Iyashikei: Japan’s Genre of “Healing Games” (2018)

Zelda: Breath of the Wild has strong elements of Iyashikei. I picked this up recently after years of no video games. And I find myself just wandering around marveling at the sights and sounds. I mostly avoid conflict while performing the more ancillary quests. It's just so much more relaxing than the platform/shooter games I grew up with.

i'd like to add a sailing simulator to the mix. without an opportunity to actually go sailing i found it a pretty relaxing way to spend the time.

I don't think KSP would fall under Iyashikei. It seems to me (I'm not Japanese though) that Iyashikei is a celebration of normality.

"The Sims" and "Sim City" would fall under Iyashikei. But most people aren't space astronauts. So KSP can't celebrate normalcy because you're pretending to be something you're not.

Persona 5 has Iyashikei elements, as the main character interacts with day-to-day school life. Even if there's an element of supernatural / battling involved, there's an Iyashikei part of the game. Most people have been a student at school. And that's the "celebration of normalcy" that Persona 5 brings forth.

> Japan loves making shows and games about childhood. Specifically about childhood summers spent catching bugs, fishing, going to festivals, sharing meals with family, and, of course, trips to the beach.

These things are present in "The Sims". But not KSP. If you watch a lot of Iyashikei anime, you'll know what this article is going for. KSP doesn't seem to be in that direction.

In America at least, the term is mostly used for anime / manga that matches the category. This is the first time I've seen the term applied to video games. Most video games have conflict, and conflict is stress.

However, there are many video games that have Iyashikei elements. Even the quintessential "save the world epic" Final Fantasy has Iyashikei elements. With FF-VII Cloud Strife playing video games at the Golden Saucer, or FF-XV having a road-trip with bros. Some of the most celebrated parts of the games are Iyashikei, the low-stress parts of the game that were in-between the battle sequences.

Leaving Square/Enix for a second... there's also Nintendo's "Fire Emblem" series. The characters always talk about their personal life. And the player plays matchmaker, trying to get different characters to talk with each other, to discover their personalities. The most recent Fire Emblem: Three Houses, has an entire School-simulator where you set up the curriculum of your students.

Almost all Japanese stories seem to have a part where Iyashikei comes out to destress the main character (and the player).

So the question is, are you interested in games with Iyashikei elements (which IMO, includes almost all Japanese games worth talking about...), or are you interested in games that solely are Iyashikei? The genre exists on a spectrum, from games like Animal Crossing (mostly Iyashikei), to Atelier Sophie (More Iyashikei than not), to Fire Emblem / Final Fantasy ("save the world" epic plot lines, that visit Iyashikei at certain parts of the plot).

> Song of the Sky

Do you mean "Sound of the Sky", the post-apocalyptic Iyashikei?

EDIT: The anime community sometimes sticks with the Japanese title in Romanji, calling it "Sora no Woto". Same show, but depends on how various people feel like translating the title.