With all of the turmoil going on in the world, sometimes you just need a nice, cozy game to help ease the stress of everyday life. As someone who loves capybaras (and not for their meat like my Brazilian colleague, Leo Faria), I was immediately interested in Capy Castaway from Kitten Cup Studio when I saw it in 2025’s Wholesome Direct. An adorable exploration game starring a capybara and a crow? Sounds like just the game to let my worries melt away with.

Doesn’t look much like a dragon, but I’ll take your word for it.

In Capy Castaway you play as a capybara pup who washes up on a foreign shore after a freak storm floods the zoo where they live. Upon waking, the capybara is greeted by a surly crow, Corvi, who promptly decides to give you a name (I went with the first suggestion, Boba, but the default is Capy). Corvi is annoyed by all the trash that’s washed ashore along with you after the storm, but is delighted to see that some other animals have also been stranded on the strange, small islands. You’re informed by Corvi that there’s a massive dragon that rests atop the main island’s lighthouse, and that the only way you’ll have a chance to get back home is to plead your case with them. 

With a union of fur and feathers, the dynamic duo set off in search of the dragon, and with that, a way home for our protagonist. Along the way, you’ll meet other animals that have also been swept away by the storm. They all know Capy (or Boba, in my case), as they all used to live in the same zoo with each other. Not all reunions are happy, however, and Capy will have to help the other castaways work through their various issues.

Corvi cares more about my new name than I do.

This is one area where I was genuinely surprised by Capy Castaway. I was expecting an exploration collectathon, which this game certainly is, but I wasn’t expecting for all of the decisions made within Capy Castaway having so much weight to them. A lot of games boast that your choices matter, when in reality they usually result in minor differences, such as a different response or a new outfit, or something insignificant. This is not the case in Capy Castaway. 

For example, the very first characters I encountered after Corvi were two bison named Onyx and Benny. They are a couple who got into a huge fight and broke up right before the storm flooded the zoo. After speaking with Onyx, he tells you that he still cares for Benny, even though they break up and get back together all the time. He says he’s worried about him and asks you to find him. After finding Benny, he tells you that he tends to overreact and feels awful about hurting Onyx. At this point you can choose to convince them to stay together or break them up once and for all. Whatever you decide and how you go about it will affect their character arcs and how they interact for the rest of the game.

All these items stacked on my head is killing my neck.

The “right” thing to do isn’t always obvious, either. I’m typically excellent at knowing what the “best” and most “morally sound” choices are, but Capy Castaway surprised me by how complex some of the characters and their situations are. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t on the same level of grandiose morality choices like those found in The Witcher 3 or Mass Effect, for example, but there are a few instances where I found myself really wrestling with which direction to lead my friends. I thought I had figured out the best outcomes and paths for everyone, but I ended up getting what I can only assume is the “bad” ending. Guess I’ll have to play it again with different choices to see what changes!

The main gameplay in Capy Castaway revolves around exploration and collecting items. Capy can stack things they find on their head, which can reach impossible heights before you know it. I highly recommend doing this right from the start as you never know when something you found on one of the beaches will be needed for someone’s personal quest or a puzzle. There aren’t many puzzles in this game, and the few there are are very easy, but since this is a casual game, that’s sort of the point. I still found myself enjoying them because they incorporate things from the areas around them and allow you to learn more about the various characters.

I’m not joking when I say the puzzle solutions are obvious. They’re still enjoyable though.

The art design in Capy Castaway is a bit of a mixed bag. The characters are well designed and adorable. There’s also quite a bit of diversity in the locations, ranging from autumn forests to abandoned amusement parks. The bright, vibrant color palette makes everything pop, but my one issue is that there are some colored blurring effects around the edges of the screen that can give it a bit of a distorted look at times. It almost looks when when you’re looking at a screen showing a 3D film without the 3D glasses. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it can be a touch distracting at times.

The sound design is solid. There’s no dialogue, but the character make their own specific sounds in place of traditional language. The ambient sounds of the islands help to immerse you in the setting, with crashing waves and rustling leaves. It also features a chill, mellow soundtrack fits the casual island experience of the game well.

There were far more islands than I was expecting.

I was eager to play Capy Castaway ever since I first saw it announced and was not disappointed. The beginning was a little slow, but it quickly opened up and had me completely hooked. I played the whole game from start to finish in about six hours, but I know there are things that I missed and I’m absolutely going to play through it again. It gave me that same warm, feel-good experience that I got from A Short Hike and A Tiny Sticker Tale. If you’re looking for a cute, relaxing game to unwind with, one that has an unexpected amount of depth at times, I can’t recommend Capy Castaway enough!

Capy Castaway is available now on PC.

Reviewed on PC with i7-12700kf, RTX 5070, and 32gb DDR5.

A copy of Capy Castaway was provided by the publisher.