This cottagecore platformer is ultra charming, and out this week

There's something very sweet about playing as a postal carrier. As we've seen in games such as Tiny Echo and Lake, it can be a relaxing and enjoyable job delivering mail in a small community, and that's the pitch-perfect tone that solo developer Kela van der Deijl has managed to capture in their cutesy mail-delivery game Mail Time. After playing the Steam demo, I can tell you that it's one of the most charming games I've played all year, and it looks like I'll be able to play the rest soon because Mail Time is out this week on Thursday April 27th.

Playing as a newly trained mail scout, your job is to deliver mail to the woodland creatures of Grumblewood Grove and help them with their requests. It's a game full of busy work, where you bounce back and forth between critters helping them find bottle caps, delivering their mail and so on, but there's some light platforming involved as well that's focused around exploration - mushrooms boost you into the air, your jump is incredibly lofty, and a cute glider lets you soar from the highest branch back down to the undergrowth.

There's so much I like about this game. I love the cottagecore vibes, the cosy patchwork-quilt forest you get to run around in, the character creator where you get to choose from some cute hairstyles and backpacks, and how its visuals look so warm like it's a newly baked loaf of bread coming out of the oven. But the best thing about Mail Time is its cast of woodland locals. They are the best.

Every time I met a new character I kept saying they were my favourite, only to move on to the next one and claim that they were actually my favourite. I think it's their designs - they all have a really charming, children's book quality about them like they've been taken straight out of the pages of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's The Gruffalo.

There's Barb the hedgehog who wears a cute pink pinafore dress and has Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle vibes. Daisy is a tall rabbit whose ears are almost half their height. There's Swomp, the possum who loves explosives and macaroni. There's also a big purple cat called Kiki who seems to be a landlord (boo), but we'll let them off because of their adorable bell and bow. One character that slightly scooches ahead in my estimation is Toph, a bat who has a blue duffle coat and wicker backpack. Appreciate them below in some the screenshots I took.

Cute characters aside, Mail Time is simply a fun game. I like its laid-back task-ticking and platforming so will definitley be playing this on release for some relaxing times. Mail Time will be out this Thursday over on Steam so you won't have to wait long to don your own mushroom hat and postal bag.