This is a relaxing software toy in which you build a town, with no goals and no constraints. However, I'd say there are puzzle-like elements and a sense of achievement in understanding the seemingly organic and fractal-like ways in which the single "blocks" interact with each other to yield different results. You need to be observant to get a glimpse of the rules of this little peaceful world, if you want to understand what you can build, and how. Once you get to know those rules, you can go on and follow the steps of Ludwig II of Bavaria, Escher and Miyazaki in creating your own dream townscape.
In this game, managing your tavern will keep you busy, but won't overwhelm you, as soon as you get the hang of what's important for your customers. New game mechanics and tutorials are introduced as you gain experience levels (or "reputation milestones" as they are called in the game), giving you the time to familiarize with new concepts. Later on, the possibility to hire staff to automate repetitive chores will let you focus on more creative endeavors, like cooking and brewing drinks. Also, the game feels robust enough for a in-development product; so far I've encountered just a couple of harmless glitches.
Jump into the shoes of a young woman who's going to be a passive operator (a 'proxy', someone who rigidly sticks to the words churned out by a computer) for a novel AI-driven counseling system for mental well-being. Meet the patients, with their varied and nuanced and well-acted sets of psychological problems, and feel the impotence in helping them as all you can do is reading what the AI tells you to. Then see the whole story grow to different proportions as you learn of the protagonist's past, meet with other characters and be overwhelmed with doubts, Psychotherapy, artificial intelligences, the ethical trappings of working in a high-tech, corporate environment, the issue of our privacy exchanged for services, the philosophy that drives it all... This visual novel touches so many issues, both in subtle and deep ways, that it's difficult that you won't be engaged by the ideas it exposes and by how they are exposed. Recommended.
