You know, I've come to realize that Annapurna Interactive is the publisher to look at when you want really good story driven games with unique concepts, Ben Esposito's Donut County is no exception. This game is just charming as hell while retaining an approachability that anyone can appreciate.


The story in Donut County is somewhat a tale of misunderstanding and also a bit of a statement about (tablet/phone) society in general. For all intents and purposes, this is a campfire trial wherein a raccoon (named BK) stands accused of destroying Donut County and sending everyone deep underground by way of the raccoon's donut delivery service, which in reality is a hole that consumes everything it can get under while also growing larger as it consumes more. Only, said "consumption" really deposits whatever the hole eats deep underground, where our story part of the game takes place. The raccoon must defend his actions while also solving the mystery of why the "donut holes" are consuming everything to begin with. Unfortunately, the "trial lawyer" is the raccoon's best friend and human (Mira) (well, the human part isn't unfortunate, but their disagreement is lol).

Basically. It's an excellent story with plenty of fun and funny little twists and turns and is just a feel good story in general. Plus, with all the people and animals, you get a lot of different perspectives on life as well.


As our friendly local racoon donut delivery guy/hole operator, you will actively try to consume everything in each individual sandbox you are presented with. Certain things the hole consumes will have special effects. For example, if you consume lit fireworks, you can fire them at certain objects thus making them consumable...and you can consume flammables followed by fire in order to simply burn other things. You can consume bunnies, in which case you just gave them a nice dark place to...do...bunny...things, which of course increases the size of the hole as bunnies start being born inside of it lol. All the actual gameplay centers around your ability to manipulate the hole and items that might be consumed by it. There is even a boss fight where you use the hole to defeat the antagonist. Considering how simple the actual core gameplay really is, the diversity it shows within is pretty impressive, and this core mechanic never gets old.


The graphics are the quaint and yet lustrous low poly style that is seeing a bit of popularity these days. Really nice, almost cartoonish graphics that really make this world approachable and even more fun than it already would be. Character animations are particularly on point, but the actual levels and the world itself are pretty fantastic looking. Plus that donut....mmmmm....donuts.....


Although there is no voice acting in the game, the combination of the music with the writing almost gives voice to the characters anyway. As it is, the audio tracks and the music especially, are superbly well done. This is a great sounding game in every way.


Donut County, in my estimation, is one of the most pleasant and charming games to come along in a long while, and while it isn't really all that challenging, it is 100% engaging 100% of the time. It doesn't overstay its welcome and is just one of those good feeling games that everyone should have the pleasure of experiencing. Well worth a prominent spot in any library.

You know, I've come to realize that Annapurna Interactive is the publisher to look at when you want really good story driven games with unique concepts, Ben Esposito's [i]Donut County[/i] is no exception. This game is just charming as hell while retaining an approachability that anyone can appreciate. [h1]Story[/h1] The story in [i]Donut County[/i] is somewhat a tale of misunderstanding and also a bit of a statement about (tablet/phone) society in general. For all intents and purposes, this is a campfire trial wherein a raccoon (named BK) stands accused of destroying Donut County and sending everyone deep underground by way of the raccoon's donut delivery service, which in reality is a hole that consumes everything it can get under while also growing larger as it consumes more. Only, said "consumption" really deposits whatever the hole eats deep underground, where our story part of the game takes place. The raccoon must defend his actions while also solving the mystery of why the "donut holes" are consuming everything to begin with. Unfortunately, the "trial lawyer" is the raccoon's best friend and human (Mira) (well, the human part isn't unfortunate, but their disagreement is lol). Basically. It's an excellent story with plenty of fun and funny little twists and turns and is just a feel good story in general. Plus, with all the people and animals, you get a lot of different perspectives on life as well. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] As our friendly local racoon donut delivery guy/hole operator, you will actively try to consume everything in each individual sandbox you are presented with. Certain things the hole consumes will have special effects. For example, if you consume lit fireworks, you can fire them at certain objects thus making them consumable...and you can consume flammables followed by fire in order to simply burn other things. You can consume bunnies, in which case you just gave them a nice dark place to...do...bunny...things, which of course increases the size of the hole as bunnies start being born inside of it lol. All the actual gameplay centers around your ability to manipulate the hole and items that might be consumed by it. There is even a boss fight where you use the hole to defeat the antagonist. Considering how simple the actual core gameplay really is, the diversity it shows within is pretty impressive, and this core mechanic never gets old. [h1]Graphics[/h1] The graphics are the quaint and yet lustrous low poly style that is seeing a bit of popularity these days. Really nice, almost cartoonish graphics that really make this world approachable and even more fun than it already would be. Character animations are particularly on point, but the actual levels and the world itself are pretty fantastic looking. Plus that donut....mmmmm....donuts..... [h1]Audio[/h1] Although there is no voice acting in the game, the combination of the music with the writing almost gives voice to the characters anyway. As it is, the audio tracks and the music especially, are superbly well done. This is a great sounding game in every way. [h1]Verdict[/h1] [b]Donut County[/b], in my estimation, is one of the most pleasant and charming games to come along in a long while, and while it isn't really all that challenging, it is 100% engaging 100% of the time. It doesn't overstay its welcome and is just one of those good feeling games that everyone should have the pleasure of experiencing. Well worth a prominent spot in any library. [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, it would be appreciated. Cheers. https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/[/code]