There’s something very zen about “cleaning up” each level.Stressful workdays, difficult parenting situations, global pandemics. Instead of hitting roadblocks, you can simply kick back and enjoy the quirky world and soothing gameplay. How can I hit that switch? How can I use these fireworks? How can I rile up that ranger? Oh, and what happens when you drop a bunch of rabbits in the same hole?Ī little experimentation will always get you through, but the fact that Donut County’s puzzling is quite lightweight largely works in its favour. Each mission introduces its own twists on the core concept, and a big part of the fun is discovering the ways you’re able to use a hole to actively interact with the world. Levels are typically self-contained, but with several areas to move through your hole steadily grows in size until you’re able to swallow even the biggest of obstacles. There's something very zen about 'cleaning up' each level.

It’s a fun story overall surreal but also a sly commentary on the gamification of life. Their back and forths about whether BK is, in fact, responsible for the holes are adorable, and lead directly to flashback levels where you get to drop everything from restaurants to ranger’s stations into the ground. Each cutscene introduces a new character, but it’s the friendship between Mira and BK – a girl and a raccoon – that forms the heart of Donut County’s quirky sensibility.

We join these animal denizens in a makeshift camp deep beneath the earth – victims of the holes ravaging the town. The mechanics, after all, could lend themselves to a relatively dry puzzle game, but instead Donut County is set in an oddball, charming, and tongue-in-cheek world of anthropomorphic animals. Indeed, it’s the narrative wrapping that is most fascinating about Donut County – and that most stamps this as the vision of solo developer Ben Esposito.

Donut county game ign