Zilla's Outlier: Donut County
- This game's status as an 'outlier' means it was only ranked by Zilla.
- Zilla ranked the game #3.
Zilla writes:
This game isn't perfection the way Untitled Goose Game is, but enjoying both so much made me realize that I think I like games where you're encouraged to be a bit of a sociopath. Donut County is more chill than chaotic, though -- especially in the early levels, it's almost calming just piloting a hole around and swallowing everything in this colorful world, starting with the littlest stuff and working up to something bigger and leaving nothing left, maybe in part due to the great soundtrack. The mechanics get a little more complicated later and there's a bit more of a puzzle-solving element in the later game, but it remained accessible for me as someone who doesn't really have like, gamer skillz (right up until what was basically a final boss battle, which I did struggle with), and I enjoyed a game being about capitalism and gentrification, but in a fun way, because it’s really about friendship? What really made me love Donut County, though, is the writing -- it's funny and voicey and surprising, from BK and Mira's ironic texting to the back-and-forth of the conversation among townspeople nine hundred ninety-nine feet under Donut County everyone has fallen into a hole to the item descriptions in the Trashopedia at the end of each level. I love a game that makes me delight in every word and savor every level and appreciate the emotional arc or underlying philosophy but that can still be finished in just one or two sessions (especially if it's published by Annapurna), and this totally fit the bill.