Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Goal: Brew a decent cup of tea.
I’m excited to try Wanderstop, the new game about, as its Steam page puts it, “change and tea,” for a few reasons. One is that it’s the first game from Ivy Road, a studio founded by Davey Wreden. Wreden previously created The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide, both highly original games that were fully committed to their own distinctive visions. On the surface, in the trailers that I’ve seen, Wanderstop looks like it could be a fairly conventional “cozy game,” another chill, low-key release in which you soak up the pleasant vibes while running a business of some kind—in this case, a tea shop. However, given Wreden’s involvement, I suspect there’s more to Wanderstop than that, and that sooner or later the game’s gonna throw me a curveball. Which is what I want! I want to be surprised, caught off guard, to have my expectations undermined.
The other reason I’m excited is that I’ve seen the game receive a pretty wide range of critical reactions, from lukewarm praise to enthusiastic raves. (I haven’t read these reviews yet because I want to go into the game knowing as little as possible, but it’s clear to me that there’s a good assortment of opinions on it out there.) I believe that most games should receive a much wider range of critical reactions than they do, but given that mainstream game criticism sadly still tends overwhelmingly toward consensus, when a game does receive a decent spread of critical responses I tend to sit up and take notice, because it inevitably means that the game is doing something interesting.
It doesn’t mean that I’ll love it; it just means that even if I don’t like it, I’ll probably at least think it failed in an interesting way, and I’d typically much rather play a game that tries something distinctive and doesn’t quite come together than a game that plays it safe and succeeds. Of course, it’s also possible that I will end up loving Wanderstop. I intend to find out one way or the other this weekend. But right now, this moment before I’ve even started it, is sometimes one of the best parts: to be on the cusp of beginning a new game, and not having any clue of just what to expect. — Carolyn Petit
