Spiritfarer

Spiritfarer is a management adventure from Thunder Lotus Games in which the player takes on the role of Stella, a ferrymaster of spirits who accompanies deceased friends on their ship on their final journey before passing on to the afterlife. Between stops, the player builds and upgrades the ship with new cabins and workshops, grows crops, fishes, mines resources, and cooks food exactly to their companions' taste, with each character having their own story, wishes, and personal tasks that must be completed before the player says a final goodbye to them at the Everdoor.

On Xbox Series X|S, the game benefits from smooth performance and fast loading, which is especially useful given the frequent commuting between islands and the sprawling, gradually growing ship full of buildings and characters. Hand-drawn graphics with a warm, pastel color palette and a piano-led soundtrack create a contemplative atmosphere that heightens the sensitive themes of dying, farewell, caregiving, and reconciliation, which the game repeatedly addresses without unnecessary pathos or cheap sentimentality. Each of the dozens of animal characters aboard has their own personality, past, and specific wishes that must be fulfilled before the time for farewell comes, giving the game a solid emotional structure alongside its free-form management gameplay.

Spiritfarer was released in 2020 and was received by critics and players alike as one of the most sensitively handled titles on the theme of death and grief in the gaming medium, without giving up on fun, satisfying management gameplay and the gradual building of an increasingly impressive ship. The game is now often recommended as a calmer counterpart to the more action-heavy titles in the Game Pass catalog and stands as an example of how emotionally demanding themes can be handled sensitively and engagingly in interactive form, without the weight of the topics discouraging players from playing — mainly thanks to the warmth with which the game approaches its individual characters and their stories.

Why play it: For its sensitive handling of death and grief without giving up on fun management gameplay, it's a calmer counterpart to more action-heavy titles, crafted with unusual warmth toward its individual characters.