Sunkissed City

About Sunkissed City

Sunkissed City is a quirky life-sim RPG set in a sunlit coastal city overrun by oddball neighbors and environmental chaos. Developed by Mr. Podunkian and released in late 2026 for PC and Mac, it blends DIY gardening, skill progression, and community-building with a dash of surrealism. You’re a corporate lackey for Pico, tasked with reviving the town’s ecosystem and appeasing its increasingly hostile wildlife. The vibe is upbeat but slightly off-kilter, with split-screen co-op and chaotic multiplayer modes adding to the chaos. It’s a pastel-colored sandbox where you can grow plants, fight sewer monsters, and try to ignore everyone’s migraines.

Gameplay

Your days are spent balancing light puzzles, resource management, and social interactions. You’ll plant and upgrade gardens with randomized terrain, craft tools using overgrown foliage, and teach neighbors to care about the environment. Combat is minimal, think dodging aggressive wildlife and using garden traps. The story pushes you to meet corporate quotas while fixing the town’s decay, but the real fun is in the co-op: two players can team up to water crops and fight monsters in split-screen, which often leads to accidental sabotage. Controls are simple, but the lack of save scumming can frustrate. Sessions last 2, 4 hours, blending exploration with repetitive task loops.

What Players Think

Steam reviews are 88% positive, but Metacritic clocks in at 7.8/10. Average playtime is 18 hours, with 37% of players completing the main story. Community moods are split: 42% “relaxing,” 23% “annoying,” 19% “funny.” One user wrote, “Charming but repetitive, same garden tasks for 10 hours.” Another praised, “Split-screen is chaotic gold, even when we kill each other.” Achievement stats show 42 total, with 31% of players earning at least 25%. The game’s $39.99 price tag draws mixed reactions, some call it “lovable but overpriced,” while others note it’s a “cheap chill-out session.”

PlayPile's Take

Sunkissed City works best as a low-stakes distraction for fans of quirky life-sims like Stardew Valley. The price is fair for casual players, but the repetitive loops and short runtime may disappoint. If you’ve got $40 and enjoy co-op chaos, it’s a solid pick. Achievements are easy but sparse, and the absurd story beats (monsters from sewers, migraines as a plot device) add charm. Not impressive, but it carves a niche for laid-back, multiplayer-friendly hangouts.

Storyline

Welcome to your new life in Apollo City, a sun-kissed seaside metropolis that's pumping with funky vibes and quirky characters. As a fresh hire for the monolithic Pico corporation's new "Peco Pioneer" pilot program, you've been tasked with fostering a relationship with Apollo's vibrant community and putting in a good word for Pico's new eco-focused initiatives. But all is not well in these bustling streets. The local wildlife has begun to behave more aggressively, the waters are devoid of life, monsters are pouring out from the sewers, and that's not to mention the constant migraines everyone's been having latel