- Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
- Release Date: Mar 11, 2025
- Also On: Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Apr 4, 2025Wanderstop, at its core, is the type of game that I suspect a player will need to play at precisely the right time in life to truly connect with. As its story (and Alta) unraveled around me, I was reminded of my own struggles and kept thinking about how comforting it might have been back then. Regardless, I adore the fact that it exists and will surely serve that purpose for so many others. It's an audiovisual delight, its narrative and characters are memorable, and I applaud the way it tackles burnout and how self-destructive productivity can be--especially in a time when just about every other influencer is preaching hustle culture and life optimization. That said, Wanderstop is not for everyone, and its gameplay and rough edges create a formidable barrier to truly enjoying what it does well.
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Mar 24, 2025Wanderstop is certainly... something. If Alta's character is rebuilt there, it's not certain that the player will emerge unscathed.
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Mar 10, 2025While it may drip feed its story for longer than necessary and doesn't really go out of its way to subvert the cosy game, those who are looking for a way to relax will find comfort in the intricate and charming processes of making tea to pass the time.
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Mar 12, 2025It was difficult to sympathize with the characters’ tales of despair in the cozy game Wanderstop. The wry, eccentric humor that worked well in the sterile office setting of The Stanley Parable seemed at odds with this world of breezy bucolic environments and magical hybrid teas.
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Edge MagazineMar 20, 2025Through design or serendipity, maybe the best thing to do after finishing Wanderstop is make yourself a cup of tea, take a seat, and mull it over for a while. [Issue#409, p.118]
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Mar 11, 2025Warm-hearted, funny, and never less than sincere, Wanderstop is a pleasant place to while away the time, though less successful as a vehicle for mindfulness in itself.
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Mar 10, 2025Funny and enjoyable as Wanderstop may be, it suffers from its inability to juxtapose Alta’s healing process with any of the hardship that made healing so necessary in the first place.
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Mar 10, 2025In its own way, Wanderstop is the perfect mission statement for a bright-eyed studio starting its path to self-discovery. It is a sincere celebration of our struggles and imperfections. They are not problems to run away from, but stones to sharpen our blades upon so we may win the next fight.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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Mar 10, 2025This all comes back to the idea of dreaming about labor — or not. I don’t dream of labor within the system we live under now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t dream about labor at all. The future I dream of isn’t one without friction, but one that ensures a slower, happier life for my community, even if that means doing the work. Wanderstop feels the most meaningful when it focuses on that.
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Mar 10, 2025Wanderstop is meticulously thought out in both big- and small-picture ways, and that means it isn’t a straightforward game of a girl getting to put her hands in the soil and run a cute little café and be magically fixed. It’s a game that openly admits to not having all of the answers. It’s a game that feels like the process of working through something.