Mystal Haven

(This is an early diamond in the rough!!! See summary at very end for who I think would enjoy this game in early access.) I was DEEP-diving Steam games for two hours last night, looking for the most hidden of gems. I was hoping to find the unicorn of games: the tiniest of indie games, with a unique art style, preferably open or semi-open world with an exploration focus, with creature-collecting, and—the kicker—full controller support. I really thought it didn’t exist. Especially the controller support thing. Until I spotted Mystal Haven. Too good to be true? Few reviews, and I didn’t see much action on the Steam store page. So I visited the Discord to see if the channel was still “alive.” I kid you not: IMMEDIATELY upon joining the Discord channel—literally within a split second—Todd welcomed me with the cutest animated sticker. Who is Todd? I scrolled up and discovered that he’s the sole developer of Mystal Haven. I’ve never been greeted so instantly on Discord. We began chatting a bit. This game is his “baby,” in addition to his (new!) real world baby. :) Mystal Haven is Todd’s “dream game,” ever since playing Pokémon Red as a child. It’s a passion project, and for those of …

I am really enjoying Mystal Haven! As a casual player that loves the monster-taming scene, I feel like Mystal Haven is definitely one of those games that can be seen as a great addition to the genre once it's further down in EA development/1.0! It's leaning on the cozy side, which for me, is baller. I've only played about 2hrs(?) so far and I am having a lot of fun. The game and its UI look a little rough right now, but that doesn't bother me; the current visuals are rather charming but I hope to see improvements in the UI in the future! What I really appreciate about Mystal Haven is that you can pick between a set of avatars in 'class' categories that give nice quirks to your journey, such as being a Healer allows you to heal your Mons without using up items. I like the designs of the avatars and I hope we get to see more options within the class categories (such as both M/F options in each class; each class currently has 1 gender/design assigned). Because of this, I don't think the game needs in-depth customization, just a little more design options! I think the only thing to add for fun, customization-wise, would be cute hats; I absolutely LOVE the cute little eggshell hats for…

A good start, it's still got a way to go but i'm eager to see how this game develops.

It's fun! and the baby creatures you collect are adorable.

This is a really cheeky shell for a game with a lot of potential, provided the dev gives it time and love. As of now, outside of collecting, training and breeding, there isn't a whole lot. This isn't bad as it is EA. This game could be an awesome creature collector game. Cant wait to see it's updates

It needs a LOT of fixes and changes but if molded properly it could be a pretty fun time. easy 100% achievement too