Town Adventures Review: A Walking Simulator With Hidden Objects (Switch)

Recently, I played and reviewed Hidden Through Time 2: Myths & Magic, which I thoroughly enjoyed. With this game still fresh in my mind, I was on the lookout for more games like this to play. Whilst browsing through the Nintendo eShop on my Switch, I came across Town Adventures, which was being promoted as an easy-going, relaxing walking simulator with hidden objects gameplay. Intrigued, I decided to check this game out and picked it up. I played it for a good hour or two, and this review of Town Adventures explores my thoughts and feelings towards this game, as well as the whole concept of walking simulator games.

Town Adventures is now available on the Nintendo Switch for $7.99.

Story – Just a Game to Help You Chill Out

Basically, there is no story with Town Adventures. The whole premise is simple; you’re given 3 levels in 3 different settings, and you just walk around and find about 10 different objects – and that’s it. There’s no plot behind it, no reason for finding all these objects. There isn’t even a reason given for you going into these different worlds. You’re just there to have a walk around while finding objects along the way. There’s no time limit, no other objectives, no obstacles. It’s as simple as that.

Actually a PC-to-Switch Port Bundle

Although there isn’t a story given in Town Adventures, it is noted that all 3 levels are different. One is in a medieval town, the second a desert town, and the third an old village. I didn’t actually know this until I did more research into the developer, Morning Shift Studios, but these 3 locations are individual levels that you can get on Steam for $1.99 each. They are called Cozy Trip, Cozy Desert, and Cozy Village respectively (the third is renamed Woodland Town for this game). So what I’ve discovered is that Town Adventures is these 3 small games bundled into one for the Nintendo Switch. I’m guessing that the developer wanted to try out importing some of their games onto the Switch in a bundle, which isn’t actually a bad idea. These walking simulator games could do well on a platform like the Switch.

Morning Shift Studios has actually created a ton of these walking simulator games, all of them available at Steam. If you like games such as these, it might be worth checking them out. For this review though, I’ll keep my focus on Town Adventures.

This is all you get in terms of a scenario: find the objects.

Is a Story Really Needed?

Going back to the game, it is a little disappointing that there is no set up given. Why are we heading into these places? Are we shopping for something specific, or just exploring and picking things up? I think the general set up for this game is the latter. Although the lack of story provided does mean that you can just focus on exploring, it does feel that there’s no purpose to look around except that it’s meant to be relaxing. Instead of asking yourself, “What’s the point in all this?”, you should be thinking, “There’s no story, but at least it looks pretty and I’ve got these things to find, and it’s a nice change of pace from the usual action-packed games that can get quite frustrating at times.” 

Gameplay – Walking Around, Finding Objects

Simply put, Town Adventures is just a walking simulator, with hidden objects gameplay added in. I’ll have to be frank, I’ve not had much experience with walking simulator games. I’m aware that the purpose of them is just something relaxing to do; no real objectives other than walking around and enjoying the virtual environment given. Is there really anything wrong with this? Not necessarily – but it depends who you ask.

Reflecting on Walking Simulator Gameplay

While I’ve not played any dedicated walking simulator games (until now), I have ironically done this sort of gameplay in other games, namely in open world games. Both Red Dead Redemption games are a good example for me. These games are usually full of action and adventure, with fighting and gunplay and wild escapades. There have been times though that I took a step back, went off track from the structured gameplay and story, and did my own thing. Sometimes I left my horse hitched up somewhere and just had a wander around, along the railroad tracks being a favorite of mine, looking out for trains approaching and passing by. As I walk along, I enjoy the scenery, listening to the sounds of the game. Normally I throw myself into the action of the game, but there are times like this when I like to stop and slow down. It’s like I’m playing my own walking simulator.

I know I’m probably waffling here, and I guess I am. I’m just trying to demonstrate why walking simulators are a good thing. They’re meant to be relaxing. If you like that sort of thing, Town Adventures on the Nintendo Switch is another walking simulator you might want to try out.

With that all said and done, let’s refocus on reviewing Town Adventures, looking at the gameplay itself.

Complete to Unlock Them All

As mentioned before, Town Adventures comes with 3 levels, or chapters, for you to explore and find objects in, all of which are available individually on Steam. One thing I found a bit irksome with Town Adventures was that you have to play and complete the levels in order to unlock them all. Cozy Trip is available to begin with, and is pretty simple to do, and then you get to play Cozy Desert, which is a little bigger and more challenging. You cannot do the last chapter, Cozy Village, until you’ve done the first two. It’s a shame they’re not all available at the start, so you can just do them in any order you like.

There are 3 areas to explore altogether – but you have to finish them in order to unlock the next.

Easy Controls

Once you pick a chapter, you’re immediately transported to the start. There’s no briefing, no objective given. You have to rely on your instincts and start walking, and remember that this is also a hidden objects game, so there are objects in the world to find. You don’t initially have the controls given to you. I discovered them while pressing the different buttons, and they come up on the screen. It’s very easy; you use the left stick to move, the right stick to look around, the Y button to jump, ZL to bring up the list of items, ZR to move faster, and then + to show the controls and take you back to the main menu.

What Do I Need to Find?

Town Adventures has hardly any HUD on show during the game, except when you bring the menu and item list up. The item list appears in the bottom corner of the screen and shows you everything you need to find. It’s very basic. It just lists the objects, for example “POTION”, “SKULL”, or “BREAD”. There are no images next to the named object, so you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, which can cause problems. It tells me the object I need to find, but I don’t know exactly what it looks like. “SHIELD” is probably the biggest issue. I know I have to find one, but the level has lots of different shields. What color is it? Does it look distinctive?

There’s no way of telling until you actually find the object, and then it’s not always that obvious – unless it’s in a completely random and isolated place that makes it stick out. The game does try to help out by having a white highlight around the object, but it’s not always that clear. 

I found the Meat, which has a white highlight around it.

Easy Pickings

Then there’s the process of collecting the objects once you manage to find them. I thought you’d have to interact with them by pointing the reticle and pressing a button, but it’s much simpler than that. You just walk up to the object and it’s automatically picked up and crossed off your list. This isn’t necessarily a bad way to do it, but it does have setbacks. Sometimes you might accidentally pick up an object without realizing it. Although it’s great to have another object ticked off, it does feel better when you find it yourself, rather than picking it up by accident. Apart from the object vanishing and being visibly crossed off your list, there’s no audible cue or other kind of cue to tell you, “Yep! You just found an object. Well done, keep going!” It kind of feels downplayed. 

To be honest, overall there’s no big reward for finding all the objects, except that feeling of satisfaction and pride, as well as unlocking the next chapter. This isn’t one of those games where you earn money or make progress in the story. You just find the objects and then are expected to feel good for it. That’s the reward.

How long it takes to complete all 3 chapters of Town Adventures is down to the player. It’s your choice how long you choose to spend in each area, or how long it takes to find every object. If you’re good, it’ll take you less than an hour. However, it can take you much longer if you struggle to find everything – and be warned: if you quit a level, your progress isn’t saved. When you return, you have to start again.

It is always a good feeling when you find that last item, especially if you’ve been looking everywhere for ages.

Graphics & Audio – Serene

Visually, Town Adventures doesn’t look too shabby. It’s pretty to look at, which is kind of what you want in a walking simulator game. It’s one of the reasons why I liked to invoke this gameplay myself when playing games like Red Dead Redemption. Each area has an individual look, and it doesn’t feel too repetitive throughout the level. 

Saying this, there are a few setbacks visually when it comes to Town Adventures. As I’ve discussed before, it would be great if the objects-to-find were more distinguishable. The highlight around them should be more obvious, or at least the list should have pictures of the objects, not just the name of the item you want to find. “SHIELD” feels too vague in a level full of shields. I also spotted a gag in the Cozy Desert chapter. In the sky, I noticed that when I had the list on display, the list could be seen in the sky. 

I have discussed about there being audio cues for finding objects, which are absent in this game. However, apart from this, I didn’t have a problem with the audio that was available in Town Adventures. The music is very pleasant to listen to. I didn’t find it annoying or distracting. This is a walking simulator, so the music has to be done right, and it is.