Pine Hearts to spring up in early 2024

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Cozy isometric cartoon adventure coming soon to Windows PC on Steam

Not every adventure needs to be an epic journey filled with mysteries to unravel and conspiracies to foil. Sometimes it's the simple pleasures in life that make for the best entertainment, like the ones we'll find in Hyper Luminal Games' upcoming "itsy-bitsy, open-world puzzle game," Pine Hearts.

Players step into the "wee hiking boots" of a youngster named Tyke, who sets out to explore the picturesque environs of Caravan Park. As he progresses, a gentle, whimsical story begins to unfold, intended to serve as a "love letter to those who have experienced loss and want to find a joyous refuge to unwind and remember fond memories." Along the way there will be many items to discover, characters to meet and new paths to unlock, along with all the "little secrets stuffed throughout the park." Some of the best ones are hidden, however, so you'll need to find and use a variety of "cool tools and abilities" to reveal them all.

Pine Hearts looks as charming as its premise suggests, with a lovely isometric cartoon art style beautifully complementing the "cute and heart-string-pulling" tale told with a "light touch." Gameplay takes the "item-based progression of Zelda, combines it with Souls-like level design and wraps it all up in a wholesome aesthetic with a focus on puzzles, not combat." In between overcoming obstacles, there's a variety of other delightful, leisurely activities to find in Caravan Park as well, from making new friends to simple joys like building sandcastles and petting animals. The game's indie Scottish developer is also committed to making the experience as inclusive as possible, with more than ten different accessibility settings such as simplified controls, colour blocking mode, and control rebinding.

While Pine Hearts doesn't have a firm release date yet, the big day is just around the corner, as the game is due to launch on Steam for Windows PC sometime in the first quarter of 2024.