Introduction

Recently work has been kicking my a…butt. I come home exhausted and playing half of my gaming library is tiring, so I needed a relaxing game to unwind for a bit. Seems like Japanese indie developer BUBBLE GUM LLC knew just what I needed with their latest release, CELESTAY. A pixel art title where your goal is simple: fish and reach the heavens. Can such a simple game break the traditional gaming mold and stand out against the never ending sea that is indie darlings? We find out in our review of CELESTAY for the PC! Thanks to BUBBLE GUM LLC for a review copy!

Gameplay

CELESTAY is the prime definition of keeping gaming in 2026 as simple as humanly possible. The entire game can be played with just one mouse click and that’s it. You have several goals. The first is to fish, which earns you the in-game world’s currency of…well, fish. The second, find or obtain resources. Third, build your very unbalanced but endearing home to reach the skies above. Last goal, just relax while doing all of this. CELESTAY has no time limit and nothing is pushing you to accomplish everything in one sitting. Play at your pace and watch your time pay off.

Let’s start with fishing, which can be played one of two ways. Fishing can either be put into an idle mode where you let the game handle the task, the depth is what is considered your wait time, or timing mode where you just hit the on screen bar when your icon overlaps it and catch a fish. If you don’t like having a game play itself, the timing input will probably be your go to, plus it is a bit more efficient. Still, what I can’t complain about is that CELESTAY is a good game to play while, say, writing this review. That’s right readers, I actually have the game up while I’m writing and in idle mode so I’m still getting my resources in the background but also am accomplishing something. That’s not an entirely new gameplay formula but it’s rare for a cozy game to do it.

Now when you aren’t fishing, you can watch as your small little foundation gets built to the heavens. As you fish or just find scrap in the water, you can use said materials to build your home. You can invest in either specific buildings to add as you reach specific levels or gain new tools to make fishing easier. There is something very exciting about watching minimal effort lead to accomplishing something.

CELESTAY also has a ton of little extras to keep you wanting to do more than just hit one button or idle by. There are different fish to collect to see in your book of fish and people to meet despite you never leaving your little land. The people all have small stories that, while simple, almost give depth to this simple gameplay loop.

Now obviously, I wouldn’t be a critic if I didn’t find some form of issue with CELESTAY, and the only real problem I can see is the simplicity. If you want a more in depth fishing and crafting experience you won’t find that here with CELESTAY, but that’s okay…this isn’t trying to be complex and deep. I think CELESTAY is trying to show that gameplay can sometimes be incredibly simple and still offer a deep experience, whether you’re playing or just working in the real world.

Graphics

Like its gameplay, CELESTAY’s visual styling is equally simple and yet…I kind of love it. Everything feels hand drawn but with that added pixel art beauty. What I adore is as time passes and you reach higher up, the world changes to match. The sky grows more detailed, the stars show constellations, and your home becomes a tower of peace. Personally, I could stare at the background of CELESTAY all day and be okay. I hope someone makes a Wallpaper Engine of CELESTAY just so I could use this world as my desktop.

Sound

The music is yet again simple in CELESTAY but with a relaxing vibe almost akin to games like Coffee Talk. As you progress, more songs can be found either by purchasing them or maybe in other bizarre ways. It almost felt like the music was progressing with me. Aside from the impressive OST that will no doubt be something I listen to on days I need to chill, the ambiance is a gold star in CELESTAY. The waves sloshing back and forth, the hammer as it hits building up your home to the skies, and the background ocean noises just feel so hypnotizing. Again, maybe it can be considered overly simplified, but CELESTAY does just enough in every field to capture you and let you know what a cozy game should be like.

Story

When I booted up CELESTAY I didn’t think this game would have much of a story. Fishing and watching a house go into very unrealistic heights…how could this have a narrative? Yet, this post apocalyptic world, yes you read that right, does have a tale waiting to be discovered and what you start learning is intriguing. The various cast of characters that come around tell small bits of details of their time before, what they are looking for now, and their dreams. This isn’t going to be a movie-level story, but CELESTAY has many pieces of lore waiting to be unearthed that describe a world that might have been something quite different than what you see initially.

Overall Impression

CELESTAY is a very to the point game but one that rewards players by investing time into it. The more I just played and let the game go about its pacing, the more I gained not only from the gameplay aspect but also a narrative one. I am very surprised at how much CELESTAY does with so much minimal effort that I can see myself playing this for no reason other than to just enjoy playing.

Conclusion

If you told me at first glance I’d love CELESTAY, I don’t know if I’d right away agree. Sure, I’d probably say it looks cozy and I enjoy my relaxing games sometimes. Yet, I didn’t know what truly awaited me in CELESTAY and that is where I learned this game is beyond incredible. For only $8.99, CELESTAY offers an idle or simple fishing and crafting game that doesn’t require a Wiki page to learn or strategy guides. All you need to do is fish, watch your fisher and builder work, and see their labors unlock your accomplishments. CELESTAY is a must play for those who love relaxing indie darlings and/or just people who need to unwind after a hard day of work or playing a FPS that causes rage. Thank you BUBBLE GUM LLC, your team has made something I hope gets some much deserved recognition.