Seclusa

What a stunning cozy wildlife photography game. Whether youre into animals and the natural world or virtual photography or even just looking for a game to help you relax after a long day. Seclusa ticks all those boxes. Its animals are beautifully modeled and animated with realistic behaviours that are a joy to watch. The photography is pretty in depth,with a wide range of settings that allow the player control over lighting, saturation, vibrancy, ISO, noise etc. You can seriously take some breathtaking photos in this game. The environments in which you can visit, relax at and photograph each animal species are diverse, each with their own charm. Theres a nice amount of mini-games including puzzles, card collecting and customizing an adorable cat companion who chills at your main lodge. There are some unique variations of the wildlife like albinos and of course babies, plus individually named rare animals that require quite a bit of time to come across. The devs put some genuine love into this little gem and I'd certainly recommend it for animal lovers and photography enthusiasts.

Was skeptical at first, but found myself enjoying it much more than I thought. I love admiring the animals in their different habitats. Also didn't know that it was a casual idle game aswell, but found myself very calm and relaxed while playing. Really needed that.

I honestly don't think I would recommend this game. It was fun. But there is quite a lot of waiting and I found it a bit boring. I think if you are really into photography, this game will be more suited. For me it was a little too much of the same. I could not find the telescope anywhere and just quit bc of it. I don't think I will play this game anymore.

The auto-save feature is disabled by default for some God-forsaken reason. Spent almost 2 hours messing around, customized lots of stuff, actually got to photograph a rare animal, and even unlocked the related achievement... Only to discover that all my progress went down the drain thanks to an amazing design flaw straight from... what, the 1990s? The auto-save feature has been the norm since mid-2000, and no - a minor, barely noticeable "Unsaved progress will be lost" prompt doesn't count because games ALWAYS say that, even with auto-save turned on. There isn't even a "Save & Quit" button. And now, I'm back at square one with 112 minutes on the clock, considering to just refund this game and be done with it. Cause that's exactly the kind of headache you want from your relaxing, laid-back title, right?

Maybe the most obvious appeal for Seclusa is if you are into photography. Which I am! It's particularly interesting to me as I am not usually a sandbox game player. I like having objectives or a narrative to follow for when I play games. But in this case, where the focus is one of my real life hobbies, it works! (As well as card collecting haha!) The game itself is gorgeous to look at, even when you aren't taking pictures! So if you're looking for a way to relax or pratice your photography composition, I would highly recommend it! Also, I found the puzzle minigame really satisfying and relaxing to do!

Nice.