As a lover of indie games, I appreciate the time and effort that goes into the brainstorming and development. Mail Time is a lovely little game that ticks a lot of boxes, but the relaxing tones can sometimes turn into …
As a lover of indie games, I appreciate the time and effort that goes into the brainstorming and development. Mail Time is a lovely little game that ticks a lot of boxes, but the relaxing tones can sometimes turn into tedious exploration.
For those unaware, Mail Time is a charming game set in the peaceful Grumblewood Grove. You meet a variety of animals as you deliver their mail and complete their requests, explore a relaxing environment while collecting mushroom samples, and use your glider to scope out new areas.
I can’t talk about Mail Time without mentioning the overall art direction. It’s a visually stunning game that takes a lot of inspiration from the beloved aesthetic of “cottagecore”. This definitely caught my attention, as I absolutely love cozy games!
The character models look like they were ripped right out of a storybook, and the portraits are equally charming. I personally really like how the portraits change during a conversation to display emotions – it’s a brilliant touch.
The character customisation is limited, but I appreciate the fact that you can change the colour of your outfit, select a hairstyle, and choose a specific bag style. There’s a certain mission in the game that provides you with brand-new mushroom hats – I of course matched my lilac outfit with a lilac mushroom! I love this feature, as it does add an extra layer of customisation.
I’m also a big fan of the fact that the text during dialogue scenes is large. This is a neat little addition that makes it easier for those with vision impairments. Games should always strive towards adding more accessibility options!
Mail Time certainly scratches the itch of wanting to explore a forest on a foraging adventure, with mushroom-gathering quests, and more. I quickly noticed that my character would take a little rest here and there if I was away from the keyboard for a short while – it’s pretty adorable.
Mail Time has an abundance of quests to work through, meaning you’ve always got something to do when wandering around. However, this is when my first negative point comes in – the game lacks a map.
I’m assuming the decision to not add a map was to encourage extensive exploration, which some of you may enjoy. But, it started to feel quite tedious when I couldn’t find certain characters. Personally, I’m not a fan of having to investigate every inch of an area when seeking out an item or NPC.
Anyway, I must stress that this shouldn’t put you off the game. It’s a minor inconvenience that doesn’t break the game – after all, I’m just pretty bad with directions.
However, one thing that may put you off is the length, which runs at a meagre 2-4 hours. In retrospect, the price tag may be a little high for a game that can hardly fill an afternoon.
It’s clear from the offset that the main point of the game is to explore the environment as you deliver mail – so, let’s take a deeper look at the traversal mechanics.
The glider is a useful tool to use when trying to scan the surrounding area for NPCs and mushroom samples. It was a little tricky to get up to higher points sometimes, but the bouncy mushrooms can lend a hand.
You can view your quests in your journal, which can be helpful when trying to keep track of who you need to visit. In spite of this, I found it a little confusing at times – especially when I couldn’t find the characters that I needed to talk to.
Again, maybe I don’t have the patience to endlessly walk around in search of one character, but it took a while for me to find some of them. I found myself walking past the same characters countless times, though this did give me the opportunity to start further quests at times.
In conclusion, it’s obvious that a lot of love went into Mail Time. The art style, music, and character dialogue are all highly polished. I can easily recommend this game to you if you love cosy games – and if you’re a fan of the cottagecore aesthetic.
However, it is a bit short for its price tag. Anyway, long walks through the forest may be your thing. Why not give it a try?
