Digging into the memory banks of my game-playing career, I don’t know that I have ever felt so directly called out by a video game. I am not a successful fighter like protagonist Alta, nor do I have her personally destructive focus on success at all costs. But I know exactly how she feels, both as a generally anxious person who doesn’t truly know how to relax and as a gamer who doesn’t like cozy games who suddenly found themselves inside one. Wanderstop has technical shortcomings that sometimes distract from the larger experience, but as an introspective examination on the nature of drive through the lens of a video game, it takes excellent advantage of the medium. Alta’s experience is one worth seeing through – even if you’re not interested in working at a tea shop.
Wanderstop comes from the minds behind The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide. That legacy belies some kind of twist, but Wanderstop is exactly what it has always claimed to be: a story about a warrior trying to build a new type of life. Alta was an undefeated fighter, but after unexpected failures, she gets lost in a forest on the way to train with a master and ends up at a mysterious tea shop. She’s not a prisoner there, but she feels like one as she tries to fill her time with anything to get her back on track. Joining Alta alongside this journey of self-discovery is where Wanderstop shines and I enjoyed all the writing, as it was often as humorous as it was melancholy.
The process of making tea involves growing plants and manipulating a gigantic whimsical machine that serves as the centerpiece of the teashop. Wanderstop is not a farming sim. Growing plants is a matter of foraging and solving simple pattern puzzles, and I appreciate that approach. Rather than maintaining a small garden and hoping you have what the clientele wants, every request sets you on a small mission to grow and collect. It makes the relationships with each customer feel specific and unique. I was always excited when a new person came to the shop and eager to learn what they wanted and if I could make it. And the smart trick of the game is seeing Alta slowly adopt that same sentiment as the story progresses.
I occasionally struggled with the technical process of pocketing fruit and seeds and manipulating the tea machine. Wanderstop doesn’t feel great to play, and I did hit at least one game-breaking bug (which has hopefully been addressed by the time you’re reading this), but to its credit, its focus is on the writing, and it’s easy to access and engage with that part of the game.
Initially, Alta is anxious and unsure what to do with herself, and I felt exactly the same way. My action gamer brain quickly completed every task placed in front of me, and when I asked the shop’s owner, Boro, what to do next, he politely said, whatever you want. It was a moment that connected me directly to Alta and made me reexamine my emotional approach to playing Wanderstop – an impressive feat for a video game about mixing fruit and tea leaves in boiling water.
Wanderstop does not emulate the same fourth-wall breaking revelations of developer Ivy Roads’ previous work, but what’s impressive about it all is that’s sort of what Alta’s adventure is about. I admire the game for being able to use video game genre conventions to tell a pensive, funny, and surprising story set in a charming location with enjoyable characters. Watching Alta grow and accept her limitations will stick with me and make me reflect on my own inability to turn off and just relax. I appreciate any art that makes you think in that way, and Wanderstop is successful in that goal.
This 2025 review reflects our thoughts on the game’s current state at publishing. As such, post-launch updates were factored into the final score.
