The Curator of Cozy: An Interview with Jenny Windom

I try to avoid framing anything from a “back in my day” perspective, but the video game landscape has changed a lot since I started playing them in the mid 90s. Not just the kinds of games being made, but also the types of people making them, and how niche projects find their audiences. Just watch the variety of trailers in literally any showcase from the last few years and the message becomes clear. 

Now more than ever, games are for everyone. 

One of the communities at the forefront of this wave is Wholesome Games. Jenny Windom, the host and organizer of their events, took a break from preparing multiple titles for release to answer a few of my questions. 

For readers discovering your work for the first time, who are you and what is Wholesome Games?

Hello readers! My name is Jenny Windom (I often go by Kimchica online) and I’m an indie dev, content creator, and one of the organizers for Wholesome Games. Wholesome Games began as a way to highlight and celebrate the games that we enjoyed that didn’t seem to have a specific space to be featured as well as try to find a community of other people who enjoyed similar gaming experiences. We wanted to uplift games that emphasized (generally) non-violent mechanics, gentler pacing, and hopeful narrative themes.

Over the years, we’ve been able to expand our efforts and impact as the community has grown! Not only do we continue to feature these types of games on our social channels: we now broadcast two showcases annually that focus on curating major announcements for these types of games – Wholesome Direct and Wholesome Snack – as well as support indie developers as a publisher through Wholesome Presents. 

Harvest Moon 64 by Victor Interactive Software, Marvelous Entertainment, and Natsume Inc.

Can you remember a specific moment or game that made you want to pursue a career in the industry? 

When I was a kid, playing games like Harvest Moon 64, Super Mario RPG, and Final Fantasy 7 were incredibly inspirational, and I remember wishing I could do something related to games, but never thought about it more seriously. I actually went into education first, teaching middle and high school for years before I transitioned into the industry!

When I played To The Moon after graduating college, that was the first time I seriously pondered doing something more with games. I had become a bit disenfranchised from playing regularly, as it felt like the games that primarily were coming out (other than an occasional Final Fantasy or new Pokemon game) were focused on online matches and gun-play, which wasn’t my vibe.

To the Moon, and other indie games like thomas was alone, Please, Don’t Touch Anything, Sunless Sea, and Gravity Ghost supplemented the farming and RPG games I loved, showing me that there was a space where developers were doing things I felt was different and interesting. I began posting YouTube videos highlighting indie games, just for fun, but through a surprise turn of events, was reached out to for my first community and social media management role. From there, I chose to make the leap from classroom education to continue in the industry, working at studios, publishers, and game funds to learn as much I could about the making and marketing of games! 

What advice would you give to someone hoping to have their game featured in a Wholesome showcase?

I think the first piece of advice for folks is to reflect on what makes your game “wholesome” and how you see it potentially fitting into the showcase. I feel like it’s becoming a bit more common knowledge, but I always like to reinforce that submitting to a show is a bit like pitching to a publisher or fund: you need to know what the goal of that showcase is, generally the type of audience who watches the show and what they may enjoy, and try to cater your submission to highlight the aspects of your game that would best fit. This is relevant for all showcases! 

The next major piece of advice is to have a sense of your overall marketing plan and strategy, and figure out when the most beneficial time would be to submit. Sometimes we’ll receive submissions for games that look neat, but perhaps won’t have a Steam page up by the showcase. Or a game submits but they don’t have any news to share other than some gameplay that folks may have already seen before. Because of the competitive nature of submissions – but also to make sure the showcase can be as useful as possible for you – it’s always really helpful to have a certain level of progress and fidelity locked in, and an idea of your end goal. Common announcements like a Steam page or game reveal, a brand new feature you’re showcasing, a release date announcement, or launch are ones that we often look for, so if you have one of those coming up, perhaps work your marketing calendar to fit those announcements arriving during a showcase! 

Finally, please don’t be disheartened or discouraged if you’re not accepted into a showcase! Showcases are challenging because there are a finite number of titles that can ever be featured in a 45 - 60  minute time span. Every showcase organizer I know wishes we could fit more games in, but we’re also trying to make sure that the audience doesn’t get too fatigued and can meaningfully engage with the games we include. If you are a strong fit for that showcase’s audience and community, see if you can find additional opportunities you may be able to take advantage of around the showcase, like a related Steam event, where we - as organizers - are often able to cast a wider net and include more titles. If you enjoy a particular showcase account, perhaps they can feature you on their social channels or help amplify an announcement post outside of a showcase. And, you can always try again in the future, if you’re reaching out early in development, as your game progresses. 

What is the most challenging thing about hosting events like these? 

The hosting is actually one of the easiest (and most fun) parts! Usually by then, we’ve got the script written out, the games are selected, and it’s about enjoying seeing the pieces of the show really come together after recording the segments. The MOST challenging part is the curation process: selecting the games that end up in the show.

It’s a common adage, but I feel it keenly every year: there are so many good games and so little time! Every year feels like it gets more difficult because not only do we get increasing numbers of submissions (over 700 for our last showcase!) but the developers and games we see have continued to mature and grow in their talents and what they’re creating. 

Something I’ve always been curious about–what goes into choosing a game to be the “one more thing” at the end of a showcase?

A lot of it is gut feeling and vibes? I feel like all of us on the team have done this long enough where we’ve started to develop a sense of what will feel good as a ‘one more thing’. We also pay a lot of attention to what the community around these types of games enjoy and are excited about, and sometimes will actively reach out to a title to see if they have anything that we could potentially consider for inclusion. 

Spirit Swap: LoFi Beats to Match-3 To by Soft Not Weak, LLC

It’s been a tough year for almost everyone in the video game industry, but what makes you optimistic about the future?

That’s admittedly a tough question because while I feel like there’s a lot of hope and resilience in the industry, I feel like we still have a long road ahead of us. I don’t want to glorify the indie space, as it has its own challenges and struggles it needs to work through, but I do think I find the most hope in hobbyist and indie spaces as a developer and game curator in terms of seeing what folks are creating as well as the ways they’re trying to create whole new tables for folks to join (rather than trying to find a seat at the proverbial table). I’m also heartened by the number of developers exploring unionization and ways to create processes and systems that protect the folks in the industry and allow for sustainable careers.   

I also am heartened when I see some of the player communities surrounding a lot of the wholesome games we’ve curated. These communities are increasingly diverse and increasingly aware of the challenges that come along with game development. As a developer, I can’t tell you how many times that our community (for Spirit Swap) have told us to go rest, not worry about the game, and to take care of ourselves first. That’s huge! And I hope that players in game communities and different fandoms continue to show care to the creators making the media they enjoy – and help model to others kinder ways to engage.  

What is a book, movie, game or album you feel everyone should experience? (it doesn’t have to be cozy)

I will say, for cozy game recommendations, if you haven’t played Fields of Mistria, run to Steam and pick it up. It’s one of the best new farming sims out there, and I feel balances the nostalgia of Harvest Moon 64 and Back to Nature with fresh takes on the genre in some of the most satisfying ways I’ve seen. Ever. 

Another game I’m telling everyone to play is 1000xRESIST. This narrative game is a sci-fi cinematic experience that begins with a world changed by a pandemic and alien invasion. Society now follows the All-Mother, and you discover a secret that changes everything you know. The game is so much more, but for the purpose of not turning this response into a VERY long dissertation on why this game is so incredible, I’ll leave it at that and for readers to visit the Steam page and discover its magic on their own. 

Finally: if you’re not watching Severance, go find someone with an Apple TV subscription and watch Severance.

Wanderstop by Ivy Road and Annapurna Interactive

What are you working on currently and where should people follow you for updates?

For Wholesome Games, we’re in the midst of a few things! We’ll continue our showcases (and we usually have one in June alongside Summer Game Fest) so be sure to subscribe to the newsletter at wholesomegames.com for all the info. We also send monthly curated lists of games to keep an eye on!

On the game dev side of things, I’ve got two titles launching this year, so I’ve been excited (and busy) with that! Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To is from Soft Not Weak, a studio I co-own with three other wonderful folks, and Wanderstop from Ivy Road, where I am the Comms Director. 

Finally, I’m most passionate about my content creation. I create video and livestream content under the handle, Kimchica, and I’ve founded Geeks & Grounds, a game club where we brew thoughtful conversations around games, together. It’s a podcast, newsletter, and Discord community, so folks can go to geeksandgrounds.com to check it out and sign up. 

I would like to thank Jenny for taking time out of her busy schedule to chat with me and for being just as lovely as she appears on YouTube. 

Are you working on a strange or small project and want to talk about it? Reach out on our contact page and we’ll see if we can make it happen.