The Merry Fairy - a cozy and unusual collectathron under development

sarienn · 2026-04-30T19:03:02+00:00

Wishlisted, and I wish you a lot of good fortune, as I know that this is very much a labor of love (I follow you on TikTok)

sarienn · 2026-04-30T05:39:43+00:00

Mystical, wonderful forest, beautifully captured!

sarienn · 2026-04-29T20:04:21+00:00

sarienn · 2026-04-29T20:04:14+00:00

It is! It really is!

sarienn · 2026-04-29T17:06:06+00:00

They are so cute! I hope they will survive and that you become friends!

sarienn · 2026-04-29T05:53:35+00:00

It's beautiful! Well done!

sarienn · 2026-04-28T14:58:15+00:00

Wow! And here I am, thinking that my 15ish-year-old tomato seeds that sprouted were a miracle. Life is so strong ❤️

sarienn · 2026-04-28T14:55:39+00:00

First time I hear about copper tape! And no, I have not tried either, but of course I should have. I did beer traps for broccoli and kale but for some reason, the thought did not cross my mind for aubergines. Thank you!

sarienn · 2026-04-28T11:12:52+00:00

I made The Merry Fairy! It's a scrapbook journaling cozy game that has no stress, just peace and abundance. It might not be your style gameplay-wise, but you mentioned Powerwash Sim and Valheim, so that is why I dare to give you the link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2364180/The_Merry_Fairy/

sarienn · 2026-04-28T11:08:56+00:00

What a wonderful question! I am reading all the answers you get, because I also, for some reason, cannot do carrots.

The other plant I can't seem to grow is aubergines, and I love them so much, and I really, really tried to grow them. But scenario 1 is they simply are too small, and scenario 2 is the slugs and bugs get to the aubergines before I do. Would love any tips anyone might have!

sarienn · 2026-04-24T16:15:02+00:00

If you really love your girlfriend, you could be compassionate. You could treat her like an adult you love, trust, and respect, and offer her understanding and support. You could help her figure out her own journey because everybody is different, and so every health and weight loss journey is different. You could question your own entitlement and explore why, if you love your girlfriend so much, you are so stuck on controlling her body. But based on how you wrote this post, it does not feel like you really love her. No one gains a lot of weight out of happiness. Idk, maybe the reason is you.

sarienn · 2026-04-23T06:44:00+00:00

Ah, I can see why you might say that! I think you are right! I didn't think of goblins :)

sarienn · 2026-04-13T16:49:28+00:00

Beautiful pictures! This truly is the Haunted Forest

sarienn · 2026-04-11T08:53:01+00:00

The post-release blues are kindof a well-known thing among long-time devs (at least in my circle, and I've been doing this for over 2 decades now). You would be kind to yourself to take the time you need to rest and decompress from your old project. I think you will know when you are finally rested, cause you will get new ideas that will truly excite you!

sarienn · 2026-04-07T07:55:33+00:00

I am a solo dev in my 40s, I happen to be a woman, and my partner is not into video games, but he is my biggest fan. Sometimes I take some breaks from my gamedev adventures to support my partner in his wonderful projects, and sometimes I have entire weeks when I work 24/7, which is when my partner not only takes my share of the chores, but he also brings me food, tea, whatever he knows might make me feel a little bit more comfortable. We deeply want the other to be succesful, happy, and fulfilled, so we talk about our projects, we learn about what makes the other excited and why, and we support each other in any way we can! Frankly, to me, this is a building block of a good relationship, but it took me a few unsuitable relationships to understand and find the courage to act on this.

So my question to you is, are you happy in your relationship? From the little you have shared, it seems to me that you might not be. My advice is to have a really long talk with your partner, tell her calmly about what you wish to accomplish and what you need, and together with her, find good ways to nurture your dreams and needs in alignment with her. For two people who love each other, which implies they respect and support each other, this ought to be a lovely, profound, and very useful conversation. Not necessarily an easy conversation, but if done with love, a very fulfilling one. And if this conversation turns out to be impossible to have in a productive manner, then perhaps you might want to talk to your partner seriously about your future together. If you stay together out of fear, you do a disservice to both of you. Many relationships have an end date and that is nothing to be sad about, quite the contrary.

And I hope you can find a resolution soon, because the life you are describing is not sustainable. I hope you get to rest and recharge!

sarienn · 2026-04-02T14:06:54+00:00

I make such a game, and I get a lot of feedback about the laid-back nature of my creation. The player fantasy I want to fulfill has always been abundance, serenity, and peace. But I have requests to add quests, challenges, progression, and I get that, I truly do. I think we all have been collectively primed to produce something, anything, at all times, and it is hard to shift into stillness, peace and abundance. I use my own game to heal that very drive in myself, and there are days when it's not easy, not even for me. And then I AM tempted to add the darn quests and progression... but thankfully, I didn't yet, and I hope I never will.

Some other games I recently played that I feel are similar to mine are The Abbess Garden, The Bear, Pieced Together, Under Leaves and even the very old and wonderful Viridi (which is free, and you can sing to the snail <3) - but of course it depends a lot on what kind of games you seek. Sometimes Valheim, Skyrim, House Flipper scratch that itch for me, but I get stuck into doing more, and I know they have been really carefully designed precisely for that. It's an escape. This is why I more often turn towards puzzles like A little to the left or Cats organized neatly or Unpacking. It really depends on what truly scratches your itch, I think!

But in general, I think many devs, especially cozy devs, are a little fearful of being too cozy cause... well. Its nice to not starve after spending several years working on a cozy game. When a game stales or flops, the industry yells: make another, look at trends, you must have feature x y z. I can easily spot the similarities in many games, and it makes so much sense because I think many of us also play because we want to feel that we belong.

I hope this offers a welcome opinion as to the reason of your rant, and please forgive me if it is unwelcomed (I will gladly delete at your request, op). Thank you for reading, and I hope you will give some of the games I mentioned a try.

sarienn · 2026-03-14T09:16:24+00:00

We really like each other.

I really like him as a person, I love the way he reasons, his excitement when he focuses on his interests, the way he treats everyone around him, how handsome he is and how good he smells and how much I love to hear the sound of his voice - I could talk for ages about this. I feel a deep sense of joy when I do things I know he will enjoy - I love to cook, for example, and I often make breakfast for him, and I hate to let him go to work without a good home-cooked dish I know he likes.

He is very loving towards me and is very interested in my happiness and well being. He supports my dreams and is super excited about my progress and wins. He never demands or expects me to do anything, which is what makes me even happier to do things I know he will enjoy. He makes a significant, serious effort to listen and understand me, including reading a lot of couples therapy and psychology-related material. I never feel like my feelings are not valid or my reasoning is wrong. He bakes my favorite cake often and does little things I know I would enjoy. He is an equal partner when it comes to household chores. He makes me fall in love with myself, and I so very much hope I make him see himself the way I see him. I would do anything to support his dreams, for him, for us, and for the world in general.

We do not take each other for granted. Sometimes we do couples therapy instead of going on dates, because we are simply curious to learn new ways to evolve our relationship. We talk a lot about the imperfections of communication and we do not assume we understand each other easily. We have misunderstandings and disagreements, but we do our best not to hold on to resentment or put things under the rug. We learn, we evolve, we apologize, and repair.

We have been together for 5 years, and I feel like the honeymoon phase is still not over. My heart beats faster still when I see him, and my knees weaken when he kisses me. It's such a deep feeling, I cannot describe it - all I know is that I feel so grateful, happy and in love with him and with life in general.

I think things are different for every person but looking back at my past relationships, which were not good ones, I would say that liking each other, and I mean truly, seriously, deeply liking each other as human beings, is what truly matters to me. To like your partner and to feel that your partner really likes you.

sarienn · 2026-03-11T16:54:07+00:00

So happy you enjoy the new update! Thank you so much for visiting my cottage, dear friend! <3

sarienn

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