Donut County Review: Simple, Short Adventure Is a Good Time (PS4)

Donut County was made by Ben Esposito and is an indie puzzle adventure game about a hole. There is also a colourful cast of characters, an interesting narrative and extremely catchy music. The question is; is there enough here for the hole premise to come together and create a wholly interesting experience worth playing through?

I’ll see myself out……. while you may find out the answer reading my review. Thank you.

Donut County was released in 2018 by Annapurna Interactive for IOS, MacOS, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Indie games have been booming now for years and here are 12 such games from the eight generation to find out about by Andrew Highton. 

Story: What Un-Holy Mess Do We Have Here?!

The story of Donut County is so much better than I was expecting and that is mainly down to the excellent writing. The story takes place around a campfire with the main character, a raccoon called BK, and his companions. This campfire is underground – 999ft below the town. How did everyone get here? As BK and his friends argue how they came to be in this position, there is a dichotomy about what BK thinks happened……. And what his friends know. I must highlight that the dialogue is at times quite heartfelt; some of the residents needed help, and a few have established relationships. It is also very witty, especially conversations had through text messages on the characters phones. It is also relatable; some of the residents were under stressful conditions, therefore ordered themselves a doughnut as a pick me up. Boy, I’ve been there.

The story structure of having BK’s friends explaining what happened makes it into a whodunnit. BK’s emotional state is all over the place – he comes across as being in permanent denial, to the point that he believes he is “helping”(he might have a case here…) but he has a decent redemption arc and the end of the story is pretty satisfying. The story’s length is also about the right size for the gameplay on offer. The games’ tone is always breezy for the gravity of its situation and that levity makes it a pleasant experience.

The gang discuss their predicament on what to do next.

Gameplay: Have a Garbage Day!

So, what is the hole deal with BK anyway? That one is also terrible. BK oversees the Donut Shop and is using an app on his phone to deliver holey goodness to people in need of a sugar fix. What he doesn’t know, is that he is in fact in charge of an actual hole. That’s where you come in.

The premise may be simple but it’s oddly endearing. You manoeuvre your hole around the ground, sucking in anything that encounters the void. Grass, tins, watering cans. In doing so, your hole becomes larger to the point that you can consume items as big as a house. Clearing everything within the area will complete your mission. There is also a “Trashopedia”  to see all the stuff you’ve collected. The mission for BK is to get to level 10 on the app to earn himself a “Quadcopter”. 

You too Trash Overlords! You too.

Why Do-nut You Try It This Way?

There are a decent number of levels and every so often, there is a new mechanic or puzzle thrown in – one of the coolest features is a catapult. Overall, it’s light going on the puzzle elements, but I did enjoy trying to manipulate your environment. Swallowing frogs which could eat flies, or fireworks which could open new paths. One of the better ones was trying to get a rabbit out of its pen. Another was a theme park ride. 

Small sections in most levels had you converse on the phone – and you’re allowed to quack, to the point that you are rewarded for overdoing it. It was quite funny.

It fundamentally stays the same, but it was nice that different mechanics were tried; near the end you manipulate cameras and hack systems. I do think it was a little late in doing so, but it was a nice change of pace, albeit very short. 

I do wish there had been some more variety but due to its simplicity, it was pretty satisfying to get through a stage and the game is small enough that you don’t expect a revolution on those mechanics. A bigger evolution would have been nice though. 

This location was quite iconic.

Graphics & Audio: Bright & Cheerful

I loved the art style. It was very brightly coloured, almost like its pastel shading. There’s a duck on a bike at the very beginning & their use of the colours blue, red and yellow contrasts nicely with the white background.

Beginning a new level showed off the area which were all in nice, solid colours. Everything had nice, simple animations which were charming. Everything fell down the hole the way it was supposed to – even when toppling a table full of ceramics, the pots would smash into pieces. Some things felt heavier than others. The character animations were quite expressive.

The opening main menu song is an absolute banger. Very catchy as well as offbeat, switching up the rhythm a few times. The end of level song is also a tune, it was super catchy. The rest of the music had a lot of percussive beats and was catchy overall. The music was noticeably lighter and more upbeat, twinkly, when everyone is discussing their situation 1000ft below ground. Helping Ben was a man called Daniel Koestner.

Donut County was played and reviewed on a PlayStation 4.