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For my very first recommendation, I wanted to go with something wintry to fit the season. The Doll Shop takes place in a snowy, remote village in Japan, where you play as a doll maker who's trying to... uh, make a new friend? That's the best way I can describe it without getting spoilery. It's a horror game, so it's unsettling, and the atmosphere builds into something truly sinister as you play. It's also an adventure game, so there are light puzzles to solve and you spend a lot of time walking around, exploring the village. Walking is kind of slow and deliberate, but I didn't mind because the hand-painted environments are absolutely gorgeous to look at and it kind of just feels good to be in the game's setting, y'know? It's got a strangely cozy vibe for a game that gets as dark as it ultimately does. The Doll Shop's narrative is paced really well, starting out relatively mundane and slowly giving you glimpses into the main character's mindset as the story develops and culminates into its malicious ending.

The development studio is a small two-person team called Atelier Sentô. They're a French duo who create games and comics based on their memories of living in Japan. Along with The Doll Shop, I've also played their game Yûrei Station, another horror adventure that's about Japanese ghost stories and train rides. It's similar to The Doll Shop, albeit with a more subtle paranormal story than The Doll Shop's outright horror. The artistry in Atelier Sentô's games is just incredible. You can support them on Patreon if you're so inclined, where they share bonus illustrations and behind-the-scenes posts about their processes.

I've decided that since these recs are kind of bite-sized, I'd like to increase the frequency of my posts to weekly. I think I play enough indies to post that often about them. So I'll see you here next week for another rec!