Japanese indie game circle Buttercup Garden released Robot Hospice, a free-to-play 2D adventure game set in an elderly home for robots, on June 10. As Midori, the new employee, you interact with five terminally ill robots as they spend their final days in the titular Robot Hospice.
As you converse with the robot senior citizens, you’ll deepen your bonds. This leads you to uncover more about their past as well as any final requests that they might have that will (hopefully) make their passing easier. While there is really only one ending, the choices you make determine how you say goodbye to them.
According to the developer, the game was inspired by Kazuo Ishiguro’s dystopian science fiction novel Klara and the Sun, in which a robot named Klara does everything she can to ensure the happiness of Josie, her sickly owner. While the novel pitted humans and robots against each other, Buttercup Garden leader Dokokashira Doko was inspired to make the narrative more heartwarming after hearing Somi, the creator of No Case Should Remain Unsolved, speak at the 2024 Indie Developers Conference.
Robot Hospice currently has a “Positive” rating on Steam, with players praising its emotional story, beautiful pixel art, touching music, and its ability to “make such a small place feel huge.” The game is free for Windows (Steam), with a free web browser version set to release sometime in July.
