New York based Studio Meadowflower has announced Vivarium, a life sim with an art style heavily influenced by Studio Ghibli films.
The game, which is set to be published by Serenity Forge, will be released on Xbox and PC next year. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one.
Vivarium is described as a hand-illustrated cozy life-sim adventure “inspired by timeless anime classics”, and is being developed alongside Crunchyroll and Shochiku Games.
Players take control of Jenny, a cheerful 11-year-old who lies in a small town, which it turns out is actually located inside a small terrarium.
“Free from the pressures of modern life, Jenny spends her days immersed in peaceful routines and charming interactions with her neighbors,” the game’s official synopsis reads.
“But as time passes, mysterious events begin to unfold, revealing the true nature of their ‘perfect’ pocket world and the secrets hidden within it.”
The game’s events are synced to the player’s real-world calendar, meaning new narrative discoveries are unveiled each day. Completing major story events will progress time, but players can also focus on cooking recipes, tending to their garden, crafting and decorating, or collecting stickers, vinyl records or books.
“You wake up in the golden haze of late afternoon,” according to the game’s description. “The air is warm, cicadas hum somewhere in the distance, and sunlight spills across your bedroom. And outside your window, there’s a tiny world waiting.
“You play as 11-year-old Jenny, a bright and energetic resident of the terrarium. But this isn’t just her story. Somewhere, buried deep under the summer days and small-town routines, is another life.”
