7 game that have outstanding summer vibes

It’s summertime, and the living is easy. Or it’s winter, and you want it to be summer. Or it’s fall, and you’re tired of it still being 90 degrees outside, but you still absolutely love the “vibe” of summer even if you’re not a fan of sweating through your clothes. Whatever the reason you might want to capture the summer video games vibe on your television, there are games out there that will let you do it.

Sometimes gaming isn’t about taking on the toughest boss possible. Sometimes it’s just about relaxing and having a good time. This isn’t about games that might be released in the summer. Several of the games with the best summer vibes didn’t release anywhere near June or July or August. But they just feel like they did. They take players back to that time of year.

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1 Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Island living was never better

One of the coolest aspects of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is that it syncs up to the season of the place you are located, so that when it’s summer in real life, it’s summer in the game. When it’s fall in real life, it’s fall in the game. And when it’s winter in real life, it’s winter in the game. That obviously makes it easy for the game to have some serious summer vibes during the actual summer months.

However, the game is light and fun and hassle-free and, because you’re living on your own little island, even when it’s winter, it doesn’t feel dark or desolate or cold. Yes, there’s snow on the ground, but it still somehow conveys the happy good times vibes that come with summer. The island also allows the game to look like summer for most of the year as you and your neighbors will be tooling around in shorts and t-shirts most of the time.

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2 Planet of Lana

A lush and green world, even if it’s not laid back summer fun

Planet of Lana is a platforming game that offers some puzzles as well, with a side-scrolling perspective. In the game, the player assumes control of Lana, a young girl who explores a world that is invaded by hostile alien machines in order to rescue her sister who has been abducted.

While that doesn’t sound like a real summery game, the atmosphere in this game shows a world that is lush and green and warm. The point of that is clearly to make the player understand what’s at stake with the alien invasion. While the seriousness of the game can’t be denied, this still gives off strong summer vibes as you play.

3 Super Mario Sunshine

The game with a game

It’s not hard to figure out why Super Mario Sunshine has some serious summer vibes. The player takes control of Mario who romps around on Isle Delfino, a dolphin-shaped tropical island mainly inhabited by the Pianta and Noki people.

The game starts where Mario is on an island vacation with Princess Peach and her steward, Toad but the group soon finds out that things have gone amiss on the island. Of course it’s up to you to set things right, but you’ll need to buy Super Mario 3D All Stars on the Nintendo Switch in order to do it. The good news is that you can play this summer vibe game and a few others in this collection.

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4 Pokémon Sun & Moon

Catch em all on a tropical island

If you want to play this summer vibes game, you’re going to have to use a 3DS, but if you’ve got the Nintendo handheld, you’ll soon see quickly why this game has that feel. Both versions of the game have players catching and fighting with Pokemon on an island that looks a lot like Hawaii.

The happy, go-lucky nature of most Pokemon games also lends itself to a slightly more laid-back approach. That makes the game feel like a nice, laid-back, lazy summer afternoon.

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5 A Short Hike

They could have just called the game Summer

There are plenty of games on this list that evoke the summer feel, but there are none that do it better than A Short Hike. While the point of the game isn’t entirely to just do the kind of stuff you do in the summer, it’s a big part of the gameplay.

The main character, Claire, is even sent off on a kind of summer camp adventure. The end game has a whole lot more to do with family and relationships, but while you’re leaning all of that, this is one of those games that can remind you of your own summers and maybe even make you want to put down the controller and head outside.

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6 FireWatch

An interesting take on the summer job

FireWatch is a first-person POV game where the main character is leaving some rather depressing happenings in the past and has taken a job as a Fire Watcher. Your job is to patrol a national park and make sure no one is starting any trouble.

The game has a great atmosphere and scenery and does take place in the summer so there’s definitely a feel of those season vibes. The game also has a decent creepy vibe as “something” is going on that you’ll need to solve.

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7 Dead Island

Fight the end of the world in paradise

This game stands out in the list because it’s certainly not laid back or “good clean wholesome fun.” However, the fact that while you’re battling zombies, you’re doing so on a tropical paradise island.

There is some humor involved in the story and it is rather fun running around what was a beach resort that has turned into the characters’ worst nightmare. It’s still got some great summer vibes. Just not the laid back kind.

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