If you’ve ever heard the term ‘busywork’ associated with a video game and reflexively rolled your eyes, I can’t say I blame you. After a day of toil, the notion of having to busy yourself with repetitive tasks to while away the hours during your leisure time probably is hardly appealing, not least because, well, it all feels a little too much like actual work.
Wanderstop, a third-person narrative adventure and the debut title from indie studio Ivy Road and the creator of The Stanley Parable, has something to say about that. Certainly, while cosy games are nothing new, Wanderstop takes a very specific focus that allows Ivy Road’s debut offering a lot to say about dealing with work stress and self-care, and I’d wager that both of those things are something we could all do with from time to time. So here’s why you need to take some time out of your daily crush, sit down, fix yourself a nice steamy brew and relax with Wanderstop, one of the best cosy efforts to come along in a good long while.
Understanding How To Slow Down
Arguably, the centrepiece of Wanderstop is Alta, the primary protagonist that players take control of. A fierce warrior with near-unparalleled skill, Alta’s world comes crashing down around her after a string of devastating defeats, propelling our proud fighter to push herself even harder as she seeks out a sword instructor in a mysterious forest to give her the skills she needs to be victorious once again. Well, as it turns out, not only does Alta collapse during her trek through this mysterious forest, but she also discovers that her trusty sword has become far too heavy for her to wield – even if others can pick up the weapon with ease.
Awakened in a strange clearing by a bald-headed gentle giant known as ‘Boro’, Alta’s immediate reaction is to leave and force herself back on the critical path to what she deems to be success and by doing so, our protagonist once again collapses and finds herself once more revived by a deeply concerned Boro. Soon realising that for better or worse she’s trapped in this odd-looking clearing, with an even more odd bald-headed giant that just so happens to run an extremely odd looking tea shop, Alta resigns herself to helping Boro manage his tea shop as a means to pass the time, not quite comprehending that by doing so she’s in essence helping herself in a fashion that she never would have prior.
At a high level, Wanderstop has you doing chores, making tea, drinking tea, speaking to folks, and that’s pretty much about it. With your trusty book and instructions, you soon learn how to plant specific flowers, which in turn yield the various fruits you need to brew the various types of tea that each of Wanderstop’s very different clientele craves. As Boro quickly informs Alta, there are no deadlines, no times and no pressure – you do everything at your own pace and march entirely to the beat of your own drum. As such, Alta’s sword becomes an effective metaphor for the work and creative passions within your life that become too weighty to hold on your shoulders, because you’ve forgotten to take things slowly and take proper care of your physical and emotional well-being.
Finding Peace In The Small Things
Whether you’re concocting deliciously steaming brews through Wanderstop’s streamlined tea-making system, picking tea leaves, returning lost packages to their owners, or just sweeping up and pruning unruly weeds in the local vicinity, Wanderstop gently reminds you that a great deal of tranquillity can be found within the small things in life.
There are no massive open-world maps stuffed with icons, no monetisation, no epic overarching quests or anything of that nature in Wanderstop. Instead, the focus is very much on taking the time to appreciate the doing of smaller jobs and smaller acts as a way to not just relax yourself, but feel like you’re contributing to something greater than yourself.
It isn’t long into Wanderstop’s 15-hour or so duration that you soon realise that doing these micro activities presents something more than purely just a reprieve from the more complex and sophisticated tasks of everyday life. It’s not just about the separation from such toil and a focus on the smaller things, Wanderstop confronts you with the notion that the embrace of such simplistic tasks is crucial to building up your emotional resilience, akin to how feeding a starving person begins with smaller morsels rather than an immediate feast. There’s a degree of empathy and emotional intelligence threaded through every digital fibre of Wanderstop that you just don’t see anywhere else.
Helping Others And Helping Yourself
Even though Alta is very much the central protagonist of Wanderstop, it’s also true to say that as much as you’re there to realise the breadth of her journey and fruitful emotional development, so too are you a broader force for good. You see, making tea isn’t just an activity to pass the time; it also doubles as a conduit to teasing out levels of varying emotional enlightenment from both Alta and the myriad patrons of the Wanderstop tea shop.
Of course, it tracks that the magical Wanderstop tea shop deals in magical tea, whereupon each brew can tease out emotional reactions and responses depending on the ingredients that are used. After talking with each of the travelling customers that arrive at the Wanderstop, you begin to learn what makes them tick to a degree and, more pointedly, the tea that would be best to help them out of their current funk. Whether it’s Gerald the frenzied but loveable knight that needs a tea to wake him up and get him going, or the Engineer that needs a brew to alleviate some accumulating chronic pain, every time you serve someone a warm mug of tea in Wanderstop you’re helping them and there’s a sort of weaponised, feel-good feeling in that which, again, reminds you how the small things can be enriching to the mind and heart.
Those different teas with their varying effects also work on Alta, too. After brewing a mug of this wondrous liquid and finding a nicely relaxing place to sit, Alta will drink said beverage and reflect on her own life and how each different brew brings out both new and suppressed emotions in her that longed to be brought to the surface.
Despite such weighty and keenly felt lessons, Wanderstop never feels preachy, thanks in no small part to how it imparts such precious wisdom where such wisdom feels offered up as an idea, rather than as some sort of mandatory doctrine that must be followed. Approaching something representing a digital intervention, Wanderstop feels like a kaleidoscope of self-help and stress-busting care that many of us, including me, never knew we needed until now. After all, what’s not to like about slowly drinking a relaxing cup of tea while watching the world go by to help with the unburdening of all your problems, if only for a little while, eh?
