go with the flow in this meditative exploration GAME from solo developer hiwarp.

I’ve realized something recently: living in the Seattle area my entire life has made me completely color-starved. These days, sunshine is much more common in our cloudy corner of the world, but the incredulous quip “It rains nine months of the year in Seattle” from Sleepless in Seattle was not an exaggeration when that movie debuted in 1993. Such historical weather trends are undoubtedly the reason I find myself gravitating so strongly toward games made with bright, eye-popping colors and clean, cozy visual designs. Naiad from Spain-based solo dev HiWarp is one such game.

In Naiad, you are the guardian of the river, a water spirit guided downstream by a small cloud. Befriend and assist wildlife as you traverse the river’s diverse waterways and discover its natural essences. Not-quite haikus are revealed in the ripples of the water after you complete minor tasks or gather fish, animals, or insects to certain areas. These poetic interludes add to the spa-like atmosphere and encourage you to take a moment to SOAK it all in (that’s right, I went there). You can also change your hair to any hue of the rainbow by singing in shafts of sunlight for an added SPLASH of color (sorry, I’ll stop).

I didn’t discover that Naiad was solo-developed until the very end of the demo, and it literally made my jaw drop.

I could barely believe that such a polished game had been made by one person. Naiad’s impeccable storybook visuals are whimsical and charming, and its relaxing gameplay provides a much-needed break from our hectic reality. Moreover, its highly refined feel and crisp sound design are practically on par with Playdead’s INSIDE—and for me, there is no greater indie title a game dev can aspire to in terms of production value.

In playing the demo for Naiad, I was struck with the thought that it’s very much like tai chi: the point is to decelerate, to breathe. Take the time to meet the other souls who inhabit your river. Swim lazily to your next destination; there’s no rush. In today’s fast-paced world, such a playstyle might actually be a little frustrating for some of us. It takes discipline to slow down and go against the CURRENT (OK, that was the last one, I swear) of what everyone else in the world is telling us to do: hurry up. Naiad provides training for this mindset, and we’d do well to apply this concept to our real lives whenever possible.

A demo for Naiad is currently available on Steam. The full game will be released soon for PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Nintendo Switch.