SUMMERHOUSE
- March 8, 2024
- Friedemann
- 6h median play time
Get on Steam"SummerHouse" is a single-player strategy game boasting wonderful gameplay, spectacular graphics, and an exceptional soundtrack. Players craft a neighborhood of cozy homes in various settings with no goals or challenges, creating a dense and highly emotional atmosphere. This small-scale building game is perfect for those seeking relaxation and creativity.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The art style blends pixelation and real-world lighting, creating a charming and immersive experience.
- The game offers a relaxing and creative sandbox environment, allowing players to build their own cities without pressure or objectives.
- Unlocking new building blocks and characters adds a fun element of surprise and encourages exploration.
- The game has limited building options and lacks variety in blocks, which can lead to repetitive gameplay.
- The user interface can be confusing, making it difficult to navigate through the available building pieces.
- There are no options to change the color of blocks or rotate items, which restricts creativity and customization.
- graphics140 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming pixel art style, vibrant colors, and immersive lighting, creating a calming and aesthetically pleasing atmosphere. Players appreciate the option to toggle between pixelated and smoother graphics, enhancing accessibility and personal preference. While the visuals are generally considered beautiful and inviting, some users note that the limited building options may lead to a sense of repetitiveness over time.
“The art style blending both pixelization and real-world lighting gives it more of a sense of immersion while maintaining its own style.”
“Absolutely beautiful graphics!”
“The pixel graphics are beautiful and greatly complement the creative nature of the game.”
“The graphics honestly hurt my eyes just a tad, but to be creative and easy and not worry about money, it can take you away.”
“No option to turn down graphics settings; it cranks my computer to max, runs at 200 frames, but the fan is screaming like a plane.”
“One of many examples of how you can just genuinely make a bad game, but as long as it fits into a certain genre or 'aesthetic,' and you market it correctly, people who don't know any better will buy it with a smile on their face.”
- music80 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming and soothing qualities, enhancing the overall relaxing experience. Players appreciate the ambient sounds and gentle soundtrack, which create a cozy atmosphere perfect for casual play or background listening. Many users express a desire for more music options, highlighting the soundtrack's ability to complement the game's aesthetic and provide a peaceful escape.
“The music is so relaxing and nice to listen to.”
“The soundtrack and sound design are subtle, but make up the heart of the game's quiet atmosphere and provide pleasant feedback as you slowly build.”
“The whole vibe from the art style to the calming music will keep me coming back for more.”
“You can't really call it music, sometimes it's there and sometimes not, just a few notes.”
“If there was relaxed and suitable music in the game, the fan wouldn't bother me so often/much.”
“You really need suitable music and better field recordings for this.”
- gameplay38 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by its simplicity and intuitive building mechanics, allowing players to create and design their own worlds without complex mechanics or goals. While the art style and calming atmosphere enhance the experience, many reviewers feel that the gameplay lacks depth and variety, often comparing it to a sandbox or design project rather than a traditional game. Overall, it offers a relaxing and meditative experience, but players express a desire for more content and gameplay elements in future updates.
“Incredible art style, very creative and well done gameplay.”
“The building mechanics are intuitive and satisfying, allowing for plenty of creativity in how you design your world within said setting.”
“Its simple and satisfying gameplay, meditative and peaceful atmosphere, and minimalist design make this a stunning achievement.”
“There's no real gameplay or goals, just make cute houses and buildings.”
“Like some reviewers stated, it feels more like a thought experiment/design project than an actual game given how limited the gameplay and options are.”
“Once you've played 20 minutes, you've seen all there is gameplay-wise, but that really only matters if you're constantly looking for new things to stimulate you.”
- atmosphere28 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its beautiful art style, soothing sound design, and dynamic weather features, creating a relaxing and immersive experience. Players appreciate the cozy and meditative ambiance, which enhances the enjoyment of creative exploration and building. Despite some limitations in content, the overall vibe is described as calming and nostalgic, making it a perfect choice for a chill gaming session.
“A very simple and lovely game with a beautiful art style and mellow atmosphere, highly recommend for a chill time.”
“I especially love the dynamic weather and time-of-day features, like watching the rain fall or the world shift between day and night—it adds a soothing atmosphere to the whole experience.”
“Its ambiance and vibe create a soothing atmosphere, allowing to fully immerse in the experience of creative exploration.”
“It's not very interactive, but the atmosphere and the small surprises that happen are enough to make it worth the $5 price.”
“Such a lovely game; I couldn't find anything wrong with the art style and atmosphere even though the content (blocks, furniture, plants, maps) is quite limited.”
“Its ambiance and vibe create a soothing atmosphere, allowing players to fully immerse in the experience of creative exploration.”
- story23 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is largely absent, with many users noting that it lacks a defined narrative or objectives, making it feel more like a sandbox experience. While players can create their own backstories for the villages they build, the game does not provide any structured storytelling or character interactions. Overall, it offers a calming, casual experience focused on creativity rather than a traditional story-driven gameplay.
“I feel like I blinked and suddenly I had 5 adorable little meticulously decorated villages full of little people, each with their own little backstory that I made up in my mind.”
“Draw the blinds, steep some tea, set the game weather to rainy, and build a little storybook neighborhood.”
“The story in my head was that the area was the final stop on the bus line, a tiny forgotten part of town, but each square foot was bursting with people with little clues on who they are.”
“While it may be cute, there's no real adjectives, no story.”
“There's no story unfortunately, just a pure sandbox mode.”
“The story is non-existent and the gameplay is extremely basic, all because that's how it's supposed to be!”
- emotional14 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its ability to evoke strong feelings, with many players reporting experiences of nostalgia, joy, and even tears. The combination of touching music, heartfelt developer communication, and a cozy atmosphere creates a heartwarming experience that resonates deeply with players, making it a perfect choice for relaxation and emotional connection. Overall, the game is celebrated as a labor of love that fosters a sense of community and comfort.
“Good music and interface, I don't know why, but this game made me cry.”
“I can't even put into words how positively nostalgic and emotional this game makes me.”
“Their heartfelt gratitude for the community's support shines through in every pixel, making this more than just a game—it's a labor of love, shared with fellow summer enthusiasts.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the creative freedom to build and experiment in various landscapes, many feel that the limited content and lack of future updates could hinder long-term engagement. Suggestions for improvement include larger maps and additional features to enhance replay value. Without these enhancements, players express concern that replayability may be restricted over time.
“There is about maybe 2 hours worth of content to go through if you're really into unlocking all blocks, and there is good replayability if you want to scratch that little itch in your brain and build more buildings in middle-of-nowhere maps.”
“The replayability is high considering you can mix and match however many times you want, and there's no limit as to how many things you can put in one landscape.”
“It's pretty short in terms of unlockables, but the replayability is all down to your creativity.”
“I just don't see much replay value here.”
“Sadly, unless new content is installed, replayability over a long period of time could be very limited.”
“Unless the developer plans on expanding the game, eventually it's not going to have too much replay value.”
- stability5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, users report that the game experiences notable stability issues, including bugs and glitches that affect gameplay, such as erratic icon movements when selecting items. While the graphics are appreciated, the presence of these glitches detracts from the overall experience.
“The game runs smoothly without any bugs.”
“I haven't encountered any bugs while playing.”
“The stability of the game is impressive; it feels very polished.”
“However, I found it to be a bit buggy.”
“It glitches out and moves the icons all over the place when trying to pick items to place.”
“The game offers some nice graphics; however, there are some ugly glitches here and there.”
- monetization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a cash grab, with players feeling that it lacks genuine commitment to quality. Users express frustration over the disparity between advertised content and actual gameplay, alongside concerns about the limited in-game features that fail to enhance the experience.
“It seems like yet another cash grab from this group that doesn't really commit to their titles.”
“I can't refund it as I spent too long hoping I could make it work, but I am hoping maybe in the future this will be much more playable without making basically exactly what's in the videos for advertisement.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Players express that the grinding in the game is excessively time-consuming, suggesting that it requires an unrealistic commitment akin to having a second life to fully engage with it.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a relaxing house-building experience complemented by humorous secrets, all enhanced by impressive artistic direction.
“A great relaxing house builder with some funny secrets and amazing artistic direction!”
“The humor in this game is top-notch, with clever jokes and hilarious character interactions that keep you entertained.”
“I love how the game incorporates humor into its gameplay, making even the most mundane tasks feel fun and enjoyable.”
