When the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, a game that reminds you that life and hope can be steadily cultivated is extremely comforting. And if it’s got delightful pixel art animation, all the better! Doloc Town is a side-scrolling pixel art farming sim from newcomers RedSaw Games Studio. Put a tablespoon of Stardew Valley, a sprinkling of Terraria, and some drops of Fallout into a cooking pot with their own special sauce and it serves up something striking.
A catastrophic war of machines ravaged the world and brought seasons of acid rain. Many fled, but the survivors who remained built Doloc Town and the community prospered. As a young ‘un, you grew up on tales of the legendary “Eden’s Legacy” said to be found in the river valley. You’ve heard the story of the brave leader Ponka vanishing after defending the town. Now you’re all grown up, it’s time to return to your birthplace to see if there’s any truth to those childhood stories. Who knows? Maybe you might build a little life for yourself out there…
Out In the Wild
After a year in Early Access garnering very favourable reviews, Doloc Town is finally opening its doors for full 1.0 release. Having sank triple digit hours into Stardew Valley and Fallout in my time, and being completely unable to resist the pull of pixels, I’m all in.
Gameplay
After dropping into the village (literally!), you’re immediately introduced to the core gameplay loop by your rescuer. Find resources, craft planters, water plants, harvest them, sell them, the mayor wants to talk to you by the way, build up your farm, make better planters, you’ll need a better workbench for that, the fisherman can teach you to fish, why is the rain green? No, I haven’t forgotten how full stops work. This is the speed and intensity of your introduction to the mechanics. There’s a LOT to soak in at the beginning, which (perhaps unintentionally) adds an air of pressure to try to take everything on straight away, particularly with protecting your farm from elemental damage. But even at the end of the world, if you take a breath and resist the rush, things will fall into place. Plants have different growth periods, some ores take more time to process, better materials can be found in this location. You’ve got this.
What Do You Need?
As you build and grow, so will you. Your Tech Tree allows you to assign skill points to open up new avenues in Agriculture, Industry, and Life. The higher your skills, the more you can build to utilise your resources. Every farming/crafting game has junk items, right? In Doloc Town, there’s no such thing as junk! A recycler can turn it into materials to improve your planters or reinforce your dwelling. Soon your reputation in Doloc will grow and the locals will give you little quests to complete or items to retrieve. When you join the local Guild, a task board will be at your disposal to pick up a little extra cash. There’s a charming pull to Doloc Town that, after initial overwhelm, sucks you in and keeps you coming back for more. Just one more planter, lemme just harvest these and sell them, I’ll just go and drop off these materials with Kasia, and let’s check the Guild board real quick while I’m at it. Suddenly five hours have gone by, and you’re extremely reluctant to put it down!
It Takes A Village
Doloc is home to many varied and interesting townsfolk that you’ll gradually get to know. The more you talk to them, the more of their history (and the town’s) becomes clear. And through quests, you’ll gain their friendship with little perks along the way. Building those connections with characters, and, in some cases, watching the personal walls come down is extremely gratifying. Learning that a stoic exterior hides a deep sadness for when the town was bustling with trade, or a Guildmaster (who may or may not have exaggerated member numbers to you) isn’t all bravado and glory: these moments are well worth working up to. Birthdays and festivals also offer a chance for the whole town to come together and find moments of joy in the chaos. I definitely lucked out by having my birthday very early in the first month. There ARE perks of being an early January baby!
It’s In Here Somewhere!
Things take a little turn for the clunky where inventory management and combat are concerned. The first row of your bag serves as the hotbar. There isn’t a way to switch rows, so items you want to use need to be manually brought forward. Also, if you want to craft something whilst on your farm, you’ll need to manually retrieve items from storage first. Not a big deal, but if you have any boxes in your inventory, it becomes more taxing. Items placed in a box automatically stack like normal, but the box can’t be opened while your bag is open. Nor can they be opened if you want to give an item inside to a character. Many times I forgot to retrieve a key item from a box, and ended up picking up the whole box or having to exit a conversation to get out what’s needed.
Combat-wise, while you can use your tools to fight if desperate, your main weapon is a customisable combat drone. This can be set to auto or manual fire. The customisation is extensive and satisfying, the combat itself not so much. The drone will not physically move towards enemies, only fire at them. So often you need to hop around so the drone can hit them. Autofire is an absolute must. Whether you’re using a keyboard or a controller, manual fire will have you hopping around clumsily and inevitably dropping back down to where you started because you missed a ledge trying to aim!
Graphics & Audio
Yet another pixel art lover’s dream, but whether you’re a fan or not, you’ll be far from disappointed. A nice balance between smooth and crunchy pixels, player and character animations are cute and quirky, while keeping things simple. Less is more, and it pays off. Locations are varied and colourful but with a slight misty edge to the colour palettes. Since the apocalypse, the world is still beautiful, but irrevocably changed.
The soundtrack too also takes this approach: lofi ambient tunes with peppy undertones. Things may now be a little more subdued, but there’s still joy and whimsy to be found. And the ambient sounds are to die for! On rainy days, it’s hard to actually go out and do things, the sound of the rain on the roof is so soothing.
Longevity
Like most farming sims, the playtime can vary depending how savvy (or lucky) you are with utilising resources. The main story itself can average out roughly around 30 – 40 hours, give or take. But factoring in weather damage, how you spend your talent points, and whether you just wanna make funky things for your abode, you could easily add another 10 hours to that. So you’ll get plenty of bang for your buck! There’s always a small element of grinding to this genre, but in Doloc Town it just about manages to not outstay its welcome thankfully.
Final Thoughts
Whatever the world has in store for us, Doloc Town can be ranked up there with the cosy farming sim greats to provide a little bit of happiness. While initially very overwhelming and keeping your inventory organised is rather finicky, the gameplay is exceedingly rewarding. Building up both your farm and Doloc itself keeps you coming back just one more harvesting session. What it lacks in tight combat mechanics and inventory management, it makes up for in spades with charm, ingenuity, and character. A post-apocalyptic pick-me-up that warms the cockles and inspires you to build a legacy from something raw, no matter how small the result or how rustic the tools.
I give it the Thumb Culture Gold Award to display proudly on the skull above Zenis’s Tavern. To the future, friends. Cheers!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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