Donut County

Donut County is one of those tiny, clever games that make you smile from the very first minute. Published by Annapurna Interactive, it offers a deceptively simple concept: you control a hole in the ground that swallows everything around it — from pebbles to buildings — growing larger with every bite. There’s no timer, no failure, no stress. Just the strangely satisfying pleasure of cleaning up the world by devouring it. The story is as silly as it is charming. In the small town of Donut County, mysterious holes start appearing, and soon everyone finds themselves trapped underground. The culprit? BK, a raccoon running a donut delivery app who doesn’t see what the fuss is about. The writing is sharp and funny, full of tongue-in-cheek millennial humor and absurd exchanges that wouldn’t feel out of place in a cartoon like BoJack Horseman. Gameplay is intentionally minimalistic. You move your hole, watch objects fall in, occasionally solve light environmental puzzles — maybe burn something, mix water, or “matchmake” a pair of rabbits. The physics are delightful, the art colorful and clean, and the soundtrack blends lo-fi beats with playful melodies. Yet, after two or three hours, it’s all over. That brevity is both a blessing and a curse. Donut County is wonderfully polished and meditative, but it never quite evolves into something more. It flirts with the idea of being a sandbox or a physics experiment like Katamari Damacy, then stops just short of it. Still, for what it is — a small, cozy experience with charm and personality — it works beautifully. It’s a bite-sized treat, not a feast. But sometimes, that’s exactly what you need. Score: 72/100 – short, smart, and sweet. A perfect evening snack of a game.