The idea of the summer beach read and the song of the summer is an established one in pop culture, so we figured — why not summer gaming picks? Our choices will align somewhat with the usual vibe and premise of those lists. While we do adore games that use our brain or have weighty narratives, for a summer game we’re looking for relatively new titles which are breezy, cheeky, fun, and a little kooky, like if Sabrina Carpenter was a game dev.

My favorite beach reads tend to involve thriller or mystery elements — The Perfect Marriage by Geneva Rose was a favorite last year — so my picks for summer games aren’t all cozy little affairs, either (I guess this is a warning). Plus, we want to stay a little bit current, so as much as we’re definitely going to keep Balatro on our phones to plunk away at while we wait in the summer camp pickup line, titles mentioned will be published or enter early access within the last year.

Kabuto Park is a new game from some of the cozy developers behind Minami Lane, and offers a similarly wholesome slice of life experience. The core premise is, you collect cute little bugs with a net in a cartoony landscape, and if that doesn’t scream “summer game” I don’t know what does. You can collect more, and more powerful, and rarer bugs and use them to fight against other kids and their bugs. The game is short, but for a little summer diversion we like it that way.

A cute romance game with an interesting premise and completely bonkers cast, Date Everything releases in mid-June and it will be a first-day purchase for most of our staff. While we’re sickos for smooching games, this one is our pick for letting our freak flags fly this summer — and while we’re not judging, you gotta admit to being a little freaky to want to make out with the concept of a beverage, even if she’s voiced by Marisha Ray (I see you, OnlyCans fans). Frankly we were always going to recommend this one solely on the power of the pun that sees voice actress Cherami Leigh cast as a chair. Chairemi Leigh. That’s the kind of wordplay that’s so good we’re a little mad about it.

Sulfur entered Early Access back in November, so this is your warning that this is still in evolving development. The gameplay is pure just-one-more-round FPS boomer shooter, but without the gritty grimdark. There is a good bit of gore, but a stylized art style keeps it from being too gross (though combining Fatburg Chunks from the sewer biome with raw chicken to make nuggies is a little nausea-inducing). Even if the gameplay isn’t your jam, the lofi soundtrack is what makes this one a true summer vibe. Wait til the beat drops and you’ll be machine gunning your way through goblins with glee — or load up the soundtrack on Spotify in the car for a trip to the beach.

Rift of the Necrodancer is a rhythm game a la Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution, with a light goth vibe. Some of the monsters you have to ‘squash’ by having perfect timing include cute cartoon bats and skeletons, for instance. The tracks all slap — as you’d expect from a game like this — and represent a slew of different genres and vibes, so if one track doesn’t do it for you, keep on playing. Gameplay can be tuned to be easier if rhythm games aren’t exactly your thing. Because each round is its own little story arc, this is another one-more-round popcorn game.

There are a lot of games that go with the “you got your peanut butter in my chocolate” style of development, ramming together popular genres and concepts to create something new and hopefully better. Drop Dutchy takes the idea of Slay the Spire, which already shoved together card games and roguelikes, and in the play phase, adds an element of Tetris. But tactical Tetris. Each tile has a biome type that might help your troops — or your opponent’s, if you’re not careful with your placement. It sounds bizarre, but it’s straightforward once you get into it, plus it’s unique and has a ton of replay value.