritfarer does so well with – death. In this story, you play as Ti’bi – a boy whose love has died and he is trying to bring her back to life. As Ti’bi you must travel between dimensions to the Shadow World, a dangerous and purgatory realm. There you’ll need to overcome its mysteries to continue your journey.
A 2D scrolling puzzle platformer, Eternal Hope has some LIMBO / Inside vibes with some similar mechanics. The story is beautiful and it’s definitely triggering warnings for people who have lost someone they love. Just like Spiritfarer, the game encapsulates you with the melancholy feeling of mourning. Slightly darker in its story telling but no less real.
5. Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an action-adventure game about helping the deceased move on to the spirit world. You play as Kena, a young spirit guide, who is tasked with collecting small spirit companions known as Rot. These little creatures are helpful and can be directed by Kena to do all sorts of things.
It is not as relaxing as Spiritfarer, but the concept of spirit guiding is there and the game truly has amazing visuals with an emotional storyline for you to uncover. The Rot being adorable little creatures have already won me over to play the game from the start.
6. A Mortician’s Tale
A short game, A Mortician’s Tale like Spiritfarer is a death-positive game. In this story-driven play through you follow the life of Charlie, a newly minted mortician. As a recent graduate, she prepares the bodies of the deceased for cremation or burial. The game unlike Spiritfarer‘s abstract and beautiful take on the subject instead is almost too blunt in its directness on dealing with death. It forces you to look upon a body and mourn the lives lost as you attend their funerals and listen to their loved ones tell their stories.
A Mortician’s Tale slowly is one of the many games on this list that moves toward an embrace of the death positive movement. Using its delicate balance of tragedy and mundanity to make death feel more familiar—more manageable and more real.
7. Unpacking
Unpacking is the embodiment of a relaxing and satisfying game. The game is simple, you simply unpack items and fit them into a new home. It does not have a story to tell, but you can build a narrative based on the items you are unpacking, which is a truly nice touch. In fact, the game recently won ‘Best Narrative’ as well as the ‘People’s Choice’ at the recent BAFTA Awards 2022.
If we are talking about how relaxing Spiritfarer is, then Unpacking comes close and may even be better as there is something very fulfilling and oddly satisfying as you unbox items. The only thing we’re disappointed with Unpacking is the duration of the game. It’s super short and will be over within an hour or two which sucks.
8. Everybody Wham Wham
If you love the heartfelt stories of the characters in Spiritfarer then you’ll like Everybody Wham Wham. The premise of the game is simple, to compete and build the best snowman in this story-driven adventure. As you participate in the snowman-building competition you get to meet and hang out with all the cast of zany characters at the festival. Let me also just say the soundtrack of this game is a bop.
Everybody Wham Wham‘s gameplay basically boils down to two different sections. During the day you’ll have the actual snowman building competitions and at the end of each day, you’ll be transported to a small area where you can walk around and chat with people. There’s nothing quite as comforting as your day to day activities that bring you closer and let you learn more about the people and the town. Talk with them more, find out what’s going on around town and eventually, you’ll uncover a mystery to solve.
9. How To Say Goodbye
Need another game where you help some spirits cross over? How To Say Goodbye could be a nice treat for you to try out. It is a narrative puzzle game that plays out sort of like a storybook. You’ll be leading a group of ghosts to the obviously marked door on each level in order for them to move on.
As a game about crossing over, it will naturally have a ton of grief and emotional moments intertwined with its gameplay. These are fresh ghosts, still coping with the reality of their death, which is never an easy thing. But all in all, it matches the Spiritfarer theme pretty well.
10. Old Man’s Journey
Nothing is more warm-hearted than helping a grandpa journey through the countryside while literally going down memory lane. Old Man’s Journey is a puzzle adventure game that will unravel the story of an old man and his life. It follows along with the themes of life, loss and eventual hope, themes that players of Spiritfarer will be accustomed to. Entrenched in a beautiful handcrafted world, this journey feels poignant, light-hearted at times and most importantly stress free.
Meditatively reflective you’ll uncover more of this old man’s life through his eyes. Eventually coming upon his wife and his son as you help him through his journey. Your job is to change the landscape to help him continue to move forward and finally make peace with himself.
Conclusion
There really is nothing like Spiritfarer. The way the game imparts relaxation as you play it, the fun and not tedious gameplay mechanics, the solid narrative for each character, and the pleasing visuals; the game just calls for multiple playthroughs because the experience is just tremendously rewarding.
We do hope you find our list helpful in removing that Spiritfarer itch that you’ve been having, and we are hopeful for a sequel to the game. Do you have games that you may recommend that are like Spiritfarer? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comment section below!
