This game made me want to ignite the 3d platformer phase I never had. It kind of plays like a bunch of interweaving fetch quests, which might sound like a slog but is executed really well. At first, you kind of have no idea what you're doing, and are just loosely directed by the different characters of where to go, as well as just exploring on your own. But by the end, you learn your way around the forest and know it like the back of your hand. I loved getting involved in everyone's little disputes and helping them sort out their issues, really getting to know the community of the forest by the end of the game. The art style is also absolutely gorgeous, and the game's overall aesthetic and atmosphere is so cozy. I wasn't sure if the bugs in this game were just me, but after seeing other people mention them, yeah this game has a few issues. There were a lot of points where I couldn't move my little guy and I had to go to the title screen and back in the game to fix it. A little annoying but absolutely not enough to ruin the overall experience.

A comforting little nap of a game in which I had a very wholesome time jumping around in the world and talking to all of the endearing forest denizens; however, it was interrupted a tad too often by bugs (not the cute ones you run around delivering mail for) that required me to bounce back to the title screen and reload the game to continue. While this process is relatively quick and seamless it still inadvertently added an unwelcome element of frustration into what is self-described as being a stress-free experience which is rather unfortunate.

• Um joguinho muito charmoso! O gameplay loop de explorar o mapa e fazer entregas é muito divertido e nunca chega a ser estressante ou frustrante, é bem tranquilo.

• Os gráficos são bem simples, mas a direção de arte é LINDAAAA! O traço do jogo é uma gracinha e tirei vários prints enquanto explorava.

• A sensação de pular e planar é MUUUUITO gostosa, às vezes eu só ficava voando por aí sem rumo só porque era divertido KKKKK.

• A história é meio tanto faz e os diálogos são um pouco repetitivos, mas todos os personagens têm seu próprio charme e a história acaba com uma lição fofinha.

• Meu único problema foi uma achievement bugada que precisei iniciar uma campanha nova pra pegar, mas foi rápido e não atrapalhou a experiência no geral.

• Considerações finais: perfeito pra quem quer um jogo curtinho, com uma atmosfera e histórias leves, gameplay satisfatória e uma trilha sonora fofíssima! 💛

I'm a huge sucker for A Short Hike-like games, so I did enjoy this. I think the animal characters are really cute and the dialogue is fun to read. The drawings of the characters are really cute and expressive. However, this is not a good 3D platformer. The controls are floaty and the physics are wonky. It's just not fun to get around.

I played this on the Switch, and unlike the PC version, it completely lacks shading. It's very hard on the eyes. Could they really not get this to run with any shading at all? The camera is also nauseating at times. It continues swinging to the side after you stop moving the right stick. It also frequently clips into things. There is visual jank too, such as the hamster character not being animated at all. He just stands there T-posing. I also encountered bugs that required me to restart the game a few times.

Overall, I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it were a fully 2D game, a visual novel, or even a comic book. I understand that it's rough around the edges because it was made by like 3 people. I still recommend checking it out if you love this type of game like I do (but get the PC version). Still, there are more polished similar games out there, such as Lil' Gator Game, Smushi Come Home, and Here Comes Niko!.

i've been soOooOo excited to play this game ever since i first saw it and when i saw it didn't get great reviews i thought it must be because it's too short, it's mostly fetch quests etc. but as a lover of these kind of cozy fetch quest type of games, i now understand where the reviews are coming from. the world just felt so stiff and empty, yes it is so so pretty to look at, but only for a moment, and then it loses its magic. the kind of dialogue in the game is meant to be read fast, so i press space with 0.1 second intervals and the way new dialogue shows really hurt my eyes (maybe there was an option for that animation? not sure) there were some cute moments in the dialogue, but nothing that made my eyes tear up from happy fuzzy emotions which is mostly what i'm looking for in short cozy games like this. but in the end, would i buy and play it again? yes. i am definitely happy i played this, it did give me the cozy, happy mood i went looking for, and i will 100% keep an eye out for Kela's future projects ♡

also there is a crow (or a raven) called kaz in this? sooo six of crows reference? :o

You play as a mail scout in training (choose their name, appearance, and pronouns) as they're about to make their first delivery! Post Master Janet gives you a letter for Greg, but no information on where to find him. Now, it's up to you to talk to the other forest residents, help them with their tasks, and find the mysterious Greg.

Visuals

Mail Time is the coziest looking 3D game. The colors are soft and relaxing, nothing is ever too bright or too dark or too flashy. It's not dull though! There's always something pretty too look at. It's not super detailed, but everything looks the way you'd expect it to look. The animal friends are all super cute, although it is a bit strange how they just stand there staring blankly into the void. The player character is the cutest thing in the world and much more expressive.

The character sprites for the dialogue are super duper cute, and I loved their expressions and they talk to your mail scout.

Sound Effects + Music

The background music is very chill and calm. I mostly forgot it was even there as I was playing, which tells me it never got annoying or repetitive. But that also means it didn't really stand out either. It was just a nice accompaniment for the gameplay.

Gameplay + Controls

Mail Time is mainly an exploration game with some platforming and a lot of fetch quests. You go around the forest to find all of the animal friends, talk to them, and deliver letters to wherever they need to go. You also need to find some items for them and complete collections. It's all very straight forward, but I never got bored with it. Especially, since the game is so short.

The controls are find. I played on PC, using an Xbox controller. You simply move around with the Left stick, adjust the camera with the Right stick, interact with B, and jump/glide with A. Jumping is a little floaty, but precision really isn't an issue here. There were plenty of times when I landed floating on the side of something instead of missing.

I only experienced two glitches during my playthrough. Both of them were my mail scout couldn't move after talking to a resident. I just opened my journal, closed it, and got back control.

Replayability

Mail Time is just about 2 hours long, depending on how much exploring and collecting you do, so it's a quick game to play multiple times if you want to. There are missable achievements that you may have to replay the game to get. I missed four, so I may go back some day to get them.

Overall

I absolutely adored Mail Time. It's just the cozy game that I hoped it would be! I loved getting to know all of the forest critters a bit, and it just made me smile.

Mail Time is a very charming fetch quest game. You have your first day as a mail scout doing deliveries. You help a lot of the members of a small community while on the search for one person in particular that you must deliver a letter to, its of extreme importance it gets delivered. Its very relaxing to play and it will make you laugh sometimes from the pure silliness of it. Highly recommend to all cozy game lovers though if you are not a fan of fetch quest games you might wanna skip this one. Soks is the true star of Mail Time.

👾 Mail Time (🇳🇱 2023)

Small game from a very small independent team. I could see why is in the top coziest games of the year. Delivering mail to animals in a grove is very relaxing thanks to the cutest and beautiful art. It’s not perfect, but I can’t wait for the next project from this studio.

🎮 Played on Steam Deck

Rating: ✉️✉️✉️✉️▫️

A cozy little indie game that puts you in the shoes of a tiny postman that has to traverse a small town in the midst of a forest. The art style is charming as is the music. Gameplay wise there is room for improvement. Gliding is slower than walking, the camera does not follow the player instantly when jumping which results in constantly jumping out of the viewport and you can not sprint or gain speed in any way. There is a button to walk slowly though, for whoever wants to go even slower... Your tasks are either delivery or fetch quests, nothing more, nothing less, so be prepared to traverse the same paths a few dozen times. All in all a cozy wholesome game with basic but serviceable gameplay that does not outstay its welcome.

I spent a really nice day with this! What a cute, silly, and pleasantly queer game. Jumping and gliding around is pretty nice, but what I most loved was the fun dialogue and endearing little characters (including the artwork for them). The game isn't long enough to give the characters' relationships with one another a whole lot of depth, but to me, the feeling of a silly little neighborhood community was successfully crafted. Feels a heck of a lot warmer and more human than most IRL spaces I've been exposed to these days (yikes).
It's a fantastic helping others simulator. Gotta love spending real time † helping fake people haha. It's not really a complaint, but I wish it were a longer game so I'd have more incentive to make regular returns to Grumblewood Grove.

Mail Time was pleasant and chill almost all of the way through, although I did get frustrated for a bit due to some navigational difficulties. A map might have been helpful, but there's also something to be said for exploring the open space without one.
It has cute character customization, with a sufficient level of complexity.
Optional ungendered pronouns for the player character, and the inclusion of numerous other characters that go by gender-neutral pronouns — and even combinations of multiple pronoun sets — are still relatively rare in video games (especially that same-sentence alternation! Entropic Float might be the only other game in which I've seen that). Both are present here, helping me to feel immersed and as though this world was crafted for my enjoyment too.

It's still a little buggy (as in, programming bugs... but yeah, also actual bugs, wee~) in places (particularly the very ending scene). And on two occasions, I had the misfortune of getting trapped between mushrooms the player character can bounce on... Just rapidly bouncing between them with no way out (other than exiting the game without saving). Decidedly the least fun part of the game LOL.
The developers seem like they're actively fixing stuff, though.

All of this considered, it was definitely a worthwhile time for me~ And if you enjoy the comedic style of Frog Detective and/or Purrgatory, you may similarly enjoy this (I did).

† time is an illusion

(Functions well on Steam Deck. Sometimes the game became unresponsive after manually closing the virtual keyboard -- it's better to use in-game controls to proceed after entering the text for the player character's name. Played mostly docked with a controller.)