It’s June, meaning the month of “Not E3” is here, bringing dozens of videogame conferences that will collectively showcase hundreds of trailers for upcoming titles. Of these, 2025’s Wholesome Direct just wrapped up, featuring a range of promising releases unified by being “inclusive, sensitive, and emotionally driven,” as the conference’s organizers put it. This year, the show is raising money for an excellent cause through Point of Pride, a non-profit that helps save trans lives by providing access to gender-affirming care.
The showcase highlighted more than 60 games, and after sifting through them, we’ve compiled a list of 10 that should be on your radar: puzzle solving, evil chickens, eco-advocacy deckbuilders, and more were the centerpiece of an all-around impressive lineup.
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if Sherlock Holmes was an adorable chibi detective in a village of miniatures, then Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell might be the game for you. As its title would imply, you play as Ambroise Niflette, a private eye attempting to track down the Gleaned Bell, an essential relic that’s gone missing in a small European village. To do so, he’ll need to investigate every cozy nook and cranny of this community, interviewing its residents and prodding its secrets. And while this open-ended sleuthing seems quite promising in its own right, the game’s biggest selling point is arguably its gorgeous, stop-motion-inspired aesthetic, which makes this world look like a meticulously crafted diorama: put simply, this deliberately crafted space makes me eager to get investigating.
It’s been quite a while since the last entry in the Monument Valley series had us solving mind-bending puzzles, but after a long wait, it’s back for more spatial-based challenges. This installment follows a young apprentice named Noor who is on a quest to find the “Sacred Light,” a journey that seems to take them through some uncanny backdrops. Much like its predecessors, Monument Valley 3 resembles an interactive Escher painting, delivering dreamlike architecture while forcing us to approach problems from different perspectives. Between Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, Assemble With Care, Desta: The Memories Between, and the first two Monument Valley titles, ustwo Games has a proven track record for crafting clever, sleekly presented experiences. Hopefully, their latest will live up to that.
The Guardian of Nature
Release Date: June 7, 2025 (Episode 1)
Wholesome Direct News: Episode 1 Released During Stream
Continuing this showcase’s tendency to highlight exceptionally pretty upcoming releases, The Guardian of Nature is a hand-drawn adventure game that leaves quite an impression thanks to its mycelium-powered backdrop. It’s a point-and-click experience where you find items and solve puzzles, but the main twist is how the protagonist, Henry, can change size to explore the intricacies of this ecosystem. It looks like a storybook come to life, with a whimsical atmosphere that seems to pair quite well with the size-shifting conceit. The first chapter is already out, with more on the way as it enters its Early Access period.
Everdeep Aurora
Release Date: July 10, 2025
Wholesome Direct News: Release Date Announcement
Everdeep Aurora is an atmospheric Game Boy Color-inspired platformer that quite literally throws you into the deep end. Left with little context and only a brief letter from her mom telling her to go deeper, Shell explores a 16-bit world in ruin sold by excellent pixel art and an ethereal soundtrack. But while the visuals immediately stand out, Everdeep Aurora’s core loop is just as interesting, channeling the universal desire to dig straight down in Minecraft while constantly rewarding you with discoveries. You can use your drill to tunnel in any direction, breaking blocks to clear a path and free up resources.
Along the way, you’ll come across areas of interest (cleverly delineated by color palette shifts) that hold all sorts of secrets: at one point, I accidentally crushed a gardener’s petunias, sending me on a journey to find a suitable replacement, while at another juncture, I ran into a blacksmith who needed to find their tools. These missions often require backtracking, which isn’t a problem because you can thankfully teleport back to checkpoints, including one at the top of the world. By combining a dreamy atmosphere with the simple pleasure of digging straight down, Everdeep Aurora is like stumbling on a long-lost Game Boy cartridge way ahead of its time.
School cafeterias can be a battlefield, and that’s especially true in Omelet You Cook, a kitchen-based roguelike where you have to survive the wrath of a talking chicken named Principal Clucker. While roguelikes have thoroughly taken over the modern gaming landscape, I struggle to think of another one centered around cooking, and here you’ll be tasked with filling orders for picky school children, many of whom seem to have some very odd tastes. In between rounds, you’ll hone your cutlery by purchasing upgrades and ingredients, all to appease the demonic poultry waiting to appraise you at the end of your shift. Between its oddball vibe and novel premise, Omelet You Cook might offer something fresh.
Milano’s Odd Job Collection
Release Date: TBA
Wholesome Direct News: World Premiere Announcement
Originally released back in 1999 for the PlayStation, Milano’s Odd Job Collection is finally debuting outside of Japan courtesy of XSEED. While I’d be lying if I said I was aware of this game’s existence before this live stream, it looks to be an interesting combination of a life sim and a mini-game collection, following the 11-year-old Milano as she takes on part time jobs, like working at a farm or working at a bakery. Child labor law violations aside, the game has a cute, bubbly vibe that has me interested in checking out this retro revival.
Set in a speculative future uncomfortably aligned with our own, All Will Rise is an eco-justice courtroom deckbuilder about building a legal case to take down the elites destroying the planet—if that isn’t a killer premise, then I don’t know what is. Originally envisioned by a Dutch climate activist group to help drum up support for a real-world legal case against a pension fund giant that was investing in fossil fuels, the game is being handled by 80 Days writer Meghna Jayanth alongside developers who’ve worked on Horizon Forbidden West, Thirsty Suitors, Paradise Killer, League of Legends, and more. As for the game itself, you build a deck that represents legal arguments as you battle it out in the courtroom to save the planet. Between its eye-catching fashion and excellent setup, All Will Rise is one to keep an eye on.
Puni The Florist
Release Date: TBA
Wholesome Direct News: Demo Out Now
Fitting in with a larger trend of games about working jobs that decidedly don’t suck, Puni The Florist looks to be another chipper entry in this space. After a life of corporate drudgery, Puni has finally had enough, and she takes a job working at a flower shop to reinvent herself. It all seems to be delivered with an appropriately sunny disposition, as the game’s appealing character designs and soothing color palette make it easy to settle into this nine-to-five. While the game’s success will likely hinge on how well it conveys the nuances of Puni’s journey toward self-fulfillment, it definitely seems to capture the vibe of working a job you enjoy.
Anxiety Puppy
Release Date: Q4 2025
Wholesome Direct News: Exclusive Trailer
While the Wholesome Direct conference and the concept of “wholesome games,” in general, have been criticized for how they allegedly “deliberately push the absence of challenge—mechanical or intellectual, to the absolute limit,” games like Anxiety Puppy push back on these perceptions. Despite its picturesque illustrations and occasional bursts of color, this narrative game is fundamentally about the buzzing hum of anxiety, as represented by prodding internal monologues, black squiggly lines, and insomnia. Although we’ll need to wait and see if this story about mental health can live up to its central metaphor (where anxiety is depicted as a puppy that needs to be accepted instead of driven off), if nothing else, the game already looks quite stunning.
Dosa Divas
Release Date: 2026
Wholesome Direct News: Exclusive Trailer
If it wasn’t enough that Dosa Divas is the next game from Outerloop Games (Thirsty Suitors, Falcon Age), the studio’s latest also happens to have an incredibly intriguing setup: it follows two sisters battling a malevolent fast-food chain in a mech suit that doubles as a mobile kitchen. As recently explored in other games like Venba, food is a rich vehicle for telling stories about specific cultural experiences, and given Outerloop’s previous work, I have faith that Dosa Divas might do just that. Additionally, fellow turn-based RPG enthusiasts will be excited to learn that this mech battler is a new entry in that storied genre—delicious indeed.
Elijah Gonzalez is the assistant Games and TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to playing and watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves film, creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.
