That unusually hot summer is already slipping away. The deep green of the trees is turning yellow, then red and gold, and before you know it, autumn is arriving. Isn’t fall the season when the mind feels a little lighter, and our enthusiasm for games quietly comes back to life? Personally, I think it’s the perfect time of year to enjoy games from morning to night.

And yet there are so many games out there, while our time is always limited. Naturally, though, we still want to try this and that. So today, I’d like to talk about a game that still feels satisfying even if you only spend about 30 minutes a day with it: Mabinogi Mobile. “Fantasy life” is such a fitting phrase for this game, and depending on how you choose to play, even a lighter approach can leave you with a surprisingly full sense of satisfaction.

Q. Still, doesn’t that just mean running dungeons every day like a typical idle-style game?

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→ Of course, that’s one way to enjoy it too. There’s its own appeal in spending the silver coins and offerings that pile up each day, running dungeons, farming gear, and nudging your combat power a little higher. Especially at the start of a season, this can raise your combat power fairly quickly, so I also tend to put in a bit more time on dungeon runs early on.

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But if all your time goes into that kind of repetitive combat content, it can just as easily become a trap that leaves you feeling stuck in a rut.

Q. Then what kind of content can you enjoy instead?

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→ It sounds like a simple question, but it may be harder than it seems. For starters, why not explore the towns and fields you usually pass through on auto-move for yourself? You may be surprised by how many hidden side quests are tucked away there. If you ever find yourself thinking, “What’s that NPC about?” there’s a good chance a new quest is waiting.

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Even doing just one side quest a day can make each day feel a little different. And especially here, it helps not to skip the dialogue but actually read it. If you’ve been in the habit of skipping everything until now, I’d really recommend giving the text a proper look from here on out.

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And what about the side games? If you’ve only cleared the event objectives and then left them behind, try revisiting them. When you stop approaching them with the pressure of chasing event goals and simply play to enjoy them, you may discover a kind of fun you hadn’t noticed before. Even something as simple as hunting slimes left me feeling like I’d cleared my head and shaken off some stress in a short span of time.

Is watching YouTube one of your usual hobbies? Then using the Private Theater to watch YouTube inside Mabinogi Mobile can feel refreshingly new. All you’re really doing is watching what you want in your own private space, but seeing your character there with you creates a mood that’s hard to find anywhere else. And of course, if you invite close in-game friends to watch together, so much the better.

Q. Come to think of it, Mabinogi Mobile seems to have a lot of cute little touches.

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→ Exactly. You could say that charm is one of the game’s greatest strengths. For example, even just tapping through the emotes one by one and taking them in can feel like a small boost to your mood. Mabinogi Mobile keeps handing out a variety of emotes through events, so now and then, spending a little time simply playing around with them can be a lovely way to round out the day. Their cuteness goes well beyond what you might expect—it really does feel like a little vitamin for everyday life.

If you’ve picked up a new outfit, heading to the photo booth to take a four-cut snapshot of your Mabi life is another fun little ritual. In Mabinogi Mobile, where your look carries real weight, showing off a newly acquired outfit is only natural.

Q. Maybe “fantasy life” is simpler than it sounds?

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→ I think so. Put simply, if you can enjoy life in-game through a character that represents you, that alone already makes for a wonderful fantasy life. Lately, one thing I’ve been enjoying is leaving my character stretched out on a sunbed by the Colhen beach while I sip a cup of coffee in real life. Somehow, it makes me feel as though I’m enjoying a fantasy life too.

Mabinogi Mobile is now a year and a half on from release. Even so, I think it’s still a game that feels perfectly welcoming to start right now if what you want is your own relaxed fantasy life. More than anything, Mabinogi Mobile feels like a game that can become even more meaningful for light players.