GAME REVIEW: Donut County (2018)
Short, satisfying, & strange
As you probably know by now, I often browse the sales for anything short and interesting in the store for the Nintendo Switch. There’s been one game that never cost a lot to begin with, but which went on sale for around a euro or less called Donut County by a fellow named Ben Esposito and released in 2018 via Annapurna Interactive that looked silly enough to try out. The nice thing about these small indie games is that the cost is a low commitment, so if it’s not a mind-boggling experience, you don’t feel very put out by it.
Donut County is a simple enough concept: you play a hole and you swallow everything. The difficulty level is, frankly, nonexistent, as the hole grows the more things it swallows, which really makes this a game that’s suitable for literally anyone, because the only thing to figure out is to eat the smaller things first. There are a few moments where it can get awkward, because something needs to fall sideways into the hole, but in general, nothing stumped me for more than a few seconds. In fact, I think I played through the entire game in around an hour or so, so it’s also a very quick game to play if you’re just looking for something silly to pass the time.
The game does add a catapult into the hole a little over halfway through, so you can launch certain items into the air, which is important for progress (as well as for defeating the final boss), but there’s nothing particularly complicated. Most of my time playing the game was spent in a derpy giggle, making my own ‘nom’ noises as I swallowed things.
And that’s pretty much all there is to it! There’s a story (below) and the final boss is simple enough to figure out, making for a goofy game for all ages that can easily be played through in one sitting. Short and sweet and extremely silly.
Spoiler Zone
There is a story to the game, more or less, which involves the main characters, Mira and BK, the latter being a racoon that works for the donut company, which is owned by the larger racoon corporation; Mira is his employee and friend. It seems that the hole in the ground is created by a mobile app game that BK is playing, as he mentions early on that he’s level 9 (trying to get enough points for a quadcopter), and every time you finish a session of swallowing things, BK gets experience points.
The game states up-front that BK is controlling the holes via the aforementioned game app, so whenever one of the critter characters from this world orders a donut, BK’s hole (the player) shows up and swallows everything. The game is experienced through flashbacks for the first 90% of its gameplay or so, as the player finds out who all was dropped into the pit beneath the surface and how they got down there. Eventually, they decide to find Pup, who is in a hot air balloon, and try to use him to help them out. They also add a catapult to the hole via the in-game app to help the quest progress. Mira and BK both have confessions that eventually find their way out… well, BK’s is less a confession because everyone blames him for ending the world, while, much like his racoon brethren from Regular Show (Rigby), he refuses to take accountability for his own actions. Mira, it seems, knew what he was doing the whole time and just didn’t really care until she wound up in the pit as well, at which point she destroys BK’s quadcopter.
In the end, the two of them (and Possum) leave the hole to confront the head of the racoons, the Trash King, who admits that there’s less and less trash, so the holes are meant to gather trash for the racoons, but shows no remorse for ruining the lives of everyone else in the process. As Mira wreaks havoc on his headquarters with the hole, BK goes into speak with him and, rather than repenting, the Trash King offers him a lucrative deal. Mira and Possum fight a huge quadcopter outside and BK shows up, having only pretended to take the offer, and helps them defeat the Trash King. They then use the catapult to help everyone out of the hole. The end!
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