Hotel Galactic is an upcoming cozy management game. Like any game with crafting in it, players start by punching trees, but the trees are gorgeous, and so is everything else. The developers call Hotel Galactic "inspired by Studio Ghibli," and they have absolutely nailed the aesthetic. Everything is beautiful, and all the inhabitants are delightfully weird. The ones with bugles for noses are particularly wonderful.
Management sims can often get chaotic and frustrating, but Hotel Galactic stays true to its cozy theme. Guests may not leave the best review if they are kept waiting too long, and may leave without paying if you don't check them out fast enough, but the occasional issue isn't a catastrophe. The same goes for managing the kitchen and dining room, and washing the bed linens. Workers need to be assigned, and sometimes it takes a little while to get things done, with an old-timey elevator moving them between floors, but nothing is ever a huge rush.
Hotel Galactic will be released on Steam later this year, and a demo with about an hour and a half of gameplay is available. It's still a little buggy, but it is playable and delightful. The demo is only on Steam, but the full game will be available on Switch, Playstation, and Xbox. Warning: There is no load/save system in the demo, so plan to play all the way through, or start over from the beginning. The game is scheduled for Early Access in Q3 and full release in Q4. Can't wait.
Previously:
• 'Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit' is a delight, with one giant caveat
• Webfishing is the fishing with friends game I didn't know I needed
• Chill out with Capybara Spa, the coziest of cozy games
• How do you pronounce 'Ghibli?' If you're talking about Miyazaki's anime studio, there's only one way (video)
• Drift off to sleep with this 'Studio Ghibli Deep Sleep Piano Collection' playlist
• The first videos of the Studio Ghibli park are here
