Edinburgh-based Yaldi Games have released their debut title, “Wholesome: Out and About,” into early access. This cosy game lets you explore, discover, and identify plant species. After that, you cook them up in an effort to raise funds for the repairs of your Grannie’s small portside town of Portobello, which, unfortunately, has recently been savagely beaten by a storm.
Character Creation and Tutorial
To begin with, Wholesome introduces a very cute and flexible character creator. As a result, you can fully customise your character with various creative options. For example, choices include hair colour, facial hair, piercings, and clothing. However, while many features impress, clothing options feel limited by comparison. In contrast, other categories offer far more variety and depth. Additionally, one accessory looked like either wireless headphones or hearing aids. Because of this, I felt slightly confused about the item’s intended purpose. If they were hearing aids, it would show nice attention to inclusivity. Ideally, the game would let you choose either ear or both. Unfortunately, it only allows both ears or neither, which feels restrictive.
After you complete character creation, the game guides you through a tutorial where NPCs teach you how to forage for plants. They show you real-world methods for identifying them. As you discover new plants, the game provides fascinating information about each one. Detailed drawings of real-world examples highlight the distinct features of the various plant types you can encounter in the game.
Basic Gameplay
The game has a lack of voice-over and this does make the game rather text-heavy. For some players this may be off-putting. At about 90 minutes into the game, the gameplay fells a little linear. There is a single plotline track that the player needs to follow, and the story is a little simplistic and almost convoluted. In comparison, the game has cute NPCs and the bright, cheerful graphics. There is also a wealth of real-life plant information. This seem to make what would sometimes be a major issue with the game seem like an acceptable loss.
Barbara is your German foraging guide (it has not yet been explained how a German lady came to live in this little town, nor do I know if it will ever become actually relevant to the story, but it is a nice touch). She instructs you how to identify unknown plants by initially taking a picture. You are then tasked with identifying the features of the plant to see what species it is. Finally, with the aid of a workbench, you can sort your samples so they can be used to cook in the community kitchen.
Further Tasks
Cooking is your next task. Once you have your plants, you head to the kitchen, select a recipe and some NPCs to help you and cook whatever recipe you have selected. I would have expected this to have some sort of mini-game element attached to it, and perhaps with the game only being in early access, this will come to fruition. At present, you simply click “cook” and the job is done.
Finally, you sell your creations (and the creations of others) on a market stall, matching the demands of the customers to the dishes you have available. This allows you to earn money, which can go toward repairing the town.
Good points
- Detailed real-life plant specimens to identify and collect.
- Enchanting graphics
- Simple controls
- Cosy user-paced gameplay
- A story that feels like it will develop
- Great character customisation
- Repeated warnings are given that the game is no substitute for real training and experience in foraging.
Room for improvement
- The lack of voiceover means the game involves a lot of reading, which may be a barrier to some.
- The plot feels very linear. So far in my playthrough, I haven’t been given any choices that could affect the outcome.
- Some of the tasks/quests feel very convoluted.
Overall Wholesome
Wholesome: Out and About is a charming game with beautiful graphics that provides a casual feel-good boost to a long day. What the game lacks in complex narrative, it makes up for in real-life information that doesn’t feel like a lecture, but more like a fun exploration.
Platforms: PC
Developer: Yaldi Games
Publisher: Yaldi Games
Played on: Steam
About the Author
