Echoes of the Plum Grove is a new cozy farming simulator that sees you explore the town and island of Honeywood in a delightfully quaint period setting. Farm, socialize, make friends, cook, craft, forage, and uncover secrets as you explore the island. This may sound familiar to fans of the genre, but Echoes of the Plum Grove stands apart from other cozy games by emphasizing survival, dynamic NPC interactions, and the building of a legacy, wrapped up in a distinctive art style. Let’s dive a little deeper into how Echoes of the Plum Grove stands out from the cozy game crowd.
Paper stylings
The first thing you’ll notice about Echoes of the Plum Grove is how unique and beautiful it looks. Designed by a single artist on the two-person dev team, the 2D character models appear flat to the environment and flip, like the turning of a page, when they change direction. If you’ve ever seen or played a Paper Mario game, it’s very reminiscent of those. These 2D models are layered into the foreground and background to create depth. This is combined with bright and chunky 3D models for buildings and the environment to create a lovely aesthetic that is welcoming and immensely pleasing to look at.
While Echoes of the Plum Grove’s island of Honeywood is inspired by the woody New England region of the Northeastern United States, the game’s changing weather and seasons provide a lot of environmental variety. From luscious greens to autumnal oranges, to eerie and misty blues, Echoes of the Plum Grove stays fresh and satisfying to the eyes as you sink hours into it.
Create a character and set sail
Echoes of the Plum Grove starts with you creating your own character. Ready to take a chance at a fresh start, you board a ship bound for a distant land. However, during the voyage, your ship is ambushed by a storm. You wake up on the island of Honeywood, apparently found washed up on the beach and the only survivor. While Honeywood wasn’t supposed to be your final destination, you are enticed to settle on a plot of land that would have gone to one of the lost passengers. And so begins your cozy farming adventure.
Echoes of the Plum Grove may be labeled as a cozy game, but it doesn’t shy away from the realities of survival in a far-off place in an older time. Farming and raising livestock is immensely important for you and your legacy. What crops you choose to plant and what you stock for winter will shape your future generations.
If come winter you don’t have enough supplies to sustain yourself, you may find your adventure in Honeywood cut short. Unlike most cozy games, death is a huge part of Echoes of the Plum Grove. It’s very likely your character will become sick and you’ll need to visit the town doctor to try and overcome the disease or you’ll succumb to it. There are currently six diseases, including the common cold, influenza, and consumption. You’ll even need to take care while foraging because you could bring some poisonous mushrooms back home with you.
But if the fear of death, or illness, is not your playstyle, Echoes of the Plum Grove will let you customize your experience so you can make the game as cozy or as cheeky as you like. If you would rather not worry about having to deal with your hunger and sleep needs, or even pay taxes (because who likes doing that?), you can turn various mechanics on and off to suit your playstyle.
Establish a legacy
The community of Honeywood is vital to the gameplay of Echoes of the Plum Grove. Similar to cozy classics like Stardew Valley, there are a wealth of NPCs occupying the town. Everyone who lives on the island has their own schedules, jobs, traits, hobbies, and children. However, you can decide whether to work together with them or just get them out of the way with harsh words and drastic actions.
Marriage mechanics are not uncommon in cozy games; however, Echoes of the Plum Grove takes this a step further. It is crucial for you to settle down with someone so you can start to build a legacy. In Echoes of the Plum Grove, your character will age and eventually pass away, leaving the care and maintenance of your farm to a new generation. But you can act like a brute and use the ‘insult’ dialogue option on everyone you meet for a true ‘cheeky’ playthrough. If you really don’t like someone, you could bake them an alluring ‘Death Cake’.. However, if you decide to distance yourself from everyone, who will tend the farm once you’re gone?
Thankfully, Echoes of the Plum Grove offers players ample opportunities to socialize with the townsfolk, with gatherings and festivals. It’s also important to explore the island and uncover its secrets. Some say there are witches to meet, mermaids around the bay, and who knows what you may discover in the mines. Adventuring to the edges of the island to see what it has in store for your character and their children is intrinsically linked to the gameplay loop of Echoes of the Plum Grove.
If all that sounds unique and intriguing, head over to Steam to play Echoes of the Plum Grove today.
