Wanderstop is smart in how it directly calls out this toxic loop of relentless productivity. You can’t just stumble into a magical tea shop, help some other people solve their own problems, and then be “fixed” yourself. At one point, Alta says, “even relaxing feels like a job.” She’s not wrong. We’ve turned relaxing into a chore, something that must be filled with tasks: satisfying and productive.

It’s a painful journey through a safe and inviting space that asks you not just to rest, but to really do the work of unpacking what brought you to rock bottom in the first place.

On top of this, the music of the clearing will subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) change over time and with major story moments. Themes that once felt comforting and idyllic can abruptly become unnerving with impressive precision.

It sneaks up on you, the realization. You start seeing the signs long before the game names it—except, It never tells you outright.

You see, this isn’t just a story about burn out (though playing it while actively experiencing burn out myself added a whole other level to that aspect of it). Elevada is a previously undefeated arena fighter who has hit a terrible losing streak. Convinced something must be wrong with her, she heads to a mysterious forest in search of a legendary fighter to help “fix” her, but passes out from exhaustion on the way.

I've played quite a handful of cozy games in my time, and the trope of moving away to a distant island, away from your job and everything you've known your entire adult life, has been, well, overused. But I’m not one to complain. Many of these games—like Garden Witch Life, where the protagonist gets booted from her job, or Magical Delicacy, where Flora follows her dream to become a witch—follow the same cozy template: move to an entirely new place, start fresh, and build yourself a little world that consists of farming, tending to a new home, and forging a simpler, more fulfilling life.

While the lack of a definitive ending might frustrate some, the journey itself is undeniably worth it. And for those who love introspective storytelling, the game is absolutely worth the price of admission. Would I have liked just a bit more content? More resolution? A reason to revisit past chapters? Absolutely. But even as it stands, Wanderstop delivers an experience that lingers, making it well worth its cost for those willing to embrace what it has to offer.

He’s patient. He listens. He respects Elevada’s feelings without invalidating them, but also without indulging them in a way that lets her spiral deeper. He is, in every way, the calm in the storm that is her mind.

I loved the characters in this game in ways I didn’t anticipate, from the adorkable pretend-knight Gerald and his overbearing love for his son, to the boisterous Nana, whose fiercely competitive nature lands her shop on Wanderstop’s doorstep to try and “run you out of business.

Yes, players can make choices Wanderstop Gameplay in dialogue and tea orders, which affect NPCs’ reactions to Elevada. However, in the grand scheme of things, these choices do not significantly alter the game’s outcome.

When I saw that the minds behind The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide were also the ones making Wanderstop, I knew what to expect… or, at least, I thought I did. I anticipated its immensely emotional story, wry sense of humor, and at least one strange twist – but while I got all of those things and more, what I didn’t see coming was that a game about making tea and avoiding burn out would force me to grapple with my own hold-ups around productivity in such an intimate way.

But the fact that Boro asks this of Alta—acknowledging the frustration, treating it as valid instead of dismissing it—that struck something in me that only the cartoon Bluey has ever managed to do.

I thought I was going evil in Avowed, but one quest changed everything I thought I knew about morality in this RPG

And maybe that’s one of the hardest parts of Wanderstop—the game asks you to be okay with not knowing. But of course, the tea shop itself isn’t just a backdrop for these conversations.