A Cottage Story is a free role-playing game developed by LadyMeowsith, wherein you will play the day-to-day life as the only apothecary apprentice and caretaker of the cottage left behind by your godmother, Catriona Neylan—creator of the cottage you reside in. This cabin is located inside the Rossenward forest, which is away from the rowdy modern society. Thanks to this, you will experience a rollercoaster ride of life, love, and fantasy.

A highly-customizable VN

You will start off this game by customizing your name, appearance, and pronouns. Once you’re done personalizing your character, your adventure will officially begin. Rossenward forest is home to an innumerable number of mystical creatures such as fairies, goblins, giants, and satyrs. They could be your neighbors or clients. Every day is like an ordinary day for you until you meet a curious stranger who has an urgent request.

This visual novel game is consists of exactly 9,777 words with six possible endings and platonic routes. You will meet three characters—a girl, boy, and non-binary person—who can be your love interests: Klafka, Rufus, and Nimruil. Klafka is a goblin who's gutsy and has strong moral convictions, Rudus is an amicable satyr with an insistent curiosity, while Nimruil is an alluring and sassy elf. These three will play an integral part in your development and growing curiosity about the outside world.  

The game contains a sleek and intuitive user interface, with the main menu screen giving a homely feel. The story is comprehensive and a delight to read. The conversations among the characters are also hilarious, especially during Nimruil and Rufus’ first meeting. This somehow makes the game light and fun to play. Moreover, you can enjoy all of this free-of-charge.       

Truly enjoyable

A Cottage Story is an impressive life simulation game that is definitely recommended for you to check out. After playing this visual novel game, you will be in awe from the story, characters, user interface, background art style, and gameplay—although, technically speaking, there are still minor details that the developer has to continue working on. Nevertheless, you will still surely anticipate its full game release.