A Short Hike meets Castle in the Sky in this "wholesome" exploration game going gangbusters on Kickstarter

The words "wholesome" and "indie" are paired more often than peanut butter and jelly, but this adorable exploration game that's blowing up on Kickstarter seems to warrant that description perhaps more than any other game I've seen. Its main inspirations are the 1986 Studio Ghibli animated movie Castle in the Sky, the 2017 indie game A Short Hike, and Thatgamecompany's classic 2012 title Journey, and honestly, it looks cuter than all of those combined.

It's called Unpetrified, and the player character is a golem brought to life by a magical butterfly "that embodies the energy of Nature." The golem has lots of emotions that impact the beautiful flora and fauna around you, and the way the game tracks your progress is by growing flowers on the golem's back to act as witnesses to the story.

As you might've surmised by now, Unpetrified is completely non-violent. Your only task is to explore a 3D world, solve puzzles using "ancient magic," and pal around with cute animals like foxes, turtles, and squirrels. There's a story to unfold that teaches you more about the way the world interacts with your emotions, but I think the point here is to "enjoy a relaxing and peaceful journey."

With just 20 hours to go on its Kickstarter campaign, Unpetrified has already crushed its modest funding goal of $16,000, with more than twice that amount pledged at the time of writing. Of course, there are stretch goals that have yet to be reached, including a new mini-game at $40,000 and additional side quests at $50,000. 

A Nintendo Switch port would've happened at $120,000, but the developers have already acknowledged that's an unlikely goal. However, they also said they're working on a solution to get the game on Switch and to "stay tuned for future updates."

For now, Unpetrified is due out on Steam sometime this year.

Here are some more upcoming indie games we can't wait to get all cozy with.