Fruitbus – PC Review

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Get ready to take ownership of Grandma’s Fruitbus, the latest game release from Krillbite StudioYou might remember not too long ago that we wrote a news piece about this game after the official release date was announced. I’ve been dying to get my hands on it ever since!

I’m basically Gordon Ramsey with a Fruitbus

Two cartoon sheep characters in a colorful video game setting, one larger with a salad rating prompt.
Fruit salad… yummy yummy

Gameplay

Grandma has left you her beloved Fruitbus in the hopes that you will be able to reconnect with the locals of three different islands and invite them to one final meal. It’s up to you to right your Grandma’s wrongs and create dishes that will help you forge friendships and learn more about your Grandma’s past.

The main gameplay elements consist of foraging for ingredients as you travel around the different islands and creating recipes for customers that you find on your way. Some of these customers are there purely for your salads whilst others are people that you have to invite to Grandma’s meal. Unfortunately, Grandma isn’t on the best of terms with some of her old friends so you have to complete multiple steps before they’ll say yes to your invite.

Stylized sunset scene with a teddy bear, van, and palm tree in a colorful landscape.
Time for a new adventure

Get to chopping

Actually creating the salads, and other forms of food later down the line, it’s a pretty simple mechanic. Get the ingredients you want to use, chop them up, put them in a bowl and voila! You have a Fruitbus salad! I think the simplicity of it all made it more enjoyable as a complicated process would have detracted from the cozy, simple vibes that the game has from the off.

As it is an open world game, there’s no obvious progression path beyond the requests from customers. For example, when you get to the volcano, customers regularly ask for Smoothies, which requires another type of equipment for your Fruitbus. Whilst you are not explicitly told that you need to buy more equipment, it does start to appear more in stores as well as other cutlery that you need for the new recipes. I haven’t completely explore the third island but I’m excited to see what else this game holds for me on there!

Bugs & Issues

Through my many hours of playing there haven’t been issue that I have repeatedly run into. When I’ve been trying to put different tools in my bag, for some reason my shovel just constantly disappears. It isn’t like I’ve dropped it on the floor and forgot about it. It simply disappears from my inventory. Luckily, it has been when I can afford a new shovel (at the cost of 50 gold). If this happens to you early on, though, you could be cut off from a few ingredients for a while.

Similarly, the pink stars which grant you money sometimes make the coins merge with the ground so you can’t access them. This was an issue in the Volcano region of the game. Though when I went back at a later date, the coins were still there. It’s not a game breaking issue but can be a little bit annoying if you’re low on funds.

Graphics & Audio

There are many moments in Fruitbus where you have to take a moment and appreciate the graphics. It was actually the graphics that first drew me to the game. With adorable characters and interesting locations in the world, Fruitbus’ graphics make it a memorable experience. They easily draw you in to an adorable story about family and lifelong friends without making things feel overwhelming.

A colorful, stylized 3D game scene with ruins, cannons, and whimsical vegetation at sunset.
Let me grab my emotional support lettuce

Longevity

There is plenty to do around each of the islands that you can go to. You can spend plenty of time getting lost trying to complete all of the mini tasks set for you.

I found that I ended up just wandering around the areas and collecting fruit rather than organising Grandma’s party. It’s really easy to lose time in this game. You can pick it up at any point and sink time into it without even realising.

Stylized animated kitchen scene with a glowing character and a stack of plates on a counter. The fox is on fire because it has eaten something spicy.
Me when I get hot instead of medium at Nando’s

Final Thoughts

Fruitbus is the perfect addition to any cozy gamer’s library with a lovely atmosphere, welcoming graphics and adorable characters lining the story. I have sunk so many hours into this game and I plan to keep playing it! As mentioned, the only off-putting thing I experienced was the disappearance of coins and my shovel and having to rebuy it every few days.

As a result, I am happy to give Fruitbus the Thumb Culture Gold Award!

Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.

Check out the trailer below, or head to the Steam page to add Fruitbus to your library!

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