Spiritfarer is a management game about dying, developed and self-published by Thunder Lotus Games.1 Playing as Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased, the player builds a boat to explore the world, cares for spirit friends aboard, and eventually releases them into the afterlife.1 It launched on 18 August 2020 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG) at $29.99, arriving day one on Xbox Game Pass for console and PC.2

Gameplay

Spiritfarer blends boat-building, resource management and platforming with quiet character stories: the player farms, cooks, crafts and upgrades the ship while tending to the emotional needs of each spirit passenger before saying goodbye.1 A second player can join in local co-op as Daffodil the cat.1

Development and release

The game was built in Unity, with its hand-drawn character animation created in Toon Boom Harmony.3 A Stadia version followed the initial launch on 21 August 2020.4 Thunder Lotus supported the game with three major free content updates, culminating in the Farewell Edition — the base game bundled with all released content — on 13 December 2021.5

Reception

On the day the Farewell Edition launched, Thunder Lotus announced Spiritfarer had passed one million copies sold.5 The game earned nominations across The Game Awards 2020, the 2021 BAFTA Games Awards, the 24th D.I.C.E. Awards and the Nebula Awards, plus multi-category wins at the Canadian Game Awards.5 Its blend of gentle systems and grief-forward storytelling made it a fixture of the cozy games conversation alongside titles like Coffee Talk.

References

  1. Valve. "Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition" — Steam store data. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. VGChartz. "Spiritfarer Launches Today for Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC" — VGChartz, 18 August 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩

  3. Toon Boom. "Thunder Lotus Games on animating the afterlife in Spiritfarer" — Toon Boom interview. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩

  4. Thunder Lotus Games. "Critically Acclaimed Cozy Management Game 'Spiritfarer' Releases on Stadia" — press release, 21 August 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩

  5. Thunder Lotus Games. "A Fond Farewell — Spiritfarer Sells 1 Million Units. Farewell Edition Is Out Today!" — press release, 13 December 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3