Launching in January 2023, SEASON: A letter to the future is from Canadian indie studio Scavengers Studio in Montréal.

It’s available on PC, PS4 and PS5. Although it met with divisive reviews, we certainly enjoyed out time with its relaxing adventure gaming fun.

The game is thoughtful and melodic, with a relaxed pace and a focus on an emotional narrative. Let’s cycle on into this one!

Get On the Relaxation Bike in SEASON: A letter to the future

For this one, you take control of the young female character Estelle. She’s travelling the world and recording her experiences in a journal.

This is where you, the player, come in.

As you can document everything you discover by writing things down, making a drawing, take pictures, or recording videos.

SEASON: A letter to the future is a game about exploration. It’s methodical in its approach and presents itself a bit like Alba: A Wildlife Adventure in that you go off and explore a community and document your findings.

Want a peek? Then here’s 18 minutes of it in action.

There are extended cycling segments to go with the photography lark, which gets you around to see the lush world.

As you move about, you’re encouraged to chat to people and share your findings.

Now, despite this being a game of exploration it’s quite the linear experience. We’ve seen some critics and gamers complain about that.

The game is about self-discovery, with your journey as Estelle supposed to offer some personal insights for yourself over the experience.

But it’s true there’s not much room to look around, which restricts that personal voyage element.

That may be a sticking point for you, but for us we found it all a relaxing and introspective indie game. One that looks amazing and the fleeting time you spend in the world is rather peaceful indeed.

There’s also lovely soundtrack to go with all of this (which we’re covering a the bottom of this review). It’s the work of composer Spencer Doran.

Downsides? Well, the game is short. There’s about five to six hours of gameplay here, but there’s a good replayability aspect to the experience.

You do want to get back in there and find everything.

Yes, then, it’s a stunning game to behold. But we do think its core strength is its relaxing qualities, as it’s a melodic time of it that makes for a welcome distraction. Even if it doesn’t quite mark itself out as exceptional, it has enough peaks to stand it out.

Hark! Listen to SEASON: A letter to the future’s Soundtrack

SEASON: A letter to the future has an excellent background music kind of score. One you play to not distract you and set a chillaxed mood.

There’s a definitely a traditional Japanese music vibe going on.

Composer Spencer Doran is part of  electronic music duo Visible Cloaks and views himself as an “outsider” to video games. There’s an interesting interview with him on Bandcamp: Spencer Doran is gaming’s most valuable outsider. In this piece it states:

“It should come as little surprise, then, that Season: A Letter To The Future sounds like few other video games (although fans of Doran’s previous output will feel at home with its typically artful compositions). Warbling woodwinds, plaintive piano, and chiming vibraphones accompany the player as they explore a picturesque valley on the cusp of an unnamed cataclysm. However, in contrast to most games, Doran’s score bleeds into the environment itself to the point where diegetic and non-diegetic elements become essentially indistinguishable.”

Which is pretty accurate! It’s all rather ambient, which is all rather excellent when set to these video stills and the music. Almost like being beside the seaside!

A very relaxing time of it, then, and one you could play at dinner parties or at home at night surrounded by candles, incense burners, and yoga poses. Bon!