Wholesome Direct 2022’s biggest announcements and trailers

There’s certainly no shortage of innovative, unique indie games in our future. During Saturday’s Wholesome Direct — a showcase of indie games from across genres — nearly 100 indie games were on display. There were some new announcements, game developer interviews, painting, and updates on already-announced titles.

So many of the games shown during Wholesome Direct look promising, but we’ve rounded up some of the most exciting titles.

Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To is a match-3 puzzle game with a lofi soundtrack and a story. Out in 2023, Spirit Swap had a new trailer and demo debut at Wholesome Direct.

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly is the follow-up to the first, acclaimed Coffee Talk, a talking simulator set in a coffee shop. It’s expected out in 2023, and a new trailer debuted at Wholesome Direct.

ODDADA looks like a music toy made out of a isometric village where all the houses are instruments. You can play with it this year via Steam.

The Garden Path looks like the perfect chill time — a slice-of-life in a garden. A new trailer debuted at Wholesome Direct.

What if you were a kaiju who wanted to start dating? That’s the premise of Kaichu: The Kaiju Dating Sim, which had new gameplay debut during the broadcast.

Soulitaire got its first trailer during Wholesome Direct, showcasing the card-based gameplay in this game of story and interpretation.

Paper Trail stands out for its stunning art and unique concept: You’ve got to fold pages of the world to move through the game. Its first trailer is out now, and the game is slated for 2023.

PuffPals: Island Skies is still years away, but it’s got literally everything I could ever ask for in a life sim — farming, cute creatures, custom avatars, and room decoration.

Little Bear Chef

Image: BananaBox

There are a lot of bears in video games these days, and a lot of them are extremely cute. The bear in Little Bear Chef is no exception — who doesn’t want to play as a cute bear cooking in a kitchen?

Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a cute musical adventure game expected to be released in 2023.

Melodyssey is described as a stress-free adventure game with ASMR elements, announced at Wholesome Direct on Saturday.