Developer/publisher Glumberland
Format PC (tested), Switch, Xbox One
Release Out now
Across the ocean a lone boat sails, dropping you off at the pier in Badgetown. This is home to the Ooblets, critters born from seeds that can turn into anything from a mushroom with a smiley face to a little upright frog to a potion bottle with eyes. There were no Ooblets where you lived before, and thus no dance-offs, the card-based battles that become a staple of life in your new home.
Before you get to those, there are other matters to attend to as you start a new life in this colourful community. While offers farming, crafting, collecting items and so on,per se. The art design and systems paint a picture of a game whose developer wants its players to relax and pursue whichever of the various available activities appeals most at their leisure. And Badgetown certainly seems the place for it: it’s a charming, pastel-coloured, lowpoly dream of a coastal town, where kids (whose hair is also pastel-coloured) dance around on the street or make angels in the soft sand. Here, items and favours can be won or traded for with crops you grow on your farm, and while there is a currency – gummies – amassing wealth is never a priority.
