Wanderstop is an emotional narrative story in which you run a tea shop. You’ll meet all types of people and brew the kind of teas for them they like. No missable achievements and completion takes around 12 hours.
Approximate amount of time to 100%: Around 12 hours
Estimated achievement difficulty: 1/10
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1
Is there a good guide available: You don’t need a guide. I highly recommend playing this game blind.
Multiplayer achievements: No
Missable achievements: No
Grinding Achievements: No
DLC-Only achievements: No
Speedrun achievements: No
Time-gated achievements: No
RNG-achievements: No
Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty setting
Unobtainable/glitched achievements: No
This review for Wanderstop is hard to write. Not because it is a bad game, not at all, but because I don’t want to spoil anything. I think the surprise of some things adds a lot to the impact this game can have, and the message is such an important one. Wanderstop is kind of like a therapy session; it is hard to hear but comes with valuable live lessons.
In Wanderstop, you play Alta, a fighter. She is a fighter in every vessel in her body. Nothing else is more important in her life than being a fighter and winning every fight, so the losses are heavy on her heart. What happens when you are so passionate about one thing and one thing only and fail one too many times? What if you feel you can’t continue because you’re failing at what you’re supposed to be? This is the situation Alta finds herself in when she encounters a Tea shop in the middle of a thick forest. Boro, the shop owner, will welcome you and ask you to drink tea with him, but you don’t feel up for it; you can’t sit and do nothing; you have to continue; you have to fight (literally and figuratively).
Alta’s body and mind are worn out, so she has no choice but to take her time and stay at the Wanderstop tea shop while helping run it for a short time. She’ll meet all kinds of people; some will like her, others will look down on her once they get to know her, and some push her buttons, but all the visitors of the Wanderstop tea shop have a life lesson in stock for her (and in that way for you).
Wanderstop has so many life lessons for the player. As someone with close friends who are burnt out, this gives a glimpse into their struggles. As well as it challenged my own way of life. Sometimes, Wanderstop forces you to slow down and take your time, which I struggled with. This was positive as it is clear why the game asks you to take your time, and it fits the narrative so well, but that didn’t make it any easier for a person like me who isn’t good at slowing down irl either. So it kinda was confrontational in a good way.
Before I could really enjoy the game and its whimsical and wonderous visitors, I had to complete the tutorial. It involved a bit too much hand-holding for my liking, but I didn’t dare turn the tutorial off, too afraid of missing something important (I never turn off the tutorial; I’m always afraid of missing important stuff). You had to go back to Boro after each step. I would have loved to have a few steps lined out and then go back. However, I can see how this makes Wanderstop accessible to everybody. They don’t drown you in information and take the time to explain everything.
A great thing is that there is this book that spells out what each visitor exactly wants, so if you’re stuck figuring it out or just don’t like that puzzle, you can use that book to look up what you need to make. It is so nice that the developers gave you the choice of whatever game style fits you.
What made me really happy in Wanderstop were the beautiful flowers, the cute Puffins who love your tea and will take every opportunity to steal it from you, the beautiful posters you’ll find along the way, and the many unique mugs. It always felt so great when I found a new mug that I loved, and I would use that for every visitor after finding it. There were so many of those I would love to have in real life; the designs were great! It is so clear how much love and passion went into making Wanderstop.
None of the achievements are missable, as they are all part of the story. Completing the game takes around 12 hours. So please do yourself a favor, don’t read up too much, but dive into this whimsical therapy session and maybe with a cup of tea next to you irl.
I give Wanderstop 4 out of 5 stars.
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Developer: 
This review for Wanderstop was written on 10 March 2025, based on the current Steam version of the game which has 11 achievements at the time of writing this review. This information can be outdated, for example, when the developer adds or removes achievements or releases (new) DLC.
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