Excellent start to a game, but lacks any reason to keep playing

[AncientFlames]

Whether you like animal crossing or not it has plenty of carrots on the end of a stick to keep you playing should you desire to long after all your npcs move in and buildings are built.

However with Dinkum, I found that after I had moved the npcs in I didn't really feel a reason to keep playing as there weren't enough decorations, cosmetics, unique quests/events or really any purpose to the game besides to attract the npcs in the first place and build their respective buildings.

In animal crossing I had the exact opposite issue, there was so much to do and grind that I didn't even bother following the "main quest" and building the extra villager houses for days and days because I was having so much fun with the other actual features and mechanics of the game.

Hopefully Dinkum can add a reason to actually plan it beyond the first 10 hours or so because I think what is there so far is really nice!

[Erin the Angry]

Game's not done yet. Keep your pants on.

[Gurfield]

I have 71 hours in the game right now and finished bringing NPCs like 30-40 hours ago. I can understand the gameplay might end for some at that point but the game doesn't really give you an objective that tells you to get every NPC.

For me, the game is about creating a town that I like looking at or would like living in. You can also make this your main mission because you are going there to get rid of the city life that is mentioned in the intro. The game in its current state may not be enough to give you a lot of things to do but you can build a lot of things that game doesn't have in it right now or decorate the things the game gives you. Right now, I like trying to build places the game doesn't have a building for such as zoo, cafe, port or factory. You can even try building a stadium or a race track. That's how my hours past the first 30 goes on nowadays.

Every game has an ending at some point, either through an objective or by completing everything. No game in the world promises to go for 1000 hours. Some games doesn't even go for 10 hours. It is really about what you want to do with the game. You can finish GTA V in 10 hours but there are some people that play that game for over 1000 hours. It is all about finding something to do in the game.

With those being said, I would suggest playing this game slowly. Dinkum really gets boring if you rush things. That's why I deleted my first world. This is a sandbox city building/life sim game after all and while you can rush it, you will get bored easily because of the lack of content as you have said. And you can always return to the game later when new content drops in.

[spielerinchen]

@monsterparty is complaining with every new thread about this & that, while by now has played whooping 8,2 hours
well, maybe the game is just not the right fit for @monsterparty, that's all
just cause CS:GO is a highly popular game or No Man's Sky or Team Fortress 2 or My Time at Portia, doesn't mean i find those game even interesting
not every game is for everybody

i like Dinkum alot
we'll see where this game will be going
it won't last forever, no game does
even those games i played for years i can't anymore cause i played them to death, like AOE3 or even Northgard probably by now

& maybe for @monsterparty the time has come already after 8,2 hours

i played now Dinkum for 334 hours, atm doesn't look like i will be finished with it any time soon

so what is there to say ?
maybe just play something else if you don't find this game interesting enough

[100% Recycled Awesome]

What's your town, economy, happiness, and Beauty score?

[Mac]

Sure, if you are the kind of person that just does the bare minimum in the game, then it is probably not for you. If you are like me and many others then the game can go very deep. Work on finishing your milestones, see how much dink you can earn through farming and mining, modify and improve the land and see if you can finish up all the items in the museum. If you are bored already then the game was not made for you.... it was made for people like me.

[spielerinchen]

my days in Dinkum are always too short, cause there is so much stuff to do. i barely manage to go hunting an alpha cause there is so much else to do.
can you find to play that boring ? sure, it's really a question of preference
& judging along what & how @monsterparty is playing games there is a pattern of rather short attention span, while i eg tend to hang on one game for hundreds if not even thousands of hours. so to each their own.

[Gamer2456]

Disney dreamlight valley seem like it maybe closed to animal crossing and farming game then this.

[Piperbird]

monsterparty a écrit :

Disney dreamlight valley seem like it maybe closed to animal crossing and farming game then this.

I didn't think so. I watched deligracy play it, and honestly, it looked more like a mobile game for kids. I had been interested until then. It was a very brightly colored 'go here and find this item, now go there and find that item' game.
And then they announced microtransactions and that was the end if interest for me.

[Piperbird]

monsterparty a écrit :

Really nothing to keep you playing

I mean the concept on paper sound good bringing NPC to build a town, but that it overall the whole gameplay builds a town and nothing else. Then rest gather stuff to do that, but once you did what keeps you playing this game? The land biomes are basically the same waste land or trees with fewer animals. So explorers like going to the same place over and over plants/animals wise.

This is one of those sandbox games that 100% requires your own imagination and creativity to keep you interested in it. That kind of game isn't for everyone, and that's ok. My close friend doesn't understand how I can play these kinds of games because he says 'what do you do?' and I tell him 'anything you want'. He doesn't like that. He wants 'Go to this place. Do this thing' games that gives you goals. Both are OK.

If you aren't the kind of person who can keep yourself entertained with ideas, or make your own goals, then this game probably won't keep your attention for long.

[SmlehliW]

Piperbird a écrit :

If you aren't the kind of person who can keep yourself entertained with ideas, or make your own goals, then this game probably won't keep your attention for long.

YES, maybe better, he start a party for monsters ...

[Dyanosis]

Posts like this make no sense. It's an EA (as in Early Access) game and you say "please make it worth more than 10 hours". It's Early Access. Wtf?

Do you people not understand what "Early Access" means? Jesus.

[Paul.]

Zeesha a écrit :

100% Recycled Awesome a écrit :

Lucky you. I think based on the comments across various Dinkum related places, that people could spend 10 hours of real time trying to find that sea slug.

Oh no... I've spent *days* looking for a Thunder Egg. It even rained 2 days in a ROW and all I did was run around looking for lighting, listening for Thunder or hoping to spot an Egg and:

*NADA* nothing... had the quietus put on me.. seesh!

And now you and Tenoshii say there's a rare slug in the mix? Any season tips or it doesn't matter?

I got lucky while collecting fruit from my garden, 2 of those Thunder Eggs spawned pretty much right next to me.

[Vamppire]

Dyanosis a écrit :

Posts like this make no sense. It's an EA (as in Early Access) game and you say "please make it worth more than 10 hours". It's Early Access. Wtf?

Do you people not understand what "Early Access" means? Jesus.

There is this, but I actually think this game is pretty complete as it is. I think the problem is that this kind of game just isn't their cup of tea. Im seeing "there's all these things you can do though!" and their answer repeatedly is "but that doesn't interest me"- well, then, this game isn't for them. Its not the game itself that is lacking.

I have everyone moved in and I'm still having a blast setting up my town- I went out and scouted a new location on the map I liked better than my initial spot, and am moving everyone over and will be landscaping and decorating nicely, then I will be setting up a bigger production area, bigger farm, some animal pens that look more like zoo habitats, etc. I find that fun and relaxing. It takes self-starting and imagination and an interest in doing those types of things in a game. I think Dinkum could never be updated again and it would still be well worth the price and can provide dozens of hours of fun... For people who like this type of game.

[Blackkat]

After playing over 80 hours into the game, I'm reaching the same conclusion. But, I see that they are still working on the game. I'm not giving up. But I think I'm already getting a little burnt. I'll give this game a break and then come back and play some more.

[PANICOS]

AncientFlames a écrit :

Whether you like animal crossing or not it has plenty of carrots on the end of a stick to keep you playing should you desire to long after all your npcs move in and buildings are built.

However with Dinkum, I found that after I had moved the npcs in I didn't really feel a reason to keep playing as there weren't enough decorations, cosmetics, unique quests/events or really any purpose to the game besides to attract the npcs in the first place and build their respective buildings.

In animal crossing I had the exact opposite issue, there was so much to do and grind that I didn't even bother following the "main quest" and building the extra villager houses for days and days because I was having so much fun with the other actual features and mechanics of the game.

Hopefully Dinkum can add a reason to actually plan it beyond the first 10 hours or so because I think what is there so far is really nice!

I played more than 250 hours and there are still plenty to do.
When I first starter the town, all houses were in a narrow place. As the game proceed I moved some houses in another island for example the animals and Irwin. I have two full farm plots 25x25 each with their water tanks and 24 advance sprinklers each. My goal is to add two more, that is why I will have to use compactor again to demolish a mountain:).
I like flat areas, so with compactors I bought from Franklyn I demolished whole mountains. My goal at the beginning was to establish an economy, that was my first priority. Now my goal is to place every NPC to his/her own island connect them all with bridges.
By having some useful mods for example the Peaceful Miner I can attack to every animal without danger (especially turkeys, you cannot imagine how many I kill every day, lol). Also, with another mod I arrange the day to not be 0.5 but 0.125 which means four time longer.
I have't ever start decorate the street outside my house, I'll do it later. I am trying now to expand in another island which I will use as forest area. Also, into another island I will move the fruits area. All will be connected with bridges from the main island. There are plenty for me to do even after 250 hours.
What I am trying to tell you, is this : there are so many things to do in Dinkum which makes the game endless. There is always purpose to keep playing Dinkum.
Now, if you got bored with Dinkum that's OK. For me, this game is endless. I will be satisfy if I will expand to the whole map and maybe I'll still will want to add more things:).