Research Story
Petal Cat Games · 2025 · Farming Sim, Life Sim, Simulation, Agriculture, RPG
PC
Very Positive95% · 337
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About Research Story
The Violet Archive needs your help!
Sightings of exotic plants and creatures near the town of Shimmerbrook have attracted a wave of new settlers. The Violet Archive was set up to record the development in the region, and is looking for researchers to aid its cause!A game about research and discovery
- Discover and record 90+ plants, creatures, and fish at various locations around Shimmerbrook, and contribute your findings to the Archive.
Forage for seeds, grow crops with different growth conditions
- Observe wild plants and grow them as crops based on their requirements!
Tame and raise 30 unique creatures!
- Tame creatures as part of research! Observe wild creatures, learn their diet, and tame them with their favourite food!
- Raise creatures, meet their needs, and unlock their perks! Each creature has a unique ability: Chickens find you seeds, Sproutkittens grow seeds into sprouts instantly!
- Collect Shimmers! These rare coloured variants give double the Produce!
Fishing - some common fish, but also unique fish requiring research!
- Find Fish Parts and use different bait to hook various fish!
Dive deep into the Mines!
- Mine ores and gems in the Mines.
- Certain plants and creatures can be found only in the Mines!
Explore the puzzle caves to uncover the mystery behind Shimmerbrook
- Complete puzzles to obtain Artifacts! Each puzzle you solve brings you one step closer to learning the truth behind the proliferation of flora and fauna in Shimmerbrook.
Cook, craft, build, and more!
- Cook meals to gain buffs!
- Craft and automate with sprinklers, auto-feeders, and more!
Meet the townsfolk!
- Befriend townsfolk! From a druid whose family has lived for generations in the mountains, to a featherfolk whose first job is in this new town - many characters await in Shimmerbrook!
- Schedule Hangout Events with them to learn more about their stories!
- Romance any of the 10 romanceables and marry your favourite!
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
✦ AI summary
Players appreciate the game's cute aesthetic and relaxing farming-focused gameplay with unlocking and leveling mechanics, but widely criticize its excessive padding through forced grinding and lengthy seasons that make progression feel unnecessarily slow. The core loop of research, farming, and community interaction appeals to many, though the artificial time gates and restrictive mechanics in the first year frustrate those seeking meaningful advancement.
I bought this when it was in EA, but found it to bee a bit unbaked so I held off on it until full release and I'm honestly shocked how little has changed. So many QoL stuff and just common-sense conveniences that you take for granted. Like shops have opening hours, but only one shop has a sign saying what they are. Adding to that the extremely limited inventory with no way to cycle hotbars so you need to go drag & drop in the menu inventory any time you need a new items - and even if you make chests they are tiny. Characters aren't written any kind of particular interest - good or bad. Let me say that I love t he idea of this, we need shakeups on the farming sim formula, but it still needs to be executed well and the QoL stuff to make for a pleasant playing experience is key.3 found this helpful
Been playing this before, but recently returned and started over. Currently nearing the end of my first summer and I fell in love with it again! There's some stuff that's harder to manage for me - I find creating fertilizer tedious and switching between animal feed bowl recipes is a nuisance - but in general if this game is being approached in a more chill mindset, you'll have a way better time with it than trying to min-max, I think. The pixel art might look less detailed than some competitors', but it is detailed and adorable where it counts imo. Don't let this put you off giving it a try! The price: I think the price tag is reasonable for the content given. I'm not even halfway through but I've been really having a great time and my days are usually busy all throughout. I've only now started to really interact much with the NPCs, too and there's hangout story events to explore as well, which tell you more about the character and feel more interactive than the usual cutscenes. So I'd say the price is justified. Art: I do love the art in this game. At the very first encounter with an NPC I was surprised by the art they chose for them, by now they really grew on me - and…2 found this helpful
A really fun an unique addition to the overall "farming sim" genre. With added joy of everything being documented for research! Hooray! I personally find the process of finding new things, unlocking them for research, completing the research, and getting to add it to the records. I am a nerd. All of the animals are really cute, the different kinds of plants with their different growth requirements. (Rip my crops my first summer when I did not use the sun lamp. PSA use the sunlamp) I find it easygoing, and satisfying. A quaint experience.
Kinda repetitive, but fun
I really like this game so far, very cute :)
cool game very cute
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