5 Games that Capture Summer 

In this eternally strange summer, we give you five bucolic and sun-filled games that can help fill in the gaps.

A memorable summer’s day might involve reading books on the beach, drinking beers in the sun, sweaty dancing, exploring new locales, or simply experiencing the nostril-awakening waft of fresh flowers and BBQ lighter fluid. Yet the unending rule changes have combined with consistently unreliable (and dangerous) weather to make Summer 2021 difficult to enjoy, with the safety net of staying indoors still preferable for so many of us.

Whether you’re trapped indoors because the rain is hammering it down in August (hello global warming) or just feeling a bit weird about mixing with big crowds again, I’ve got you covered with five video games that succeed in replicating everything great about a hot summer’s day. Reassuringly weatherproof, each of these games is perfect for filling in the gaps for the Summer that never really was.

Pikmin (2001)

This criminally underrated Nintendo adventure is centered around an astronaut who crash lands on a mysterious planet that just happens to be filled with luscious landscapes resembling the garden displays at the Chelsea Flower Show.

In this socialist utopia, Captain Olimar must team up with hordes of Lemming-like Pikmin creatures to find all his spaceship’s missing parts, with the accidental invader falling head over heels in love with these plucky locals.

Pikmin is at its absolute best when you and your bug squad pause en-route to locating a ripe, glowing strawberry, and fully take in your sun-drenched surroundings. Nintendo’ genius Shigeru Miyamoto had the idea for Pikmin on a sizzling afternoon while watching a bunch of ants carrying leaves towards their nest in his garden, and he wanted the final game’s atmosphere to replicate the stillness of chilling on your lawn while catching a potential distraction just out the corner of your eye.

Although the Pikmin’ sequels dialled up the gameplay and made the puzzles more intricate by taking you into endless dark caves, the original remains the best because even though your curtains are drawn, you can still smell the lavender and feel the sun kissing the back of your neck.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)

With its neon lighting, pink sunsets, and constant speed boat drive-by shootings, GTA: Vice City is that rare gaming world where the spirits of Tony Montana, Miami Vice, and a Thriller-era Michael Jackson are as one.

Chief to the sandbox game’s enduring success is just how sticky everything feels, with the bikini-clad chicks on rollerblades, blood-soaked palm trees, and Mar-A-Lago-esque mansions making you feel like you’re kind of a big deal within a fictional Florida’s criminal underworld.

My favourite thing about Vice City was riding around in a sports car for a late-night car ride to Ocean Beach, where I would watch the lighthouse scatter its nocturnal beam and zone out to the stoner synths of Kool and the Gang’s introspective “Summertime Madness” on Fever 105, the best in-game radio station.

Here, Tommy Vercetti is a criminal Kingpin taking a moment to think and breathe in the crisp Summer night air, aware the morning glow will soon burn too brightly once again. It’s a feeling of serenity that’s unlikely to ever age.

Mario Sunshine (2002)

The opening credits to Mario Sunshine show our favourite Plumber, Princess Peach, and their family of Mushroom-headed Toad butlers flying off for a cheeky Summer vacation at Isle Delfino, a Caribbean-like island that’s shaped like a giant Dolphin.

However, this idyllic location is quickly muddied with environmental damage by a mysterious enemy, leaving Mario with no choice but to arm himself with a giant water nozzle so he can wash his surroundings and restore them back to their former healthy glow.

While you might remember this game as being a kitsch disappointment following the perfection of platforming gold Mario 64, it’s aged rather well, with the central storyline making gamers believe climate change is actually reversible.

It also gives you a sense of what a gorgeous, exclusive tropical Island resort might feel like if it was populated with jolly Pianta’s and baby Bowsers rather than obnoxious holidaying Silicon Valley investors and their blonde wives.

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (2003)

I’m sure a lot of people actually completed the main quest in Link’s eternally beautiful cel-shaded adventure, but I’m convinced just as many played this game purely to set sail across the sky blue oceans on top of the King of Red Lion’s, a talking boat who smiles elegantly through the Summer breeze.

It took me about 10 years to complete the Wind Waker myself, with the game’s sea-based world and glistening sunshine so relaxing that I forgot there were actual quests to slash my Master Sword through.

The gaming equivalent to being a message in a bottle, gently floating up stream, the Wind Waker is the most perfect ode to Summertime exploration and those seaside communities that are filled with eccentrics so clearly enamoured by the mystic power of the waves.

For those unable to jump on a real boat this Summer, the Wind Waker is the next best thing.

ABZÛ (2016)

Games that require deep water diving missions usually involve flesh-eating sharks or locating treasure chests nestled under clapping sea-shells. However, in ABZÛ, the core pleasures aren’t derived through finding a pirate’s loot but, rather, by savouring the cleansing delights of the Ocean.

Whether you’re swimming with whales, whose wise eyes feel like they’ve seen too much, or just admiring the firework-like glow of dancing Jellyfish, this game’s lack of a traditional plot forces you to really take in the scenery and appreciate its existence; something particularly important amid daily reports of irreversible environmental devastation.

ABZÛ is that rare game that truly sings nature’s song and makes you want to reconnect with the wild. Thankfully, the diving replicates the exhilarating water-based rush of a Wave Race game, ensuring the game doesn’t get too serious.

Beyond all its philosophical powers, ABZÛ will cool you down when played on an arid day—load this up whenever your Dove stick stops working.