Donut County

Levels act like “pleasure delayers”; comebacks are even more enjoyable for that.

Developer: Ben Esposito
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Release: 2018
Platform: iOS, PC (played), PS4, XOne, Switch, Android
Genre: Puzzle

At first Donut County feels like a Windosill—i.e. a pleasant tactile experience—that lacks the courage to stay in its wordless standalone toy-ish sandbox form: the story bits feel intrusive and the player will often spend more time reading than actually playing the amusing levels.

Deliciously inviting.

It’s a good thing then that both characters and plot are engaging enough for the player to care about them—to the point the levels act like a “pleasure delayer” and ultimately make the comebacks even more enjoyable.

The short campaign (around 2 hours) per se doesn’t pose a problem; but the game would benefit immensely from some Free Play, Sandbox or Level Maker modes of sorts since the mechanics—nailed so gracefully—are there already, begging to be played with more often.