Irbet Tong

It's a very, very long story how I found this game (greetings from Poland :D), but I gotta admit it's so lovely, so pleasant and educational at the same time. Some minigames (like the one with ants lol) are actually quite hard for someone who usually doesn't play action games and, to be honest, I didn't expect that, but it's not like they're impossible to get through. The soundtrack is a masterpiece, fitting the story perfectly. 9/10, highly recommended

An utterly gorgeous and unique indie gem giving voice to a part of the world rarely seen in video games. Unexpected conversations, beautiful music and memorable scenes and characters... Though its message is important and dire, the world of Irbet Tong is peaceful and welcoming. Thank you for letting me take a peek into your world Ürgel.

Nice cozy game that not only represents Sakha (Yakut) culture but also educates about the problems in Yakutia caused by global warming The game itself is quite short, but it still managed to show the main attributes of Sakha culture: horses, spirits, the Great World Tree. Soundtrack is based on traditional music and is so relaxing. The whole gameplay reminded me of summer in a village in Yakutia, so can only recommend!

This is a small adventure game about the everyday life of a small boy, and also about how climate change impacts the Sakha people, who are an Indigenous people in Siberia (made by a Sakha team). This was one of my favorite games of 2025, and it's short, so you can still play it before the year ends! It was made in RPG Maker, but with all original art, including some truly beautiful animations - the lead developer is an animation student, I think. The music is great too. I really liked how traditional beliefs and spiritual beings were incorporated into the story. I am Hungarian and we are very distantly culturally (but not linguistically) related to the Sakha people, so it was nice to see both the commonalities and the differences. There are a lot of fun hidden elements - I found a bunch, but some I missed even though I was trying to be thorough! I think even more have been added since I played the game at launch, so I'm hoping to go back at some point to get all the achievements. If you liked Despelote (which seems to be much better known), Irbet Tong is similar in that it is a heartfelt take on the everyday life of a boy, but in a very different setting. They pair well too, so …

A little boy goes on a spiritual adventure to save his house from sinking into the ice. Classic RPG maker game with cute pixel graphics and surprisingly detailed animations (I really liked the grandma placing the jar on the counter, the cinematic camera pan on the road and the boy writing his homework. The artwork in the game is very good. The minigames are fun: you can ride a spirit horse and a crane, feed some pancakes to a tree, skip rocks, help a cosplay girl escape ants (that was a strange one) and listen to old people telling their stories. There are also secrets you can find to unlock the secret ending. I was vaguely familiar with the lore of yakutia and this game has a lot of that. I really liked having the glossary book to look stuff up that I didn't quite know what meant.

Pixel for me is Kinda hard... (My Kid says) Very like this game, do more stuff