Canadian developer Thunder Lotus is releasing its peaceful management game Spiritfarer today. Spiritfarer is a part platformer, part adventure game where the player takes control of Stella, a ferrymaster for people who have passed away. Spiritfarer will take players on an emotional journey as they befriend spirits and guide them towards the afterlife. Announced at the Nintendo Indie Showcase, Spiritfarer is releasing today on Nintendo Switch.
Spiritfarer features different calming objectives based on farming, mining, cooking, and crafting to keep Stella's guests happy on their journey by boat. Each spirit has their own personality and appearance, some appearing as animals like lions, deer, and frogs. Stella is also joined by her cat Daffodil, who is playable in the co-op mode. The character designs are very whimsical, almost resembling Studio Ghibli's Spirted Away. As the boat delivers the spirits to the afterlife, Stella will say goodbye as they leave a mark with star constellations seen from Stella's boat.
Spiritfarer's story will be driven by Stella's interactions with the spirits and her journey to take her passengers to their next stop. The art style is unique and has the design almost like old folktale picture books. The world around Stella is colorful with uplifting music and makes players feel at ease in all locations.
One of the main objectives of the game is to build and evolve the boat to hold more guests and have more activities. As the story progresses, the boat gets much bigger with 2D rooms stacking high like the popular mobile game, Fallout Shelter. As more rooms unlock, Stella will have access to more dialogue with guests and more activities to do on the boat. Spiritfarer will take players on a beautiful journey as they transport spirits to the afterlife.
Spiritfarer is out now on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.