Wanderstop, the new cozy tea brewing game from developers Ivy Road, asks you to move at its pace. Coming from the minds that made the likes of The Stanley Parable and Gone Home, there’s more going on here than meets the eye, with the narrative being the main driving force. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still make plenty of tea, but in that, Wanderstop confronts themes of change, burnout, mental health, and more. It’s a brilliant take on cozy games, with many of the hallmark aspects of the genre being here while deconstructing it simultaneously. Wanderstop has an incredible cast of characters, a fantastic narrative, and a gorgeous art style that had me totally locked in the entire time.
Warrior Woes
Wanderstop puts you in the shoes of Alta, a warrior that’s only even known battle. After honing her craft for years and being a champion, Alta starts to lose…more than once. Not knowing what to do, she seeks out a master she hopes to learn from and regain her fighting spirit. Setting out to find her, Alta collapses, her sword and body weight too heavy to carry. She collapses and wakes up in a clearing, sitting on a bench with Boro, the caretaker of the tea shop that calls the space home. Alta is stuck, unable to carry her sword, and every attempt to leave the clearing brings her back. Following Boro’s advice, Alta helps run the shop, hoping to recover enough to continue her mission.
The narrative at the heart of Wanderstop is all too relatable — burnout, dealing with change, and feeling lost – are all things many are dealing with. It approaches all of these themes with a careful touch, open to empathy and care, with a deep understanding that everyone’s journey is different. Alta and Boro are the heart and soul of Wanderstop, both instantly loveable and memorable. Alta is brash and sarcastic, even downright rude at times, as she struggles to come to terms with her entire life being shaken up. Her dialogue choices are incredible, with so many options making me laugh. So many characters in cozy games take up their new lives by choice – Alta is forced into her situation. She doesn’t want to be at the tea shop, begrudgingly going along for the ride because she has to. Boro, on the other hand, is kind and open, giving both guidance and space to Alta when she needs it. The care and kindness that Boro shows, even when Alta feels like she doesn’t deserve it, is something that people could genuinely learn from.
Customer Care
Alta and Boro aside, the rest of the cast is just as fantastic. From Gerald, the kind wannabe knight whose only goal is to make his son think he’s cool, to Nana, a brash and sales-obsessed travelling merchant who spends more time arguing with Alta than anything else, I fell in love with each for one reason or another. I kept waiting for a character to disappoint me, and they never did, as I opted to learn more about each character that wandered into the shop. I genuinely missed them when they left; as with life, change is constant. Some storylines are left unresolved, a character moving on before we’re ready to say goodbye. For some, this may be frustrating, but it hits on life in such a fundamental way. Not everyone stays; some leave before we’re ready, and that’s just life. We can’t control some things; dealing with that is just part of living. Wanderstop makes you deal with change, whether you want to or not, and the game is all the better.
As you speak to each customer, most will eventually ask for tea, bringing in the gameplay systems the cozy genre is best known for. Alta has several tools to help get the job done. Using a basket, the player can run around the clearing, collecting tea leaves from specific bushes. Once you’ve collected enough, you drop them off, waiting for them to be processed. With the tea balls finishing up, Alta then needs to get the fruits or other ingredients the customers ask for—Wanderstop sports a relatively simple farming system, where the orientation of seeds planted produces different results. A straight line of three blue seeds will produce a plant that grows more blue seeds, while putting them in a triangle formation makes a fruit plant, where fruit can be harvested and used to make tea. It changes and evolves, adding new seeds, variations, and more as the game progresses. Some customers are entirely vague with their tea requests, leaving the player to try and interpret them as they see fit.
Once you have all the necessary ingredients, Alta heads for the giant, multi-floor tea machine. It’s a series of simple mechanics – pull for water, tap the button to boil the water, move to open a spout, toss in ingredients – but it all works together to be enjoyable every time. The entire process is quick, and it never overstays its welcome. Other tools round out the package with a watering can to water the plants, shears to cut down weeds, and a broom to sweep away piles of dirt and leaves. It’s all random busy work that doesn’t feel important unless the player chooses to engage, but that’s the point with Wanderstop.
Not All Who Wanderstop
More often than not, Wanderstop is about calm and space. Most of the time, when a customer wanders in, they don’t even order tea right away. Alta struggles with this – what do you mean they came to a tea shop and didn’t order tea? The thought of spending time doing essentially nothing is entirely foreign to her, confusing and befuddling her deeply. There are moments in the game when there’s simply nothing to do. No checklist, mission, or external force is driving the player forward. Instead, it’s just calm, leaving the player to sit with their thoughts and what they want to do. You can go collect tea leaves, plant more crops, sweep up and clean, or make yourself a pot of tea and sit. Think. Reflect. Whenever you sit and drink some tea, Alta’s thoughts wander to different memories, changing depending on the tea the player made.
It initially confused me entirely – what do you mean I don’t have an objective currently? Trying to talk to Boro is fruitless; he tells you just to be. Rest, relax, and see where the clearing takes you next. I’m so used to games throwing checklists, skill trees, and a laundry list of map markers at me that when left without direction, it left me feeling lost…and I think that’s the point. Wanderstop is about change, dealing with uncontrollable factors, and being so burnt out that your body and mind seemingly give up on you. Taking space to heal and rest is all important, but we too easily forget it.
Wanderstop is also gorgeous, with a bright art style that changes as you progress through the game. I found myself wanting to take in the colourful clearing, finding new spots to be in the environment while drinking a cup of tea. Similarly, the music is fantastic. Gorgeous, whimsical, and perfectly suited at every turn, I’d sometimes leave the PS5 running just to have the soundscape and music accompany me around the house.
Verdict
I didn’t know I needed Wanderstop when I started it. I was ready for the classic cozy Stardew Valley-esque experience where I was always on to the next thing, but instead, I got to rest. This year has already been an onslaught of fantastic, can’t miss games, alongside being overwhelming and loud in the world at large. Everything feels constantly on fire, and it wasn’t until Wanderstop that I realized that I haven’t slowed down, jumping from one review to the next, from one doom scroll to another, without much space between.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that these experiences have been exceptional, necessary, fun, or a welcome distraction – but I haven’t taken much time for myself between these moments. Then Wanderstop hit – a reminder that the space between is just as important as the moments and that slowing down is necessary to keep moving. It left a profound impression on me and will stay with me long. Unlike anything else, Wanderstop is a must-play experience and a welcome space for healing.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Wanderstop Review — Tea and Trauma
Verdict
Wanderstop is fantastic, an incredible story filled with fantastic characters, tea making, and space.
Liked
Fantastic narrative
Memorable characters
Making tea is fun
