Doloc Town

Play it on: Windows PCs (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: Vibe fish the day away

What if you mashed together the 2D sidescrolling Minecraft-like Terraria with the Zelda-infused top-down survival crafting sim Forager? You might get something like the post-acopacalytic cozy farming game Doloc Town. It hit Early Access on Steam this month and has been accruing a small but devout set of followers who just want to upgrade tech trees in a cute little pixel art world. There’s nothing specifically unique about Doloc Town that you can’t get in a dozen other Stardew Valley-inspired clones, but I spent an hour with the game this week and am desperate to go back.

It’s just the right, breezy mix of resource accumulation, light combat, and worldbuilding exploration to keep me engaged but keep that min-maxing voice in the back of my head relatively quiet. It’s pretty chill, reminds me of Fez for some reason, and presents a perfect little progression grind to vibe out to. The debut project from RedSaw Games Studio, it’s already carving out a nice little niche for itself amid a crowded subgenre, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it ends up by the time it eventually hits 1.0. — Ethan Gach