izigame.me

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋: ★★★½


𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒:
- DOGS!! A simple point, but important, nonetheless. When looking at the Steam page for this game, I was sold on concept alone. This game can easily fall into the cozy category because why doesn't want to take care of some cute dogs?
- The art style is absolutely adorable and contributes to the comfy vibe that this game presents. c:
- Gameplay loop. Not even going to lie, the first time I picked up this game, I played for AT LEAST for five or so hours. It's not exactly the most satisfying when you get to late-game, but it's good to pick up between other games as a bit of a palate cleanser!
- Accessibility / options are done wonderfully in this game! There are "minigame simple modes" which act accessibility toggles for each of the minigame options when you play with the dogs. More difficulty options include the time tick rate, disease spread rate, adoption difficulty, and fee scale. I feel like early-game can prove to be difficult, so I haven't really played around with these settings, but they may be helpful for giving late-game equal difficulty! Finally, there is a toggle you can select for the option to euthanize OR send away dogs. While I haven't had to use this mechanic, I feel like this is very important for offering a less intense version for those who want a calmer experience.
- The game (I believe) has been handed over to a different development team than the one who created it. This being said, there are fixes being made, although there's still a ways for it to go.

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒:
- Bugs are... an issue, to say the least. I'm not much of a person to find issues with more minor things, but there are a lot of incredibly noticeable issues. Most of them you can brute force through with a level of inconvenience, at least.
- The gameplay loop does grow a bit stagnant, unfortunately. Early-game feels hectic and a bit chaotic when trying to manage, but then late-game feels TOO slow in comparison. It could just be a me thing, but yeah.

𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄𝐒:
Just as a heads up, this section will outline specific bugs I have encountered!
- Staff. One of the mechanics is that you can hire on employees to help tend to the dogs' care needs. They are incredibly helpful when functioning, however, sometimes they will freeze in place for entire days at a time.
- Playroom. When putting dogs into a playroom, sometimes the counter will not acknowledge the input of a dog despite being within the bounds of the room. I have also had dogs get permanently stuck in the playroom and unable to be leashed. I ended up deleting the playroom and the dog was still visible and unleashable just sort of... running around both inside the shelter and out as a ghost dog. Then, MANY days later, he showed up in the area for newly dropped off dogs.
- Adoptions. I had a really weird glitch where the adopters would not leave after being spoken to, but would just stand in the display room and stack atop each other. It only lasted for one day, but still.
- The aforementioned minigame simple modes, most work, but the one for the minigame Itchy Scritch. No matter how many times I toggle it, it refuses to remain toggled.
- Lastly, the building. The connecting of rooms is extremely limiting at this current point, and won't allow you to connect rooms that fit in the front areas. You also can't have a room with doors that connect it to the outside?

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒:
- Achievements! Personally, I'm a bit of an achievement addict hehe.
- More dog variations. I've seen every breed in this game at this point and they are all adorable. That being said, I can't help but wish for more in a future update potentially.
- More player variations, as well! There's only a few lil guys to be, although I appreciate the unlockable shopkeep with the froggy hat. I'd love some more options, though!
- Once the bugs are resolved... a DLC, perhaps? Despite it's flaws, I really do enjoy this game. I feel like a DLC for cats (and potentially wild or farm critters) could be implemented for sure.