Pine Hearts is an adorable adventure game where you play as Tyke, a young adult looking to re-discover some of his memories by visiting their quiet hometown in the mountains. It all starts after you’ve gotten off your train, with quests and exploration following soon after.
Everyone seems to remember you from when you were younger, looking to remind you of your past. You can gain different tools and abilities through talking to the locals and solving small quests. This then allows you to explore the town more, breaking rocks that are in your way and learning how to push down trees to make bridges.
Exploring also allows you to find tear drops, that you can collect and can trigger memories, putting yourself into a new version of the world that has paper cutouts and moments from when you were a child allowing you to relive your earlier memories. Pine Hearts does approach the topic of loss of a family member, however in the demo I played at WASD, I didn’t get too far into that aspect of the story and instead explored a few of the early memories.
Pine Hearts feels lighthearted, as you pet dogs and talk to campers, exploring dark caves and running across fields. The movement is adorable and fun, although quests can guide you and give you direction so you know what to do next, there is nothing stopping you from freely exploring. This town is big with lots of different paths, so it’s well worth taking a look around.
Pine Hearts feels like a cozy game. The little looks into your memories, with childlike aspects dotted around the world you are currently exploring, gives such a cute look into a fond, but emotional past.
You can currently wishlist Pine Hearts ahead of it’s release later in 2024.
