Donut County

Mon, 23 May 2022 12:00:00 -0700

This will be a short and sweet review for a short and sweet game. Donut County is a delightful and comical must-play in which you control as a hole in the ground that’s gobbling everything up. Each hole starts small—fitting only a soda can or a pebble—but grows with each object consumed. Pretty soon you’re dropping whole tables, cars, and houses into the abyss. Clear the area of any and all objects, and you win!

Destroying civilization as a hole in the ground is the most satisfying way of channeling your chaotic evil. (Do you hate traffic jams but stifle your inner road rage? Donut County has a level for you.) By methodically working through a location’s objects, smallest to largest, I couldn’t help but make happy sighs of relief as all the junk slowly disappeared. The hole does not discriminate among its targets, though; an upstanding farm in the countryside is just as fair game as a roach-infested greasy spoon. Our consciences get to take a back seat to hilarity on this colorful and minimalist polygon art ride.

From the surprising physics of retrofitting the hole as a projectile gun to the descriptions of mundane objects—a dog dish is described as “drinking from this is like kissing a dog, but not as fun”—Donut County kept me laughing throughout its few-hour playtime. If you need an afternoon pick-me-up or a palette cleanser between longer games, Donut County won’t fail to delight.

physics-based | Mohammad Moshtaghi

Donut County