Im not quite done with Dinkum by any means, but at 50 hours in I think I have enough experience to write about my time with this game.
Dinkum is probably the best modern farming sim out there. It does a lot to improve on the typical formula and it adds so much that im not sure id want to go back to any of the others. Almost everything in this game feels completely unique and is tied together in a very satisfying way, its a very distinct gameplay loop that you cant really find anywhere else.
For starters, Dinkum is just really fun to run around in. I love how the physics work so much, almost everything is interactable and its enjoyable to just go around jumping on things. The visuals are gorgeous and i especially love the way the crops and plants look, its a very solid style. It feels really cathartic to have a game that's a good time to just exist in. Dinkum has a lot of realism to it but never enough to damage the fun, more like it seems very accurate to Australia and its ecosystem. It also has a lot of surprises like any good farming sim should, learning how to play Dinkum blind in particular was really cool... no other game of the same genre ive played really functions like this one. 50 hours in and theres still a ton i havent discovered, for an early access game its really impressive.
It also has some of the best multiplayer ive ever seen in a farming game, compared to something like Stardew Valley it definitely takes the cake here. Youre constantly progressing your stats through a series of points which track things you do, like mining and all that jazz, so it never feels like youre wasting your time building up someone elses island. Your relationship with the villagers also stays consistent throughout anyones game, which gives the player a reason to interact with them outside their own world. You can pretty much pick up anything and you can even use tools you dont yet have a license to obtain, the only thing you cant do is set deeds and make permanent changes to the town. And like i said, everything is interactable and that includes other players, im a huge fan of jumping on my friend's head and doing a stupid little dance as they progress through a cutscene. There is a lot of teamwork involved in multiplayer so, to me anyway, the workload never feels unbalanced and its just a really good game to go through with someone else.
Dinkum doesnt really have too many substantial issues, but there are a lot of little bugs. Most of them are just funny but there are a few times ive had to quit my game for one reason or another. The late game also feels a bit patchy in what you can do, theres still people i have to move in but waiting for them takes a long time and finding something to do in the meantime is a bit rough. This game isnt even a year old though, and its already had two major updates which makes me think Dinkum is gonna get quite big as the time goes by.
Ive been having a lot of fun with this game, its only 20 usd so i absolutely encourage anyone to try it out if they can, especially if you have someone else you can play along with. Theres dingos and pleeps and dinks and doinks, what more can you want from a game..?
Dinkum is probably the best modern farming sim out there. It does a lot to improve on the typical formula and it adds so much that im not sure id want to go back to any of the others. Almost everything in this game feels completely unique and is tied together in a very satisfying way, its a very distinct gameplay loop that you cant really find anywhere else.
For starters, Dinkum is just really fun to run around in. I love how the physics work so much, almost everything is interactable and its enjoyable to just go around jumping on things. The visuals are gorgeous and i especially love the way the crops and plants look, its a very solid style. It feels really cathartic to have a game that's a good time to just exist in. Dinkum has a lot of realism to it but never enough to damage the fun, more like it seems very accurate to Australia and its ecosystem. It also has a lot of surprises like any good farming sim should, learning how to play Dinkum blind in particular was really cool... no other game of the same genre ive played really functions like this one. 50 hours in and theres still a ton i havent discovered, for an early access game its really impressive.
It also has some of the best multiplayer ive ever seen in a farming game, compared to something like Stardew Valley it definitely takes the cake here. Youre constantly progressing your stats through a series of points which track things you do, like mining and all that jazz, so it never feels like youre wasting your time building up someone elses island. Your relationship with the villagers also stays consistent throughout anyones game, which gives the player a reason to interact with them outside their own world. You can pretty much pick up anything and you can even use tools you dont yet have a license to obtain, the only thing you cant do is set deeds and make permanent changes to the town. And like i said, everything is interactable and that includes other players, im a huge fan of jumping on my friend's head and doing a stupid little dance as they progress through a cutscene. There is a lot of teamwork involved in multiplayer so, to me anyway, the workload never feels unbalanced and its just a really good game to go through with someone else.
Dinkum doesnt really have too many substantial issues, but there are a lot of little bugs. Most of them are just funny but there are a few times ive had to quit my game for one reason or another. The late game also feels a bit patchy in what you can do, theres still people i have to move in but waiting for them takes a long time and finding something to do in the meantime is a bit rough. This game isnt even a year old though, and its already had two major updates which makes me think Dinkum is gonna get quite big as the time goes by.
Ive been having a lot of fun with this game, its only 20 usd so i absolutely encourage anyone to try it out if they can, especially if you have someone else you can play along with. Theres dingos and pleeps and dinks and doinks, what more can you want from a game..?
9 Comments
love the idea that the items you dig up with the metal detector suggest your character has no idea idea about technology past like 1700
Had this on my wishlist for a while now, great job on the review and I think I'll get it in the next sale :)
Haven't heard of this. I've ignored most farm games that don't have the word Stardew in them so the positivity here has caught my attention 🤔
@jobosno i think the idea is supposed to be that South City is in some kind of weird 1984 dystopia where they dont let you use CDs or something, but its really funny yeah.
@appreciations thank you! I hope you have a good time with it, its a blast
@FallenGrace Dinkum doesnt have as much content as Stardew but i definiteley think theyre basically two different experiences, it definitely tries to be its own thing instead of just Harvest Moon 2. If anything it has a lot of inspiration from New Horizons, which is weird seeing that game's ideas actually done well. I hope you enjoy it if you end up checking it out!
@appreciations thank you! I hope you have a good time with it, its a blast
@FallenGrace Dinkum doesnt have as much content as Stardew but i definiteley think theyre basically two different experiences, it definitely tries to be its own thing instead of just Harvest Moon 2. If anything it has a lot of inspiration from New Horizons, which is weird seeing that game's ideas actually done well. I hope you enjoy it if you end up checking it out!
i wrote this game off pretty much instantly because i'm extremely apathetic towards harvest moon and all its derivatives but if it's different enough then i feel like i should at least give it a proper look. what sort of stuff does it pull from new horizons? if it's taking the heavy customisation aspects then colour me interested because that's the only part of that game that was really compelling to me lol
@faea yeah im not a big fan of the Harvest Moon style games either, i dont really get any of that at all from Dinkum. Most days actually, youre not even gonna be farming at all if you dont want to.
Theres a few things! The most blatant of which is kind of the whole island deal with having to decorate/move people in, and the lisence point system which feels like a more useful and easy to collect Nook Miles type thing. Theres also a lot of character customization in terms of clothing and furniture and being able to change up your island... its really fun, i hope you enjoy it if you give it a chance!
Theres a few things! The most blatant of which is kind of the whole island deal with having to decorate/move people in, and the lisence point system which feels like a more useful and easy to collect Nook Miles type thing. Theres also a lot of character customization in terms of clothing and furniture and being able to change up your island... its really fun, i hope you enjoy it if you give it a chance!
farming sim spotted. added to steam wishlist
@Ninjabunny i hope u enjoy the pleeps and dinks and chooks
hilda
10 months ago