Our team member Iris (aka scrutiny) has recently tried a fun postal-themed game, and we thought this could be an interesting topic for a blog post, as I bet there are a lot of other gamers in the community. 🧑💻 So here she is, to tell us all about it!
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like processing mail in a post office if you had no hands? Specifically, if you were a pair of exotic birds with no hands? This is the premise of a video game named KeyWe, that was first brought to our attention by postcrosser Nathalie (aka Ezri). She mentioned it on the forum the day the game was released, back in August 2021. I finally had the opportunity to play it, and it is as fun and chaotic as it sounds.
The protagonists are Jeff and Debra, two adorable kiwi birds who sign up to be associate teleposters at the Bungalow Basin Telepost office. The game is co-operative (meaning two players can play together to achieve the common goals), but it also works with a single player pressing a button to switch between Debra and Jeff.
In this cute puzzle game, your abilities as a gamer don’t prevent you from having fun with it. It has similarities to the popular game Overcooked, but with less stress and a lot more mail. The goal is to process incoming and outgoing mail before the clock runs out. If this stresses you out like it did me, you’ll be relieved to know that you can switch off the time limit under game options, so the countdown won’t appear.
I personally don’t have life experience as a kiwi bird, but after playing this game, I imagine it must be quite inconvenient. It involves a lot of running around since you are small. When you have to do things like typing out postcodes to stick to packages, you have to jump on the buttons and levers with your kiwi butt.
My favourite part is when Debra and Jeff have to label packages as “urgent” “perishable” and “heavy” by sitting on the label dispenser so that the labels stick on their behinds, so they can be carried hands free to the packages.
There are various mail floors, so the setting for the tasks doesn’t get monotonous. There are overtime tasks to take on for extra bonuses. There are cassowaries to feed and exercise, and you’re occasionally overseen by an octopus named Zoey, whose eight arms put her at an unfair advantage. You can collect postal stamps at the completion of every shift, which are used to unlock wardrobe accessories for Debra and Jeff (in case you’ve always wanted to see a kiwi bird in a little hat).
The game is available for the Switch, PS4 and 5, Xbox One and XIS and also on Steam. It’s a great way to kill some time and I have a new appreciation for the hands I possess!"
Hurray for postal-themed games! Do you know any other games featuring mail that we could try? 😍
26 comments so far
Oh, I remember this - haven't played it yet!
Some other games postal related I enjoy or will enjoy soon:
- Lake
- Kind Words
- Mail Time
- RouteMe Mail
These could fall onto the cozy gaming category, at least most of them.
For me it's the best of both worlds. One of my favorite parts in games I play it's the mail part, even if it's not a specific postal related game. :)
Wow. Sounds interesting and complicated
I am far far far from being a gamer, but this seems great! And it is also a good occasion to remind us that kiwis are adorable but endangered birds...
https://savethekiwi.nz/about-kiwi/threats-to-kiwi/
Thank you scrutiny, thank you Postcrossing!
Looks like fun. I don't have any of those things to play it on.
Agreeing to Aguaroble here. I gain some interest in certain de-stress games (also some games where the colours used are harmonic) but being not a gamer at all. It's cute to hear from that kiwi bird avatars.
Funny idea to create a game that style. And kiwi birds are unusual in every way.
What a great idea!
Looks funny! Congrats on the nice idea!
Have never played a computer game in my life. This one sounds anxiety producing galore and I need more calming pursuits. But I’ll play Scrabble around the dining room table with any postcrosser any day.
The rest of you play away.👍
I love playing board games. The board game "Postal Service" ("Почта") was recently released. I bought it and now play with my friends. We also played it at a postcrossers meeting.
Ooooo! There’s an actual table board called POSTAL SERVICE. I was a rural carrier for 10 years. I have to find this game. Thanks an-foxy for this info.
I'm not a fan of games but I met Kiwi's at our trip to New zeal and in 2005.
We visited a Kiwi farm. Those birds are very cute to watch and I love the kiwi fruit aswel, who not?
As a Kiwi, I love this! Definitely going to try it out this weekend :D
Ooo! I'm gonna make my bf get this so we can play. I love playing Overcooked but he finds it too stressful hahah. Maybe this one will be a little less stressful. Plus it's mail related so it's automatically cool to me.
That seems funny.
Most games about being a mail carrier I've seen were made for small kids, not sure where I've seen them though.
Here is a vintage one (1900), at the Postal museum :)
https://collections.museedelaposte.fr/fr/notice/24297-le-petit-facteur-68cc816e-a4bc-4c75-9037-a10320a118ef
That looks like such a cute game! Any suggestions for postal related games that are for phones? 📬
After reading the article yesterday, we bought the game for the PS5. The first rounds were already played yesterday evening and it was a lot of fun. The animations of the kiwis are funny. I could also imagine that the simpler mini-games would also be educational for children.
But now I have to look up the (board) games that the others have suggested here. My husband and I are gamers to the core. Whether physical or digital.
Cool, I have PS4 and I'm going to look for this game. Thank you very much for the recommendation!
Screenshots are so cute! Kiwis with headsets!
COOL! I gonna check on switch paltform for it now!
So cute game!!!
This game is good, if you want to send me a postcard, go to my homepage and take a look
I love mail-themed games! Some of the ones I have on my list are:
Lake (I've played this one and LOVED it!!)
Mail Time
Letters: A Written Adventure
Thousand Threads
Every Letter
I also love it when games that aren't technically about mail heavily feature something postal-themed (Over the Alps is a great narrative game that isn't about mail, but uses interactive postcards to tell the story)
I loved to play the Google game about the postal service in the West where you had to dodge cacti and vagabunds and to deliver the mail on time. Unfortunately it is not active anymore. There is a German board game called Thurn and Taxis about the first postal service in Germany. It is fun too.
Seems like there is a PC version that would allow people without gaming consoles to play it. However, the game still costs something.
The game company might offer a free demo for a limited time to Postcrossers if someone were to pitch the idea to them. Especially because WE are the target audience, if not an ideal audience. Even if they converted a dozen people to paying customers, it would have been worth it for them to offer a limited time to play for free.
Thank you for telling us about this game! This is a perfect combination of my partner and my interests: birds and mail! We will get the game.
I played Lake (as a mail carrier) and I enjoyed it a lot (but I enjoy delivering mail on my bike like I do now...). This looks so much fun!!
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