I play all manner of serious, story-driven games, games that require a lot of brainpower and strategy, and games that require skilled execution on my part. But sometimes, I'm just in the mood for a simple game that's all fun and nothing more. BACKGROUND:
I recall watching a bit of this game on a stream and getting some serious Katamari vibes, so I was immediately interested. Never really got around to buying it, but luckily, it showed up on Game Pass PC one day. PLOT: Mira is an employee for a donut shop in Donut County, working alongside BK, who is a raccoon. Lately, BK has been obsessed with a mobile app trying to earn points to acquire a quadcopter. This app allows him to schedule donut deliveries to the many residents of Donut County. Unfortunately, the app isn't delivering donuts; it's sending holes to the locations that consumes everything in its path, destroying homes and businesses, as well as trapping people underground. This is probably up there as one of the most ridiculous stories I've ever seen, and I mean that in the best way possible. The premise is absurd at the start, but the way it escalates in absurdity is hilarious. Though most of the narrative is humorous in nature and not meant to be taken seriously, there's a bit of heart to the characters as well. Each of the game's levels sees you follow the hole's destruction from the perspective of each of the characters, and most of the dialogue is everyone berating BK for his irresponsible behavior. A lot of this back-and-forth is amusing due to BK's constant denial and all the random shit the others say. PRESENTATION: The art style is quite simple in terms of its designs (not much detail to most things, flat colors throughout), but the overall aesthetic is pleasant-looking with its bright but not too flashy palette, and the simplistic characters have a certain charm to them. The music is mostly on the chill side, complementing the game's stress-free gameplay. I'd say it's perfect background music for work. GAMEPLAY: In Donut County, you move a hole around the stage, and your goal is to consume all the objects in the area. The hole's size starts out relatively small (so you can only consume objects that are slightly smaller), but as you take in more objects, the hole grows in size, allowing you to consume larger objects. If you've played Katamari before, it's the same principle; accumulate more objects to get bigger objects (except in this case, you're not trying to roll a big-ass ball). For the most part, this is all the gameplay is, but some levels have basic puzzle-solving aspects to them depending on what objects you consume. For example, consuming something with fire causes hot air to rise out of the hole, allowing you to cause a hot air balloon to rise. There are various other examples, like using a drinking bird to clear out water from the hole, but they all tend to be quite simple to figure out. Overall, these puzzles lead to entertaining moments, and add a lot of personality to the game's solid variety of levels. At some point, you unlock the Catapult mechanic, which launches certain objects out of the hole when you press a button/click the mouse. It's only useful in a handful of puzzles, but it's certainly an amusing way to progress through levels. Watching the carnage slowly unfold as the hole gets larger is easily the most entertaining thing about this game. There is something oddly satisfying starting out from eating up random litter to consuming entire buildings. Again, it's the same as Katamari in this sense. There's also something called the Trashopedia that tracks all the objects you've consumed, but it's just amusing flavor text and doesn't really impact gameplay meaningfully. VERDICT: Donut County is one of those games where there isn't much to do and it takes just a few hours to beat, but the core mechanic is simple yet satisfying, and the overall premise is hilariously absurd that I didn't mind how short it was. It scratched that Katamari itch for me where I just chill out and watch something get ridiculously massive with little effort on my part. I'm not sure its length justifies its current price, but if you're willing to pay for what's pretty much a therapeutic game you can chill out and have a laugh with, I highly recommend this. The game is available on the following platforms: - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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