Ooblets is a fantastic simulation RPG, albeit an addicting experience in collecting charming characters and exploring a punny world. Although some of the unique elements like the Ooblet collecting and the dance battles may be surface level approaches compared to other games in this genre, I see a great amount of promise in Ooblets' ability to provide a relaxing yet satisfying experience for players who have enjoyed farming, raising cute creatures, and occasionally deckbuilding. Your life may have been a giant toot before now, but Ooblets will definitely charm you to Elswair and back. Give Ooblets a chance -- it's absolutely worth it!
Have you felt that your life so far has been a giant toot? Have you been needing a change from the big city life? Does farming and monster collecting sound good to you? Can you bust a move? If you’ve answered at least one of these questions with YES, or perhaps a …maybe…, then I highly recommend you consider Ooblets, which…*checks notes*…IS ALSO ON THE NINTENDO SWITCH!
If you’ve yet to try Ooblets so far, I’m gonna get right to it: It’s a no-brainer on the Switch. Taking your little farm with you while you’re on the road, or even laying in bed, is a relaxing experience. While you may think that farming games can become addled with chores, let me assure you: You will rarely feel rushed or strapped for time in the land of Oob.
Ooblets may be the name of the game, but they’re also one of the core experiences of monster collecting. Ooblets are little monsters (think Pokemon or Monster Rancher) that response quite well to dancing. These little cuties are designed mainly after food items and animals, and they can be found just about anywhere on the island of Oob. After arriving in Oob, you’re given an Ooblet of your very own to follow you around and help you with tasks on your little farm. While some of these tasks won’t be able to completed by an Ooblet right from the start, you’ll immediately be able to participate in dance battles with other packs of wild Ooblets.
Collecting Ooblets is quite simple, and in no way a test of patience that forces you to restart your file if you, say, run out of items that are used to catch that Ooblet (no such item exists) or have exactly one chance to catch an Ooblet of ultra rarity. Every morning, you’re presented with a list of possible Ooblets that are wandering around. If you have the food/items these Ooblets want, you can participate in a small dance battle where, upon winning, you will be awarded with an Ooblet seed that you can plant and add to your collection once the Ooblet blooms. It’s that simple.
I mentioned farming earlier, and yes, there is a pretty significant farming element in Ooblets, too. Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing veterans may be happy to see a robust farming system that also features some light automation, even from the start. I was able to acquire some basic sprinklers within a few days of being on my farm, meaning I could spend less time watering and more time exploring Oob. For the most part, there are no serious changing seasons other than Winter, which I have yet to encounter. This means that you have no timer that forces you to make do with what you have on a season-by-season basis. While this could also mean that crop variety may be lower than other games for now, the variety of crops that already exist in the mainly single season is enough to not only spruce up your farm, but encourage you to design your land in a fashion that is full of diverse crops and Ooblets, alike. Even more, you’ll very rarely feel FOMO because of the passing of time, despite there being so much to accomplish on a day-to-day basis in-game.
I quite enjoy the lack of FOMO that Ooblets places on a player. I am reminded of APICO‘s casualness in that respect. Sure, there’s a lot to do, and there may be Ooblets that spawn much less than others, but I never felt any pressure whatsoever to schedule out my time (unlike, say, Stardew Valley) in order to complete something within a small time span. This is not to say that games like Stardew shouldn’t have things like changing seasons and narrow windows for completing tasks. It’s just refreshing to be presented with a game like Ooblets that offers you casual progression without missing out on content that you may have to wait quite a lot of time to see again, such as a crop that only grows during a specific season. Ooblets leans quite heavily into the idea of being able to see everything, even the rarest of events, within a modicum of regularity. This is the kind of simulation game where you don’t regret playing at your own pace, and I cannot praise Ooblets enough in this regard.
The “combat” of Ooblets takes place in the form of dance battles. The best way to describe this combat is imagine Riot Games’ Legends of Runeterra deckbuilding and turn-based combat, but simpler. The Ooblets you currently have on your team will add unique cards to your “deck” that can be played by spending beats (i.e., mana). The first player in the one-on-one battle to hit a set number of points (awarded by the cards you play) win! If a match drags on to a near deadlock, the player with the highest points will win. It’s as simple as that.
I like the idea of dance battles, and I loved it even more when I finally opened the Dance Barn and was able to battle on a daily basis. In theory, Ooblets‘ dance battles share a level of similarity with some of the deckbuilding games that some of you may have played before, namely Legends of Runeterra. However, the difficulty of dance battles is…well…next to none. During my entire playthrough, I’ve lost a dance battle…twice. Yup. Exactly two times. It is incredibly easy to phone it in and freely swap Ooblets in and out of your team to vary up your “decks” for the sake of variety and seeing what happens. But, at the end of the day, you can coast through the game by never changing the composition of your followbuddies. As someone with experience in deck building games, I so very much want future updates to have higher difficulties and more complex deckbuilding strategies.
Ooblet collecting is going to be seen as hit or miss in the eyes of some. It’s no Pokemon, but at the same time, it’s less taxing on the emotions and mind in raising. You don’t need to worry on feeding your Ooblets, or deciding between moves. The only variations of Ooblets are that of their rarities, and you’re bound to come across a gleamy (rare) variant, if you’re patient enough. Perhaps this lack of depth is a good thing, as there’s no reason to feel like you’re “missing out” on choosing one Ooblet over another aside from their character-specific moves. Heck, sending an Ooblet to the Wildlands and adding another to your followbabies is painless — you can get them back at anytime. I guess my gripe here is that I wish that I could interact with Ooblets more than already exists. The pet button does not quench my thirst for cuteness that Ooblets oozes with elsewhere. I want more!
Yes, the world of Oob is incredibly charming. The NPCs are silly and unique, and the regions you can visit (such as Badgetown and Mamoonia) are teeming with life and secrets that change every day. It’s quite easy to get sidetracked and chat with the silly citizens of Badgetown. While these regions are not large, they’re structured in such a fashion that there’s just enough to explore while not feeling like you’re wasting time mucking about in the middle of nowhere (even though wasting time isn’t really a concept in Ooblets). Mayor Tinstle is one of my favorite NPCs. So is Outgrid.
When I arrived in Badgetown, I was given the option to join a club in order to receive my first Ooblet. I personally thought that these clubs would have meaning right off the bat, be it unique NPC interactions, special outfits…this is not the case. The club selection is Ooblets‘ version of a “pick your starter Pokemon,” except you can obtain the unique Ooblets much later in the game rather than not at all. Later in the story you can re-open all of the clubs and purchase things for your home, and that’s really about it. I wish I could say that picking a club, or even fostering friendships with NPCs, had meaning in Ooblets, but they really don’t compared to other titles. NPCs feel transactional, especially when doing small favors for them and receiving crazy generous rewards in the form of gummies or supplies.
This is not to say that NPCs lack charm and add little value to the world of Oob — not at all. Every single NPC’s dialogue is carefully thought out, punny (to a delightful extent), and thoughtful. Mayor Tinsdale, for instance, is goofy, aloof, and entirely unaware of what it means to be mayor. She asked me to send out a giftbasket of goodies as a way of…skirting legal regulations. Yep. Imagine being told that your home isn’t “up to code,” and your mayor’s solution is to send a basket of cookies and hot dogs to the person who wrote you up. It’s silly in all the right ways, and I went out of my way to complete missions for the citizens of Badgetown just so I could learn more about them.
It is my understanding that Ooblets is not intending on being a multiplayer game, and it says so on their website. However, I cannot stress this enough: Ooblets deserves a multiplayer element, even if it comes in the form of a sequel. The dance battle gameplay offers players just a taste of competitive deckbuilding that would be welcome in 1 on 1 environments, even if it was a casual kind of competition. The farm customization gives players enough agency to build how they want, and having the ability to collaborate with a pal would fit quite nicely in the already charming world of Oob. However, just because Ooblets lacks a multiplayer element does not mean that this game is not worth your consideration. It is. Stardew Valley released without multiplayer, and look how far it’s come. Ooblets is fabulous as a single player title, but I’m selfish: I want to play Ooblets and build a farm together with my friends.
There may be some of you who have already played Ooblets on other platforms, or at least have spent enough time with the game in Early Access on PC that you’ve developed an understanding of what to expect from the 1.0 Update. However, if you’re wanting to take the game with you on the Switch, Ooblets is a fabulous game to play on the train to-and-from work. I don’t have access to a Steam Deck, so I cannot confirm or deny its stability on that platform, but if I did have the ‘Deck, I would enjoy playing it on trips, too.
We did not review the PC version of Ooblets, but current owners can expect the Ooblets 1.0 update (that also releases today) to come with several new Ooblets, a brand new region, and the end of the story. Don’t worry, this update is **free!!** With how much there is to do, I would imagine that current owners may be able to get several more hours out of the core gameplay. But, after spending nearly 30 hours on my little farm, I’m pleased to say that I still have much more to do (and unlock!).
This review was conducted on the Nintendo Switch prior to the release date. During the review period, there were no patches, no updates, nothing. All this considered, I am ecstatic to report that this Switch port is not just fully functional, but virtually bug free. Not once during my nearly 30(!!!) hours of playtime did I encounter a gamebreaking bug, be forced to restart the game, or even lose progress. Heck, I never even had to restart a day! My only grumbles emerged when I was going in and out of buildings, as loading screens ended up between 5 and 10 seconds. But, I consider this worth it given that the game runs so smoothly on the Switch. If you’re hesitant to try this on the Switch–don’t be. It runs like a charm even with multiple Ooblets following you around your farm.
Ooblets is a fantastic simulation RPG, albeit an addicting experience in collecting charming characters and exploring a punny world. Although some of the unique elements like the Ooblet collecting and the dance battles may be surface level approaches compared to other games in this genre, I see a great amount of promise in Ooblets’ ability to provide a relaxing yet satisfying experience for players who have enjoyed farming, raising cute creatures, and occasionally deckbuilding. Your life may have been a giant toot before now, but Ooblets will definitely charm you to Elswair and back. Give Ooblets a chance — it’s absolutely worth it!
A review copy of Ooblets was provided to DigitalChumps for this review.
