Cosy Games and Chill at E3 with Wholesome Direct

The Wholesome Direct will showcase the cosiest, most relaxing, and downright wholesome games there are at E3 2021.

This invigorating and comfortable event hosted and organised by Wholesome Games will return to E3 on June 12 at 10 a.m. PT to kick off the online global conference. Furthermore, Ubisoft Forward is scheduled for Saturday, June 12—so it’s sure to be a jam-packed day for wholesome and Ubisoft gamers alike.

Wholesome Direct has packed its lineup to the brim with exclusive footage, interviews, and game reveals. There’ll be live discussions with the creators of games like Moonglow Bay, We Are OFK, and Ooblets.

For a rundown of the event, look no further.

What’s on and Where to Watch

The Wholesome Direct stream is set for a start time of 6 pm UK time. It will be available to watch for free on the Wholesome Games Youtube and TwitchGaming, GameSpot, as well as on the Guerrilla Collective event page on Steam at the same time.

Wholesome Game’s full show will be hosted by Innersloth community director Victoria Tran, game designer Derrick Fields, and Wholesome Games organiser Jenny Windom. You might know Victoria Tran from Innersloth, the creators behind Among Us. Derrick Fields is a game designer on the anticipated Onsen Master game. Jenny Windom is a producer at Soft Not Weak. So, just from the host selection you know you’re in safe hands with this Direct.

The stream will be an hour-long showcase of developer interviews, announcements for more than 70 casual, cosy indie games, and exclusive footage from some of these games.

The charity partnering with Wholesome Direct, The Yetee, is producing limited-edition Wholesome Direct merchandise that will be mentioned in the show to support charitable responses to humanitarian crises. In addition, $5 from every sold product will go to the International Rescue Committee, a crucial organisation that acts in the direst of humanitarian crises to help people rebuild their lives.

More About Wholesome Games

If you’re a gentle gamer and games like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing are your jam, then Wholesome Direct is the one event you should watch out for on June 12 at E3 2021.

Wholesome Games first began as a curation of uplifting games on Twitter, picked for their cosiness, nostalgia, and comfort. The community ballooned to over 200,000 members on Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, Discord and Twitter. Wholesome Games became a collective as the fanbase grew, and they set out with a goal. They wanted to change the taboo view of casual, softer games not being ‘real’ games or worthy of playing.

Wholesome Games noticed that a lot of the most popular AAA titles featured dark, gritty, harrowing themes and visuals. They wanted to let gamers know that there are other options out there, all of which are equally valid and worth taking seriously. With their curated lists and spotlight videos and streams, Wholesome Games shone a light on the value of deep, thoughtful storytelling, cinematic graphics, and innovative gameplay and mechanics.

Wholesome Games are careful not to define what exactly makes a game ‘wholesome’. Instead, they say, “That’s up to you to decide! It’s subjective, and we don’t want to pretend that it isn’t. Something we’ve always tried to be mindful of is that what looks wholesome to one person might not look wholesome to someone else.”

The team allow for discussion, opinion and debate on what might make one game wholesome and make another game “unwholesome”. They use the example of if a game is “cute and cosy but contains harmful stereotypes, is it wholesome? We say no! If a game is violent, but that violence is about overthrowing an oppressor, is it unwholesome? We say no! The opinions presented by our curation are just that: one group’s opinions.”

Overall, common themes run through the games featured by Wholesome Games, and they’re only recognisable once you’ve played a few of the games the group recommends. Avoiding toxic positivity is their other main aim. They prioritise curating games that are wholesome by a wide standard and not a simple devalued understanding of the word as pure or innocent.

You can watch previous Wholesome Direct broadcasts in their Youtube playlist.

Check out the full E3 schedule in our full guide here.