Gourdlets is a unique and relaxing take on a city building game that we need more of! It's clear from the moment you start the game that Future Friends Games put their heart and soul into this relaxing, pixelated adventure.
I've played my fair share of top-down city-building games like Frostpunk and Fabledom, and Gourdlets is unique in that all of the structures cost nothing! There's no currency, no peasants dying of the bubonic plague, no monsters attacking your village. Just adorable little vegetables that want for nothing but will take advantage of the decorations you place.
As somebody who likes to multitask while playing games, Gourdlets provides the perfect atmosphere and gameplay. Need to take 20 minutes to fold laundry? Don't worry about your gourdlets running out of food or missing your favorite season in-game. Seasons and weather are completely controlled by the player, and your gourdlets are happy walking around watering flowers, roasting marshmallows on a bonfire, or laying out on the beach!
For a $5 game (on sale for $4 now on Steam) I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting as much customization as there is. There are literally hundreds of decorations and variations to create the town of your dreams!
As a nature lover, I was impressed to find not just one adorable mushroom design, but 3! You can make your dream gourdlet farm with 8 different kinds of crops or make a fairy forest wonderland complete with pastel cobblestone walkways.
I've been really impressed that not only are there more options for decorations than I thought there would be, there's also 7 or 8 different colorways for almost every buildable item!
Gourdlets is the adorable debut game from AuntyGames that feels like a combination of Ooblets and Fabledom, two of the best cozy games that debuted last year. More cozy game developers would be smart to mimic Gourdlets on two fronts: putting this much time into decoration customization and releasing for Mac the same day as Steam.
Gourdlets is an accessible, affordable cozy game that instantly competes with much larger projects. I've seen much larger cozy games have fewer decor customization options, and it's refreshing to see a game that's super affordable and accessible to Mac users right away.
If I were to change anything about this game, I would like the option to size decorations up and down. The proportions for decorations to houses are a little off sometimes, but of course that doesn't matter in a fantasy Gourdlet kingdom! I also wish that controller mechanics were a little smoother. This game feels much more natural on mouse and keyboard.
Regardless, Gourdlets is an adorable, relaxing game that's perfect to play in small increments whenever you have some down time or want to play a low-stress, low-commitment game! Gourdlets can be purchased on Steam here.
Gourdlets released for Steam, Mac, and Linux on August 15th, 2024, and was reviewed on Windows 10.
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