Go-Go Town! Preview

Go-Go Town! is an upcoming sandbox life sim automation title developed and published by Prideful Sloth, who some might recognise for Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles and Grow: Song of the Evertree. 

In this colourful game, you become the mayor of a run-down town that desperately needs rebuilding. To get the ball rolling, during the tutorial, you'll get some money and EGO points (a currency obtained via tourists) to spend on structures like shops, so you get a better idea of how they work! This includes learning how to stock shops, use the build feature, and inhabit homes.

Although I played the game twice so far — once during Steam Next Fest and now through the playtest — it took me a moment to fully get how the stores worked. Thankfully, the game isn't punishing, no matter how much you forget to do any of your daily duties, which is nice considering I was a bit slow to get the proper pacing going as someone who is new to the genre. This really helped me take a breather and slow down once I noticed I wouldn't be losing citizens or going bankrupt even if I was playing stupidly. When I finally realised this, I took my time to learn what sort of features and mechanics the game offered, which was easy thanks to the in-game app called SlothOS. This handy little menu holds everything from Townpedia to the shop where you can exchange your EGO for new item packs! Although I didn't understand all of them — namely, the widget area, which seemed too terrifying to mess with — the EGO Techand Townpedia were quite vital to me throughout my playtime. And for those who might like checking out information about the game's upbeat music, there's also the SlothTunes menu, where they'll be able to change the soundtrack or find the individual track names.

For most of the beginning of the game, I was terrified of using any of my resources — especially EGO, which I assumed was going to be super hard to get — so I spent most of the time going to and fro to grab resources and put them in the shops; this helped me get money and make the tourists happy so I could hoard currencies. Thankfully, although it was utterly unnecessary to worry, I eventually figured out that the cute trucks parked around the town were more than just decor, as you can ride them and use them to transport tons of goodies and materials.

Despite constantly grinding in a painstakingly slow way for a good chunk of my journey, I didn't feel like it was boring at all. Prideful Sloth did a fantastic job at making the usually monotonous tasks in games, such as collecting wood and rocks, satisfying and seamless. There are some areas on the map dedicated to collecting resources, where you'll find tools to help you, such as drills for mining. 

Outside of gathering materials and driving them around the town in trucks to refine, sell, or use in construction, you'll also spend time sprucing up your town with buildings, decor, and special structures that will facilitate jobs for you. This feature works very well, with comfortable controls, a nice variety of options, and easy ways to change the layout if you're unhappy about it. My only small complaint is that it can be a bit limiting, and as someone who is pretty obsessed with decorating, it's a bit sad I can't place anything wherever I want.

As you make new areas and attract more tourists, you'll gain more EGO. These can be used in SlothOS to purchase additional packs of items, which allows you to add more of certain structures to the town (such as trees or houses) and even unlock new ones, like farming- and fishing-related ones. This works really well to add pacing and reward progression.

And lastly, the graphics and sound design. Go-Go Town! has an aesthetic very similar to a goofy Animal Crossing, with a colourful art style, detailed animations, and quite gorgeously done. And aside from the multiple upbeat tracks you can cycle through, there's also the sound design, which is done quite masterfully thus far: you can hear the truck's engine, birds, and mechanical sounds all around. For any fan of audio and graphics designs, they'll surely be pleased.

Overall, Go-Go Town! is heading down a fantastic route, with plenty of things to do, tons of fun automation, and very cutesy and inventive mechanics and features. I will continue to count down for the game's release, but for now, I urge you to follow the game on Twitter or even wishlist their game on Steam!