The colorful and whimsical world of Sun Haven is now available in the Nintendo Switch on selected regions!
Get whisked away in a land of elves, dragons, and magic, as fantasy life sim game Sun Haven officially launches in the Nintendo Switch! Dive into the fantastical story, meet the guardian deity, battle monsters, and grow your farm within the palm of your hands.
Initial Release of Sun Haven
Sun Haven was released for early access on June 25, 2021, after its successful Kickstarter campaign. It was released fully in Steam on March 11, 2023 for PC players. Pixel Sprout Studios, a Los Angeles-based developer, published the game. Currently, the game allows multiplayer gameplay of up to 8 players.
The game officially launched in the Nintendo Switch on November 29th. It’s available for digital download in North America, South America, and Asia. The Europe and Australia release is set to follow this coming December 16th.
Art, Story, and Gameplay Mechanics of Sun Haven
The story starts with you, the player, boarding the train to Sun Haven. You meet Lynn, an apprentice blacksmith, who is also moving to town the same time as you are. As soon as you arrive town, Lucia, the archmage greets you and shows you your farm. It starts off like any other farming simulator with a twist of magic.
As you go on an adventure around town, you will meet lots of other characters. Some of them will befriend you, while others have a chance to your romantic partner. What’s more exciting is that the choices are not only limited to human characters, but also others who are non-human. It’s perfect for those who get bored with the similar patterns of marriageable candidates among games in this genre. After all, magic is the norm in this world, so it’s only fair to be able to marry a magical creature!
Speaking of magic, your day-to-day activities also incorporate a whimsical touch in them. Mana is one of the stats you have in the game which measures magic power in the form of ‘mana pool’. If your mana depletes into 0, you will not be able to cast any form of magic. This includes the dashing mechanic, which is very helpful for those who want a little bit more speed in their steps.
Perhaps one of the most charming features of Sun Haven is its detailed pixel art style. The landscape designs throughout the seasons pop up and has this picturesque beauty in it that sets it aside from any other game. Although, some of the members of the community were not very fond of the character portraits at first. However, players grew to love and appreciate the uniqueness of the game’s design later on.
Differences and Similarities with Other Games
As the amount of farming simulators grow bigger in the market, fans are on the lookout for something different. Some of the games that recently came out were easily compared to established ones, such us the Harvest Moon games and Stardew Valley (which will be having a concert tour, if you haven’t heard already.) What sets Sun Haven apart from all these games?
Sun Haven incorporates the features of RPG and magical powers in a farming game. You do not only water your plants with a sprinkle. Instead, try summoning a thunder cloud and let rain pour down on your crops! Not fast enough? Jump and dash as you meet new people make your way around town. Be anything but human as you design your character among many choices of races. The possibilities are unlimited.
With only a limited time of day and so much to do, quality-of-life details are what players usually seek in order to play a game for much longer. Luckily, Sun Haven makes your farmer life easier. Without any stamina bar to constrain your movements, you’re free to chop trees and break stones for as long as you like. Additionally, you can toggle several settings in game to make your gameplay more pleasant. These customizations include invincibility in battle, faster or shorter days, and many more.
Sun Haven Micropatch and Nintendo Switch Updates
Aside from the Nintendo Switch launch preparations, the developers were also hard at work in updating the game. Several issues and bugs were fixed, along with some typographical errors in the recent updates. Controller support was also improved.
More updates are expected to happen since the most recent launch of the Switch platform availability gave way to more bugs and crash reports. The developers addressed these issues and promised to actively work on it.
Be sure to check our GameEels for more news of Sun Haven and all your other favorite life sim games!
